thank heaven

Thank heaven for little girls. They are keeping me in business these days. Miss Kate is the third baby girl that I have photographed in the last two weeks! So fun. Her hair is fluffy like a baby chick.

She even took a snooze for us.


I have known Scott and Beth for a long time and trust me she is one lucky little girl to have them for parents. Congratulations you two!

To the park!

Saturday was mini shoot day and it was great. My first shoot was with a cute family with two little boys. I've known Angie and Tim for a long time and it was a pleasure to photograph them with their boys. We tried to get some good shots of them in the studio but with these two energetic boys that just wasn't working out so we loaded them up in the wagon and headed to the park.

Looking at the duckies.


The whole fam.

Sometimes you have to resort to tickling to get a smile.

good night Friday

Yes, it is Friday night and its almost midnight and I am blogging. But, I have a lot going on this weekend and there were some photos I wanted to post before I call it a night. It has been a long dang day. One of those days that was so busy that I just now realized I never showered. Nice. It wasn’t bad busy, just a full day. A day of phone calls and photography and Bubbles all over the floor (don’t ask) and putting together a wagon made of 8 million pieces. And now I am snug in my bed with my laptop looking at the photos from my shoot today. Meet little Lunden.

She was a perfect little subject today. She was sleepy and let us maneuver her around and even put her on the mantel.

Lunden’s mom seems to always be wearing a cool scarf so I told her to bring some with her for a photo. Love the colors here.

Congratulations Mike and Beth. She is so cute.

sweet lips

Yesterday was glorious. I had breakfast with a sweet, business savvy friend of mine (Hi Maggie!). Oatmeal, catching up with a friend, and business tips from a pro, what else could I ask for? In the afternoon I actually got work done during Marlie’s nap and when she woke up we headed out for some time with Beth and Weston at Cooperella. A frozen chai tea latte and some play time followed by this precious little find…

CHAI TEA LATTE LIP BALM. Aah Maaz Zing. I have always secretly wanted to slather myself in chai tea goodness and at least now I can slather it all over my lips. I found it at this cute little place..

Today is a mystery to me. I have lots of things I’d like to get done, but it probably won’t happen. This I know for sure: I have to go the store, I have to take a shower or at least put on a hat, I have to squeeze Monkey Pants, I have to get a little editing done tonight, and I want to enjoy it all. Lets Go!

Sophia part deux

Little Sophie came over for a few more photos today. Her mom just had her heart set on some sleeping photos and she was wide eyed when she came over last week. I aim to please and I love taking new baby photos so we snuggled and bounced and rocked her until she was out like a light. And then...we put her up on a shelf. Hee Hee. I have been wanting to do this shot for a while now and Sophie was perfect.

Oh so tiny!

Oh Monday, here you are again.

Is it night time yet? I’m just plum tuckered out today and ready for bed. This weekend full of work and fun wore me out. We helped people move, we worked in the yard, we had the fam over for dinner last night. But we also played hookey from church on Sunday and had a much needed slow pajama morning. Ahh. This photo has nothing to do with Mondays or pajama parties or my family. Its just funny. I took this photo of a staring contest at the zoo last year.

Today Monkey Pants slept until 7:45! That never happens and it was glorious. Also her cheeks got squishier over night I swear. She is growing like a weed and changing every day. I am really enjoying being her mama. It comes with some interesting side effects though. Sometimes I have to stop and laugh at myself like last week when I was on my own running errands. I had been in the car for at least 30 minutes rocking and driving and enjoying some alone time when I realized what I was singing to. It was Marlie’s Sunday school songs CD. I mean I like to rocka my soul in the bosom of Abraham as much as the next guy but not without Marlie bopping along in the back seat! Oh man.

