This is the face

The name of my photography company is "smile out loud."  That phrase, which at first doesn't seem to make sense, comes from something this young lady said nearly seven years ago!  When she was around four, I think, she and I were doing something together - and she turns to me and says,  "Momma, that makes me smile out loud!"  To which I replied, "silly girl, you can't smile out loud."  I went on to explain that a smile was an expression and didn't make any noise.  She just sat there looking at me like I'd not quite made my way to discovering that she wasn't talking about a sound, she was talking about a feeling.

It occurred to me then - to smile out loud is to feel such happiness that it cannot be contained inside yourself.  It's the happiness that seeps out between the cracks in your soul and displays itself for the world to see.

Now - all these years later, my little girl is growing into a beautiful young lady.  She just recently blew out eleven candles topping her birthday cake.  I'm so glad to be a photographer on days like that.  Because see what I caught?  See the look on her face?  She's not just smiling - she's smiling out loud!  

Bright Sunshiny Day

Tomorrow is Memorial Day (you know, the unofficial start of summer) but in Wisconsin that means absolutely nothing.  Some years we've barely put away the shovels when Memorial Day arrives... tomorrow here it's supposed to be 90 degrees.  Don't let that high temperature fool you, though.  It's been a rather wretched spring here - I think twice last week we had highs in the 40's.  Yuck!  So, when I went to the store to buy materials for the shag pillows I planned to make - and keep - I chose this bright, cheery yellow.  My living room walls are a very pale yellow - and the room is filled with chocolate brown leather couches and red upholstered chairs, so I thought yellow was as good of a choice as any.  At least looking at them will remind me of what the sun is supposed to look like, even if I cannot see it in the sky.  

Hooty and the Red Shag Pillow

My daughter is just a little obsessed with owls.  Loves them!  Wears them on necklaces, shirts, headbands and is constantly drawing them too.  I'm a generally creative person, which says both a lot and not that much at the same time.  I'm all for sewing,  knitting, baking, painting...  if it means I can get the project done in a day or two.  I'm creative - with a time limit. 

So a few days ago Caitlin and I got this idea - she'd draw one of her infamous owls and together we'd bring him to life.  As she sketched out his eyes, beak, wings and feet... I gathered scrap fabric and started cutting out pieces.  I set the sewing machine to zig-zag and layered the scraps on top of each other.  This is what we got!  She loves it because it's her drawing - in a tangible, holdable form.  I love it because she loves it and thinks I'm a little bit magical for being able to make it.  Anyone who knows sewing knows it's really not that difficult - but we don't have to tell her!

Behind the owl - I think her name is Liberty... no, Ruffles... is the pillow I also made for Caitlin's teacher.  I love giving my kids' teachers gifts at the end of the school year to let them know how appreciated they are.  This was also a very easy project.  It would have been a thousand times easier if I'd been able to find a decent pair of scissors around here, but that's a whole other story.  The pillow is strips of t-shirt material layered together to create a shag look.  I think it looks cute and trendy - truth be told I've already made a yellow one for myself.

So let your creative side out!  See what you can create!  It will make you feel good - and a little bit magical too!  

Baby Love

Oh, how I love babies.  If I had my way, I'd have had a dozen of them.  Well, maybe not a dozen, but a lot.  Many.  Probably more than the two I was blessed with.
Once you know that about me it's easy to understand why I'm so thrilled whenever I'm asked to photograph a little one - especially a newborn. I love their miniature eye lashes and toes and fingertips that readily grasp your finger when given the chance.  I love how newborns settle into their dreams and how relatively easy it is to keep them safe and happy.
(This gets harder and harder every day they're alive, in my opinion.)
Anyway - I had a fantastic time with this new, new, newborn Tenley and her adorable big brother Jameson last week.  Both of them are beautiful and perfect and will bring years of hapiness to their family.  Congratulations - and Thank You for the baby fix.  

Beauty in the Everyday

What Spring Feels Like

There is a wonderful photographer from California whose work I truly admire.  She often blogs about "in betweens"... the soft, fuzzy images she gets by accident on a photo shoot. 

You get them when your finger flinches or your subject moves - and you're left with an image that at first glance seems like something you should delete.

But before you do... take a closer look.  

What does this photograph make you FEEL?

Warm?  New?  Fresh? Loved?

Just like in life, "in betweens" can be the most precious.  The moments in life worth saving.  

The moments we'll wish we had back later.     

springtime portraits