Raindrops keep falling on my head!!!

I will give anyone a one hundred dollar credit towards a session with me if they can guess exactly what this is and where it was taken... e-mail me with your answer!


We had a new addition to the family today when we received a wonderful cube wrapped in Black paper stuffed into the mailbox and amazingly came out unharmed containing a small stuffed rat from IKEA!!! Thanks aunt LA LA!!! You know exactly what is going to make Lee Lee smile from ear to ear. And the thought of going anywhere with Cora in the future made E okay with not getting anything in the mail!

Now Lee Lee's Rat collection is up to four!!! She is sleeping with the new one with the Pink tail at the moment!

Rockstar Roadtrip!!!

Thanks Chick-a-fillet in Brier Creek for the amazingly empty play area on Thursday morn when I had the privilege to spend time with a new friend I met at Summit and two of her three beautiful children.

We laughed at James as he made a game out of pushing the door open and then needing help to reopen the playroom door over and over again... he is so cute!. Toward the end, I didn't think he would make it until he discovered the throw the ball up the slide trick. It was so much fun to see Lia and Ellie giggling uncontrollably while sliding down the slide upside down.. Although I was so enjoying a break from working and just enjoying talking and listening to a friend too much to get my camera out of my bag at that moment.



Friday was the Rock Star Road trip Conference was amazing! Cory McNabb made us feel so comfortable with his humor and transparency about his humble beginnings to the successful place he is now and what things we must pay attention to and have in place to be unique and original and take steps to better images and micro management of the details and composition and lighting.
Amber Holritz after lunch blew me away with inspiration and just an understanding that we must have a focus and deliver it with quality and understanding of what the client is looking for. Wonderful!!!! I had such a great time seeing Jen and Brooks and Andrew and meeting Nicole and all the other wonderful people I met!! Nice to meet photographers who are really people you want to get to know and hang out with. There is a huge underground community that I knew nothing about the last 12 years and I can attest to say, that there is no reason to be an island!!!

At the end of the day we proceeded to act like Rock stars while playing the video game on the large screen!!!

There is no telling what the group is up to now, they all went out to dinner, and it is Amber's birthday, but I had to respectfully bow out to help back home to my husband and babies (6 and 3)





This is what I came home to tonight! A lovely home that my husband cleaned throughly and he folded the laundry!!!! Yes, I give you permission to get jealous...

All except for the Play dough all over the table, but the creations that my son makes make me smile, no matter how big the crumbly play dough mess gets. He always has a great story to tell about the things he designs and creates.

And Lia, she is just delightful, chomping on chips secretly in the itsy bitsy kitchen. I caught her red handed, and yes, she did not eat her dinner after that...

So the saying "you will spoil your dinner" is absolutely true!!!

A Heart for Durham

Pastor JD has such a heart for reaching Durham and the Triangle NC, I am so thrilled that God is able to use me to help get some good publicity photos and some images that capture his passion for this city and area. I had so much fun today watching Brad and JD just make each other laugh! It was a blessing to be a part of that.

Also, I am so thankful that we found Summit church. It is every bit worth driving 16 miles!!! WE love it so much that we are thinking of moving near it!

Thanks Brad for following me to the Gas station! and Thanks so much Angela for rescuing me from a no baby sitter situation, even though it was kind of hard to work it out. You are such a blessing!!!

Durham is a great city for getting some incredible urban shots if any of you are interested in an Urban session, I think I am going to meet there instead!!!

ARTISTIC challenge day 3

Happy Easter everyone!!! Since I was so busy spending time with family and friends today, not many images to share this day. Just two ops that I found although I kept my camera with me and more opportunities would have been there had I remembered to put my flash card into the camera before we left the house this morning!!!!!

Check back tomorrow.

ART EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

First, I think my husband did a great job snapping a few images of me and my daughter today. It was an amazing day to be outside flying a kite and just being together.