This week I am going to tackle a mile long to-do list and photograph some more babies maybe and drink chai tea and smell pumpkin candles and take Monkey Pants to the park and try and get more sleep. Another week, here we go!

tgif

This dance party brought to you by Jordin Sparks,Monkey Pants and mom. Happy Friday!

hello Sophie

This afternoon I got to meet this little girl. Oh my goodness. I wanted to scoop her up and put her in my pocket.

Katie and Matt had reserved a spot on mini shoot day, but Sophie decided to come early. Since I recommend photographing newborns some time within their first two weeks of life, we moved up her shoot to today.

I didn't get a crying photo because this little girl was pretty content. Miss Sophie did not want to sleep for us. She was sleepy but just too excited about her photo shoot to take a nap. She did give me a little smirk though.


We snapped this one at the last minute and boy am I glad. This folks, is why I love my job. This Daddy loves his little girl.

Go ahead, have a good cry.

Parents usually get kind of upset when their baby starts to wail during a photo shoot with me. And yes, it would stink if the baby cried the entire time, but I must confess I love a good crying baby photo.

Mom and Dad are thinking “Oh crap, here we go.” And I am thinking “Alright, look at that face!”

The scrunchy cheeks. The open mouth. Those eyes. LOVE IT. And then it would be good if they calmed down and fell asleep for me.

Tomorrow I get to photograph sweet Sophia and we shall see if she gives us a good cry. Can’t wait!

I heart nowhere

On Friday our friends got in town, we dropped Monkey Pants off at the in-laws and headed to Hermann, MO. We got to stay at this awesome cabin in the middle of nowhere. It was so cute. And refreshing. I love the middle of nowhere. Especially when you are there with good friends.

On Saturday morning we went to the race early to see the bikers getting ready. Here is George Hincapie, a favorite of the crowd. And Shane getting Mark Cavendish’s autograph. He won the stage that day. Shane claims it was due to the advice he was giving him when I took this photo.


Then we went and found a great place to watch part of the race. I love how Hincapie is looking up at us in the second photo. I guess we were cheering pretty loud.


After that we came back to STL for more fun with more old friends and to watch the end of the race here on Sunday. I ended up staying home with Marlie while she took a nap so I missed it. Just part of being a mom. But from what I hear it was awesome.

A Great weekend with great friends. Laura and Kevin, we love you guys. When I got home from the airport Marlie went running to your room looking for you. She was sad you were gone and I told her I was sad too.

Now its back to reality and back to work. I have a coffee table book to finish up, a shoot to edit, a newborn shoot on Wednesday that I am so excited about, a Monkey to wrangle and I feel a craft coming on. And I’m off like a dirty shirt!

better than chocolate

Thanks for all of the encouraging comments blog readers. I neeed that. They were better than a box of chocolates. You know what else is better than chocolate? Old friends coming in town for a visit. My BFF Sarah is in from Colorado this week and I think I get to have some one on one time with her this evening. She gets me and I love that.

Also my old guiding friend Kevin is coming in from Texas tomorrow! Did you know I used to be a backpacking guide? Back before poopy diapers and sippy cups. It seems like another life time, but its true. When I was in college I spent two summers guiding backpacking trips for high school youth groups in Lake City, Colorado. Here is a really poor quality scanned photo of me and my pack which I named Oscar. I like to name inanimate objects. My cup was rose and I had a knife named Uncle Buck. I don't like knives by the way, you just need one for cooking on trail. You know what I mean? I'm weird huh?

It is the hardest most amazing thing I have ever done next to motherhood. The highs were high and the lows were low and I watched God work and use me in ways I can’t explain. Kevin was there with me both summers. We watched each other grow and change and we have remained good friends since. He is the funniest guy I know and is a faithful friend. Here we are back in the day leading trips together. That other guy is Jeremy our third guide on one trip.



Anyway, Kevin is married to a sweet girl name Laura and they are flying in for the weekend. He is in to biking as much as Shane is so they are coming in for the Tour of Missouri. We are headed to Herrman, MO tomorrow to stay the night and watch some of the race there and then we’ll head back here to watch the finish on Sunday. Fun times ahead. Hope you have a fun weekend!

