My blog has MOVED!

Please come over and visit my new and improved photo blog...

Beach Favs

I've just about sorted through all 1500 images from the beach vacation and just had a couple more to share.

Baby Birdies on My Porch

A little over 3 weeks ago I reached for my hanging flower pot to take it down for watering. To my surprise a bird popped up and squawked at me! I realized it was a mama bird who had built a nest in my flowers and was sitting on eggs. We only saw one egg when mama was away from the nest. So, for two full weeks mama bird sat on that nest keeping an eye us as we came in and out of our front door. She has the softest and gentlest eyes. I'm not a huge bird fan but for some reason I really adored this mama bird. I gave up on watering my flowers and they completely dried up but they did provide a perfect nesting spot for mama bird. We went away on vacation for a week and when we returned I was very happy to see that she was still sitting up there on her nest! Either that night or the next morning, I noticed two more heads in the nest. Two baby birdies! They were actually quite big at that point! They couldn't have been more than a week old. So, we watched them Monday and Tuesday and I had intentions of taking photos but always put it off. Finally yesterday afternoon I took my camera outside and captured mama and babies in the nest. Yesterday evening I saw one baby sitting on the edge of the pot and I feared it would fall off of the nest. This morning, the babies were gone from the nest. I suspected they "flew the coop". Mid-morning, Jake went outside to find one baby sitting on the porch railing. I snapped some photos of the baby but didn't want to scare it so we kept our distance. And then, right before our eyes, it flew to the tree in our front yard. Moments later, mama joined baby on a tree branch and we watched their interaction for quite awhile. So awesome to see their relationship! We never saw the other baby but hopefully it was nearby and mama spent some time with it, too. How cool is that?? Sure beats flowers on the porch anyday!! Oh and never put off taking photos of wildlife until the next day...you might just miss your chance as I came so close to finding out!!!

Vacation

We had a wonderful week in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and up and down the Outer Banks from Avon to Corolla. I have lots of photos to share, but this is the first I'm ready to publish. Lots of email to dig out from under and CD's from before vacation to deliver and a couple shoots on the horizon. So, for now, enjoy my very handsome (ok, biased!) boys and I'll be posting a few more later.

Welcome Taylor Grace

I had the honor and privilege of attending the birth of this little angel on Tuesday. Each and every one is so special to me. I am still in awe of the miracle of birth and in the pure determination and perseverance demonstrated by mothers and in this case, of Taylor's mom who was in complete control throughout her labor and delivery. I can not thank L&S enough for allowing me to be witness to the arrival of their adorable daughter and to be able to document those first moments for them. Wow, what an incredible experience for me to be asked to be there and experience the true joy first hand. I always get choked up with each new life that I capture with my lens. I love it.

Family Fun

This family knows how to have fun! So, the teens might not have been excited to learn that they would be participating in a pre-wedding family photo shoot, but they did know how to make the best of it! Even the "posed" shots turned into candid shots with lots of banter, teasing, bunny ears, etc! I had a hard time focusing because I was constantly laughing with them. They climbed trees, risked their lives on the golf course, and carried each other around on piggy-back and for some reason, I think that is just like any other day in their lives. They truly seem to approach life with a positive, fun-filled attitude! Here's your sneak peek and I'll send the slideshow link soon! Thanks for having me over and special thanks to the teens for tolerating me!!

Harper's Ferry, WVA

We took a little road trip up to Harper's Ferry, WVA yesterday with my parents and my niece and nephew who are visiting from Arkansas. We had a nice, low-key stroll throught the historic town checking out the old buildings converted to museums. The kids visited the John Brown Wax Museum which they thought was super cool and we walked along the river. I highly recommend going there for a family outing and would LOVE to do a family shoot there with all the awesome buildings/trees/railroad tracks/etc.! An awesome opportunity for unique photos. Any takers?? Call me! Here are a few snapshots I took of our family. Purely snapshots!

More of "the boys"...

Notice the turtle in the bottom of this photo...What a fun thing for the boys to see during our shoot. I can't wait until their baby sister is born and I get to hang out with this gang again. They are all very excited about her arrival in a few short weeks. I know all 3 three will be fantastic big brothers!

A Trio of Boys...

...soon to have a baby sister! Wow. What a gorgeous family! Ok, so when I got the call to photograph 3 boys all similar in age to my 3 boys, I was a little scared! My boys run from my camera most of the time. But, not these boys! They were awesome. They couldn't have been more cooperative. And they had great ideas for where to shoot, how to pose, and how to turn on the charm. Such a delight to spend the 5th of July with this family. I promised a sneak peek up tonight and I'm barely making it with 25 minutes to spare. It would have been up earlier, but it has taken me an hour to select a "few" to post! I LOVE so many of them! I'm sure I'll be posting more tomorrow. I hope you enjoy these and stay tuned for more coming your way. Thanks so much for making my job easy!

July 4th in Leesburg, VA

Independence Day started with a good old fashioned parade down the streets of Leesburg complete with firetrucks, WWII veterans, fife and drum players, and a camel (?). Yep, a real live camel drapped in an American flag! After the parade we stopped at the fireworks stand for some "5th of July" supplies, had a mini cookout for lunch and headed to the pool for some swimming. We're taking a little rest break and will be back out for fireworks tonight at Ida Lee Park. Can't wait! Hope everyone is having a wonderful 4th of July!