February 7, 2010
Alie’s good friend Lyndsey loves the circus. Last year she found out that the Ringling Bros. were coming to Nashville and she really wanted to go. Alie wanted to take Maggie and I thought it would be fun so we went and had a great time. Well, the circus was back again a few weeks ago and guess who was just dying to go! So we all loaded up again and got to go to the circus. We had some great seats and I couldn’t resist taking my camera. Here are a few shots that I managed to get while we were there. I just loved the look in Maggie’s eyes as she gazed at the show:
This last shot was a personal favorite. There were these two guys that did an act with a cylindrical roll cage attached to a large swinging boom-thing. (Technical, I know!) While they were getting setup, the tiger act was in center ring with all the lights directed towards it. Luckily, our seats put us in the best place for the upcoming act and I couldn’t help but to take a picture of the guy as he “psyched himself up.” I have experienced those same kind of moments before basketball games, meetings, presentations, etc. and it is just a personal moment you need to get in touch with yourself. It was also one of those moments where he probably though no one was paying any attention to him, but I sure was following his every move.
Overall, we had a great time and Maggie loved everything about the circus.
A little change of direction here, but I would have to say that becoming a teacher has been the most rewarding experience of my life. There are some rewards that come from working with my students that I will never be able to explain. However, there is one reward that we have all experienced and that I have grown to love again — SNOW DAYS! Growing up in Indiana, we had our share of snow days, but here in Tennessee it is another story. Were we live, we usually get out for bad conditions in the northern part of the county, but we just don’t get anything at our house. Well, this year proved to be an exception. We had a great snow fall were we got around 5 inches and Maggie was so excited to go make a “no-man.” The snow wasn’t wet enough to make it packable, but she still loved getting out and playing in it. We even got a make-shift sled and took her for a ride (which she loved!). Here are a few pics of my snow bunnies and even Dexter got to make an appearance. You have never seen a dog get more excited than when he is out in the snow. He loves to run around and stick his face in it!
Thanks for taking a moment to see what I have been up to. As most other photographers will confess, the winter season is a slow season unless you live some where warm and sunny all year-long. I am grateful for the break, but I do miss seeing all of my clients and finding new ways to impress them! Until next time…
January 17, 2010
As stated in some posts that seem like forever ago, every once in a while Maggie and I get daddy-daughter days. Well, in this case it was a weekend! Alie had been planning a weekend trip to Gatlinburg with some of the other teachers where she works. So, I said to go have a good time and I will do my best to take care of our daughter and not destroy the house. Well, sometimes with Maggie it is hard to come up with activities that will keep her engaged the whole time. I started mentally flipping through activities that I enjoy and that she too may enjoy. My mind wandered back to when I was a youngster and I would “cook” with my mom. In actuality she would do all the work and I got to enjoy the treats. So, I wanted to cook with Maggie just like I use to with my mom.
On Saturday, we had a good day together doing different activities like attending a middle school b-team basketball game, grocery shopping, etc. and by that evening we were ready to cook! Maggie loves cupcakes, so what better to make with her than yummy cupcakes. I thought about pulling out all the stops and making them from scratch (did I mention I love to cook {and eat}?!), but since it was kinda late in the evening and her attention span was dwindling we settled for a box-mix and a can of icing. After about 15 minutes we had mixed up everything and started the baking process. Just check out how much she LOVED licking the cake batter. I used to…wait I STILL love doing this too.
And yes, that is batter on her forehead. I knew it would be too late when the cupcakes were all finished to eat them, so we waited until today (Sunday) to eat some. I told her that she needed to look at me because her Aunt Jodie would love to see her munching on some homemade goodies. Aunt Jodie is who inspired me to pick up cooking, and I know that Maggie loves her Auntie although she has only got to meet her a couple of times so I had to use it as leverage.
Once we got done eating our cupcakes, we went to McDonald’s to get some lunch and then we were going to head to the Adventure Science Center in Nashville. We were going to pick up Alie down in Nash’ anyway so why not go have some fun?! By the way, not only does Maggie like cupcakes, she loves McNuggets from Micky-D’s and I wanted to make sure she ate before we got Alie.
I don’t know why she has her hands over her ears, but it was one of the only pictures we got because we were there for only about a half an hour (thank goodness for free admissions for teachers). We had some great times this weekend, but my most favorite was this morning when Maggie walked up behind me while I was getting a drink and she hugged my leg and said in her own words “I love you daddy.” And yes that is before I tempted her with a cupcake 
It is moments like that which is why I love what all my wife has done for me and I will forever cherish the gifts she has given to me.
January 1, 2010
So I had three shoots right before Christmas and I was doing everything I could to get these pictures back to the clients so they could enjoy them during the holidays. You will have to forgive the informality of this post, but I was waiting to make a final post of these sessions just before ringing in the new year. First we are starting off with newborn Maisy. She is the daughter of a wonderful lady that I work with and I was so excited when she asked me to do the pictures.
And we can’t forget big sis!
Next we have Greta. She was another newborn, but this time she is the daughter of an existing client. Remember Jackson? This little sweetie is his new sister! It was neat to see how big he has grown and to see this great family again.
And we had a little holiday fun with the Santa hat!
Last but not least, I had another new client thanks to a gift certificate. My sister-in-law, Brea, asked if I could donate something for an auction to benefit adoption. The sister of my client purchased the certificate and gave it to my new clients as a Christmas gift and they decided to get a family session. The Webster family was so sweet and their little family is just precious. I hope they, as well as all of my other clients, enjoyed their photos from our sessions!
I also grabbed a few shots of their daughter so they could have some portraits of her too!
Happy New Year to all and thanks for all of your support this year! I can’t wait to see what we can create in the new year!
December 19, 2009
I got to have another session with these sweet brothers. It hadn’t felt like it had been 3 months already, but when their mother called and asked for another session I was happy to oblige. We again ventured over to one of my favorite spots, Moss-Wright Park in Goodlettsville for their shoot. With the cold days we have been having and the limited availability of great natural light in the evenings, it was a miracle that we were able to get these shots. These boys loved being outside and although it was cold and it took a toll on them by the end of the session, we got some cute shots!
Check out how big Sol is getting:
And now for big brother Hudson:
And we always have to get a baseball themed picture for this family, but with the cold weather all of the ball fields were locked up. So, we had to go for the next best thing…a batting cage! It was all we had available, buy by this time they were ready to go home so we had a few tears in the picture.
December 15, 2009
I remember the first time I had a session with Lilli, she reminded me so much of my little Maggie. She was this sweet little blonde haired girl who had these big blue eyes that would just melt your heart. When her mommy sent me a request to do her 2 year pictures I couldn’t wait to see how much she had grown in a year! We scheduled to shoot down in Nashville at the Parthenon again to take advantage of the grounds and the architecture. Sure enough, Lilli was just as sweet as ever and she has gotten so big now! Just have a look…
I love how her mommy and daddy snuck a quick kiss in while we were waiting for her to come back around the column!
December 12, 2009
The Smith family happens to be some close friends and I was so excited when they asked for a family session. We had to work through a busy schedule, but we got a date and time and then worked on a location. I am all for outdoor shoots, but finding a location amidst all the difficult weather we were having at the time made it difficult. We decided to do an urban style shoot up in Springfield. It was the most fun wondering the streets of Springfield with friends all the time taking photos. Just take a look how wonderful these came out:
