I Spy Cake!

I truly enjoyed photographing the baby shower and was delighted to discover these two captivated by Clara cutting her cake. I didn't notice them as I was photographing Clara but on closer inspection who did I see but these two clearly waiting patiently for some cake. It was a delightful surprise to find them in the photo. I have to admit this is one of my favorites from the baby shower. I have always wanted to capture children looking at a wedding cake but have never had that opportunity so discovering these two spying the cake at the baby shower was a treat to me. I love photoshop... I was able to crop the original photo and enlarge the two little girls looking at the cake!

Baby Shower

It was so much fun photographing Clara's baby shower a few weeks ago. It was nice to see all of the ladies that I photographed months earlier for their Dusty Divas portraits. The husbands have been gone for several months now and everyone is eagerly looking forward to their return this summer. It brings back wonderful memories seeing this next generation continuing the military lifestyle. Some things never change...

Clara with her puppies

new venture ... Maternity Portraits

Once again my daughter has opened up a new area of photography for me by introducing a friend of hers who was expecting her first child this month... actually Ava was born this morning! I hope to have the opportunity to take some baby portraits very soon! In the meantime here is my first attempt of doing a new and exciting area of photography that is expanding rapidly. Mothers now celebrate their pregnancy and want portraits of this time. Clara was my first model and I had a great time photographing her. I included a portrait with her two dogs. I hope Brian, her husband, deployed with the Navy enjoy the portraits we took that day.

Saying Goodbye ...

It is never easy to say goodbye to a loved one when they have to leave on deployment, knowing that they will be gone for months at a time. I faced it for 20 years while my husband was a Marine. It never gets any easier. I saw it this past October when my daughter had to say goodbye to her boyfriend and watch him fly his helicopter off to Norfolk.

I accompanied Jenn to keep her company immediately after Andrew left and to drive back to Orlando with her the following day. Of course mom is never without her camera so I captured the entire goodbye in photos. I have since created a slide show accompanied to music for Jenn to send to Andrew. It must be good because it has brought tears to the eyes of everyone who has seen it. This is one of the photos from the day.

Jenn's Christmas Card

Jenn asked if I would photograph Maddie and her for thier Christmas card this year. It is never easy working with a dog. Maddie immediately decided to face Jenn rather then the camera. There were a few images of Maddie's rump, but after some coaching Jenn was able to get Maddie to almost smile at the camera. lol I kept shooting until Maddie got tired of the whole process and decided it was time to play. As it turned out Jenn had quite a few images to pick from for her card and she decided she liked this one best. Both Jenn and Maddie are actually looking at the camera. Everyone who received a Christmas card have commented on much they like it and how striking it is in black and white with Maddie's pink collar. I have to admit it is one of my favorites too!

Still at the beach