WE drove with the windows down and I think I mentioned more than once that the weather here was so amazing, considering if we were still in GR we would have been dumped on with snow last night and today!!!

About the project that I have given myself for the next few months...

I have had a blast going out seeking art and composition everywhere!!! here are a few images that I came up with today while we were searching for that perfect alternative coffee table at the thrift stores. Unfortunately, my search came up empty for a coffee table, but I was wealthy with beautiful images to bring home by the end of the day, and that makes me so happy!!!

I am thinking of creating a challenge/contest where I challenge you to do this project for 10-15 days and send in some of your creations. It will be so much fun to see what you all come up with!!!

Can anyone guess what this image is?????

Where it all began...

If you are like me, you have these big boxes of photographs that keep piling up. Well, I went to try to find a great image I wanted to share and got totally engulfed at looking at the photos that are left from my life before today. What wonderful things they are!!! Especially when they are good and clear and you can still see what someone looked like completely.

This is a photo from my very first photo class in 1990-91 (where it all began to become clear that photography was a passion and an extension of my art). My good old friend Jay Adkins who ironically became a great photographer himself in Memphis TN... Yes, he was a great friend and a fun model to hang out with.

When I stare into this photograph, being the timeless person that I am already, I struggle staying in the present year, because I can close my eyes and almost smell the air around that dilapidated building we were trespassing in. I can even remember some of our conversation and how we laughed and were fearless and scared at the same time (looking back, we were two young people in the most dangerous parts of Memphis trespassing in an abandoned building... how smart was that?).

WE just wanted to get that particular light coming from the faded broken glass and open knocked out walls and raw concrete everywhere...It is easy to see and understand why we risked our lives to break in...Youth!!!)

Some other friends and I also used to sneak in the old train station down town Memphis TN way before the revitalization. Although, we did get a little freaked out being 18 and 19 and alone in that particular abandoned building because there were so many rooms and it looked like many people were living there. But there were so many photo opportunities there!!! I will try to hunt some of those images down.

It is so amazing that if I didn't have this photograph, all of that would have probably left my conscious mind so, I am forever glad that I have this in my memory box!!!

This inspires me to take some film images for fun!!! Stay tuned this year and maybe they will make it to my blog. I am dying to use my large format camera that I purchased last year. And I am desperate to make some real alternative processed images too!!!

As far as my project to find art everywhere, well, I didn't really leave the house or my seat for long enough to find anything. Tomorrow will be different...

It all of the sudden hit me as I have been teaching Timberly and Angela a little bit about what goes on in my head when approaching photography and art. I am sure they are overwhelmed with confusion by now, but hopefully they are learning a little bit here and there about improving their own work little by little and day by day as I do on a regular basis. In Fact, teaching them has inspired me and has open my eyes to how many photo opportunities I have lost in the last 20 years!!!!

What in the world am I waiting for???? I see art absolutely everywhere I go, every minute of the day!!! I cannot help myself. I am telling you it is almost a sickness, really. Since I come from the old school of film photography, I guess it is still somehow ingrained in me how expensive it was to photograph needless things and waist film!!! But now the possibilities are endless. I don't have to hesitate when I see something that moves me... just shoot away:)

So I have decided to challenge myself with my own assignment. I will take my camera out with me for the next 2 months everyday and I will share the story here with you on my blog. ( I think the flea market and the dogs kind of inspired me as well!!!)

What a great fun way to practice and stay sharp with skills and improve in composition and technique!!! (As sad as this must sound, I think my camera knows me more than anyone else... does that make it my best friend?)

Here are a few photos from our trip to buy ballet shoes at the mall today and a few when my son and I were hanging out at a coffee shop downtown.

Hope you have as much fun viewing these as I did taking them!!!

The Kiss

I just happened upon this introduction and snapped this shot. Check out the pink painted toenails!!!!

Check back for more pics from this weekend and some up and coming sessions!!!

All Mixed Media'd up!!!!!