I have a sign that says this in my office. I am not a quote person really. I usually find them cheesy but when I saw this sign I had to have it. It summed up perfectly what I thought to myself when I started this business. Some days I have to look at it longer than others. Today I should have sat in front of it all day apparently.

I am feeling a little down about stuff. Sometimes this running your own business thing is really hard. And lately it has been extremely unnerving and frustrating. Several people have brought to my attention in the last few weeks that there is an out of state company making photo word collages similar to mine that is starting to sell signs in a lot of stores in St. Louis. And by a lot I mean like every freaking where I look. I know that I didn't invent the photo collage. I have seen them other places over the years. But this particular company is cropping up everywhere, and in the little towns where most of my customers live. And to this I say crap bag.

On top of this I feel like everyone is a photographer these days. And a good one at that. There are photographers everywhere. Some with similar styles as mine, some totally different. But there are a lot to choose from that is for sure. I want people to choose me. I want to stand out and be different and deliver work that keeps people coming back. And some days I feel confident that I am doing just that and then sometimes I don't.

What I would like to do is put on my comfiest PJs, buy a big box of chocolates, and curl up under my down comforter for like two days. But for one, Monkey Pants would be lonely, for two chocolate stains are hard to get out of sheets, and three it wouldn't help a dang thing. So, I will not mope. Ok maybe for a minute or two but then I will suck it up. I will believe in myself. I will surround myself with people that believe in me. I will work harder. I will think creatively and I will keep going. And you know what? The truth is I might fail. And the most important thing is that is OK. Because at least I'll never ask "what if".

SENIORS!

Senior photography is something that I have only had the pleasure of doing a few times and I would love to do more. Here is Kelly, a cute senior I photographed last year.






This new area that I moved to, Lafayette Square, is the perfect place for amazing senior pictures. There are rough brick walls and alleys for urban shots, the park for some greenery and flowers and my studio as well. So, ya know any seniors? Please pass on my name. Thanks!

our visitor

So last night while I was writing my last post I heard some scratching in the ceiling. I called Shane in and he heard it too. We ran upstairs because we could tell that something was in the bathroom up there. We looked everywhere and couldn't find anything. We both shrugged and said we needed to pick up a mouse trap. Frustrating but not too surprising in an old house like this I guess.

About an hour later I had just finished up my post and was doing some emailing in the living room. As I was sitting there something flew in to the room swooping my head and flew out again. I screamed like a girl, because I am one after all, and ran over and shut the door to the room. At first glance I thought oh great there is a bird in here. And then I realized that is no bird, its a bat! At that point I almost wet my pants in fear.

Luckily I had my cell phone with me in the room. I called the house phone and Shane answered upstairs. I told him what was going on and he said he would come down. 5 second later I hear him screaming up there. When he opened the door to the loft the bat was flying around the coffee table. Thinking it was OK to come out since the bat was now upstairs, I opened my door. That dang thing came flying at me again and I slammed the door at the last second sending it smashing into the door.

As we tried to find the number for animal control it flew around the hallway keeping Shane and I stuck on separate floors. I didn't have my camera with me in the room unfortunately because one time I peaked out to see Shane coming down the stairway wielding a laundry basket in one hand and a curtain rod in the other only to run back up screaming.

Animal control finally came. The guy was like the bat whisperer. He came in and the bat didn't move an inch. He just scooped him up in a coffee can and that was it.
Never a dull moment.

A shower for Erin

This Saturday I had a wedding shower for my future sister in law. Her name is also Erin. With the help of my mom we turned the studio room and dining room into the perfect ladies tea room.

We rented some tables and chairs. Got flowers from the farmer’s market for centerpieces.

Made some food and ordered the rest and VOILA!

I think everyone had a great time and Erin got some great gifts. Isn’t she cute?


