I'm so excited! A while back I applied to be a photographer for a program called The littlest Heroes Project which is a "is a non-profit based organization founded in January 2008, made up of professional photographers nationwide that provide free photo sessions to our nations Littlest Heroes". I heard about the program from a discussion group I am a part of and thought that I'd look into it since I have been looking for volunteer opportunities that I can explore with my photography. Anyway. I applied and moved on, naturally assuming that they would not pick me. Only, to my great surprise, they did! I am so happy to be a part of a project that helps children with serious or life threatening illnesses by connecting them with a local photographer who provides them and their family a complimentary photo shoot. I can't wait to meet some of the little heroes and am proud to say that I am a part of such a worthy organization. So, feel free to check out the website and nominate any little heroes that you might know about. Thanks for looking!

As some of you may have noticed I added a new link to crawlercovers.com. So, I thought I'd post some shots of Al in one of his sets that my bff got him for X-mas. Even though he has recently joined the ranks of the walking, I still plan to put him in these b/c he likes to resort to crawling when the need for speed arises, and b/c they are so freakin' cute. Since my baby makin' days are long gone, I fully plan to purchase a pair of these for every one of my friends that have kids in the near future (sorry if that spoils your gift surprise!). Anyway. I will soon be adding more sites you might want to check out in my quest to find the coolest stuff for kids which I have recently decided to embark upon since I am reluctantly starting to question that there is a slim, but unlikely, possibility that I am perhaps no longer cool myself. Doubt it, though:)!

Dogs?Dogs?Dogs?

Remember earlier in the month when I had the whole "dog dilemma"? Well, I decided to give the species another try. It went quite well actually. So, maybe it's babies I should give up on? I should just start a dog photography business and leave the photographing of tiny humans to other more qualified photogs? Nah. I'd miss them too much, but the dog might be making a comeback:)!

New Gear

Merry X-mas

I guess I was a good girl this year b/c Santa got me exactly what I wanted: a new flash and a wide angle lens. I am very excited about learning to use both of them and can't wait until the holidays settle down a bit so that I can go out and do a few shoots using the new gear. In non photography news, Christmas was pretty "exciting" to say the least. On our trip down to grandma and grandpa's house my oldest son was kind enough to share some projectile vomit with the entire family while riding in the car. He has a habit of getting car sick and usually we combat that with a DVD. Silly of us to think that his new DS would have a similar affect on him. The funniest part was that he gave us little warning, he said he wasn't feeling well and then a mere five seconds later I was sitting there looking at puke on the odometer. Good thing we had a beautiful day of mild weather b/c we were forced to ride the rest of the trip (45 minutes) with the windows down to provide a constant stream of fresh air since my three year old was showing definitive signs of reactive puke syndrome (ie. gagging and coughing and screaming loudly). Aside from this rocky start we had a largely uneventful, relaxing day with friends and family. Christmas day was very merry:).

So, I wanted to photograph Alexander for his birthday card invitations. For all of you being invited I'm not going to share the final shots w/you b/c I don't want to ruin the surprise. But, I wanted to post a few of the shots just so you can try to understand how difficult it is to get any of the shots that I get. And, he went straight from this photo shoot to the bath tub.

OH! Here is the actual card:)

While we are on the subject of Christmas pictures, let me share a little about the torture that recently occurred at Casa de Then Again. Obviously you assume I mean that the subjects were being tortured by having to pose in various silly costumes or by being required to hold onto cheesy smiles for an unrealistic amount of time. Nope! I am talking about how the little heathens, subsequently to be referred to as "my boys", tortured me by crying, whining, complaining, moaning, wailing, and out right refusing to sit still or look in the general direction of my camera while I attempted to take their pictures for use on our annual family X-mas card. They not only refused to cooperate in the general sense, I feel as though they possibly conspired to sabotage my efforts at making them appear to be even tempered, mildly happy, or even remotely tolerable little boys. From the onset, the situation was doomed: I thought putting my baby in a gift wrapped box would be a cute (and functional b/c no escape) idea. However, apparently my 3 year old mistakenly thought Santa had arrived early and brought him his own brother as a gift so he unceremoniously unwrapped the box containing his brother moments after I turned my back to grab my camera. So when my husband arrived home to find me stripped down to a tank top and shorts, sweating profusely, and smelling like a donkey, I decided a new strategy was required. Day two: I tried the silly shot. Also unsuccessful. So, on day three I decided the only way to go was to take 3 separate shots so that the children were not required to do anything in unison. It will have to do for this year.

DOGS!DOGS!DOGS! Now, if you know me you know that I am no dog whisperer. I like dogs as much as the next former dog owner whose dog didn't die, but had to "find a new home where he could be happier". So, when my friend C asked me to take her family Christmas photo featuring her, her husband, her 1 year old son, and her two dogs I initially was thrilled. I thought, this is great, they are such a cute family. Then I started to really think about what this would mean: How does one get a very wiggly toddler and two large breed, even more wiggly (one more than the other) dogs to sit still in front of a Christmas tree for more than two seconds? You don't! I was pretty nervous about the final product b/c I knew that C really wanted to have all family members (that would include the four legged ones) in their Christmas photos. Anyway, as it turned out it we got a few good shots (not as many as I wanted) and it was pretty fun, dog butts in my face and all:). And, if nothing else little Mr.C was a sweety, like always. Will I ever shoot dogs again? Jury is still out on that one, but it will be a while before I'm brave enough. Please enjoy the outakes!

Long time, no blog! I had wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and am anxiously awaiting Christmas time. My boys are soooo excited about Santa coming. Sadly, Mr. and Mrs. Clause have not had much contact with the elves this year so currently the sleigh is gonna be pretty easy for Rudolph to pull. In other news. We spent Thanksgiving with some of our closest friends for whom I did an impromptu photo shoot. Their little boy is such a cutie and their little princess is such a willing model that I always love snapping shots of them. Thanks so much T&C for letting me share your babies with the world.
Also, let me throw in a couple to get you in the Christmas spirit!