I would like to start this out with MAJOR props to TJ for bringing me to some amazing photography spots – he was a better scout than I would have ever been!  Thanks TJ – I think I have new places to bring people now :)  The first place we visited was the Veteran’s Home near Riverside Park where they built a beautiful park – there were probably about seven other photographers there when we were :)

I first met Janet when I worked at Meijer.  Since then, we’ve become the best of friends… I don’t think I could have made it through a day at work without her.  She sat right next to me and we were basically each other’s solace after a long, long day at work.  I can’t tell you how much I miss her smiles and glances – so to meet her for TJ’s senior pictures was such a treat.  TJ is the same kind of person as Janet – so sweet, so nice, and just wonderful overall.

I LOVED these ivy stairs :)  TJ was a good sport and walked through the marshy grasses to get here – I was running towards these stairs with excitement and he probably wondered what my problem was!

Isn’t the setting beautiful?!  I can see why I had to fight so many photographers for it… (okay, not fight, but join)

We headed to Riverside Park for a few basic “head shots,” because TJ’s yearbook wants their photos to have no background – so here we are, against a bathroom wall (seriously – the outside, don’t worry) – and I thought “no way will these turn out” — okay!  Look at TJ!  He looks so handsome!!!  I love these!

Onto the next impromptu stop – and I am sure glad we stopped here – right along the railroad tracks!  Did I mention that I love his boat shoes?

Then, TJ mentioned that he knew of an old abandoned train station, just down the tracks – little did I know that we had to also go over the train BRIDGE – terrified, but thinking this could be worth it, I timidly followed TJ over the scary bridge (apparently I’m not much of a danger junkie, as I kept saying to TJ – “are you sure I’m not going to fall through these?  are you SURE???” :)  He assured me we were fine.  We were, and it was totally worth it.

Why was it worth it?  Because it brought us to one of the coolest locations I’ve EVER been, and also brought us to one of my favorite photos of him.  Look at this one to the bottom right!  He is rockin’ that train station wall!  I love it!!!

So handsome :)

And, our last stop, of all places – was TJ’s grandma’s house, for a few more basic shots.  I really liked the outcome, so I thought I’d post a few :)  He looks so good!  TJ, Janet — thank you SO much!  I had so much fun, and I’ve got a lot more photos to share with you both.  Stay tuned!!!

I think I did about seventy photo shoots with Finn before I finally got him to actually smile at the camera.  This wasn’t necessarily Finn’s fault – I had this grand illusion that I’d take his 6 month photos while we were camping this year.  Little did I realize (or remember) that camping would be filled with heat, humidity and a MILLION mosquitoes.  But, like the photographer I am, I tried (and tried, and tried) – the beach didn’t work (it was over 90 degrees), the fields didn’t work (mosquitoes were on attack) and by the end of the week, poor Finn’s face had a billion mosquito bites :).  So, needless to say, once we got home… we were able to pull it off MUCH easier!

We started in the sunrise of the day right behind my house!

I love his shorts :)

(The smiles come especially from Finn’s favorite toy… glow worm.  My aunt got this for Finn before he was born, and I used to play the songs to him in my tummy)

Next stop… moving inside for a couple photos with his Finnegan blocks :) — we got these at his shower and they are one of the best gifts we’ve ever received!  He likes them – I’m thinking he’ll understand them a little better in a year or so!

To end the day, we decided to round it out with a sunset!  Luckily Finn doesn’t seem to mind… he loves the weeds, grass, and basically… anything different. :)

Curious.  Very, very… curious.  Weeds are okay, but plugs and wires, not so much :)

I sure do love him (more than words) :)  Happy 6 months, Finn!!!!

Either the sun is setting WAY earlier than I’m used to, or I had so much fun hanging out with Katie and Brian, that I had no idea how fast the time was going!  I do think it’s the latter, as when I was driving home it was nearing 10pm.  We started out this session in the pure sunshine; and ended it in the pure darkness of the night.  I couldn’t believe how quickly we lost our light, but in a way, I’m glad we did, because it provided us some pretty cool evening shots!

We started the day out in a field by their house with the “entire” family (their dogs)!  They really enjoyed running through the fields – I think even more than me, which doesn’t happen very often ;)

If you put me in a field… I will make you run through it.  I promise ;)

I had to yell “what’s that?!” and that totally got the dogs attention… good trick, guys :)

Um.  This may be my ultimate favorite photo… Katie!  You are gorgeous!!!!!

Back for a few shots in front of their home :) — what a beautiful house it is!

