So I have to add one of my other little man

I'm loving this new lens! This one is a little moody in color, but I love it. Dominic rarely EVER gives me eye contact nowadays. He was sitting next to our living room window and he actually looked at the camera *gasp* He's got those baby blues too! I had to add the black and white because I can't decide which one I like better. :o)

Check out these baby blues

Winter is such a blah time for picture taking. At least for me. Probably because the majority of my pictures are taken outside with natural light. I don't have great light in my house. So most of pictures in the wintertime are just snapshots of my family and friends. I snapped this one of my youngest right after he woke up from his nap today. Check out those eyes! Wow. They blow me away. Nothing was done to this photo except for a little healing because he has a rash due to teething (got to LOVE teething, don't ya?) and a slight bump in curves. But the eyes....au natural! Oh and just in case you didn't know, you can click on any of the pictures to view them larger.

Four Cousins

I had the pleasure to photograph my neighbors again. This time their two cousins joined them. The girls donning their Colts gear and the boys, the Bears. Trying to get four kids to all look at the camera and smile at the same time is near impossible....especially when it's COLD outside.

Aidan in the leaves

I got to witness Aidan playing in the leaves for his first time ever. I got to witness it because it happened in my front yard. We have a huge tree there that produces TONS of gorgeous red leaves in the fall. Aidan had a blast and I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of those gorgeous eyes while he was here!

A sweet email

I just received the nicest email from the M. family:

Hi Kristen,

I just wanted to thank you for doing such an awesome job with my family photos. I was very impressed with your work and I sent your name along to a couple of my friends. I like them all so well that I can’t decide which to print! I am sure I will be contacting you again in the future. Thank you!

Thank you again Nikki! I can't wait to photograph your family again!

One of my boys

Wow. I'm NEVER able to get a good picture of my boys together. It is near impossible. I'm sure many of you know how it goes. I was beyond lucky to get this great picture of my two little loves a couple of weeks ago (yes I'm a bit behind with my own editing). And even though it's a snapshot, I adore it.

The Maxwell Family

I had the pleasure to photography this adorable family last weekend. Nikki is one of my sister's clients (she's a hair stylist) and my sister referred her to me to take their family photo for their Christmas cards. Even though it was a chilly and very windy day, I captured a good family shot. Poor little J. wasn't feeling well, but E. was sure all smiles!

Check out this little one's eyes. They're amazing! I just love this picture of their youngest!

Meet the newest member of our family

This is Wrigley. He's a four month old male Puggle that we brought home on October 28, 2007. Ryan has always wanted a dog....a big dog. I'm not a dog person. Dominic loves puppies and dogs. SO, we comprimised. We got a medium sized dog. I've always thought Puggles were cute and finally convinced Ryan that they were too. Wrigley is such a good boy. He is amazing with the kids and the boys adore him.

Wow, it's been a while

Life has been a bit crazy since moving back into our house. We're still not entirely moved in, nor are our floors entirely finished yet. But we're getting there. Life will someday get back to normal.

Here is a picture of each of our boys from the pumpkin patch this past weekend. Aren't their matching shirts just the cutest? My friend Emily made them. You can check our her store here: http://www.myemmybaby.com/

Annie + Aaron: Sneak Peek

I had my first stranger and adult photo shoot this morning. It was an engagement session for the cutest young couple, Annie and Aaron who are planning on getting married on May 17th. Annie and Aaron are fellow Ball State Cardinals so we immediately had a lot to talk about. Good old BSU! :o) They seem like such a fun and laid back couple. And they're HUGE Colts fans so it doesn't get much better than that (well it would if they were Cubs fans...LoL).

Thank you Annie and Aaron for allowing me to take your engagement pictures! I had a great time and I hope you're pleased with your pictures! Here's a sneak peek of five of my favorites!

A little update

Well, I finally got my computer back (yay!). BUT after having it for 2 days, we unfortunately experienced a house fire. We woke up early (5:20am) last Friday to our smoke alarms. Ryan went into the hallway to see an orange glow from downstairs. He came running back into our room to tell me and I seriously had myself, Dominic and Lucas out of bed and outside within 15 seconds. I was on auto pilot. I don't even remember it. I do however remember looking at the fire which was in our living room before running out of the house. It was the by far the scariest moment in my life. We were told by the firemen that a lamp bulb burst and the filament (or something) landed in our brand new chair and it started as a smoldering fire and ended up in 4 foot high flames! Ironic thing is, we have those new dual sensor smoke alarms just sitting in a bag. We hadn't put them up yet. If we had, we might have caught it before it ended up in flames. I recommend that EVERYONE purchase something similar to these (make sure they are ionization and photoelectric): http://www.amazon.com/Kidde-Dual-Sensor-Flame-Smoke-442007/dp/B0007G71U4 and install them immediately! Learn from our mistake!

