This weekend was the warmest yet. A whopping 50-something degrees gets my family out of the house after a long long lonnnnnngggg winter. My sister and I took Tanner to the zoo and because he was so well behaved, we promised him ice cream.

On Sunday Steve and I took Tanner to the Krohn’s Conservatory in Eden Park, where I shot a few flowers. (Well really I shot a few orchids and pointy things haha).

Next we stopped at Newport on the Levee for lunch at the new restaurant, Brothers.

And Tanner finally got to enjoy his ice cream. (Cold Stone)

To see more of this Private Collection of newborn photos, please visit my facebook and check out the Bellies and Babies album

Something I love about some of the other blogs that I read is the photos they show of their kids, just being kids. I rarely get to photograph my kids, but I had a self-diagnosed snow day (Roads were bad, I couldn’t make it in.) I took this opportunity to do two things.

Goal 1: Shoot photos of my toddler being a toddler.

Goal 2: Play around with off camera flash.

My first idea of putting the flash behind the bed was not a great one… but I loved the jumping action. Tanner loves to jump on our “ancient” bed. I have a new bedroom design in mind… someday… someday… He also loves to be in various states of undress at any given time. We started with only missing a shirt.

While I moved and setup the flash again, he ended up losing his pants. I didn’t even notice, until my husband said something.

Every few months my friends and I get together to go downtown Cincinnati, and the surrounding areas, to scope new areas, practice different shooting techniques and have fun. Last weekend was one of them, although for crazy reasons we only ended up shooting for about 20 minutes.

Goal 1: Shoot under a  bridge/overpass or in a garage.  We accomplished both at once. Check & Check!

(My sister Jodie)

Goal # 2

Walk 100 feet (or in our case paces, since I have no idea how far away 100 feet is) stop, and shoot something.

.done.

I spent more time in front of the camera than actually shooting…

(Taken by my sister Jodie)

And while I’m posting photos of myself here’s another. I felt like playing with one of my lenses on a day off a week or two ago.

Also this week, I got to see my friend James’ band State Your Cause. They put on an awesome show. This was my first time shooting concert shots, so they are just for your viewing pleasure. Nothing technical.

This weekend I shot my friends Maternity session. She’s 36 weeks and gorgeous here. I can’t wait to shoot the newborn session!

I hope everyone had a fun Christmas! I’m finishing up my year in review with portraits. This includes: Newborns, Seniors, Anytime & Families. These are in random order because I do not have a favorite. I love them all! December has been a nice break from photos (aside from my quick stint as the photographer for a Santa at T&C Sports). I’m excited to start on new projects next month!

Starting off with portraits of a different type:

This is an adorable shot our cat, Gary. Gary is huge now, he weighs 12lbs and thinks he’s human.

And a shot of a cute little pony at the Pumpkin Farm we took Tanner too.

Top Photos of 2009 Engagement|Weddings |Details

When I look back over the past year, some of my favorite images are engagement shoots. I love engagement shoots, because we have a good amount of time to get to know each other, we can get creative and find awesome locations. I started early this year with Jen and Chris’s shoot. We got special approval to enter Coney Island during the off season. The only downside was that it was 30 degrees outside!! Some of those shots are included in this year’s top Engagement Photos.

**Engagement**

**My Favorite Engagement Shot of 2009**

**Detail Shots**

I HEART DETAILS! But these are just a small few of my favorites for the year.

My macro lense is amazing. This shot is straight out of the camera, with a little sharpening. WEEEEE!!!

LOVE <3

**Weddings**

These are just random shots from weddings I shot this year. They can be ceremony, reception… whatever I feel like (well except Bridal Portraits, since we’ve already covered that!) Some of these… (or most of these) are photos that you’ve never seen. I’ll try to point them out or explain.

This is the view from the Mt. Adams Church where my latest wedding was held.

A shot of a groomsman shooting the first dance with his iphone.

Inside of Holy Cross-Imaculata

Shot with no flash… Just so you know… Love the ISO capabilities on my new camera.

I love this photo. This is the type of photo I LOVE to capture. My favorite wedding photo.