Here’s a little preview from a great duo that I had the pleasure of photographing this week.  If you’ve ever met someone who always knows how to find the bright side of any situation, doesn’t ever complain, and just plain chooses to be happy, then you’ve met someone just like these ladies.  A speaker at my church said on Sunday, that everyday should be mothers day, and whether or not that’s true (I do like to cook sometimes!) I think that every day is the right day to have a picture taken with your mom!  Life will put distance between you, but the connection you share can only grow closer!   More from this session coming soon!

I am so glad we had a few minutes to grab some quick shots of this beautiful couple!  They’re not newly-engaged, but it felt like it they were!  That just makes my heart happy.  That’s the way it should be between couples!  I loved their interaction with each other and their connection really shines!  Thanks to the both of you!  I hope your tween-ager is completely grossed out!  ;-)

You’ve seen her before, she’s one of my favorite models to work with!  And I think it’s clear why.  

It has been another fun week for us up in lovely spring that Cache Valley brings us.  People, Places, and Things we even got rained on a little.  Even with a few raindrops, I love getting shots of hot rods.   Those shiny beasts that are restored or remodeled – there’s just something about them!  Lines, shapes, curves and, of course sounds unlike anything else in the world.  I was able to get a little preview of what the upcoming local car show has waiting for us!  We’re looking forward to seeing more – much more at the Cache Valley Cruise-in July 4-6th!  Its going to be fun!

… and I wanna share the love!  There is a very good reason that it is considered a leading product in image processing.  It is, quite literally, to digital photograph, what a darkroom is to film photography.  A common mistake some folks make is thinking that it is intended to replace Photoshop.  It is not.  A more accurate way of understanding it would be to say that it replaces Adobe Bridge – which is a program that comes with Photoshop.  Lightroom has such a variety of tools and features for organizing, cataloging, “developing” (aka editing), batching, processing, resizing, preparing, and in almost all other ways taking a great image to an amazing one.  If it’s used correctly.

Early things to be wary of include over doing it in the sharpening, contrasty-ing, & saturating department.  If you have Lightroom, and want to know how to use it, or you think you may want to get Adobe Lightroom to streamline your workflow, come learn this awesome program with me!  You’ll be amazed at how you can improve your photography!

Last weekend I got to shoot some head shots for a competition.  It was a simple, single light setup with a nice old-school painted backdrop.  It was good practice.  I got to see lots of kids.  I got to see them with their teammates, to observe the bonds build through the work and time invested in preparation. I got to remember the atmosphere of Jr. High & High School competition. Maybe some of you will remember what those feelings were like.  But today’s post is about one girl.  One young girl who, whether she knows it or not, made my day.  Hers may be the only face I remember from all the lovely faces I photographed that day.  You’ll see why.

You see, her team came in last place.  All their hopes were dashed.  So she dressed herself up to make them smile, to make them laugh.  She smeared sticky glitter to spike up her hair, and put her cape around them and cheered their spirits. She played when she could have cried.  She is a superhero.  And I don’t even know her name.  But isn’t that the way with superheros?

This little one and her family have been through something of a miraculous journey!  Her lovely momma, a talented and incredibly well-trained photographer, flattered me when she asked me to catch a quick shot of the two of them together during a down moment while we were shooting on a project together this weekend. Her new bundle is so teeny-tiny, but she’s grown so much in two short months!

I mean, who doesn’t enjoy a good thneed, or Sneech, or Gak, or talking fish during their day?  Thank you Dr. Seuss for all your wonderful wisdom!  I love how the month of march has become a time when elementary schools all over the place have a celebration themed around this legendary and timeless author.  One schools celebration included a fun little photo booth along with other fun things for their Dr. Seuss themed literacy night.  And here’s a sneek peak at a few from that night!

Those of you who signed up to be notified when photo booth images were ready, you should be receiving and email soon if you haven’t already.

And I’m lucky enough to call her one of my dearest friends!  It amazes me how the time flies, this will be the 3rd time we’ve done her family portraits together and I love watching her littles grow right along with my own!    We only had a few minutes together before they were off to baseball tryouts, but such is the life in this stage and what a ride it is!!

I have a relatively small extended family unlike many others in my circle of acquaintance, I can count my cousins from both sides of my family on my hands and have a finger or two to spare.  My kids, with the exception of my oldest child, had more cousins than I do before they were even born!  There are twenty-three so far for those of you who are wondering.  ;-)And to many of you, that’s average, or small, even.  But for me it’s pretty big.  I’m lucky enough that we were having a get together exactly the same day I had some new lighting equipment arrive!  I was out of town & so my setup was pretty basic, but we had fun!  Here are just a few from some of the most expressive kids in (and out of) Iron county!

DeMille-Burger-1025 DeMille-cousins-1210 DeMille-cousins-1215 DeMille-cousins-1224 DeMille-cousins-1394 DeMille-cousins-1460 DeMille-cousins-1461 DeMille-cousins-1474 DeMille-cousins-1480 DeMille-cousins-1482 DeMille-cousins-1485 DeMille-cousins-1489 DeMille-cousins-1500 DeMille-Kovach-1150 DeMille-Kovach-1161 DeMille-Kovach-1188 DeMille-Zoey-1440

P.S. Not all 23 are represented here, I think most of the bigger boys were busy chasing each other around.