My Assistant

Here he is, my awesome husband assisting me at Friday's wedding. And no, we usually don't just stand around on chairs for the whole reception but it is fun to get a different perspective from up there. I'm working on the wedding images so stay tuned...

Pool Fun

Our good friends, Ryan & Denise and their son, Hayden were up from NC for the weekend and stopped in last night for a visit. The weekend was so warm we decided to get out the pool for the little dudes. We had so much fun laughing with our boys. Hayden was going nuts in the water and Malakai was a little unsure at first but warmed up to the idea eventually. Here's a little window into our evening together.

Tim & Tiff: Engaged

These two have a strong sense of stability about them. Their love is evident in the way they interact with each other. And they are definitely tons of fun! We were in a school bus, a tree swing, bamboo, and jumping on the trampoline just to name a few highlights. Tim and his family are friends of Eric and mine and their farm property is absolutely gorgeous. Tim and Tiff, I am so excited to do your wedding photography in September and believe it will be a great day of celebrating your love for each other.

Lake Family: Laughs & Love

Sunday afternoon I had my first family shoot of the season and what a great one it was. Jer & Livi are good friends of Eric and I's and for Christmas, Livi gave her parents a gift certificate for a family session with me. She told me her mom cried when she opened it. (I'm assuming they were tears of joy and not dread:) They all live near Downingtown and decided on coming up to Lancaster for the afternoon. We met at County Park and that's where all the fun began.

I've honestly never laughed so hard during a family session. They were all so relaxed and laid back and it was fun to take pictures of my good friends in the process. More than anything, I continued to notice as I was shooting how tight-knit this crew really is. It was like they were a group of friends hanging out, not just a family unit. That is priceless in today's family culture. Sometimes I feel drained after family sessions, but this one left me energized.

Lake family, thanks for being so vulnerable and willing to do whatever I asked you to do. You know, like running in a "V", trimming some tree branches, or trying to be serious. There is so much life coming off of all of you. May your friendships with each other continue to grow and be strengthened as you play board games, got out for dinner, and laugh together. Here's a few favs...

The Big 5-0

What a great way to start off a family photo session. Mr. Lake got out of his vehicle, looked on the ground and picked up a 50 dollar bill! I knew this session was going to be a fun one. Everyone was so excited. He was going to take the family out for dinner afterwards to Olive Garden and he was thinking how big the bill might be. Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed, Mr. Lake! God took care of your needs.

A Day At The Park

Today, Malakai's friend, Alivia had her first birthday party. Her parents, Phil and Alison are great friends of ours. They had so many fun activities to keep all the kiddos busy. Both of them are teachers so every detail was well thought out, like the bean bag toss, the tattoo station, macaroni jewelry-making, cupcake decorating, and many more. Alivia's grandpa surprised everyone with pony rides which Eric and Malakai got to do together. It's so special to have friends with kids close in age to ours. Here's a few shots of our afternoon.

Hey, you see any bugs around here, let me know...I'm on the Bug Patrol this weekend. Don't mess with me, bugs!


The birthday girl spending some one-on-one quality time with Malakai


Wheeee!


This was Malakai's first horse ride. Eric said he held onto him for dear life!


Our little family


Tattoo "burning"


Mommy and Daddy said when I turn 16 months, I can get a tatoo...hey, all the kids at the party were doing it...


Can I eat it yet?


Now can I eat it?


Put some blue sprinkles on mine, Mom


UMMM, cupcakes!


Malakai and his friend Jacob

Out Came The Sun...

...and dried up all the rain. Oh, it is so gorgeous here today! It's supposed to get up to 70 degrees...now that's what I'm talkin' about. I don't have any pics to post but I've been working hard on some more painting projects this week. Don't get too bored with me because this next week, I have a family shoot, engagement shoot, and a wedding on Friday. There will be lots to look at. Have a great weekend enjoying this (finally) warm spring weather!

Happy Easter!

Last night, Malakai had his first Easter egg hunt at Grandpa and Grandma Landis' house. He was very excited about putting the eggs in his basket! Now he'll have tons of energy with all that sugar!

Boys & Their Toys

Yesterday, Eric had off work so we were doing some more projects outside around the house. We just took down the shutters and painted them this week. They used to be brown but were faded pretty badly so we decided to brighten up the color and made them blue. Malakai is enjoying playing with his outside toys too.

Taking Our Job Seriously

One of the other photographers in our Beckstead Seminar group got this shot of Eric and I during one of the model shoots down in Tampa. We don't mess around! Look how intense we both are...that's how serious we take our job as photographers, but don't be fooled, we laugh a lot and have tons of fun too!

In Concert

Ever since we moved and have a piano, Malakai is continuing to show us his love for music. This afternoon before his nap, I held him on my lap while I played over top of him. Then I decided I should probably go get my camera and let him play for awhile. He was very proud of himself and gave me a very lovely mini concert. The musician is now resting in his crib. It's hard work being an artist!

New Leather Albums

As promised, I am showing you what the new leather albums look like. It came when we were in Florida and I was so excited to see the package sitting in my client room when we got back home. So now my clients have two different kinds of albums to choose from and they are gorgeous! Here's a few of the page layouts to get you excited.

David Beckstead Seminar...Tampa, FL

What an incredible week of hands-on learning Eric and I had! We flew down to Tampa on Sunday morning and just got back yesterday. David is amazingly talented and eager to share his photographic knowledge. Monday, he lectured all day to the 13 of us "sponges" in the room and then Tuesday we had an all day model shoot at several different locations. When I say "All Day"...I'm not joking. We started at 9am and ended at 9pm. Wednesday was critique day so we had to go through our 3,000 images that we shot between the two of us and pick out our 30 best. No small task...especially at 2 in the morning! So here is a taste of what we learned and captured below. If any of you brides would have an interest in being a bridal model for a day of fun and posing, Eric and I would love to take you around to experiment in different locations and lighting situations. The models pictured below were former brides of one of the photographers in our group and they had an absolute blast. What woman wouldn't want to put her wedding dress back on for a day of fun shots? Seriously, contact me if you are interested.

Here are my favs...























Eric's favorite shots...