Some of you already know this hidden secret about my "other life." Yes... I have an addiction to mixed media painting... and yet I am working on winning some awards in photography, I've been an award winning painter for many years now. The only problem is that, I've only painted two paintings in the last three years!!! Working right now on my fourth and fifth.

Here are a few shots that show the whole piece and some detail shots of each piece... and yes they are for sale:)

They just need to be in my possession for at least enough time to have a joint show with my dear friend Lara in Knoxville and my Mixed media art show to benefit "Remember My Love project" in November.

Both paintings are oil and many many many layers of transformations. I enjoy the way they metamorphosize over a long period of time, and yet I can still see glimpses of their former existence. Enjoy!!!























































Plus, I am overjoyed and so enthusiastic to introduce my two new students / assistants... I will be giving examples of their work as they improve and grow... how exciting!!! Thanks God for answering such a specific prayer!!!!





Meet Timberly helping me carry my equipment through a park... and Angela with her beautiful son Jack

"the magnificent red dress"

Today we took my daughter to the same park that we went to yesterday and took some wonderful photos!!! I am so thrilled that a really wonderful dress from Moxie kids would inspire me to take my child on an official photo session, cause I feel just as blessed by these as all my moms say that they are by their photos of their children!!!

Burrrrrrrr... windy

Micah and Mary-C you are both amazingly beautiful, best friends and such amazing sports for sticking with us so I could teach Angela a bit even when the wind felt like it would cut through our clothes and my reflector felt like it would take one of you away into the sky.

The pictures are worth it all!!!

This Kind of Love...

It has been at least a week and 1/2 since the last blog, although many events and sessions have happened since then, I have failed to have time to sit and disclose it all.

First, my heart and prayers go out to Shannon and her family. She is a young women whom I met a few months ago at a friend's church downtown. She discovered that she had Melanoma last year and has been continually told by the doctors that the cancer is spreading in her body. There is hope in a Natural treatment she is getting at the moment. But I know that these photos are dear and will be for a long long time!!! Hopefully I will get to come back soon and spend some more time with you all. Click here to go to her care page.






























































































Second, due to my illness before, I revisited a previous client to see if I could last a bit longer and get my creative and technical juices flowing a bit more. Those pictures turned out so dear. I am so glad I decided to give it another hour!!!







































































Third, I am so encouraged by the providence of God and how he is so faithful to answer prayer so specifically. I am so excited about the possibility of working with and teaching two wonderful, smart and talented young women whom I know you will be seeing more of in the future. I am honored they want to work with me, but maybe in 3-5 years, they will be the new stars of photography!!! So After today, I will be introducing them to you with photos and all!!!






















Fourth, I will encourage any one of you to just take your camera everywhere. I am starting to do that again, and what a blessing to play when I have just a wee spare moment. These shots are from the 35 mins of free time I get once a week when my daughter goes to dance class. I love to play with the camera, lighting and exposure. If you just look around, there is art everywhere.



































Fifth, We took my daughter to a dance thingy last night. She was so delighted and looks so sweet. I know my son wasn't as such.

The most beautiful day!!!

Can you believe it... it was the most beautiful day I have ever seen and instead of taking pictures of every moment like I wanted to, I just laid on the trampoline with my daughter and watched the warm breeze blowing through the trees. I taught her that God is like the wind. WE cannot see him directly, but we can feel him and see what he does when He moves through us and others.

So, no photos, but great memories of the day.

Plus we put together the table that I bought for $20 dollars at a thrift store. It was just the table top, and I bought the legs at the flea market.

I vowed to never buy a new table until the kids are a lot older since in Grand Rapids, my daughter drew on the $900.00 table I bought with permanent ink.
and it was poorly made. We got rid of it when we moved here and have been eating on a school table for 6 months. I knew God would provide, but always with a little prayer and patience.

So, now I have the table I've wanted for some time, but without having to pay a ton for it. Who cares that they paint and draw on it now:)