After that, we hopped in the car and drove downtown!  This is when the time started flying… my camera started (for those of you photographers) slowing it’s shutter speed on my super low ISO – and I realized – “what?  where did that sun go?” :)  Love these next few…

Did I mention that I love ivy? :) — these two are so adorable!

And yes, I brought these vintage coke bottles.  Katie and Brian were such troopers to go along with my vintage themed idea!  And they were refreshing to drink during our walk downtown, anyway…

So, add this to the “blooper” reel – but how cute is this?  I told Katie to make her way over to her wonderful fiance… and this is how she walked over, the entire way.  I was laughing and almost missed the shot!  Glad I caught it.  My favorite part is Brian’s face…

So at this point, the sun was almost gone, and we still hadn’t made it to our final destination: Brian’s proposal spot. :)  Brian proposed to Katie right here at the JW Marriott, so we wanted to grab a few photos!  We started out inside in the gorgeous lobby.

And moved outside in the beautiful evening light… love these!  They look so magical!

Katie and Brian – I can’t WAIT for your December wedding.  It is going to be beautiful, perfect, and full of so much love :) — thank you for the honor of being a part of it!

This is a very similar story to our Christmas card blog post – but when Mike asked me what I wanted to do for our 2 year anniversary, my response (honestly): “Oh! Oh!  I want to go scout out a location for some upcoming clients (that’s you, Tracy!) and take some anniversary pictures running through fields with our hair blowing in the wind… and then I want to go to Norman camera and look at lenses… and then maybe scout out some more photography locations downtown…”  Mike looked at me like – are you serious?  I mean, really, what have our dates turned into?  Photography dates?  So, I added… “And… go out for a nice dinner?” :)

But, seriously, Mike has been a huge supporter of me with this whole photography endeavor.  Without Mike and the loving support of my mom and sister (constantly – everyone probably gets so tired of me!) – I wouldn’t be in this career in the first place!  So it goes to show how supportive he really is ;).

So, here is the “mini” blog post of our tromp through fields in front of barns.  Note… these pictures were all taken with my tripod.  Not an easy feat but… it works ;)

(When I told Mike I wanted to “run through the fields” — he said “are you really serious?” — of course!)

I feel bad for our son, Finnegan.  He’s only 6 months now – so he isn’t embarrassed yet, but can you imagine when he gets into grade school?  I mean… do we actually think we look cool?!  We look absolutely ridiculous.  Poor Finn.

Happy Anniversary Michael —- can’t wait for the rest of our lives together :)   I wonder what this year’s Christmas card will bring?

There I was, at the Grand Haven YMCA/Skate Park, scoping out the area (like I always do before photo shoots) and came back to my car to find a voice message from Kris – “SANDY!  I should have told you earlier.  We are late.  We are ALWAYS late… we’re on our way!” (NOTE: she was only 4 minutes late – NOT LATE in my book!) and it made me laugh outloud.  I knew I liked her (a lot!) right then and there.  I, also, am a notoriously late person, so you NEVER need to apologize to me for being late!  The instant they hopped out of the car, I was greeted with a big smile from Kris, a mini skateboard lesson from Jake (he has one that he made by himself – awesome), and a big lick from their amazing bulldog Burton.  I knew it was going to be a great session!

We started out by the sand dunes… so absolutely pretty!

First of all, look at Jake’s hair!  I love it, absolutely.  He is one lucky guy!  And who can resist running down the sand dune (okay, Kris, Burton and I didn’t… but at least Jake ran down it)!

Silly…

Look at Burton!  And yes, Burton was named after the skateboarding/snowboarding company. :)

When Kris and I had talked earlier about the session and she mentioned that Jake skateboarded, I instantly said “we’ve GOT to get some skateboarding shots…”

Look at him!  He’s so good!  I was terrified just watching him.

So here comes the part of the day I’ll remember the most… I decided to climb right down into that skate bowl.  Why not, right?  I could get some great action shots… great shots of up above… everything was great, until I tried to get out.  As I was climbing in, a passerby said to me “Good luck getting out!” and I laughed.  Well… I shouldn’t have laughed.  For a few minutes I thought we might have to get a ladder to get me out but after a many running starts, a couple “oh no – what do we do if she’s stuck in there,” and the help of Kris (thank you) we were able to pull me out :) — next time, I’ll bring a skateboard in!

And, of course, I found a field :)  I love these ones.  Might be my favorites…

I think I could have done a photo shoot of just Burton alone!  He is SO!  CUTE!

