Last weekend my daughter came home from college for the long weekend.  I decided to take advantage of this time, and try to get some pictures of my 3 children together.  With her not being home all the time now, I figured I better try while I can, because I know how these things can go.

Now, you have to understand, that just because I can take beautiful pictures of other people’s children, that doesn’t mean it always works in my family.   Please refer to my November 2007 post of trying to get pictures for Christmas cards to see what I mean.

I set my expectations low, planning on the fact that my son would say he was going to cooperate, then change his mind.

Well, the stars aligned, and God smiled down, and I got my pictures.  Not only one day, but TWO!!

Since it was such a momentous occasion, I just had to share with you all.

But first, as you can see, it still never exactly goes smoothly…

I have photographed this little guy and his mom and dad a couple of times, but this time he had visitors and everyone got into the game.  It was a fun session, finding creative ways to get him to cooperate with the pictures.  I hope everyone has a safe trip back home.

Little Miss L and Miss A started off a busy day for me.  Miss A just found her walking legs, and kept trying to use them on the uneven ground, without much success.  Miss L was very patient and a wonderful model for me.  They are both precious and I look forward to doing their family pictures this fall!

This morning I had the pleasure of photographing a wonderful family celebrating their parent’s 50th anniversary.  They totaled 16, but were so easy to work with in the oppressive heat this morning.  Everyone was as ready to get out of the heat as I was because we squeezed a LOT of photography in one hour!

Thank you all for being such a great group, and once again…Happy Anniversary!

I have to say, having twins people often say to me “I don’t know how you do it”.  Well, I take my hat off to this mom!  4 kids 5 and under, including a set of 9mo old twins.  I REALLY don’t know how they do it. But, they were such a fun family, and dad hung in there without griping even with the HIGH humidity heat.

Thank you Liz and Scott for allowing me to photograph your family!

Today I had the distinct pleasure of photographing a new little boy.  He is the sweetest thing…unless he is hungry (aren’t we all).  His mom (from my last maternity post) is adjusting well to having a little boy in the house, and his big sisters love him lots.  Thank you, Deborah, for allowing me to photograph your little boy.  He is just precious, and congratulations to your family!

I also want to thank my good friend Margie for helping me with this shoot.  She is visiting from Florida, and came with me.  It was nice having an extra pair of photographer eyes. Thank you Margie!  We are going to miss you when you leave tomorrow!

I hope everyone had a great 4th holiday!  We really enjoyed the day having a cookout with our neighbors, and then going to see our local fireworks.

I wanted to give you some tips on taking pictures of fireworks.

There are a couple of things you need to get good fireworks pictures.

1.  Someplace steady to set your camera

2.  A very slow shutter speed.  You will want it to stay open for several seconds. (hence the need for a steady place for the camera)

3.  If you can control the aperature on your camera, you want to set it to about f11.

If you aren’t using a tripod, find something steady to set your camera on.  This is important because with the slow shutter speed, you will get a LOT of movement if you try to hold the camera.

Once you hear the fireworks thump when it is fired, press your shutter gently.  You will need to work on the timing a little bit because you want the shutter speed to be long enough that it captures the blast of the fireworks and a bit of the trail.

With a bit of experimenting, you will be able to get some really neat shots.  Here are a few that I got last night.

My friend Deborah already has 2 beautiful little girls, and now she is expecting a son…and wondering what you do with boys She is a beautiful person inside and out, and I was so honored for her to ask me to do maternity portraits for her. I can’t wait to meet her new son in a few weeks.

And just like her initials, she is a little mover! Why do I always forget how busy 1 year olds can be? This little beauty kept me busy, but she was sweet as can be, and a bit of a Cheerio fiend.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of doing some quick shots of one of my favorite families ever. I’ve never photographed their family before, but I’ve taken snapshots of Miss Gracie on several occasions because she was in my son’s class last year. She was one of his girlfriends, and I just love her spunk. She is adorable, and her mom is one of the nicest, most gracious people I’ve ever met. I asked mom if I could do a few shots of Gracie, and in return she asked if I could do a couple family shots recreating their “gotcha” picture from when they first met Gracie in China.

Of course, I had to shoot quick while she when she wasn’t chasing my son all over the property LOL. We think there may be a re-kindling of an old flame.