This is Loren....

She's a senior.

I worked with her mom at McDonald's the year I graduated from high school (yes, I'm old).

We had good times at Mickey D's.

Probably too many good times, since we were being paid to work.

This is Scrappy.

He is so stinkin' cute that he almost made me want to get a dog for my kids.

Almost.

Then I thought of all the issues that would be involved in raising a dog and thought better of it.

It's a miracle that I've managed to keep three children alive and fed over the last 12 years...a dog might just put me over the edge.

The shots on this orange colored wall are from a little coffee shop in town called "Cowboy Coffee Company".

The owner was outside unloading things from her car while we were shooting.  She told me if I brought the finished product back she would put it on display in the store.

Awesome!  I'm printing this one for her.  I love the softness of it.

I saved the best for last.

Maybe not the best ever, but definitely my favorite so far.

I love the chair...her feet on it...the clouds...the bricks...the power lines...but what makes it even better is that the only reason this shot happened was due to a lack of communication on my part.

I told her to sit down and lean on the chair.  She looked at me funny and as I was turned around adjusting my lights she proceeded to strike this pose.  When I saw her, I laughed and said, "that's not exactly what I had in mind"...and then I saw this image.  I told her not to move a muscle and then fired away.

I'm so glad she didn't understand.

B

Up next:  More from her session and then the wrap up.

Let's take a walk together...

...through these next several pictures.

I want you to see how wonderfully cute...

and simply adorable...

that this precious little thing is.

I will then show you my new favorite picture of all time...or at least this week.

Since the picture I'm speaking of may be a little embarrassing to her, I thought I would lessen the pain a little by showing you all of her glamorous shots first.

Her cute little yawns and balled up little fists...

her pretty little lips and wonderfully crazy hair...

 her cute little bottom and chubby little arms.

The cuteness is almost too much.

This is a good demonstration of the fact that even the most adorable little things that make people ooh and ahh and cuddle and squeeze...the most precious of the precious that we call "bundles of joy"...

can have an "off" shot.

I cannot express to you in written words how hilarious I think this picture is.  I laughed when I saw it in my viewfinder...I laughed the whole time I was editing it...and I'm laughing while I'm posting it.

Oh my.

I just scrolled back up to look at it and I'm giggling again.

I love this little girl...because of all this laughing I think I can skip my ab workout tomorrow.

That sounds fair, right?

I thought so.

B

You can see the rest of her images here under "Melia Hinkle".

Up next:  Another Senior Session

I tihnk tihs is ftitnig...

I rceveied an eimal saevral yares bcak aoubt how the haumn bairn is so azamnig bceuase we hvae the aibtily to raed wrdos taht are mexid up lkie tihs as lnog as the frsit and lsat letetr riamen the smae.

I wnaetd to ceatre a bolg psot aoubt it but kpet ftorgeintg (mbaye I ndee Fuocs Ftaocr).

Inorcilaly, I rievceed an eimal tihs einvneg wtih taht vrey sbuecjt.

It syas taht olny 55 out of 100 poelpe can raed tihs carznesys.  I wdoenr if tihs is ture.

Hree is the praagaprh form the eimal:

"If you can raed this, you have a sgtrane mnid too

Can you raed this? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!"

 

Why is tihs ftitnig?

 

Bceasue the way tihs lkoos is the way my barin flees at tihs mmnoet.

 

Ndee I say mroe?

 

I dnd'it tinhk so.

 

For those 45 of you who weren't able to read this post:  You aren't missing much.  Just look at the pretty pictures and continue as you were with your belief that I'm a lunatic.  I realized a long time ago that I can't argue the point of my not being lunatical so I just embrace it. 

 

It's just better that way.

B

 

You can see the rest of Aleshia's pictures here under "Aleshia Ward".

 

Up next:  Newborn session sneak peeks!

Did you know...

that a 3mm corneal abrasion can heal in less than two days?

I think that's amazing (as is this picture).

I was only recently informed of this fun little fact because my 8-year-old son received such a corneal abrasion to his left eye...via the fingernails of a nine year old boy...on accident this past Saturday.

He was quite the trooper and by Sunday evening he was back to 100%.

 The doctor said that she's had woman with corneal abrasions say that it's more painful than birthing a child.

Now you know that if you must endure the excruciating pain that is a corneal abrasion...you just have to make it through 2 days of pain.

That should be comforting.

On a totally unrelated note:

If you haven't already noticed, I changed my profile picture off to the right side here and revamped my bio.

Some of you have already noticed and commented on it.

Thank you.

Not for commenting, but for noticing.

I adore this image.  Natural light is so...so...so natural!

Profound.  I know.

I hope to have this session finished up sometime tomorrow.

♪  ♫  Tomorrow!  Tomorrow!  I love ya!  Tomorrow!  You're only a day away!  ♫

B

Something to think about...

and something to look at.

I have decided that I need to step outside my box.

Quite literally.  I need to get out of the box that is my studio.

I need warm (dry) weather so I can shoot outside...or an alternative.