Kris, Jake & Burton – thank you so much!  I had such a great time with all three of you – and who can complain about hanging out at the beach all morning?!  I hope you enjoyed your preview!

Noah’s birthday party is TODAY – so I wanted to get this blog post up so his friends and family could see a few preview pics of his session we had earlier this week.  What an adorable family… I went to high school with Cara, and remember riding the bus with her, seeing her running around our tiny neighborhood (I remember as I used to run around the neighborhood twice, and worried people would think I was crazy… seeing Cara run made me feel like I wasn’t a weirdo!) :)

We started out having a little picnic, trying to brave those pesky mosquitoes.  Let me tell you, they were troopers – you can’t even tell that mosquitoes were attacking them. :)

Look at those blue eyes!  Goodness!!

This is one of my favorites.  Look at how adorable they are!

And what’s a picnic without a watermelon? :)

I love this next set as well – so beautiful!

I think this one does paint a little more realistic viewpoint of what happens with a 1 year old, though, and I love it – mom’s necklace is WAY more exciting than the strange lady with the camera!  Add this to my “bloopers” reel…

When they told me that Noah loved the water, I didn’t realize how much they actually meant.  The minute we walked upon the sand, Noah started bouncing up and down with excitement… and when they put him IN the water?  Look at his expression!  Life couldn’t get ANY better…

And then, setting him in the sand – he didn’t stop for a minute.  He was headed STRAIGHT to that water, no stopping him!  I asked them what happens when he actually reaches the water, and they said he just keeps on a’goin… so funny!  Good thing dad was there to intercept. :)

Mom and son :) — with dad playing peek-a-boo in the background!

Probably my second favorite of the entire day – this probably belongs in a blooper as well, but so cute!  Finally, my camera has his attention!

Woo!  Look at that air!

Noah!  Happy 1st Birthday!  It was such a pleasure meeting you!  I hope you have a wonderful day filled with lots of love and cake :).

A few weekends ago, Katie and Andrew were married at Grand Valley State University.  It was an absolutely beautiful day – calm, happy and perfect.  I came along with Mindy from Mindy Leigh Photography and had so much fun with her!  We always wind up dancing the night away when we shoot weddings together… just can’t help it! :)

We started out the day with Katie getting dressed… she is just a beautiful bride!

Onto a couple of bridesmaid photos… aren’t the colors of the dresses and flowers just perfect?!

The guys were way too much fun.  I’m not sure I’ve ever met a group of guys so into JUMPING – I only posted one, but believe me, we had a set of jumpers with us.  And they were GREAT jumpers at that!

The next few include a couple of the ushers & friends of the groom… :)

One of these things is not like the other (and  I think he realizes it)… ;)

Back inside, getting ready for the ceremony!

I love this next sequence…

Oh yes!  Golf carts!  What a great idea!  And we, of course, HAD to have a few golf cart races!  Just don’t run over the photographers…

The reception was also at Grand Valley at the Alumni House.  It is so pretty outside…

Katie’s mom told me that she just got these wildflowers that MORNING – aren’t they beautiful?!  I think they add to the wedding details just perfectly!  I will admit I’m a sucker for wildflowers… but… really!

Also, I love beadboard… white… in fact, I want to build a house with bedrooms full of beadboard!

Cake?  YES!  Please!

This last shot of Katie is inside the reception hall.  Mindy and I couldn’t resist that beautiful staircase :)  Thanks again Katie and Andrew for having me along!  It was a perfect day and you both are perfect for each other!  I wish you all the happiness in the world!!!

Last week my cousin (my husband’s mom’s cousin’s daughter…. does that make her my cousin? – in my book, yes) Mary came to visit Mike, Finn and I with her  little man, Will.  I love Mary.  She is one of those people whom upon meeting for the first time, you can already tell how wonderful she is.   She has helped me through a lot of little questions I had with Finn, since she was about 4 months ahead in baby land (in fact, I’m on the way to the store (really – the instant after I post this) to buy some organic baby puffs for Finn after she told me what a hit they were with Will)! We were talking all things camera, as she has an interest in photography as well, so we couldn’t help but take a FEW pictures out in the fields surrounding my house!  Will is almost one – and he is so incredibly adorable and handsome!

Will was incredibly interested in the fields… and the rocks, gravel and flowers.  Especially eating them. :)

And he’s almost walking!  It’s exciting to see how much progress little ones make in just a few months… he is so smart!

This is my favorite!

We can’t wait to see you all again soon… maybe next time Will and Finn will be able to have a conversation about their crazy moms with cameras ;)