Then since we had all of these tables and chairs we figure we should do something else fun. So, we had people over to play trivia on Saturday night. I don’t have many photos of that because I was kinda crazy busy hosting and running the trivia game. Here are my friends Amy and Beth pretending like they are having the best time ever playing trivia when I realized I hadn’t gotten my camera out all night. Thanks for the effort girls. Amy is wearing her plastic $ bling necklace that she won. Beth will surely strangle me for posting this photo.

By today I was exhausted and apparently Marlie was too because we both took a 3 hour nap this afternoon. Aaah, heaven.

The weather is beautiful here. It feels like fall and that is my FAVORITE time of year. We took a walk around the neighborhood and the air was crisp. You could smell that people were having fires and the trees are just barely starting to turn. Tonight I got out my pumpkin scented candles to make it official. I know the calendar says fall is a few weeks off but it is in full swing here.

And the winner is...

Alright Monkey Pants isn't here today to do cute photos of her choosing the winner. Its just me in my jammies and those photos would not be cute. So, the winner is.... JULIE ELSTON!!! Congratulations Julie! Looking forward to a shoot with you and your cute fam. Thanks to everyone who entered. I love seeing who is reading this thing. The fall leaves shoot is full but I have a few slots left for the studio day so if you want a slot let me know!

Hey Thursday, I did not like you. You were rainy and you broke my printer and did some other junk. I want to pretend you didn't happen. And you Friday, you are so full that my stomach feels sick but I am going to take you on none the less!

Tomorrow I am hosting a bridal shower for my future sister in law. See the cute invites..


Here is the thing. By tomorrow at noon this place needs to be spic and span and smelling like roses and offering cookies, and right now it is a stinking mess. Seriously, it stinks. I need to take the diapers out.

Also, tomorrow night we are having friends over. I mean I kinda figured hey the house will already be clean so why not.

Monkey is spending the whole day with Gunnie and Papa so I can get my act together. I would love to sit here and have another cup of chai tea, but I guess I better get my big girl pants on and get to work!

keep reading, there is a giveaway down there

Sometimes I look at my new studio space and I can’t believe I have it. It’s a space I’ve always wanted and I am loving it! As soon as we closed on this house I knew that when I got my act together and things set up I would have a grand opening of sorts. So, I have a couch now and a couple other exciting props on the way so to celebrate I am going to have a day of mini shoots.

Saturday, September 27th is the day. Here’s the deal… I will have 30 minute time slots available between 10:00 and 1:30 that day. For $75 you will get a mini studio session and 5-10 digital negatives to print as you please. Once the slots fill up that’s it folks so email me to reserve a slot. Bring your new baby, bring your family, just bring you and finally get a good photo of yourself. Heck bring your dog if you want. Don’t bring your cat. I’m allergic. I might just do this more often if it goes well so come on over!

ALSO. *THIS SHOOT IS NOW FULL*I will be having a fall leaves mini shoot day on Sunday, October 12th in Lafayette Park. Come get that family photo taken for your Christmas card. That day I will have 30 minute morning slots from 8:00-11:00 and later slots from 3:00 – 5:00. Same deal, $75 for 5-10 digital negatives. Email me to reserve a slot! Its impossible to know exactly when the peak of fall color will be, but this is the predicted date so it should be beautiful! *THIS SHOOT IS NOW FULL*

NOW FOR THE BEST NEWS. I will be giving away one of these mini shoot slots on Friday to one lucky commenter. Leave a little note and tell me who you are and you just might win. You get to choose if you want a studio shoot or fall leaves shoot. If you don’t live in St. Louis, but know someone who does then you can give your prize to them. You have until 8:00 a.m. on Friday to enter!

On a side note I would like to make a correction from the last post about Shane. After I showed him the post tonight he said "Well, first of all its not the Shriner's that take glasses donations, its the Lion's Club. Second of all I was keeping the cabbage patch doll's birth certificate in a safe place to prevent his identity from being stolen. Identity theft is serious stuff Erin."