babies are delightful!

I absolutely love babies.

There is no doubt about that.

I mean, I AM a Grammy, right?

One thing I enjoy when I'm looking through the lens of my camera is seeing babies! 

However, I will admit that while patience has not always been my strong suit, it is a characteristic that one must possess to capture those sweet baby moments.  I have had to learn to be patient when photographing babies and young children and more importantly, try to project patience to the parents.

Of course we all love to see happy babies.  As a photographer, it is satisfying to capture that perfect smile, that sparkle in their eyes.

AND there are other times that capturing the complete opposite of a happy smile is just as memorable of a moment. This one of Baby Claire is one of my favorite shots of this session....and it was a favorite of her parents' too! What a fun memory her cute little temper will be for them to look back on (although I have a feeling her cute little temper may last awhile). :)

Sometimes, it's a detail...everyone loves baby feet, right!?

I happen to love this shot for the lighting. It is a favorite of mine and portrays such a strong emotion of peace and quiet. The perfectly sweet baby moment laying in daddy's hands. 

Sometimes a shot just "happens". I must say I was ecstatic when I discovered this gem on my camera. It was "THE MOMENT" we were trying to freeze in time. Daddy's favorite horse and Daddy's favorite baby girl. Could there be another more awesome shot?  No, it's not perfectly exposed or composed, but I have no doubt that this image will be an all time favorite photo of this family.

THAT is why I will continue to work on my patience when it comes to working with babies and their parents. It's worth every minute it takes to wait for a baby to calm down, move to another location, change clothes (and diapers!), and very importantly, ease the parents so they know I want to take the time to ensure we capture the moments!

"Shocolate Ship" Pizza

There is a great little pizza place in Highland, AR called Bia Maria's. They serve buffet style but have very unique flavors, such as chicken enchilada, loaded baked potato and buffalo chicken. They also carry more traditional styles as well, like supreme, pepperoni and sausage.  They also have several choices of dessert pizzas. I loved the peanut butter cookie, but as you can see Carlee is happy with "shocolate ship"!

The coolest part is that they bring fresh pizzas around to your table and offer you a hot piece while they ask if you have a favorite that you would like for them to prepare fresh. It is a relaxed family atmosphere with different sports showing around the dining room on the mounted flatscreens and an arcade a la Chuckie Cheese style where you can cash in tickets for prizes.  

On another note, I'm super impressed by Google+'s ability to put together these cute little gif's out of my automatically uploaded iPhone photos. I did not realize that happened and was pleasantly surprised to discover it this morning while pursuing my uploads for a specific photo. 

Much like my blog, I have not been a very active poster on G+, besides using the "hangout" for video calls with the other little cutie pie in my life and his mommy, but will definitely be using it more and more for this feature. Feel free to connect with me on G+ and I'll add you to one of my circles too. 

P.S. I'm in no way affiliated or being paid by Bia Maria's. I always like to share local places when I find ones worth sharing. We actually have several in my little community worth sharing. :)

Progress

High time to show the progress on Project House since the outside is {almost} done. Porches and a little trim yet to go.

From this:

to this:

 to THIS:

 Improvement. No?

I promise a better photo that includes leaves and grass. This was taken last winter while the guys were still there working.

A little more from inside soon. I've been working in the bedrooms trying to clean and prep for painting. There are some repairs to be made in places where there was water damage from a leak in the roof, but each day I am there working, it looks a little better.