Costa Rica!!

Every time I photograph this fabulous family, I love to hear what words their kids will have as their photo catch phrase of the day.

Sometimes I love to engage with the kids in my session, but more often what I love is when the parents really take that time to connect with their children. The honest excitement a child has as they look into their parents eyes or see them playing silly games behind my head is far more meaningful than any goofiness or awkwardness I can bring to the playing field.

I am so thankful that I don't tend to photograph parents who just tell their kids to "smile" or "say cheese" or "just be good for the camera."  I love that parents want to spend good time with their kids. It's fantastic!

So what's the catch phrase?  I feel like this family is awesome at having their kids talk about or celebrate something recent when I photograph them.  One time Big Brother B had said "Yum-O!" at a party and to this day, when I think of that, I think of him and smile.  This time, it was their recent trip to Costa Rica.

How great to have two little boys, arms linked under an evergreen tree shouting, "Costa Rica!!"

Jessica & Lonny: A Wedding in STL

Every time I mentioned that I was photographing a couple who was in town from Vegas, I chuckled.  Many people leave their hometown to go to Las Vegas for their wedding.  Jessica and Lonny left Las Vegas to come back to Saint Louis for their wedding.

As I mentioned in their engagement post, these two were so full of laughs and excitement.  And their family and wedding party had lots and lots of kids, so it was also full of endless sweet kid moments. 

I cannot get over how adorable these girl's faces are.  What you can't see, just out of frame is a boy.  Now I have no idea if he is cousin, a brother, or a new friend, but these faces they made as they looked at him are just too sweet.

Seeing his daughter in her gown for the first time. 

And I was temped to show this as the first preview from the wedding- even though it is more of an "outtake"- I love this interaction between Lonny and his mom!

I love Lonny's son on the right edge of this photo, who just inched his way into the frame, smiling at the cake cutting.

Can you get any sweeter than this?

Congratulations, Jessica and Lonny!

Jessica & Lonny: Engagement

I got to photograph Jessica and Lonny for their engagement session in a way I never have before (but that I've considered many times).  They were in town from Las Vegas for their wedding, and I got to photograph them together the evening before their ceremony.  Their last afternoon together before their wedding, part of the grand adventure of the beginning of their marriage.  A date at some of their favorite spots seemed just the right way to kick of their wedding weekend.

Lonny certainly loves Jessica- you can tell by the way they light each other up, full of laughter and vibrancy.  But Lonny also loves to fish.  Throw it all together, and we visited their favorite fishing spots at Scott Air Force Base. 

Here are a few favorites from their afternoon together.  I just love their apparent giddiness and expression!

Stamps!

We have been working hard this winter to get some updates finished up for the next couple of shooting seasons.  If you don't know, we are adopting from Ghana and know that at some unknown point in time, I'll be taking some time off. So we wanted to get all things squared away before that happens to keep us running well during that next maternity leave.

One of the things that stood out to us as we evaluated every single aspect of what we do, was that our packaging didn't necessarily line up with our personal values and our brand.  In order to make our product line and packaging do that, we changed bits and pieces to use recycled products, minimize paper consumption, continue to reuse what we can (for example, we reuse cardboard packaging from our printing company and pass it on to you to keep your prints safe in transport), and buy from the USA to maximize our chances of working with a clean and transparent supply chain.  We aren't down with unfair working conditions, so we improved our purchases.

In an industry with amazing packaging and the primary product called "prints", it's tricky to minimize paper.  So do you want to know what we did?

We're going to use a stamp!  I'm super excited.  Not sure where I am going to get a ginormous ink pad in the color I need, but I've got some ideas...Seriously, guys, this stamp is four inches across!

Keep checking in to see some of our other changes over the next few months.