A Snowy Session Filled with Fun

I don’t frequently have the opportunity to photograph newly engaged couples in the snow. So, when Holly and Ryan asked me to provide them with their engagement pictures with a winter theme, I was very excited.

I have many opportunities to photograph people in spring, summer, and fall. But, aside from the cold temperatures and other minor equipment issues associated with them, I do really love snowy photo shoots. Pictures of people in love in the pure whiteness of the snow have a magical quality to them.

Plus, Holly and Ryan were extremely good sports and up for anything.

When we set up the date for the photo shoot, Holly and I were hoping for some snow on the ground. When the actual weekend rolled around, we had snow on the ground, in the trees, and coming down from the sky in buckets.

I had to keep taking multiple shots of each pose hoping for one that didn’t have snowflakes blocking their faces. This meant they had to sit still just a few moments longer in the cold. They never complained and smiled the entire time even though they were covered in snow.

The session was fun. They went swinging in the snow.

They made snow angels holding hands.

They went sledding.

And ran adrift into a tree.

And they cuddled up in a culvert that leads to who-knows-where.

Thank you Holly and Ryan for being so wonderful and such a beautiful couple. I hope you had as much fun as I did and thanks for letting me take your pictures in the snow. Go here to see the rest of the engagement gallery.

I can’t wait for their wedding in the warm days of spring.

An Amazing Winter Morning

This morning was absolutely beautiful.

No matter how old I am, I will always feel that magical excitement whenever I wake up to a snow-covered morning.

Especially when the sun is shining through the snow blanketed trees.

Not only is it beautiful, there is a lot of fun to be had when it’s around. All you need is a shovel and some warm clothes.

Over the Holidays

I was so wrapped up in the holidays I barely had time to sit down. So, now that things are settling a little bit, I thought I would quickly recap some of the highlights.

One tradition I think many families enjoy is the making and decorating of holiday cookies. While our cookie-making decorating evening turned into a couple of frenzied nights, it was still a great deal of fun.

I got to break out my palate of food colors. Since I love color, I have a large assortment of possible colors for cookie frostings.

I got ambitious and mixed up my own icing.

I couldn’t remember where I’d stashed my Christmas cookie cutters, so we made hearts.

We left some for Santa along with some carrots for his reindeer.

The dogs kept watch over the cookies.

Of course there were presents for the dogs under the tree too, so their vigilance paid off.

Apparently, she didn’t want her picture taken while she was busy tearing into her new toy…

New Year’s Eve was quickly here. We celebrated with some sparkling grape juice.

And some noise.

One of the girls unwillingly got into the action as well.

That leads me to today and a wish for a happy 2011. I can say 2010 was one of the absolute best years of my life. I had the opportunity to work with some amazing families over the year and am very humbled by all of the happiness and love I was able to witness over the past 12 months. Thank you to everyone for sharing your emotions with me as I worked to provide you each with a piece of 2010 you could hold onto forever in pictures.

I greatly appreciate you all!

A Late-Night Visit

We are expecting a visitor in our house this evening.

That’s right. The one and only Tooth Fairy will be paying us a visit.

I am not sure who’s more excited – me or my boy. I think me.

It takes me right back to my childhood and those memories I have of the anticipation of finding treasure under my pillow.

When my boy realized he had a loose tooth, he had a different air about him. I sensed that he was feeling like he had reached a certain milestone in his life that moved him on into a new category of boy. He realized he was reaching the stage of boyhood where big things like loosing teeth, riding bikes with no training wheels, telling time, and reading start to happen. He is moving on and I will be his most loyal (and at some point, most embarrassing) cheerleader.