moved in; no words wednesday.

More Gymnastics Buddies

I have alot to say about my most recent family portrait session with my friend Melissa. Melissa, was one of my most fierce gymnastics competitors (when we were 12). She was known for being tiny and cute and having perfect form in floor and beam. AND she was crazy flexible. Her splits were flawless. Her shoulder flexibility was FAR more than ANYONE else's in our gym. One of my memories is her laying on her stomach and bending her back over her head so far that her bottom touched her hair. NUTS. And this of course, made me crazy jealous.And, she was nice. I mean, NICE to the core: friendly and positive and kind.

And this is the type of mom and wife she is. I am so proud of people that I knew as pre-teens, who turn out to be professional, good to the earth, kind hearted and loving. Not to be all sappy, but she is still amazing. I admire the type of mom she is. I hope she doesn't mind if I call and ask parenting questions once my little boy gets here!

And this is her awesome son, who was so cute and active and elusive. He wasn't super duper into me taking his photo, but I did manage to get some photographs of his sweet smile.And here is the dad. He is an avid gardener. Their yard was so amazing and I wanted to actually steal some of their yard statues.

book design

soooooo excited to show this sneak peak of my newest press-printed baby book. This is Miss Kysa. And because she and her parents are awesome, I picked a whimsical, hip design for her one-of-a-kind memory book from our fall 2010 family portrait session.

LOVE

LOVE

LOVE.

i really like food

food photography, that is! I could pretty much photograph food being prepared, cooking and served everyday - especially when I get to eat it...My latest food photography gig was at Piedmont Restaurant, located in Durham, NC. It is a super hip restaurant. Romantic. Even the wall color and pendant lighting were hip and cool. Here is what it looks like on the outside: Above is my take on the beet salad. It was so beautiful and red when I cut into the beet. Below is the fritter.And the chef? SUPER cool. He is from Portland, Oregon, has dreadlocks, and makes a seriously mean fritter. And my friend Darby (who bartends)? She makes a mean virgin blueberry spritzer. I had two because they were DELICIOUS. even their cappuccino photographs well. and it was d i v i n e.

gymnastics friends!

Many, MANY years ago, I was a happy little gymnast in Wilkesboro, NC. One of my teammates was Elizabeth, who turned out to be an INCREDIBLE woman. I re-met Elizabeth (although I think everyone except me calls her Liz) at a bar in Chapel Hill, three years ago. She had gone to UNC and was back visiting family, and I was just off of work, playing pool with some friends. She looked SO familiar, so I turned to her and asked 'did you take gymnastics as a kid?' and she said "oh my god, DANNNNNNNieeeeeeeeelllllllllllleeeeeee?' and i am not sure who made the higher-pitched louder girl shriek. It was awesome. We talked forever. We drank Margaritas. (ok, I drank margaritas, she drank beer). Fast forward three years. She hired me to photograph her kids.

All three of these kids were polite AND yet quite cool. They were willing to get photographed where ever I asked. They made sure that I did not get hit by a car, standing in the middle of the road to take the first shot of the 4 of them. I loved them for that. And I loved Liz for hiring me, for catching up, and for being awesome. THANK You Liz. For being such a great mom and a wonderful old friend.

roosters and flowers

I really want a big mexican rooster sculpture, like the one in the background in this photo. I mean I REALLY want one. A 4 foot tall one, Maybe one like these two: I think it would be the cookiest, but lovliest thing to have in my back yard. And I want a big one. I have wanted one since I saw one in Deborah Triplets photo studio (charlotte photog who rocks) Cool things in the background can really make a photo. Even if it is just color and structure, like in the two diptychs below.And, here is one background and photo that didn't work out so well. because the lighting was wrong, and there was not too much I could do to correct it, unless I had a team of folks to hold a 30 foot diffuser for me... but I like the idea. And little Miss R's expression. H looks like he is too cool for school.

friends, their kids, and spies

This young man is Fletcher. I have photographed him for more or less five years now. Since before he was talking. Which is nuts to me. He is a scientist, an inventor, a fantastic play pretender, a chef, an understated comedian, an excellent shopping companion and a deep thinker. I love the quiet photos of him, like below.And of course, I adore the photograph below, where I asked him to make me laugh. So, when he stuck his fingers in his nose, I laughed, snapped the photo and his mother was horrified. But, anything is ok with me. Because this photograph really makes me giggle; who gives a crap that it is not proper.
Here, Fletcher is hiding from me, using his best spy moves. We talked alot about the business of being a spy. Did you know there is a spy museum in Washington DC? There is.
And here is my dear friend Joanna, the mom of this wonder kid. She is pretty much my best friend, although we do not nearly get to spend enough time together. I adore her. I wonder if she knows?
So, back to Fletcher. This is my favorite photograph taken during our session. His expression is so cute. So calm. So six years old. I am showing the image as I photographed it below.
And where I have cropped closer to his face. I think I like the cropped one better, maybe because all the wall graphics are too distracting.
What do you think?

childhood friends (with babies)

I spent this weekend in North Carolina, visiting my parents (15 months is a really long time to not see your parental units), 2 of my bestest friends Carlotta and Corey. And, also, to do a few portrait sessions, including my first session which was 4 hours early (due to an impending rain storm).My goal was to create artsy, country, city, maybe even wacky family portraits for my dear childhood friend Allison and her (awesomely swedish) husband. THE star of the show was their newest addition, baby girl Kysa. I nicknamed her Wondercheeks!Look at her rock out this Ed Hardy hat with additude. So citified.She is Deliciousness in a 5 month body. she loves New York. She also is fascinated with her french bulldog, Lexie. If I had a beautiful baby AND a white frenchie, I would want this print. HUGE. in my kitchen. Like, 5 feet tall. yummmmmm.I love this patriotic portrait of Lexie below (who also has some wonderful cheeks). I has always wanted a frenchie, and she made me want one even more. she was loving and calm and obedient. (Frederic was to my left feeding her lamb treats) Mostly I just love those ears and how properly she sits. Regal.

Thank you Allison for driving SO far to let me photograph your family. And thanks to your mom for sending me on my way with fresh strawberry lemonade and APPLE cake. I shamelessly ate it in the car, with my hands!

BFF photographer

Photographing Teenagers is going to become my next business venture/demographic. I have decided that I absolutely can create kick ass high school senior portraits. My friend Ali let me borrow her daughter (below) (and her BFF) for practice. AND GUESS WHAT?

I LOVED IT. Teenage girls are seriously fun.So maybe photographing people over the age of two is not nearly as hard as I had thought it was!

a family that apples together stays together

My friend Lainie and her awesome family. Her children oooooze of coolness. They asked for a traditional family portrait, and where is what I gave them. A true snapshot of them spending quality time together!Such cool kids. I love this shot below (although the color processing was a bit too artsy for Lainie!)