Monthly Archives: June 2008

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More with the Romanos

I introduced the Romanos last week and I just wrapped up editing their session tonight. I’ve had so much fun working on their photos, I’m kind of bummed to finish (Romano family - this just means another session with me down the line, okay? :) )

As I said earlier, Anthony and I work together at Ball State and one of the things I always love when I have to run an errand to his office is sneaking a peek at all the photos he has of his family in his office. They are plastered everywhere and it warms my heart to work alongside such a family man. When he asked me a few weeks back if I could do a family session with him and Laura, well, how could I resist?

Anthony, I hope a few of these make it into frames and on to your computer’s desktop. I spent less than two hours with your family, but in that short time I could tell you are a lucky man to have such a beautiful family.

Enjoy Romanos!

PS - Anthony and Laura, Nick and I are up for a date night anytime! :)

First up is Nicholas. What an adventurous spirit this little guy has! He would let me take his photo but prefaced most shots with, “Just two … okay, THREE more … because, because I have to go play.”

This is Laura, Anthony’s wife, with Alexandra, 1. And folks, she is as beautiful on the inside as out. As soon as I walked up to the playground, she put me at ease because she is SO easy to talk to! And I’ll admit, as I was taking her picture, there was a part of me enviously thinking, “If I look half as good as she does after I have kids …” Laura you are gorgeous (and your daughter is adorable too!)

As a photographer, my style is to capture what you and your family are all about at a particular moment in your lives. For little Alexandra, being 1 means being all about sticking her little fingers in her mouth. Laura told she’s never needed a pacifier as long as her two middle fingers are near.

I love these next few shots — they are such a good-looking, fun-loving family!

I really love …

my new Alba lotion.

It seems the older I get, the more intimidated I get by the items in the beauty products aisle. I mean, does it REALLY have to be so overwhelming? There are like, eight different varieties of the face cream I use and inevitably, I always grab a different one because I can’t remember what I grabbed the time before. It’s as if my palms start to sweat at the mere idea of having to pick something out of that aisle.

I used to love cruising for soaps and body washes and hand creams, but my nose can no longer take the onslaught of flowery and fruity smells that hit me the moment I walk in to Bath and Body Works.

I had been looking for a good, neutral-but-still-scented lotion for a while now. And I feel like shrieking “Eureka!” over what I’ve found.

Not only is this bottle of Alba cocoa butter lotion hypo-allergenic (and not tested on animals, if you care about that kind of thing), it has the GREATEST SCENT EVER. It’s subtle but it stays with you for most of the day and you want to know the best part? It smells like a Cabagge Patch Doll.

If you think I’ve gone off my rocker, ladies, I ask of you the next time you are at the drug store, take a whiff. Maybe even put a drop on (shh… no one is looking). Then tell me you’re not transported back to the first time your little girl hands got to open the box and inhale the perfect scent of your first one of these.

PS - I am second shooting my first wedding today! Wish me luck!!! I’ll have plenty of images to blog from the lucky bride and groom’s big day soon — now here’s to the rain holding off for this couple :(

Sneak Peek with the Romanos

Earlier this week I had the great pleasure of taking some family portraits for a co-worker of mine, Anthony, his wife, Laura, and their two little ones, Nicholas (GREAT name, by the way! :), 4, and Alexandra, 1.

I’m still processing the images, but I wanted to give this super-cute family a sneak peek.

I know what you’re thinking … WHAT AN ATTRACTIVE FAMILY! Believe, I was thinking the same thing as I kept snapping away!

Can’t wait to show you guys the rest! More soon …

A new blog, a fresh start and a cute little girl

It feels like I’ve been working on perfecting this new blog-site of mine for months when really it’s only been two weeks! Now that I’ve reached the point where I think I’ve nitpicked every detail to death I can say (drumroll please) that it feels SO GOOD to say TA-DAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soooo … what do you think? Over the past 14 days, I have gone through a roller coaster of emotions in this process. I’ve created dozens of new looks and logos for this budding business of mine, only to scratch them, then lay awake at night wondering how I could make it better. I’ve learned a lot about coding and I owe it all to the hours of sleep I’ve lost in front of my iMac! But all in all, this experience has been so worth it. This site is what I needed to take me — both personally and professionally — to the next level as a photographer.

Here’s hoping you all agree in thinking I’ve brought my “A” game. Without further ado, meet Miss Emily …

Emily is my (soon-to-be-3!) niece, the daughter of my brother, Jeff, and his wife, Amy, and couldn’t be more of a ham. Nick and I are going to be in San Francisco over her birthday, so Aunt Gail decided she needed a birthday present early. After finding this adorable dress at the Baby GAP, well, who could resist a portrait shoot with this cutie?

