I got to see this little guy again for a bit today.  I've been photographing Thatcher since he was a bump in his Mom's belly, and I couldn't resist taking a few quick shots when she told me that he started crawling over the weekend.  He's a cute little explorer!

I keep getting questions about whether or not I photograph children - the answer is YES!  I love photographing babies and kids!  So I finally got around to putting a mini-gallery of kids photos on the website.  I don't shoot in the studio (nothing interesting ever happens in a studio).  Instead, I do lifestyle portraits, photographing you and your family wherever you feel comfortable and getting a more natural portrait.  They are a lot more fun, and far more relaxed.  Plus, I'll never make your kid sit in a pot or wear a boa. :)

Robin and Walter are getting married in October, so we headed out today to take some engagement photos at Union Station.  The weather was beautiful (I can only hope that spring is finally here!)  These two couldn't stop laughing when I asked them to look at one another, which I always love.  You can't take yourself too seriously.  Thanks to these two for shooting with me today - here are some of my favorites from their session.

Tricia and Jon chose Francis Park for their engagement portraits today because they used to walk around it in the early mornings back when they were becoming friends.   Now they are getting married, and I will be photographing their wedding in October.  These guys were only the second couple I've ever had that began carrying on conversations each time I told them to look at one another (most people just laugh or make weird faces!)  They are both exceptionally nice, and we had a great time wandering around.  I did make them kiss a lot for photos, which caused Tricia to exclaim at the end of our session "Now I don't have to kiss you again for like a week!"  Sorry Jon!

Thatcher turned one this weekend, on July 19th, and his parents had a little party for him.  I was fortunate enough to be there to photograph the event - watching little kids shove cake into their faces is a welcome break from the dainty cake feeding at a wedding!  Thatcher didn't disappoint with his cake scarfing, either.  He ate it straight off the high chair, and ended up with frosting down his chin and all in his hair.  I also caught a few shots of him opening gifts and running around the house buzzed from his sugar fix (although the sugars were all natural, as his Mom made the organic carrot cake from scratch.)  He eventually crashed with his Dad just in time for a nap.  I can't believe I've been photographing this little guy for a year now - I hope he continues to tolerate my lens in his face well into the future!

Many of you have contacted me about doing boudoir photos, and I've decided to hold my first all day boudoir photo session on June 29th.  Boudoir photos are fun and sexy, and show off how fantastic you are.  The photos are not about nudity - you can wear whatever makes you feel comfortable and gorgeous.  We'll help you select the perfect look and do your hair and makeup for you so that you look extra hot.  We have the use of a beautiful downtown loft space, and you'll end up with a DVD of your high resolution files.

These photos make a great gift for your fiance or husband, and give you an excuse to feel high-fashion and glamorous.  Only a few spots remain, so if you are interested let me know as soon as possible and I'll send you the details.   It should be fun!

The rain tried to scare us off for this shoot on Saturday, but I am so glad that Renee and John were willing to give it a shot.  The lighting ended up being really nice, and we had a blast shooting around town.  We went to the Spirit of St. Louis Airport first, since John is a pilot.  It was fun to shoot with the planes - brave Renee even got on top of one (John's idea, not mine!)  Then on a whim we went to the graffiti wall downtown before heading to Lafayette Park.  These two were so fun and did pretty much anything I asked.  There are a ton of photos above because we spent so much time together it was hard to choose my favorites!  I can't wait to shoot their wedding in Ste. Genevieve next April.

The rain around here is getting a bit nuts!  We rescheduled Sarah and Kevin's photos twice already, so when the weather looked threatening again this week, we just decided to chance it.  The rain stayed away, but it was a bit muddy in the park.  Fortunately these two didn't seem to mind - they still sat in the grass when I asked them to and didn't complain. They were too busy smooching the whole time to worry about things like mud :)  Thanks to Kevin and Sarah for being such good sports - I look forward to shooting their wedding this August!

