Baby Boy Dozer

It was a year ago today when she delivered eight little puppies. Who would have thought that I would find my baby boy Doz. I was surfing the internet for bulldogs and it was the luckiest day of my life when I found him! I contacted the breeder, Deb Carr, and on Thanksgiving weekend we brought him home. I remember her comment when I first saw him, "He's got a face only a Mother could love." I wasn't sure how to take it, but regardless...he's my baby.

Todd, Haylie, and I decided to throw Dozer a birthday party on Sunday. I must admit, I have never thrown a dog a birthday party before so we figured it couldn't be much different than any other birthday party. Haylie prepared the cakes and the decorations and Dozer was in complete shock. He really was....he even told me so!

So here are some images of his special day! I hope you enjoy it!

Gotta love birthday presents!!

This is the part of the blog that make me teary eye. I can't believe how much he has grown over the course of one year. This image is the picture Deb sent me and this is when I fell in love. Precious....just absolutely precious!

This is his first day home. He was exactly six weeks when we brought him home.

Here he is all grown up. Still precious as ever!

Happy Birthday Dozer!

Lindsey's Senior Session

10.9.09

The pressure was on for Lindsey’s shoot. Lindsey already went to another local photographer and was not at all impressed with the outcome and she called me and wanted to see what I had to offer. We walked along trails, underneath railroad bridges, and by old buildings to get the look she wanted. If I were to say that I wasn’t nervous about her shoot, I wouldn’t be telling the truth….so I just decided to let the shoot unfold and sure enough we all had a blast!

Lindsey and her boyfriend Keaton were so much fun to work with. I absolutely love it when my clients choose their locations because most of the time, I haven’t been there before and it really makes spectacular backgrounds.

Thank you so much Lindsey….I really hope you will be happy this time around. Here is your sneak peak….Enjoy!

Look at this fierce couple! I love it!!

Here it is....the famous "crazy-face series" ;)

I really did not think Lindsey would climb up there....but she proved me wrong and totally rocked it out!

I loooovvvee this image.

My Pot of Gold

10.7.09

I woke this morning and gathered all my equipment for an exciting photo shoot tonight, took Dozer out to his trusty dog house, and got in the car and headed to work. I was running a tad bit late and of course there is construction but when I got into town...I could not believe my eyes. Right there...stretching miles apart north and south was this huuuugggee rainbow. Luckily I had my camera gear and pulled over and took some pictures.

Now...just for the sake of saying, I was facing the rainstorm head on so please excuse all the little raindrops but I just had to share. I have been experiencing some rough patches here and there and going through a lot of changes that are about to take place for my business. This morning after seeing the rainbow, I feel that everything is going in the right direction.

You always hear...follow the rainbow to get the pot of gold....well guess what...I found it and took a picture of it and this marks the very first rainbow I have ever seen actually touch the ground! Next month will be a whirl of change and I can't wait to share it with you.

Ashley's Senior Session

10.5.09

I love it when I don't want a session to end. When I get going...I could shoot all day. Having Ashley as my senior client was no exception. The rain held off during our session and everything was good to go. I always scout out locations and I have been dying to photograph someone in my new secret spot...lucky for me, Ashley was all for it.

Ashley and her fiancé Josh are so cute together I couldn't help but take some pictures of the two of them. After our secret meeting place, we headed over to the park and we finished off at the studio.

All in all, it was a fantastic day with fantastic clients. My Saturday morning couldn't have gone any better.

I really want to give a shout out to Butch for the referral. You're the best! Thanks Ashley, Josh, and Kathy! Enjoy your sneak peek :)!!

It Can Only Get Better

It's Friday. Grey clouds, rain, and hydroplaning are what I encountered on my way to work this morning. When I turned on the lights to the office, it seemed like a tornado hit. I don't know where all the paperwork came from that created my paper work jungle but I have no choice but to deal with it today.

Here is a glimpse of my life outside of photography...aka my day job. I work in an office crunching numbers and constantly thinking of being elsewhere. I am posting this so I can remind myself in the years to come: It Can Only Get Better!!

It's Friday. Grey clouds, rain, and conquering the paperwork jungle.....

An Ode to My Assitants...

This may be considered mean.....but what can I say, I can't help it! I had the privilege of photographing Montcalm SAY Soccer League on Monday & Tuesday night and even though I may act rough and tough, I couldn't do it alone. I had the wonderful help of Diane on Monday night to assist me through the downpour of rain and on Tuesday night I had the mighty Ashley by my side.

Together, we rocked the soccer league and the athletes will have incredible images to showcase. So in my attempts to get everything ready for the kids to "smile pretty" I had Ashley be my lovely test model.

Here's a few images of Ashley...I hope she doesn't kill me :)

Thank you so much Diane & Ashley....I couldn't have done it without you!

Up North

We rise at 6:30 am. You can hear the sounds of the vehicles warming up to prepare for the 2 hour trip on two-tracks. The air is so cold and crisp, you can see your breath. The sounds of bugles and cow calls are so amazing I still get chills down my spine. The smells of campfire food make my stomach growl. The sweet glow of the fire while we all sit and share stories remind me how important spending time with family really is...

That my friends, was how our weekend was spent. Many people like to sleep in on the weekends, but that is not how we do it when we go camping up north to see elk. Over 500 miles was put on the van this weekend and all 13 of us got to see and hear elk. Two times a day we all loaded up in the vehicles and headed out. Here are a few images of the trip.

My baby Boy Doz is wore out!

over 97,000 miles worth of trails ....it felt like we almost covered all of them.

10 humans and 1 dog in a van....I'm pretty sure it's legal.

All of us headed into town to get some cupcakes to celebrate Madison's B-day! Happy Birthday Madison!!

mmmmmm....camping food!

Haylie and Madison were playing in thier fort.

Killing some spare time by playing euchre and football.

Here's my baby sniffing for elk :)

In the beginning....this was the only thing we were able to see.

Jackpot!!

Dozer needed a break so it was picture time!

That's all folks. Elk trip 2009 is over....counting down to next year!