Josie

I'm currently going through a portfolio overhaul and revisiting photographs from this summer. I came across this lovely image of Josie and thought it would be a nice one to share. I think it really captures the sweetness of a childhood summer. It's a beautiful honest portrait of her with sweat and matted hair, not to mention her captivating gaze. That's a signature Josie "look" for sure!

Hope everyone is having a great afternoon! Labor Day weekend is just around the corner!

A special day for a special little man!

Dear Logan,

Today you are three years old! You are such a big boy... a mini-man of sorts. You have no idea how much we love you, how everyday is better because you're in our lives. It's really indescribable. You blow us away by your size and your smarts and dashing good looks! You're certainly slimming out as you get older, but your cheeks are still so pinch worthy and kissable. You fill our world with such delight and chaos and we wouldn't have it any other way!  You make us laugh with your funny faces and phrases. You're adventurous, headstrong and completely stubborn, yet surprisingly at times can can be quite shy and reserved.

You love old-school cartoons like Scooby Doo, the Jetsons, Smurfs, Flinstones and Pink Panther, only because you're growing up in a household sans TV and are stuck with reruns on the computer. You're generally a human garbage disposal but recently decided to ban mushrooms, zucchini & yellow squash from your diet. And can you believe you don't like candy! Instead you prefer mints, the Lifesaver kind, and will eat a whole roll in one sitting if we let you. You're a master trike rider, Thomas the Train track constructor and Lincoln Log builder. You like to cook in your play kitchen and whip up stir fry with tofu and bok choy--but what you really love is to help us in the real kitchen. You love Bob the Builder and Toy Story, Matchbox and Hot Wheel cars, swimming and more swimming, slides and sandboxes. You still crawl into bed with us in the middle of the  night and wake up way too early. You've been to Disney World, Mount Rushmore, the Rocky Mountains and many boring parts of Kansas and Nebraska. You've experienced many things in your short three years and many more things to come!

Logan, you're surrounded by such love and support. As parents we couldn't be more proud of the little man you're turning out to be. Today you're three years old! It's your day, you're way (as if that's different from any other day!) and we wish you the best birthday ever!  We love you, lots! Mom and Dad

"Mom, look what I can do!"

Here's the peek at Logan's room I mentioned in the previous post. This is only half of it (it's L-shaped) and he has his own bathroom. He feels so grown-up pooping in his own potty.

When he's not out fighting crime...

...he's reading Dwell by window light. Because that's what every super hero does in his down-time.

The windows in our new place are awesome! This in our living room area. A sneak peek at Logan's room is coming soon. I've been holding off on the entire post that debuts our new downtown residence because we aren't finished unpacking or decorating yet. Those tasks should be complete in the next couple of weeks (hopefully!) and then we can finally invite people over for a bit of an apartment-warming. Yay, can't wait!

Happy Birthday Victor! ~ Columbia, MO children's photography

Okay, so I'm a bit biased when it comes to declaring that the cutest baby boy ever is my son Logan (well, I guess he's not a baby anymore since he'll be 3 next month)...but I must admit that handsome little Victor runs a close second. His eyes are beautiful and his cheeks are so pinch-worthy. Victor just celebrated his one year birthday, and what better way to commemorate his 12 months of life than with a Play Date photo session by me :)  I mean, really, all children should have their photo taken by me when they turn one....or two or three or just anytime! Proof of fun times is below. And, of course, big brother Dante makes an appearance in some photos, too, along with Mom and Dad! Enjoy!






























Mr. Serious.





It appears John and Victor aren't as impressed with Sarah's bubble blowing skills as Dante is...perhaps they're just jealous. Or practicing their serious look. Like father, like son.









Ha! Love it!

Okay, now here's where I emphasize that I am NOT a portrait photographer. I'm a documentarian and I love to take photographs of people doing what they do and not what I tell them to do. But I also believe that every family should have a recent photo of all the family members together, even if it's not "perfect". It was a bit challenging to get Dante to cooperate for the family shot, probably because I waited too late in the session to accomplish it (note to self: do the serious stuff first--then play). So, here are two examples of how this went down. I'm partial to the black and white image because it is more natural and representative of how things really were (and check out little bro picking on big bro!), but the color image was our goal. So, what are your favorites? Don't be shy... leave a comment  below and tell John and Sarah just how cute their kids are!

A Play Date with Iris ~ Columbia, MO children's photography

Kyle and Megan are good friends of ours, so naturally I jumped at the chance to photograph their daughter, Iris, when the opportunity came along. We scheduled an early morning session and started at home as they got ready for an outing to the Columbia Farmer's Market and Shelter Gardens. Iris is so sweet and easy to photograph. My play date with her was filled with lots of exploring and ended with an early lunch at Steak and Shake. It was hard to pick my favorites to post, but hopefully this set will you give you a good idea of how much fun we had that day!