Yes!  It's the title of a video I made as an entry for a contest put on by Jose Villa Workshops.  The workshop is in Mexico (I heart Mexico) in November 2010.

Rich (my hubby) and I came up with the idea and we put it together yesterday.  It cracks me up everytime I look at it. My husband is hysterical!!! 

The rule is to make a 12 second video convincing Jose to pick you.  I think this one will at least get his attention!  What do you think?
The Kissing Booth on 12seconds.tv

Wow! Time just flies, doesn't it?  I can hardly believe it has been 6 months since I photographed brand new little baby Lael. (click here for that post)  Much to my bewilderment it has been though.  Mom, Christy, asked me to take Lael's 6 month portraits.  Yay!  I love this little girl.  Everytime I see her, she gives me a smile.  I think she likes me.  :)

Lael has the most beautiful shade of red hair....and those blue eyes!

What a cutie!!!

I'm thinkin' it's a good thing she has a big brother!  Just thinkin'....

Until next time, Lael....

Last weekend I attended a fundraising event for an excellent cause...Northwest Childrens Home".  I was asked to cover the event and I consider it a priviledge to do so.  This is a much needed and much deserving organization that provides a nurturing environment for at risk kids.  You can read about it more here:  Northwest Childrens Home

This years event was themed "The Art of Giving".  It was held at the Red Lion in Lewiston and was well attended.  The venue was great!

Going with the art theme, they auctioned off artwork that was made by the kids at the home.  I was impressed!  Here are a couple of the paintings.

After the silent and live auctions and fabulous dinner, everyone danced to a live band. 

It was a good time for a good cause!

Who said history can't be fun? 

A recent picture of my kids (plus a fellow homeschooler in the middle) showing off their dress up projects for Ancient History. 

In a couple weeks we are going to mummify a chicken!  Stay tuned for that.  :)

Well...we've been back from Disney World for a week now and I am just getting to post some pictures!  I think I need a vacation to recover from my vacation. Why is that???

Sadly...I have a lack of pictures to share.  I didn't take my "big" camera because I didn't want to have to tote it around DW, so we just took out point and shoot.  And I guess we were just having too much fun to remember to take pictures.  We have a lot of video, but barely any pictures!  The shame! 

I was at least off to a good start!  My kids got soooo excited when they saw this sign!

One thing I can say about Disney is that they really know how to create an "experience".  It would be good for any company in the service business (myself included) to study how they do things.  No detail is overlooked and they keep you constantly entertained.  It's amazing, really.  And the rides and everything looked like they just built them, even though they've existed there for YEARS!  No wonder the tickets are so much $$$!

Here is one of Nick gettin' a little love from Snow White.  He was so shy about it.  She called him "My Prince" and gave him a little smooch just to add to the embarrassment.  :)

So here is one of us on the Dumbo ride....self portrait.  What cheese!

The Best Part of Disney.......seeing my kids faces when they met the characters!  Made me want to be a kid again.  It was magical!

The Worst Part.....freezing our butts off.  Really.  Bad timing on our part.  We hit Florida about the time record colds hit.  We smiled through the cold though.  It was Disney!  You just can't not smile.  :)  Plus....just try to find a coat at Disney World that won't cost you an arm and a leg.  (it would have left me limb-less since they already took one arm and leg on the way in!)

Overall....a great time!  Can't say I'll be lining up to get back there...but I'm glad we went.

Well...we are heading south for awhile.  Florida.  Sunshine...sand...and Disney World!  The kids are so excited!!!  It will be the first time to Disney for me, so I'm not sure how to feel about it.  I'll let you know when I return. 

It will be a nice break from the cold.  Here are a few pictures I took this morning of my daughter and her good friend Sophia sledding.  And Chloe.  

See you when we get back!

(note:  the scheduled print price increase will not take affect until after the first week in January, so you still have a little more time to order before the small increase)

Milestones.  All milestones should be documented in pictures.  When your baby turns one year old and you both just graduated for college....those are milestones to commemorate!  That's just what Ben and Elaine Bayly had going on.  Their beautiful little Ayda just turned one year old and they both just graduated from the University of Idaho!  Yay!  I was honored to document this little milestones in the life of their family. 

We began the shoot indoors and Ayda was totally charming...

Adorable....

Then we headed outdoors.  It was a little cold, so the session was short, but we got some GREAT pictures.  It was snowing a little and I just love the feel of these images....

One of my favorites from the day...with dog Copper.

Ok...this post has two purposes:  (1) to show off my cute little guy, Nick and (2) to sing the praises of Nikon! 

This photo was shot in an almost dark room at ISO 6400!  No flash was used. The "grain" (called "noise" in digital photography) is so beautiful I can hardly believe it.  It reminds me of the grain I'd see when I shot film. 

I have had the Nikon D700 for some time now but have never really tried this high of an ISO until now.  I've shot at 3200 alot at wedding receptions and such with great results, but never tried 6400.  The D700 and D3 are praised for their ability to capture beautiful images in low light.  I'm a believer! 