We are currently staying at my mom's house while our house is being restored and although it's a little hectic we're just lucky to all be safe and that the fire wasn't any bigger than it was. I thank Tiffany and her family and Aaron and Annie for understanding and allowing me to reschedule their sessions that we had scheduled this week. I really appreciate it!

And of course, here are a few pictures:

The carpet under the chair

The front of the chair

The back of the chair

What to do with myself?

Funny how you never realize how dependent a person becomes on their computer. Right now I'm typing this on my ssslllooowww desktop computer in our spare room. Usually I'm working on my super fast brand new laptop downstairs, but not today. And not for another two weeks (although I'm hoping sooner). Seems that the monitor on my laptop is having some pixel issues and since it's still under warranty I shipped it off to be repaired. I miss my laptop. That's where I do all of my photography work. So what am I going to do with myself for the next two weeks? I've decided to reread Bryan Peterson's book Understanding Exposure, flip through my new Photoshop book by Scott Kelby and of course, spend even more time with the three loves of my life. But, if you don't see any new picture posts for a while....that's why.

A day at the pool

My family got together yesterday for a cookout and a day at the pool in honor of some out of town family members visiting this weekend. I was so busy catching Dominic as he jumped in the pool over and over again that I barely got a chance to take my camera out. I did manage to snap this cute picture of Aidan. I just love this boy's eyes.

Flying High

My sister stopped over today just as I was taking the boys outside to play. I brought my camera out in hopes of getting some good shots of Dominic, but no such luck. I did get some great ones while Tee-Tee (that's what Dominic calls my sister) was playing with Lucas though.

Little Miss P. Teeny

I had the pleasure of having this sweet little girl (and her parents) stay with my family for a week. She's the daughter of our best friends who now live in Florida. This was the first time I got to meet Miss P. Teeny (she's 3.5 months old). and it was the first time they met our littlest man too. I was so sad to see them go this morning (and so was my oldest...he may need therapy) but we have full confidence that they'll be moving back soon.

Meet Aidan

This is Aidan, formerly known as Spike. He is my third favorite little man in the whole world. He is the son of my cousin Lyndsey and is exactly nine weeks older than my youngest, Lucas (and they're going to be best buds forever!). I was blessed to be present at his birth and I love him like he is my own. I adore taking pictures of him because he has the most gorgeous eyes, skin and hair. He's formerly known as Spike because that gorgeous hair that I speak of used to stand straight up. A little of that spikey hair is still present, but for the most part it's gone. I took these pictures of him today in honor of him turning nine months old. I can't believe he's already NINE months old! *sniff, sniff*

The Little Things

The husband/father of the Weitzel family stopped me outside yesterday to tell me how much he loved his Father's Day gift. He said it couldn't have been any better. He also told me how impressed he was with the pictures. He suggested that I start to branch off and take pictures of other people more often. What a nice compliment. Thank you J. I'm hoping to take you up on your suggestion!

The Weitzel Family (minus daddy)

This family is just gorgeous and such a joy to photograph! The mother wanted me to take pictures of her and her two daughters to give to her husband, father and grandfather for Father's Day. The oldest daughter, D, is quite the model and the camera definitely loves her! Luckily they're my neighbors and I can photograph them any time I want! *wink, wink*

I've decided to join the blogging world

First and foremost I am by no means a writer. I'm simply using this as a form of an online mini-portoflio of sorts to share my photography with you. My main focus right now is in children's photography. I would love to expand my focus to include adults, couples and families. I am a natural light photographer (at least for right now) and love taking pictures outdoors. I am looking for participants to allow me to practice my skills. If you are looking for someone for your photography needs in or around the Hamilton County area, please contact me for pricing information.

And now a little about me....

I am a stay-at-home mom (former elementary teacher) of two little boys: Dominic and Lucas. Be prepared to see a lot of pictures of them as they are my favorite subjects to photograph. I am also married to my high school sweetheart, Ryan. We live in Fishers, IN which is located in Hamilton County. My family and I enjoy spending time together playing outdoors, reading books, visiting the zoo or museum and getting the most out of every moment together!