.weekend.

I am sorry I have been m.i.a. the past few days. I have been so swamped and also kinda sick. I shot a wedding on Friday where over 450 guests attended, then Saturday I had a shoot and a wedding to attend, then Sunday we had family stuff all day! Whew! I have a lot to catch-up with this week, so come back to see Dan & Malina's Engagement shoot, baby Georgia's shoot, baby Brody's shoot, the Herring family shoot, and Craig & Angie's Engagement shoot.

Here are a few fun pics of the family from yesterday. My mom wanted to get us all together because my brother, Kyle (aka "Turtle-Man") is headed to La Jolla, California (San Diego area) today for a summer job. It was a little sendoff cookout for him. He just graduated with an education degree, and will be working at Camp La Jolla as a camp counselor/instructor. Kids and teens attend Camp La Jolla who have a little bit of a weight problem, and the philosophy at this camp is to make lifestyle changes that include healthy diet and fitness regimens to improve their overall weight and physical well-being. This camp has been featured on Oprah, ABC News, Dateline, ET, CBS News, USA Today and FOX. Apparently parents spend something like $10,000 to send their child here for an 8 week program, so I anticipate that there is a high level of professionalism and organization at Camp La Jolla. Good luck, Turtle! Hopefully I can find some work out in So. Cal and then I'll come out to visit this summer!

Here's the adorable LyzaBug! That's what we all call her because her eyes are always WIDE open like bug-eyes!!! Claire even calls her LyzaBug:)

...and I'm pretty sure that I taught this funny face to Claire last week when I was at their house. I had no idea that she'd latch-on and remember this face. Ha! Sorry Jess and Brian! I forget that Claire remembers EVERYTHING!

Here's the family photo that my mom's been dying to have for a long time now. We never have an opportunity to get a good family shot, but we nailed it yesterday. I setup the tripod and set the timer on my camera. We were all blown away that this shot worked on the FIRST TRY! Claire and Lyza BOTH looked at the camera on the first try!



Claire wanted to say hi to some of our family members that live out of state, so here goes...



In other exciting news, my brand spankin' new business cards and notecards are on press today at 12:30pm! I cannot wait to get them and start handing them out to you all! Alright, that's all for now...I've got lots of work to get to!

megan+lamorris | engaged!

Leading up to their engagement shoot, I had not yet met LaMorris. What I knew about Megan was that she loved pictures and she was a facebook fanatic. So, I knew that my job was to get them loosened up because deep down these two LOVE being photographed. Ummm yeah, it only took about 5 minutes before I saw their true personalities come out! ha! I think the images below are a pretty accurate representation of their character and love for each other. I can't wait until their July wedding!!

I loved all of these images and couldn't pick just one, so I picked 9!!!;)
(click on the image to make it larger)


Love the lighting and the attitude here!


LOVE Megan's smile here:)


This one HAS to put a smile on your face! I can't remember what they were laughing at, but it must have been hilarious!





We found these great little orange trees!





Just a little silliness!






Megan and LaMorris, thank you so much! I am looking forward to your big day and spending a little time in chi-town! I hope you love all of your shots! Enjoy the show...
(oh, and I can't get enough of this song. i keep playing it over and over!)

isaac | the.studmuffin

Our friends, Jason & Julie asked me to take Isaac's photos again. Of course I accepted...who wouldn't with a cutie like Isaac??!! This time, Julie wanted to do our shoot downtown which fits Isaac's look perfectly. He's got this crazy spiked hair and I knew he had some camo shorts that I thought would look oh so hip in an urban setting! He didn't disappoint. He showed up with his game face on, except that we could get the game face to go away! Julie tried everything to get this kid to smile. We did luck out and get a few of Isaac's big grin! Checkout this studmuffin...

What a tough guy:)

He is just too cute!

Love this!



Look! No hands!

I think this shot makes Isaac look so old:)




He was definitely trying to pick up the ladies with this pose--ha!



Baby Gap model?!!








It was so hot out when we were shooting, so we snuck into the new toy store on Mass Ave. Isaac LOVED Rody. Jason, here's the link to buy your son his very own Rody!!



One of my faves:)

Such a stud...


Julie & Jason, you've got a cute little guy on your hands! Alright, I did something a little whacky with Isaac's slideshow (I know, I'm livin' life on the edge). Jason, promise me you won't turn down the music on his slideshow! I know you think my music is cheesy, but this just works! Enjoy!

my.nieces!

I think it's been a few weeks since I posted any Claire and Lyza photos. Last Friday I spent some time with them and as always, there wasn't a dull moment! I didn't have my good camera with me, so please don't judge my photographic abilities with these photos!! ha. Aren't they the cutest??!!

(you can click on the image to make it larger)