I Heart Faces :: Photojournalism

The theme over at I Heart Faces this week is photojournalism. I'm not sure that this photo actually fits in that category, but I have been wanting to share it with my readers anyway.

Imagine a bustling hair salon on an early Friday morning filled with excited chatter by a bride and her bridesmaids. Among them is a mother who will be giving away her daughter, the last one, later on that day. I love the pure emotion behind this photo of my mom hugging my sister the morning of her wedding, right after she got her hair done. It brings tears to my eyes because I was there for this beautiful moment. And others may not have noticed or cared, but I could see all the love each shared for the other, from the day my sister was born to now, poured into this warm simple embrace. This is a moment that may not have been remembered if it were not for this photo. A fleeting moment, and yet an immeasurable treasure.

My view of photojournalism (and please note this is "my" definition -- what it means to me) is capturing a moment, unplanned, and most likely forgotten had it not been captured forever by freezing it in time with a photo. I also feel like it is a glimpse into someone else's world, a glimpse that others most likely miss as they're passing by, but if you take a minute and give more than a glance you'll see something life changing. This photo doesn't show my mom's or sister's face, and I truly wish I had one of the front and back, but it also leaves a little mystery for the viewer to write the rest of the story.



Don't forget to go check out all the other amazing entries here.

In the Garden

A few weeks ago a friend of mine contacted me on Facebook and asked if I would be willing to take some 2 year photos for her daughter, Alexa. I told her that I would love to. So this past Thursday afternoon I made my way to Madison (just a short drive from here) where we met at Olbrich Gardens. I haven't been there since we moved from Madison and I forgot how beautiful those gardens are. There couldn't have been a more picturesque place to take photos on that beautiful evening.

Alexa was in good spirits and even got to splash around in the water for awhile. She was so happy and vibrant, I was so glad I had the opportunity to take some photos for her. Even her friend George got to take part in the photo shoot. So without further ado, here is a sneak peek.

Yay for Bloglift!

As you've already noticed, my blog has gotten a little "bloglift."  I love the way it turned out, but I can't take any credit for it.  I had a couple friends come to my rescue after I had royally messed things up by trying to change things myself.

Both of these friends are very talented photographers and I had to give them a shout out, so you could go check them out for yourself.  So here they are...

Ashley at Ramblings and Photos gets an email from me every couple months with me asking her how do I do this and that on my blog.  I'm sure she is sick of me by now. ;-)  She is always so very helpful and of course sweet and kind.  You can check her work out here.  Thank you Ashley!

Tricia at {every} nothing wonderful came to my rescue after she saw my blog in such disarray.  She was so kind to offer to help me and I felt honored since she has a degree in this sort of thing.  She used my watermark to create the background, changed the layout so that I could better fit all my photos without them being cut off, and finally, created the adorable little header you see up there.  She is amazing and she did a great job!  You can check her work out here. Thank you Tricia!

BONUS:  If you go check out {every} nothing wonderful today, she is doing a GIVEAWAY!  So hurry up and go take advantage of her generous offer. :-)  Click here for a link to the giveaway.

I {Heart} Faces :: Beach Fun

As we near the end of summer, it's only appropriate to sit back and look back at the fond memories that this summer held...and even if they weren't "fond" at the moment, they are sure to be fond in years to come, right?  And speaking of which, here is a memory from Kaydence's first time to the beach, which was a complete F-A-I-L!  Remember that blog post?  We took Kaydence to the beach for the first time and it was completely miserable.  The sand was too hot and the water was too cold, and we found out sand castles are apparently not her thing...she was completely undone.  So we left and went to the pool instead. This photo is a perfect depiction of how a little diva enjoys the beach...vast excitement on that little face of hers, isn't there?  haha  Oh well, at least she looked cute.

The theme at I {Heart} Faces this week is Beach Fun and although this may not have been fun for Kaydence, it was fun for her mom and dad to watch her experience something new for the first time.  And on a positive note, she did enjoy playing with the rocks, as noted in the photo below.

Don't forget to go check out all the other great submissions this week here.

I {Heart} Faces :: Got To Wear Shades

The challange over at I Heart Faces this week is "Got to Wear Shades."  Since Kaydence *loves* to wear sunglasses, choosing which photo to use was really tough for me.  When I finally narrowed it down, it was between two different photos, one where she is taking off her glasses and the one I chose below.  I decided on this one since she is actually wearing the glasses, but it was a tough call.

So I present you with..."where are the horses, mom?  You dressed me like this so we could go to the horses races, right?"






Don't forget to go check out all the other great entries at I Heart Faces here.

Playdates Galore

Last week, we had tons of playdates.  It was a busy, but fun, week.  It's only going to get busier since my baby sister is getting married in a week.  It's hard to believe the day is almost here.  We're all very excited!  I leave on Friday to head up to Eau Claire for the backelorette party and then I'll stay with my parents until the wedding.  After that, we're going on a little mini vacation to Door County.  So my posting may suffer due to the craziness.  But for now, I leave you with some storyboards of the the playdates from last week.