Summer Is....

Softball. At least in Leedey it is. I'm not kidding you when I say they live & breathe softball/baseball in this town!

My DD (that's "internet talk" for "dear daughter") up to bat. I promise that neither of my children get their softball skills from their mother. Or any athletic skills whatsoever, for that matter! I was more likely to be in Student Council than on any kind of team that involved sweating! lol!

Aw...this kiddo's not mine, but I love this picture.

This kiddo, however, IS mine. Now that's a bonafide ballplayer, complete with visor, glove and bubble gum in the side of the mouth!

Her coach could tell a good story...thank goodness! He kept the masses entertained when we were waiting for games to begin. Do you know how hard it is to capture and keep the attention of a bunch of kids ages 3-6? Near impossible! I'm telling you--he's got talent!

I told you they l-o-v-e ball in Leedey. They start 'em young here! (No, I did not alter the color in this photo: baby girl was simply that HOT!).

One last shot of my big girl either taunting the other team from the bench or cheering on her teammates.


Summer is for softball and so much more!

The Torch Has Been Passed

Not too long ago, I was on my friend Bethany's case about needing to update her blog. She self-titled herself "the lame blogger" (or "LB" for short). Well, I guess the torch has been passed because it's been a while since I have updated my own blogspot!

In my defense, it's been kind of a wild summer. June was packed with sessions and softball games. I've spent two different weeks on trips with our church's youth group (a mission trip and youth camp) and was co-director for our Vacation Bible School. Oh yeah, did I mention that I am also in summer school?? Crazy, I tell ya.

So, all this to say "sorry" that I've become an LB, but I'm planning a series of photo posts entitled "Summer Is..." Stay tuned!

Back in a Sec

FYI--I may be out of phone and internet access for a bit, so please be patient if you call or e-mail and don't get an immediate response. Also, if you are expecting an order delivery, it will arrive next week. Thanks!

Harrison & The Attack of the Chiggars

Say "hello" to Harrison!

I'll just get right to it...this was my favorite shot of the day. Three cheers for beautiful bokeh! Hip-hip-hooray! For those who don't speak "photography," bokeh is related to the "blurred out" background and the shapes that appear therein. In this shot, there is an abundance of circular bokeh in the background, but other shapes can be created like polygons. The purpose of bokeh (not to be confused with boekh which, apparently is some kind of Mongolian wrestling that comes up when you misspell words in the search engine--lol!) is to put focus on the subject of the photo rather than the surroundings.

And, while this shot is not much different, I couldn't keep coming back to it because I kept thinking of a Calvin Klein ad or something. I have no idea why (except that Harrison is a mighty handsome little model)!

And, let's talk about the location for a sec. This was taken in the pasture behind his house. In fact, the old house in the background was the house Harrison's great grandpa grew up in. Cool, huh? The light was beautiful and the grass was green and tall, but there was a hidden danger lurking in that beautiful location.

Chiggers. Loads and loads of chiggers.

I didn't find out until the next day when I awoke to tons of little itchy spots all over my body. I've been in plenty of pastures and overgrown lots this summer, but I have always remembered my boots, jeans and bug spray. Obviously, I forgot the latter this time!

Harrison's prized possession: the antique airplane! So shiny! So fun!

I know some people won't like this shot because it is not centered, but I happen to love it. And it doesn't violate the rule of thirds...another boring photography discussion that you probably don't want to have after all the talk of bokeh. : )



This was my last shot of the day. Harrison took quite a while to warm up to me, but I finally convinced him to try the red chair. He sat in it, gave me a smile and an unsolicited "Cheese!" and said, "Thank you!" a.k.a. "Thank you--you can leave now!" lol!

Kids....they always keep me on my toes!

Little Miss Sunshine?

The thing with kids--especially babies--is that you just never know what kind of mood they are going to be in. They get hungry/sick/tired at the most inconveinient times for their parents....like when you've scheduled a portrait session. lol! How well do I know! My kids are the exact same way.


Lily was having an off day for some reason. She's usually pretty smiley according to Mom, but on the day of our session, it was more like...

Not even the bright colored walls could chase the blues away!

Meanwhile, big bro Toby showed us how it's done.

She looks like she's considering a smile....

Toby kept the smiles comin' (it might have been with a little bribery--mom was taking him to White Water Bay the next day) ; )

Maybe she was checking him out for some tips...




Yay! One toothy grin!

Meet Brin's Family

You remember Brin from the session I posted earlier this week....now meet her family!

We went on an "adventure" in the country...

actually it was around Camargo where Brin's dad grew up.

Awww...a mommy/daughter moment in the sunflowers.

Now meet the incredible smiling dog, Rocky! I love Corgi dogs.

They are so cute! And seriously, he really does look like he's smiling!

On a side note, how do you like our famous Oklahoma red dirt?

When foreigners visit our state, they sometimes bottle it up to take home

(just like we like to steal the white sand off of your beaches, Florida--lol!).

These guys were a photographer's dream--so photogenic!

Welcome to our neck of the woods!

When I said we went on an adventure in the country, I meant it.

This is the car from the photo I posted last night.

It had a bit of a "tree problem." It's a wonder we made it out without getting snake bitten, getting tangled in barbed wire fence or contracting tetanus (there were plenty of boards with old, rusty nails) but we managed!

