my best friend is having a BABY...YAY!!!

It's happening.... sometime SOON Woot Woot!  In my quest to illustrate different perspectives on what can be a beautiful backdrop we explored some abandoned brick places peppered with a bit of graffiti.Fitting for the daddy to be and as for the mommy she's always been a fan of the off beat! These two are gonna rock this thing called parenthood! XO

My family portrait...serene background..nope not today

First things first a Very Merry Christmas from my family to yours! 

I am so grateful to all the families I have watched grow and the new one's I met this year!

So many of my clients worry about the backdrop of their photo shoot or what happens if its rains on their wedding day because the "place" is kind of plain inside. I did MY family portrait, self timer and all in a particularly ugly outdoor basketball court right down the road from my home. 

I choose it for several reasons...

• We could shoot mid day the best time for my guys, but have dramatic side light like late afternoon
• this was past the beautiful fall foliage and the ground was muddy so the concrete was helpful in keeping my guys clean, 
• the court is quasi contained helping keep my boys and our dog Sweetie inside the frame, 
• ...but probably my MOST important reason was to illustrate that photographic artists see a space differently. That is one of the reasons why you hire a professional. I see light, shadows and textures. It means very little to me "where" we are. 

I shared so many images above so you could see the behind the scenes chaos....kids are chaos. Mine probably define chaos..so please know that I do not expect your children or family members at a wedding to necessarily "comply". I photograph life and life is very disorganized but it's pretty beautiful! ...Especially when you jump in the frame.. like I forced myself to do. Now I am SO happy...THRILLED really.. to have the above family portrait with ALL of us. So next time Jump in! My hair was ridiculously lousy that day...so I threw on a hat. There's always a reason to stand to the side, but your most important reasons to jump in are in the frame... waiting to hold onto the magic of this precious moment in space. I blinked and Gavin and Quaid are 7 and 5..magic I tell you! Who knew it would move so quickly.