fun being one! {Lawrence, Kansas children's photographer}

love, love, love this age. this little guy just had his first birthday this month. freeze time. please. remember to enjoy it. you know all those things we all hear but how very true it is!

i went to high school with his mom and dad and they happen to live here in lawrence too. i haven't seen them since high school but thanks to the world of facebook we were able to connect. so glad we did!

this is my niche'. i absolutely love to take pictures of the little ones just being themselves. will was no exception. he was great. full of happy smiles, raspberries and just crawling around.

enjoy your peek. your little man is a doll. thanks and be in touch soon!

here are the raspberries.

smile.

more...

so happy to be crawling around

so boy.

loved the steering wheel all the while so intrigued with the man

mowing the park at the same time.

he already looks a little like

"enough already mom"

coming to check out this camera thing in front of him

Patton family - {Lawrence, KS children's photographer}

Oh my neglected blog. I guess I have come to the reality that I am not a consistent blogger. Not even once a week? I try. So many things to stay on top of! As I mentioned in my previous post I have been much better on facebook, than here. Slap 'em up, tag and done. Easy peasy!

Ok, now on to the purpose of this post. Four cute kids, colorful shoes and yes the recycle center! I have shot here before and when I found out what this family was going to be dressed in I thought I would be a fun fit.

We shot these several weeks ago with a fathers day gift in mind. Well, rewind several months...mom bid/bought a session with me from a local school auction that I had donated to. I happen to know her as her youngest was in Emme's pre-school class. So we talked Father's day clear back in April. Seemed so far away. We made it, barely.

Kids were great! Few playful games to keep the boys interested, talks of ice cream and we were done! I hear they still talk about when they went to get their pictures taken by the "trash" place. Cracks me up. The places I think are a gem can often be unique for sure. But what better memories than a stiff studio!

Happy weekend!

hula hoop for some laughs!

gotta love the shoes

I ♥ faces - play

I am putting a picture this week over at I heart faces, been awhile. This week the challenge is "play". I have an endless supply of those! So, the hard part... picking ONE. I even changed since typing this blog.

I just love the pure joy on her face in this pic. No, it isn't perfect but it is truly my Emme playing. No, posing. Gotta love the left over tattoos from a school carnival. What a rebel. Ha, just noticed the the baby zhu zhu pet in her hand too.

Now go over to I heart faces and check out some other kids (or adults) playing!

Metcalf family - {Lawrence, KS family photographer}

Have I mentioned May was a busy month? I was in Iowa, Denver and out to Western Kansas all in consecutive weekends. That on top of getting the girls end of school things wrapped up and life in general has left my head spinning just a bit. But it has been fun and I would do it all over again! My blog has suffered a bit but what else is new. I have kept up better with sneak peeks on FACEBOOK, so if you aren't a fan go and become one now!!

During our time on the road I have been able to get behind the camera with lots of family and friends from out of town. I love it! This family is one of them. Derek grew up in Ulysses, Kansas, a small town way out in Western Kansas. He no longer has family living there (not blood anyway) so we don't get out too often. That on top of the over 6 hour drive to get there.

His high school does an all school reunion every 5 years. He hadn't been in 10 years so we decided to go this year. These guys let us crash at there house every visit. Thanks!

Well, we snuck out just before sunset on our last night in town to grab some pics. One other thing fun about doing shoots in different towns is new places to explore. We were pretty much able to just drive across the street to an open wheat field. So pretty this time of year!

Thanks for everything guys! Just a sneak, I will get your gallery up soon.

How stinkin' cute is this guy?

and this one?

havin' fun!

Denver drama {Kansas pet photographer}

You are about to get a blow by blow of a photo shoot gone bad.

Meet Reiley. A sweet, cute, eight year old Weimaraner. Well, she looks sweet here doesn't she? Pictures never lie right? Well on this night she decided to show me her mischievous, playful-drama side. What started out as an amazing, beautiful evening in Denver made a minor turn but all ended well.

Dory works at VITAHL, my friend Tahl's medical spa in Denver (previous post). While out visiting a few weeks back we went out to capture a few fun moments of Dory, her boyfriend and her dog. They are just down the street from Denver's very own Wash Park. A great park that is ALWAYS buzzing. So we met at their house, snapped a quick few pics and headed to the park with picnic basket and dog toys in tow. {Funny, side note. They live on the same street I did while living in Denver.}

Now scroll down for the full story of how this night went...

On front porch. Happy.

Made it to the park. Cute girl.

How about we run off some of this energy so we can get some good shots. She may or may not have been let off the leash. Just sayin'.

Look of determination in those eyes!

oops!

Geese in pond are much too tempting for this trained bird dog. Gone swimming.

This one is for you Dory...Crazy local woman yelling at us and telling us to "smile, you are going to be on the news". Little did she know.

She wasn't happy that the dog was in the water with nature. Never mind that she has just been seen taking the geese eggs and putting in her basket. Yes, really.

Ok.

At least a half hour has passed and Reiley is not coming back to land. Gets close but then goes back out. We are all yelling and have now drawn in a bit of a crowd. All of us concerned that she will tire out and drown.

Solution?

David strips to his boxers (and nice leather shoes) and goes in after her.

-these aren't the best photos but you get the idea. I felt a bit insensitive for taking in the first place!-

He gets out to her and starts heading back to land pushing her along when...

we hear him yell out "HELP!" The large crowd gasps!

Dory doesn't hesitate a second, throws off her heels and goes after them both. Well, I know she was going after David for sure.

A woman is yelling at her to stop as we all envision this train wreck getting worse by the minute. "GIRL!!! GIRL!!!! DON'T DO IT" Dory didn't even hear that, she just heard David's cry for help.

Oh yeah, 911 is now called.

Emergency help arrives in the form of 3 fire trucks and paramedics. They couldn't have been nicer. All 3 of them are out and fine by this point, thank the LORD! David had yelled for help because he was helping Reiley out and she gave up swimming. He couldn't hold himself and her up. She then swam again.

The paramedics just talked to them and made sure they are really ok, offer blankets and

head on out. A local vet who knows Dory just happens to be out walking her dogs and checks out Reiley. She too is fine.

We then saw the news arrive, see the man on the lower right with tri-pod.

That was our cue to get the heck out of there, quickly!

Mama and her baby.

She wanted to hug her and yell at her all at the same time.

She only hugged.

The wet walk back home. Well, David is only wet beneath. His clothes were dry since he had gone down to his underwear.

Unused basket, frisbee and such.

Back at home.

"Sorry Mommy"

Doesn't that look what is being said here?

All smiles now. Everyone is ok.

I might be mistaken but I think these two got a little closer that night.

Oh, and Dory, you are even beautiful soaking wet!

Thanks for the fun! Took me a while that night for my adrenaline to come down! Definitely made for the most memorable shoot or attempted shoot. Yeah, no charge on this one.