I love this next series … they have such a Little Rascals feel to them, don’tcha think?

(I’ve convinced Amy that this next one would make a great huge stand out print for their new house — she happily agreed!)

We shot all of these around the backyard of my sister’s place about an hour before a storm blew through. Thankfully my little model was happy to oblige me with poses like this one (seriously, WHERE do little kids come up with this stuff? I told you she’s a ham! :)

The last part of our little adventure found us in a field behind my sister’s house. I got a few bug bites for these, but man were they worth it …

Trying something a little different with my processing here. This was a shot that at first I thought, “Well, that one’s going to the trash…” But it struck me how just by making a few changes in the editing process I managed to turn it in to one of my favorite photos from the afternoon.

And last but not least — a shot of that cute gap-toothed grin. This little one can melt my heart when she flashes me that smile.

In Character

One of my favorite magazines is Vanity Fair and I love when, on occasion, they run one of their features called “In Character.” (It’s something that actually got its start with this book, but I digress…)

I was testing out some custom settings tonight on my camera when Nick and I started horsing around and decided to do our own take on the art of transforming. Needless to say, we had so much fun doing this, I might use it as a future ice breaker for some of my more adventurous clients!

Our take on VANITY FAIR's "In Character"
Our take on VANITY FAIR's "In Character"

Anticipation…

Working on something new for this budding enterprise and after a long night last night, I can say I’m on the right track to unveiling something VERY cool (hopefully) very soon.

Stay tuned!

Tennessee and sweet Baby Claire!

First off, say hello to my new niece, sweet Baby Claire Werner!

Tennessee Werners

Now that we’ve introduced this cutie pie, I can tell you a bit more about our weekend trip to Chattanooga. Which, can I just say, I LOVE THAT CITY!

Nick’s twin brother, Clay, and wife, Liz, live there and on this trip — Nick and I’s third since they married back in ‘05 — I really just fell in love with the place. I mean, how can you NOT be taken in with a view like this:

Tennessee Werners

There’s a LOT of development there (something that — sadly — we lack here in Muncie), so many sweet little bungalow homes (my favorite), and the atmosphere is so family-friendly. Speaking of family, this is Claire’s big brother, Isaac. I caught him mid-laugh as we watched Disney’s Robin Hood together (a movie Liz and I both said took us back to our childhood … as soon as I heard “Robin Hood and Little John runnin’ through the forest …” I felt like I was six years old again).

Tennessee Werners

We didn’t have a whole lot of time to do a family shoot, but I snuck some sweet candids of Claire and her beautiful mama in some nice light that was coming through the front door.

Tennessee Werners

I love the interaction between Claire and Liz in these next three — Claire is just old enough (nine weeks) where keeping her head up for minutes at a time is a BIG accomplishment! I hope these shots are the kind that some day, Claire will dig up and think to herself, “What a moment.”

Tennessee Werners
Tennessee Werners
Tennessee Werners

See Isaac in the back there? Yeah, that was the best we could do in getting a two-year-old to sit down for a “family portrait” - ha! I think that’s why I love this photo so much. Don’t they make a beautiful family?

Tennessee Werners

But thanks to Uncle Nick’s shennagians, we got a big smile from the little guy!

Tennessee Werners

These last few outdoor shots were caught on our way out the door to get pizza. Liz had asked that we wait for the photos until Sunday morning, when the little ones would be in their church clothes, but I told her, “How about just a few now? The light is so nice …” And I’m SO glad we did - it POURED all day Sunday before we left. And had we waited … well, I hate to think I would have missed this shot:

Tennessee Werners

Or this one …

Tennessee Werners

Clay and Liz, we can’t wait to do this again! We love you guys!

Something to chew on…

When I visited Tracy and Kevin for their photo shoot, during a drive to Tracy’s salon for some pre-shoot styling, I asked Tracy for some gum. She passed off to me this yummy new brand of Trident that tasted like berries bursting in my mouth.

Now, I’m not normally a gum person, but I got that pack of gum home and thought I could savor each piece as a little after-dinner dessert. Well, in the Werner household, anything sweet is usually gone in a matter of hours — not days. And so I was pretty bummed to see that Nick had taken the last piece.

“I’ll go get you some more …” he told me, as I looked forlornly at the empty package. Even though I was having one of THOSE days, I told him not to bother, it was okay. Then I went back to editing ….

I heard the door shut, followed by Nick’s car pulling out of the drive. A few minutes later, he was back with a present in hand:

Flowers and shoes

Here’s hoping you, too, have that special person in your life who will always buy you gum.

AJAXed with AWP