Ashley and Adam were so much fun to photograph this Sunday at the Delmar Loop.  I've never shot an engagement portrait there before, but it was the perfect setting for these two.  We got a few inquisitive glances from people who were wandering about (particularly as Adam was dipping Ashley in the street), and I think someone even cheered them on at one point as they were smooching.  But these two were not camera shy, which made it really easy to get great photos.  They are in the process of moving to New York City this week, but they'll be back to get married this October - I can't wait for the wedding!     

I held my first boudoir photo sessions last Sunday - these girls were a blast!  If anyone was nervous before the shoot, they shed their inhibitions pretty quickly.  We were shooting in a loft space off of Washington Ave, and one of the girls was actually honked at while she posed in the window (whoops, I guess they can see you...)  But she didn't seem to care too much, and we just kept on shooting!  Thanks to Sabrina Torti of Proposing Dreams for her help with the session.  I'm only posting a few photos so the girls can keep the others under wraps (they are still a surprise.)  Thanks to all who participated!

Amber and Ken had such great laughs today during their engagement photo session at the Laumeier Sculpture Park.  They just kept laughing, and I just kept shooting because those are some of my favorite photos.  We had to hide out from the rain in one of the sculptures for a bit until it cleared out, but overall it was fantastic weather (considering it is August in St. Louis!)  These two are getting married in Forest Park in May - I hope to see more laughter and good times at the wedding!

Abby starts her senior year in about a week, so it was time for her senior photos.  We shot in Lafayette Park (a favorite of mine - especially because it is walking distance from my house!)  Abby was a total natural - I think she made mention of watching America's Next Top Model a lot...whatever it takes!  She is really into cars, so we made sure to take some photos of her in the car and tinkering with the engine.  I had a great time shooting with Abby and I wish her all the best in Honors French 3 this fall :)

We may have broken a few rules by climbing around on the sculptures at the Laumeier Sculpture Park (I swear I didn't see that sign...even though I took a photo of it...), but fortunately no one was around to notice.  Elizabeth was really great about hopping up and down off those things, even though she was wearing a white dress - I appreciate her sense of adventure!  I hope they had as much fun playing around in the park as I did this weekend.  These two are getting married next July, so I look forward to working with them again!

Elizabeth is my album designer - isn't she cute?  She needed an updated photo for her new website that is just getting off the ground.  Of the ones we took today in the park, this one is my favorite.  You'll have to check out her site in the next few weeks to see which one she selects (this is where I would insert a link to her site, if I knew what it was!!)  I love Elizabeth because she keeps me from being totally bogged down in album designs - trust me, she does a better job much faster than I ever did!  Thanks Elizabeth :)

I'm having a really productive Sunday, so I'm doing two blog posts today!  Jennifer and Patrick got engaged in Lafayette Park a year ago, so we went there today for their engagement photos.   I couldn't resist putting a ton of their images in black and white - these guys just look so good in black and white for some reason :)  They aren't getting married until October 2009, so I probably won't see them again for another year.  They are such planners! 

So Valerie is 5'2", and Jeff is 6'4".... this poses a few photography issues!  Fortunately this wasn't the first time I've had to deal with a height discrepancy (why do the tall guys always date much shorter girls?)  They had to do a lot of sitting, and Jeff had to do a lot of leaning, but it really wasn't too hard to get some cute shots of these guys.  We had a beautiful day to work with - I hope it is this nice for their outdoor wedding next June!

Christopher claimed he would be happy if we got one single good image from our shoot today - hopefully he'll agree we managed more than one :)  We wandered around the Grand Basin in Forest Park, getting a little hot and sweaty in the process, for some fairly last-minute engagement portraits (no worries Jenn, there are worse offenders yet to come!)  Towards the end they agreed to make some weird faces to make a kind of series.  I'm not showing most of them in case Christopher wants to hide the evidence...The wedding is in November, so I'll be seeing these guys again soon - looking forward to it!

