A Girl and Her Apple

I snapped these pictures the other day of my cousin's daughter after we finished picking apples. She was extremely excited about holding the apple and after we finished she did a great job of polishing off the apple (for a 1 year old.) I actually love that the apple is in these pictures. I certainly adds a little "fallness."

More Cute Kids {That Aren't Mine!}

I happen to think my kids are cute. I think all parents think the same way I do of their own kids. When I take pictures of any kids, I try to capture those natural, joyful expressions that are unique to them. Sometimes that is a toothy laugh. Sometimes that is a reserved smile. Sometimes that is a sly, mischievous look. And sometimes those expressions are not smiles at all. Whatever the look--I love it when I capture that twinkle in the eye that is unique to them. I think I caught that in some of these pictures. Warning: there are lots of photos!

Short Break

The flowers from last week only provided a short break for my kids from being in front of my camera. Last Friday, we headed out to capture a few more outdoor pictures before the cold weather moves in permanently. NOW, I am still hoping for a few more good days so that I can get some pictures in the fall leaves. We'll see if mother nature grants my wish!










This pose and location was her idea. I couldn't help but comply.


Now to decide which ones will get blown up big for the wall. Any suggestions?

Kids Portraits Part 3

It is finally the last installment in this series of kids portraits. The daughter in these photos is still in the "cheese" stage. By this, I mean that when I go to take her picture she automatically gives me that super unnatural, cheesy smile. It takes some work to get her natural expressions. Here are my favorites of her:



While we were taking her pictures, my husband thought it would be fun to shake the trees a little and make the blossoms fall. She has a few blossoms on her jacket and hair. I didn't clone them out because she loved having the blossoms fall on her.


I think this is my favorite of her and I really happen to like it in BW.

Kids Portraits Part 2

Here is part 2. I finished editing these last night and just have one more kid to go now.


This is his full belly laugh. Not technically perfect but definitely one of his genuine expressions preserved.



She is very much my "poser." She can strike a pose whenever asked. I thought this one was fun.




BTW--Do any of my relatives recognize this chair?

Kids Portraits Part 1

I have been LOVING the beautiful spring blossoms (as I am sure you have been able to tell by previous posts too numerous to link to) and wanted to get a few pictures of my kids in the blossoms. I had a couple of days set aside to do this, but unfortunately we were rained out both times. I was determined and decided to try again last Friday. As we drove to our location, rain began beating down on the windshield. I kept driving anyway crossing my fingers that the rain would lighten up a bit. By the time we got there, it wasn't raining and we were able to take a few despite the extremely heavy cloud cover. The lighting wasn't optimal and we ended up having only a small window before it did begin to rain A LOT. I wanted to post some of them here. Unfortunately, I just can't seem to get much productive time between an almost 1 year-old, school, and the basement project. So now the posts will have to be spread over a few days. Here is the first installment.





Let me know what you think.

A Few Family Peeks

I actually took these pictures on Monday, but have been working on them a little at a time all week. So here they finally are!! They are a cute family and related to me (of course!)