Farida pt. 1

I met Farida through my dear friend Amy who was always talking about this adorable and sassy girl she worked with from Bangladesh. When I met Farida she said she liked my photography and we briefly discussed how fun it would be to do a shoot. Fast Forward a few short months and she was moving out of state so we booked the shoot with a quickness. When she arrived to the shoot, her car was full of most of the contents of her closet. She's a stylish girl so you know what that meant...WARDROBE CHANGES!








I had a blast taking her pictures! Obviously she's gorgeous and also a great model.








If you're having your pictures taken, don't be afraid you'll look silly if you play super model, don't be afraid to ham it up for the camera, your photographer will love you and those make for the best pictures!







More loveliness from my shoot with Farida to come. There were really just way too many for one post.

Love to Hate

I'm WAY behind on the Joy of Love project. I'll get my camera out this weekend and play a little catch up. This shot was from my boyfriends dad's 70th b-day party this past weekend and when I read the assignment for day 5 I thought of this shot.

The focus is to capture what we "Love to Hate" about our loved ones. Devin can eat like a horse and still be thin. If he gains weight, a week of cutting back and it's gone. I smell a cookie and I gain a pound, and have to sweat my face off in the gym for weeks before the scale shows any change. It's typical, I'm used to it, and really it's the only thing I could think of that I "Love to Hate" about him.

Hey...it's new love.

Be Aggressive! Be, Be Aggressive!

Crazy weekend. I am going to have to play serious catch up on my photo project once the dust settles.

In the mean time I had to share some sad news with you. My uncle Ron passed on Fri evening. He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer after the holidays, they gave him 6 months to live. Those 6 months were cut down significantly after his 2nd trip to the ER and by early last week the doctors said hours, maybe days. My aunt and uncle and their kids live in Washington state so I wasn't able to be with them which was hard. I hate family living apart. But that's a whole different topic and post. We prayed, we sent our love, we encouraged, we did what we could from another state. By early last week he was non-responsive and by Friday he was taken home to heaven. Uncle Ron was a sweet, goofy, loving, giving, happy-go-lucky man. He loved his Italian roots, he loved to cook and talk your ear off about recipes and cooking tips, he loved to spoil his kids and grand kids with treats and toys, he loved big band music and swing dancing...he was one of a kind. I know he's doing the jitterbug in heaven surrounded by all you can eat pasta and no longer in pain so I am at peace with his passing. The reason I wanted to share this is because when Ron first went to the hospital in November after experiencing pain for a very long time he was misdiagnosed. By the time he went back in, over a month later, because the treatment they'd prescribed wasn't working the cancer had progressed to a stage 4 status. In this same week of hearing daily updates on Ron's status a friend of mine told me about some scary symptoms she'd been experiencing for over a month and hadn't been to the doctor to have it checked out. I cyber slapped her and scared her into making an appointment. I get hating doctors, I don't have the greatest faith in our health care and I hate being poked and prodded just as much as everyone else. But point blank: It's your health and up to you to take action! Trust your guts, don't put it off, get a second opinion, do your research! I'm not saying become a hypochondriac cuz frankly that's really annoying. Just don't apply your procrastination to your well being, and I'm talking to myself too when I say this. There is such a thing as "too late" when it comes to catching health issues.

Take care of you.

OK I'm jumping off my soapbox now. I'm grateful I'll be able to visit family this weekend for the funeral and say my goodbyes, or really my see-ya-laters. Love you Uncle Ron.

What They Wear

Day 4 of the Joy of Love we are to photograph what they wear.

We're potty training, I guess thats what you call it. It's more like potty begging, potty fighting, and potty crying. My boy does NOT want to give up the ease of relieving himself in his pants and it's a daily battle of bribes and threats and big dramatic scenes as we try to get him to be a big boy and use the potty.





I don't get it, aren't these super hero undies the coolest!?! I'd much rather sport these than puffy diapers or stiff pull ups.

Then and Now

Day 3 focus for The Joy of Love class is "Then and Now."


He's 3 months old in the picture he's holding and 3 1/2 years old today.

I'm so glad his lovely curls came in just as I ordered.

How They Look

Day two of The Joy of Love was "How they look."

I haven't really unveiled the full glory of his beauty on here before for reasons I won't get into tonight. It's been a challenge, like most mother shutterbugs my child is my favorite subject and he's such a great model for me.

But now...I feel safe here. So here HE is, Full Frontal Facial.








My lil E man, he's beautiful.

The Joy Of Love

I found out about a FREE photo workshop via one of the many photographers blogs I follow. And hey, if it's free, it's for me! That, and my word for the year is STRETCH and I'm feeling pretty S-T-R-E-T-C-H-E-D right now so why not add to my plate?




It's called The Joy of Love and every day for the month of Feb this awesome designer from Willette Photography sends an email with a focus for a photograph of a loved one including camera techniques and tips. I just joined today, two days late, so there's still time for you to sign up!

So I'm gonna play catch up here real quick...

Day one "What They DO"

I wish I had busted out my camera yesterday while my sweet heart was painting my parents sunroom, that would have been perfect. But I came late to the party so I snapped some shots of lil man playing trains. Because trains is what he DO.