Gathering of Photographers
Keven Vandivier (http://www.kevinv.com/) hosts a gathering of photographers quarterly at his Gallery in Downtown Austin, Alpha & Omega, near 6th and San Jac.  They actually let me attend, and even let me participate in the 2 minute critiques - even though I've only been at this for a short period of time!  The range of work was astounding.  We have some masters (in my opinion) here in Austin and I hope to learn a lot from them!  One photo that got an "awwe" that isn't on the blog is below.

Backyard Day
or should I call it Action Day?  Whatever I call it, I like it. 

Guinea Pigs
My friend generously allowed me to practice on her absolutely super fun family.  My first family shoot!  I already knew mom and girls were a hoot, but dad is too!  They were game for anything - poison ivy, stabs by branches and sugar melt-downs.  I can't wait to shoot them again in a year or so and see the improvement (in my photos, not in their beauty - they don't need improvement there!).  The best part is she makes super yummy apple pie and the second best part is I learned a ton.  Thank you friends!

C & L
My first wedding!  Mike Reed (http://www.mikereedphoto.com/) generously invited me to be a second shooter at this beautiful wedding.  I can't thank him enough for the opportunity to "practice" on real subjects and his coaching is invaluable.  Shooting weddings is tough work and his photos make it look so easy.  Check him out!  And, thank you to C & L who were so beautiful and joyful and clearly in love.

What NOT to Wear
Today I took the little one to South Congress...on a whim.  Well, if you're going to whim, make sure you're dressed for it.  Little one in white and jeans just didn't stand out nearly enough.  Boo.  Imagine these pictures (I'll help you in one of them) with a big red poofy petticoat skirt or, at the very least, a bright pink shirt.  A hat or bow or flower would have really been great, but she wouldn't have any of that nonsense.

A good reminder at any age.  Well, maybe she should learn to talk first.

Wait a minute!  Isn't  her shirt white?  She just didn't stand out enough with a white shirt.   It may look a little fake, but she gets lost otherwise. 
Wear BRIGHT colors!

This is how she must feel every day.  poor thing.

We're Goin' Downtown
So, the smallest had a runny nose and I couldn't teach my fitness class.  boo.  So, we made the best of it and decided if we couldn't contaminate the kiddos at the YMCA, then we could at least contaminate the peoples downtown.  We stopped in Wee, a super cute baby store.  We made a gift exchange and drooled.  Then, we drooled at all the downtown shopping.  What happened to weird?  It ain't weird and it ain't cheap, but it's pretty!
Again, it was close to noon, so I ran for cover in the shade.  I haven't figured out that whole backlighting but still correct front exposure thing and with no auxillary light (yet!), so the shade it was. 
You may tire of looking at the same subject matter over and over again, but I never do!

I'm diligently watching my daughter as I photo her.  In this picture (my husband calls the 'busted' pic), my daughter has her hat in her hand and I'm basically lying on the ground.  The parking attendant comes over and asks if I'm OK, totally taking my attention away from my daughter.  He goes on to say that the black boxes (out of shot) contain poison.  No, I didn't know, we're out.  And, in the millisecond I spoke with him, she had managed, hooray, to get a piece of broken glass into her mouth.  most excellent.  We are out with a very big O.

I am trying to hold this big tall wall up and it's soooo hard.

I'm a big girl, I promise!

not that big.

I heart Austin!
I know, I know.  Everyone loves Austin.  But, we do, and we just can't help it.  Maybe it's that braggin' Texan in all of us, even if we're from out of state.  When my friend visited from out of country, I had to take a few obligatory shots.  It was dead noon, but come on, don't you have to if you're here already?

It's not weird, but it's home.

POP ART
OK, so I'm no Andy Warhol, but it's pretty cool, I think.  Let me know, and I'll make one for you too!

A Jumping Bean!
A gymanstics party! What!?  What a fantastic idea!  Our sweet friend turned four today and HAD to have a Jump! party.  She's going to be a blast of a party planner when she grows up, just like her mom!  Both my girls tumbled their hearts out!  A CD with all the pics is coming to you!

Birthday Princess
A longtime friend of mine's beautiful princess daughter turned three and celebrated in royal style.  It was wonderful to get to see her and her family.  Thank you for sharing the day with us (and all the sugar!).  I have a CD of all the pictures for you!

Oh, the candy!

All the way from Australia!
My friends came all the way from Australia to visit!  With a 20 month old and mama's pregnant!  Can you imagine traveling like that!  My eyes are welling just thinking about it.  But, my friend is absolutely amazing and I love her to pieces!  Her little boy is so beautiful!  Thank you for making the trip!

Light Reflected
I bought a foam board.  I tried it, and yes, indeed it reflects light.  I want to try it on one of the kiddos, but holding the camera, the board and entertaining them at the same time seems to present a problem.  Anyone want to be my assistant?  It pays in smiles and thank yous!

Before white board and after...viola!  Let there be light!

J at the park
This kid is so fun!  His mom said, yes!, please take photos of my boy, and I said, yeehaw!!!

This was my first attempt at a collage...I know I didn't do it "right", but I had to put these three pictures together.  This little boy, ran up to his mom with a flower in his hand.  He was so proud and his mom beamed.  It was really really sweet.  Thanks for letting me capture that!