Because I Promised to Have Some Posted on Thursday...

It's 11:53 p.m. so I did it! Check back for more tomorrow, but for now....

Family Togetherness

Hold on to your seats because the next two images have now become two of my all-time favorites!

*Gasp!* See??? Isn't it beautiful?? Kenlee LOVES her animals...I mean she really L-O-V-E-S them, so I think this shot speaks volumes to that end. At least it does to me.







Then again...maybe this one does! A beautiful horse (that totally looked like Bandy Bo Jay--the horse I had at Kenlee's age) and a beautiful girl with killer dimples and blue eyes... I don't know if I could choose between the two if I had to!




But let's not forget little bro. I caught Tate hanging out by the pond near the end of the session. Barefoot boys sitting by a pond...if there's not a country song with those lyrics, someone needs to write one! :)






What a beautiful family and a beautiful evening! It was an overcast day, but it was cool and the wind was still (the pond was absolutely reflective). That is a rare thing in June in western Oklahoma, my friends!



The blue shirts were absolutely the perfect color choice! For those of you who struggle to break out of the "white shirts + blue jeans" box when preparing for family photos, remember: the key is not to match exact colors, but rather have everyone wear something in the same color family.

Have I ever told you how much I adore old red barns. What's not to love???




Toye & Cody were celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary this year.

Her gift request? Family portraits!

Now, that's my kind of gift!

When the Toye contacted me about family photos, she asked, "Do you have much experience photographing animals?" I admitted that I have done several photo sessions that incorporated animals though I couldn't exactly claim it as my specialty. "Good, "she said, "because we're hoping to get a picture with my family, our three horses and several dogs." We were able to contain the horses long enough for a family photo, but the dogs were running circles around us--lol!

One last sweet image--four generations of men. Gotta love that!

Thanks so much for the wonderful privilege of photographing your beautiful family!

Sneak Peek: Brin

Here's a quick sneak peek for Brin's family; the rest should be posted later this week in the family gallery.

I wish my kids were younger; I'd make them go back to this location and recreate this image so I could hang it in my living room! Heck, I might just make them do it anyway! :)

Aren't those pink ruffles the cutest??

Oh, to be two again. So carefree!

I love this one! It totally says "childhood" to me!

I was surprised that I actually was able to get the focus to fall on the dandelion because she was moving so quickly!

Anyone with a two-year-old totally understands that...

Doesn't she have the prettiest blue eyes? Thanks for playing, Brin!

New Orleans: Wrap-Up

Okay, so this is my final post on our New Orleans experience (promise!). Thought I'd share our mission team video--a complilation of some of everyone's photographs from the week. Enjoy!

New Orleans: Church Restoration

I've mentioned in the past that one of my dreams is to restore an old church building(preferably one with fantastic windows) into a studio. Of course, I've also mentioned that I am a bit of a "realist" and understand that such a project would take a lot of blood, sweat and tears...not to mention a ton of cash and more patience and energy than I could find.

The next best thing? Restoring an old church...that is still a church!

Days 2-4 of our week in New Orleans found us at this beautiful church.

It is 122 years old and truly breathtaking.

It did, however, sustain damage during Katrina. The sanctuary didn't actually flood (to my knowledge) because it is high above ground. However, these large front doors blew open allowing the wind and rain to ruin the wall-to-wall carpeting. Also, a large portion of the steeple fell in and had to be reconstructed.

I'm sorry that it ruined their carpeting, but the original pine floors beneath were stunning!

Our main job was to scrape the paint off of the stained glass windows, tape the glass and put a coat of primer on the wood.

{Proof #1 that I was actually working & not taking pictures all day!}

Um....did I mention that there are over 200 panes in each lower half of the windows? And there were 16 windows in the sanctuary alone??

We also did some painting. Okay, quite a bit of painting.

{Proof #2 that I'm not a slacker}

Standing on your feet all day long in 90-degree weather with 90% humidity while staring at thousands of tiny colored windows and meticulously stripping off century-old paint can be exhausting work. A lot of the time, this fan was our only source of air--that and popping open a window (though we were fortunate to get a little bit of air con during the week).

I'll be honest: it was a little discouraging at times. We really hoped to be out and about, meeting new people.

Once, I took a photojournalism break, walking around the church with my camera, when I came across this Bible lying on the pulpit and opened to this page. You'll notice one of the headers on the left-hand side reads: "Do good to brothers." It was the gentle reminder that I needed. I had to lay aside my own expectations for the trip and focus on the fact that even scraping window panes was helping someone in need.

I had met with the pastor of the church earlier and he was trying his best to get the church ready by July. They had used all of the funds mending the steeple and were now relying on volunteer labor to finish the interior, meaning much of the responsibility fell into his lap. He was a bivocational pastor who was juggling a job, a ministry and (I assume) a family while trying to renovate the church building. That's a lot for one man to take on! This opened Bible reminded me that I may not be a world-changer, but if I can lighten the load of one person (in this case, the pastor), it could definitely change that person's world! I feel like that sums up a lot of what we did in NOLA--lightening people's burdens.

We persevered! And by the time we left the old church, we could actually see progress...and we were able to finish all those windows. Yippee!!!

Yeah, I think we made a pretty good team!