**I made an 8x10 of this and the noise is barely visible**

A few months ago, I blogged my Brother and Sister-in-laws maternity session. (Click here for the post.)  I told you then that they were excitedly awaiting "Bumpy", their first child.   What I didn't tell you is that they had just found out that their baby had a very rare, very serious and very complex heart condition called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.  All of our hearts broke when we heard the news as we knew what a difficult road lay ahead for "Bumpy" as well as Natalie and Steve.  They were pretty certain that the baby would go full term but uncertain about what would happen after delivery.  They prepared for the worst and hoped and prayed (as we all did) for the best. 

On November 19th, baby Adeline arrived!  Four days later, she had to endure open heart surgery.  This first of at least three  surgeries is the most critical for these babies and I am so overjoyed to report that Adeline came through it as well or better than anyone could have hoped for and is now home with her mommy and daddy.  Of course, her situation is still a serious one, but we are all so happy for this little miracle of life.  She is special, for sure. 

We went to Illinois to meet her and I took these photos of her a few days after her homecoming.  She is amazing!   And she was workin' it for the camera!  Look at this sweet little face. She was dreaming and I would love to know what it was that she was dreaming about!  Her entire face smiles....just like her mommy! 

Sweetness.

Adeline...you are so loved.  Keep fighting baby girl! 

Well, it's here!....like it or not.  Winter.  Since I quit skiing years ago, I haven't been a huge fan.  But circumstances keep me here most of the winter so I decided I was going to try to embrace it this year rather than fight it.  That never helps anyway.  I needed an attitude adjustment if I was going to be happy about the white stuff.

One thing I did was buy a pair of snowshoes!  Love them!  Something I grew to dislike about skiing is the long lift lines and huge crowds.  With the snowshoes, I just go out my back door, slip them on and start walking.  It's so quiet and peaceful.  And....a great workout to boot!

Another thing I'm doing is taking on a winter photography project.  Not just any photography, though.  I'm going back to my roots and shooting film.  Actually I'm going back even farther than my roots since I'm going to be shooting with vintage cameras!  I'm so excited.  I've borrowed some working vintage cameras from a good friend of mine (and mentor), Stever Painter, and I got some medium format film and am ready to go!  I also bought a Polaroid camera off of Ebay and some SX-70 Time Zero film (they don't make it anymore so it's like gold to get ahold of!).  Ok...so the Polaroid is not exactly "vintage" maybe....but how many people shoot polaroids anymore? And I wanted my kids to experience that "magic" where you are waiting for an image to appear!  So cool!  (does that make me a geek?)

Here are the first images I took with the SX-70 film.  I love the look of this film.  The colors are so muted and, to me, have a very vintage look and feel.  I realize they are a far cry from the crisp saturated images of today, but they have their own beauty. They remind me of the images I used to spend hours looking at in old family photo albums.  They just make me feel good!

Hope you enjoy!  Check back for more as I will occasionally be posting more images from this personal project. 

Ok...have I said how much I love babies!  Pure sweetness.  LOVE 'EM!!!!  And love photographing them.  Is there a better job in all the world...I think not. 

Meet baby Elizabeth....just look at this sweet face.  She was an absolutely perfect little model!

I love taking newborn portraits in the first week or two because they are still so sleepy and you can get the sweetest images!

Love baby feet! 

Ammon, Natalie, and big brother Noah....enjoy every moment!

We love the Wettstein's!  We have such fun every year when they make their annual trek here from Oregon for a visit, fun, and a new family portrait.  Pam likes to send out a holiday card every year with their family's picture on it so I am challenged each year to do something a little different.  This year, I was challenged just to get a picture at all because the weather was not very cooperative.  It doesn't show in the portrait how cold it was...you'll just have to trust me. 

This image has a bit of a vintage feel, which is what they wanted for their card.  I like it!

Thank you Jay, Pam, London, Cory and Tyler!!!   See you next year!!! 

You know how it goes...the carpenter's house is never quite finished.  The plumber's sink is leaky.  The painter's house needs painting.  Well...sometimes the photographer's family is WAY over-due on getting a family portrait.  So...last weekend some good friends of ours made their annual trip to our house from Ontario, Oregon. In spite of the very cold weather, we got family pictures taken for them (check back for those later!)  I handed my camera to Jay and and he got a few shots of my family.  Not bad, Jay! 

What can I say about Sam?  He's a boy with boundless energy and a very curious nature.  I'm sure there were lots of things he would have rather been doing than getting his portraits taken, but he was a sport and I'm pretty sure he actually ended up having a little fun.  We took the portraits at his home which has a beautiful landscape and many great backdrops.  I love this one with the awesome fall colors....

Look!...a window in his smile!   I love this age.  :)

Giggles!

Look at this handsome guy! 

Thanks Sam...for showing me your place. And for letting me chase you around with my camera! 

One look at this little man and I was enchanted!  The instant Connor got out of the car he was talking and he giggled and wiggled and talked non stop for the entire session.  I adore him!  You just can't help but adore him.  His parents are pretty cool too.  :)  And definitely very in love with this little boy. 

"Connor Lee Atticus Wilson" is what he proudly told me his name was. 

Look at those eyes!!!

Connor is soon going to welcome two baby sisters into his family as mommy Jennifer is carrying twins!  Yay!  When I asked Connor how many babies were in his mommy's tummy, he got very excited and held up two fingers!  I have a feeling those babies are going to get alot of attention. 

Thank you Bobby, Jennifer, and Connor Lee Atticus Wilson!  You guys are awesome!!!