Mike + Beth + Lunden

Before we left for the beach I had a little session with some good friends of ours. Beth and Mike are our neighbors/new found friends/pastor and his wife. Lunden is their adorable little one year old whom Marlie likes to call Lundie.

Lunden didn't even make me get out my puppets or make silly noises or dance around like a crazy lady. She just looked at me and smiled her huge Lundie smile.

Oh my word, those eyes! I can't even handle her adorableness.
Thanks friends!

the beach

Our vacation was perfect. Thanks to a very generous family friend we stayed in an amazing condo on the beach. We could not have asked for a better week. Our days were full of relaxing and swimming and more relaxing and more swimming topped off with dinner on the deck and early bed time. It was just what we needed.



Marlie was the cutest beach baby you ever saw. She was incredibly content and happy this week. And I had to try my hardest not to squeeze her little legs all day.







My favorite shot of the trip by far...



It makes me get a lump in my throat.





Thanks Terry and Mary for your generosity! Such a blessing.

Its back to reality now and I'm having a little bit of trouble adjusting to be honest. It feels like fall here though and that I love. I think a new pumpkin candle and some fall decorations might be enough to pull me out of the funk.

When we got home we found out that our internet is not working. It stinks. So, if you are waiting to hear back from me please give me a little bit of time. I can't stay in this coffee shop forever, although that would be nice for a while. I should be up and running again in a day or two. Thanks!

emily - senior

Last weekend I met up with Emily for her senior session. She is so cute. How could we not take good pictures?





Of course we had to make a stop at my favorite tiny alley...





Can you tell I've been loving this door lately?



Thanks Emily!

By this time tomorrow the Duggins will be 1/4 of the way to the beach! We are off for some relaxing and playing and more relaxing. Blogging will be spotty. I might post a few times or I might drink a daiquiri instead. Have a good weekend!

Katie + Chris

Last week I met up with Chris and Katie for their engagement shoot.



We hung out in Lafayette Square for a while in some of my favorite places to shoot.



Chris had just bought Katie some of her favorite flowers so she brought them along to the shoot. I was so glad that she did. Love this shot..





Katie told me that they wanted to do some photos near water. I came up with the idea to go to the City Garden, a new park downtown. I'm not sure this is what she had in mind but we ended up getting some fun shots.







Thanks guys! Looking forward to your wedding!

Chi town

0 toddlers
1 big city
2 nights
6 good friends
360 degrees of U2









We had a great weekend in Chicago with friends. We ate great food, caught up on each others lives, laughed a lot, rode tandem bikes like true tourists and went to the best concert I have ever been to.



By some amazing miracle we ended up in the "inner circle" at the U2 concert last night. If you aren't a U2 fan then that doesn't mean much but what it really means is that we were about 20 feet from Bono except for when he came ever closer. UNREAL.

It was a great night to be alive and a bad night to decide to leave my camera at the hotel. I'll be kicking myself forever for that one. I was just too scared to take it. It gets a little rowdy ya know? Good thing my friend Jimmy is a good phone photog.



Good times. Thanks friends! And thank you Bono.

Denise and Bono

In July when little Charlie was on her way I wanted to order a new prop hat for her newborn shoot. I found a cute knit hat on Etsy, but it needed a little embellishment. I found an adorable pin on Etsy as well and after ordering found out that the artist lives right here in St. Louis. Small world. Check out Denise Lombardozzi's blog and etsy shop. She is so talented.



TGIF people. I don't know why but this week wore me down. I have been feeling the need to get away for a bit. To get outta town. This weekend I will get my wish. We are leaving tomorrow afternoon for Chicago for a little getaway with some good friends. Relaxing, exploring and maybe most importantly a U2 concert on Sunday night!

Don't get me wrong, I will miss my little Monkey Pants like crazy. She is so dang cute. But, I need a break and honestly I think she needs a break from me. She has been giving me the stink eye all week. I'm just like in her way all the time. So...Bono, I am coming!

a little family shoot

A few weeks ago when my friend/second shooter Jen was in town we managed to squeeze in a short family shoot. And by short I mean literally 10 minutes. It started pouring so time was up! Good thing Jen is such a great photog because she still got some shots I love.







When Jen was taking some shots of Shane and I Marlie kept saying "awwweeeee" and running up and hugging us. Too cute.


I love how the only thing not moving in this one is her little feet.





So now instead of a huge blank wall when you walk into our place you see this instead..

Love them Jen. Thanks!

Last night we found out that Shane passed the bar exam. I knew he would but it sure is good to know for sure! We went out to dinner just the two of us to celebrate. Mojitos and steak and a roof top view. Nice. Shane is walking a little taller today and breathing a lot easier and I like it like that. Alleluia!

the tours

This weekend was full of time with friends and time with family. I love a good three day weekend.

Much of our time this weekend was spent enjoying the bike races around our neighborhood. The Tour De Lafayette was Friday night and then the Tour of Missouri came through today.



Shane is like a little kid when he is around a pro-bike race so when we heard that the tour was coming right through our neighborhood this year he was pretty darn excited. Marlie and I just jumped on the bandwagon and cheered along side him. I like to watch the races, dream of being a road biker, and its a good excuse to take some cool photos.



Hope you had a good weekend. Here comes another week. Let's go!

My name is Erin...

and I am a recovering workaholic.

This past year my business grew. And I am so thankful for that. Do not misunderstand me, SO THANKFUL. But it has been a learning experience for sure. This spring and summer I way overbooked myself. I said yes to everything because it was so great to have so many shoots and then all of a sudden one day I looked at my calendar and instead of getting excited I got a little nauseous. Because how was I going to do it all, and raise Marlie and be a wife and do good work for my clients and not lose my mind? Not only not lose my mind, but ENJOY my life?

It was a good but hard lesson to learn. One day this spring I went on a walk with a very wise friend. After asking me what my work/life schedule was like. She looked at me and said “Um.. its time to get your life back.”

I knew it before she said it, but I needed to hear it from someone else I guess. I needed less late nights working. I needed more sleep. I needed a few less shoots a week. I needed a plan.

So since then I’ve put lots of different things in to action to find a little balance. A ton of stuff that I learned at the MJ 2day has been implemented. So glad I went to that workshop! My calendar is set so that I have a few less shoots a week. I even scheduled in a little vacation time and free time. It helps that Shane is around more to help me of course. My new website is finally up and running. Things are looking more balanced. It feels good.

I am sure I’ll have a slip up here and there. I am in recovery you see. There was a very late night a few weeks ago that I am not proud of. But for the most part I am doing well.

I started my own business 5 years ago. It has morphed and changed and grown over the years. I used to be at a place where I did everything and anything creative that came my way. I was always looking for a new idea or something bigger and better. I’m not saying it’s a necessarily a bad place to be, but its not for me, not now anyway.

What I’ve learned about myself is that when I give myself room to breathe, room to relax, and time to do some of the other things I love besides photography, then a few things happen… I am more happy, my family is better off, and get this … my photography is better.

So, I hope you all will hang with me through this little transition. Less shoots a month means a little less availability so if you are thinking about booking a shoot with me try and do it a little further ahead of time than you are used to. You can see my schedule here and see what dates are still open.

Thanks so much for all of the encouragement about the new website! I am really happy with it and so glad to have it finished.

September is here and this month is full of fun things for us. Lots of fun shoots on the horizon mixed with one weekend getaway for me and Shane and one long family vacation for the three of us. Plus it feels like fall already and that is my favorite time of year. Bring on the falling leaves and crisp air. Love it!