Going green

Lately I have decided that I want to be more eco-friendly. We started recycling a while back and are now thinking about stopping our bottle water purchases and buying a water cooler for the 5 gallon jugs. I bought some reusable shopping bags and even produce bags from http://www.ecobags.com/, I intend on keeping them in the car at all times and using them for every purchase. I also bought some new cat litter called Swheat-Scoop, it is made from naturally processed wheat and is much better environmentally in many ways. So now I am thinking about ways to make my studio more eco-friendly. I love my packaging, but am looking into alternatives that are made from re-cycled materials. So far I haven't had a whole lot of luck, just not much for photographers out there. Although you can help by re-using the boxes that you get from me to deliver the prints to your family in, also by using them to store your old prints that you no longer hang on your wall. I am not sure if they are re-recyclable or not, I am checking in on that. The pretty bags that your prints come in would make great gift bags for anyone. I don't have any logos or stamping on my bags, so they would be great for that purpose. I really don't have a lot of printed material and use e-mail for corresponding most of the time. If you have any more ideas for me personally or my studio, feel free to pass them on.

Kyndal's little friend Brooke

Last week Kyndal's friend Brooke and her Mommy Jill came over for a play date and some Mommy and daughter pictures. Saturday they brought Daddy over for some family photos. Although we have been around Brooke on several occasions and seen that cute smile, this time she was one tough cookie to crack. I worked pretty hard to get a few smiles; bubbles, stickers on my camera, head. Songs, peek-a-boo. Silly noises, and noisy toys. I was thrilled that we did get some smiles, but I think she is just gorgeous in this more serious one.

Here she is with her Mommy

Brooke and her very sweet smile, and I love this dress too.

Smiling with Mommy and Daddy

Such a sweet family

A maternity collage and new baby girl

One of my maternity clients had her baby yesterday, she was born a couple of weeks early. Congratulations to Cherise and her family. I can't wait to see the baby. She is yet to be named because she didn't find out the sex of the baby with her ultrasound and everyone told her it would be a boy and she didn't have a girl name picked out. Yesterday even I said it was going to be a boy. I should have stuck with my first instinct though because when we did her maternity photos, I kept on calling the baby a "her". Anyway here is the beautiful maternity collage that I made for Cherise.

Jackson aka the biggest ham

Jackson came back for his 7 month pictures. He brought along his daddy and grandma and grandpa. I photographed Jackson's mommy when she was pregnant with him and he came back when he was a newborn and again at 4 months. Jackson's newborn picture has been on the intro to my website for quite some time now, the little guy wrapped up in the star blanket on the wood bench. You can see how great he is in front of the camera by his smile in that picture, but his session from this weekend really takes the cake. Jackson would be looking down doing his own thing and then I would call his name, he would immediately look up smile and pose for the camera. He had the room just laughing at him it was so cute. Here is an example of this photogenic kid.

Everyone is turning one....Happy Birthday Alex

I had yet another 1 year old session last weekend. I have another one next weekend too. I should be an expert now. I should be ready for my little munchkin to turn one, right? Well here is Alex and a birthday cake collage that I made for his Mommy and Daddy. He really didn't get all that messy. He sure was cute using the number 1 candle as a spoon though, smart kid ;)

Another busy 1 year old with beautiful eyes

This is James, I took his portraits when he was a newborn, at 6 months, and now at 13 months. He has changed so much each time I see him. He is now a little man, a busy little man at that. We did portraits at his home both indoor and outside. I picked the last picture to show off his eyes. The last two little boys I did pictures of had amazing eyes!