Aren't you guys getting sick of seeing these same grey walls...

this same hardwood floor....this same white baseboard?

I am.

So here is my suggestion...

I want to do some "on location" sessions.

What does this mean?

It means that if you want a family session, I could come to your home to take pictures of you and your family in your environment instead of my studio.

You don't have to have a pristine house that belongs in the pages of a magazine to do this.  Maybe you have a living area with lots of windows...perhaps an interestingly painted wall, an old staircase, or vintage-looking outbuildings.  Maybe you don't have any of those things but you'd still like pictures of your family/children/dog/cat/hamster/coin collection taken in your own home with your things where you feel comfortable. 

I'm down with that.

Just mention it when you book your session.

You could be my first "on location" subject...and who doesn't like to be first?

B

*Disclaimer--I LOVE my studio and the pictures that I can capture there, but I would also love to try something new somewhere else.   

Up next:  More sneak peeks of this cowgirl looking less cowgirl and more jazz girl.

Focus

I'm not discussing the focus on these pictures or even how to focus your camera, as the title perhaps suggests being that this is a photography blog.

I'm a rebel and I don't want to talk about the focus on my camera (or yours) right now.

What I am going to talk about is...Focus Factor!

Once the Googlebots catch that phrase they will run with it, so be prepared to see Focus Factor ads at the end of every post for the next several weeks.

Just warning you.

Now just try to focus as I relate yet another radio-induced, driving late at night tale...and don't forget to look at the pictures too.

It's called "multi-tasking" people.  You can do it.

On to the issue at hand...

A commercial for Focus Factor comes on the radio while I'm driving.  In the dark.  Alone.

For those of you who don't know, Focus Factor is a memory supplement.

*Short pause...Oh dear heavens, how I love this shot!...pause over.*

As the energetic advertiser is spewing the benefits of this "guaranteed" product I begin to think that maybe I should get some vitamins for my husband.  Not necessarily this product, but something to boost his memory.  He's been having some issues with forgetting tools on the jobs he's on...even forgetting his whole laptop one day, which by the way, is NOT acceptable.

As these thoughts are going through my mind, we have come to the end of this mini infomercial...

The announcer says, "Remember this number!...xxx-xxx-xxxx".

Remember this number?

Did he really say, "Remember this number"?

If I am indeed, a person with legitimate memory problems, so much so that I need a "memory supplement", how in the name of good golly Sally am I supposed to "remember" a 10-digit number while I'm driving in the dark until I can get to a piece of paper and a writing instrument?

Is that irony, a misnomer or just a case of oversight?

I would look it up, but I can't remember where I put my dictionary.

B

You can see the rest of this family's session here under "Smith Family".

Up next:  Senior Sneak Peeks

My brain is dead.

I have nothing eloquent or enlightening to say to you.

If you follow the blog you may see a trend forming in this regard.

I apologize for that.

The only thing I have to relate that may have some entertaining value is about a song I heard on the radio a few weeks ago.

Let me tell you about it while you look at the sneak peeks of these insanely cute (not to be confused with lunatically cute), impish-featured little boys.

The song is called "Brain Damage".  It's by Pink Floyd.

Here are the beginning lyrics:

The lunatic is on the grass

The lunatic is on the grass

Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs

Got to keep the loonies on the path.

Watch the video below to hear the rest of the lyrics and get a real sense of the kind of song we're dealing with here. 

I was both intrigued and delighted when it came billowing out of my radio on a solitary car ride one evening.

Intrigued because I was left wondering how it is that I never happened upon this song before.

Delighted because it's a song about lunatics that made me laugh (though I'm sure that was not the intent of the song at all) because it reminded me of a song my mom used to sing all the time.

This one:

Where she heard it I have no idea, but she sang it and I stuck it away in my mind like so many other weird little things and here it is, coming out on the blog.

For your reading pleasure (or displeasure...your choice).

I think either one would be very fitting as my theme song.
B

Up next:  The rest of the session I had with the above sweeties and then sneak peeks of a recent senior session...unless, of course, they come to take me away.

HA HA!

I'm Tate.

I'm the master of my domain.

You can call me T-dog.

You could actually call me whatever you'd like...Tate-Tate, Tator Bug, Baby Tate...as long as you've got a biscuit in your hand.

No biscuit?  Then you better stick with "T-dog".

Don't let the heart pendant on my collar fool you.  I'm a man-eating machine if I choose to be.

But mostly, I consider myself a classic canine of the highest caliber.

I've been asked to pose for paintings,

and I've walked for a few fashion shows. 

This is me demonstrating the wind-blown look for the fall line of canine accessories for an elite designer.

Since my modeling debut they now call it the "dogwalk".

These are my humans.

They do all of my heavy work.

And my light work for that matter.

They pretty much cater to my every demand.

I just let them think they're in control most of the time.

It makes them happy.

You can see the rest of my session...ahem...our session here under "LaChance Family" (though it should really be titled "The Amazing T-dog"...I'll let it slide this time).

B