Initially Meg and Rusty wanted to go to a different location for their portraits.   I won't say where it was, but it was a spot I've grown tired of shooting over the past few months.  So I tried to talk them into doing a more urban shoot and driving around town with me to find all the cool run down buildings in St. Louis.  Fortunately for me, they went for it, and the photos turned out awesome.  They climbed on all kinds of weird stuff (including a dresser someone was throwing away...) and waded through crazy weed patches for me, it was great.  At one point we were all so covered with these stick weeds it looked like fringe.  They couldn't have had a better sense of adventure about the whole thing, and I think it paid off.

You'll see these two on the blog again very soon - they are getting married this Sunday!  They really pushed their engagements to the last minute, but I'm glad they decided to do it.  Based on this session, the wedding this weekend should be a blast!

Like most babies, Taylor had her own agenda today - and it didn't include having her portrait taken.  She just didn't seem up for it today.  So I put away my things and chatted with her mom for a while, giving her time to chill out just enough to take a few snapshots before she began fussing again.  I'll probably end up photographing this little one again (preferably after a night in which she's had a little more sleep!) but these few are still cute enough to share!

I know when I was a senior in high school I took some hard classes, but every time I chat with a senior and hear their schedule I am amazed.  Hannah was no exception - she's taking classes like AP Calculus and AP History and AP Biology and probably 5 more AP classes I can't even remember.  Good for her!  In addition to being smart, she's also really sweet, which made it fun to take her photos today in Tower Grove Park.  I think she said she has a test tomorrow, so I hope she's studying right now - good luck Hannah!

It's boudoir time again!  I'm now scheduling appointments for the upcoming all-day boudoir session.  It will be held on Sunday, November 9th.  The session will include:

*Professionally styled hair and makeup

*Use of a downtown loft space

*1-hour long portrait session, with no limit to the number of photos

*A DVD of all the high resolution images to use as you like

Contact me if you would like more details or want to set your appointment time.  It should be fun!

Lindsay and Dan are hilarious.  They were dancing, jumping, throwing each other around, playing in the fountain, and making the best expressions.  The shot of Dan cheering on the bridge happened after he beat Lindsay at that hand slapping game....what is that called, anyway?  It was so fun playing around with them in the park.  But before we headed to Forest Park we took a few shots at Dan's firehouse - he's a fire fighter in Granite City.  They had a bit of an audience, which means Dan will probably never live this down with the guys he works with.  I know the over-the-shoulder shot is a little bit of a repeat from the other day, but I could not resist it when Dan was in his work garb.  A family friend already snagged the job of shooting their wedding next September - I'm a bit bummed I don't get to work with these guys again.  Oh well, it was a fun afternoon!

Stacy teaches yoga at a studio I teach at, and she Tim are having a baby girl in December.  I've been hoping they would do maternity photos since I found out she was pregnant!  Since it ended up being a beautiful day, we decided to take the maternity shoot outdoors into Tower Grove Park.  Stacy had just gotten this fantastic henna tattoo on her belly, which looks amazing up close and looks very Earth Mama in her bare belly photos.  The baby Vans are so cute, too - I love baby shoes!  It's hard to see on the blog, but in the ipod photo the song playing is "Could You Be Loved" by Bob Marley, which apparently is already one of the baby's favorites. Seems like I have a lot of friends and clients getting pregnant lately ... I hope more of you call me for some maternity stuff :)

Like most people this time of year, Tracy and Jason were desperate to get some fall color in their portraits.  Unfortunately, we only found two trees turning color in the area of Forest Park where we went today.  We made the most of those two trees, though!  At least we had sunshine and warm weather - that fall chill is coming quickly!

It's definitely fall around here.  Poor Laura had a dress on at first, and with that wicked wind that was blowing through Forest Park, I think she was completely freezing.  Thankfully they had a second outfit with sweaters and jeans so we could keep going.  All of you who still have portrait sessions to come this fall, keep that in mind!  We found a few more trees with color than there were last week, so you can actually tell it is October in their photos.  Laura and Bryan are both really nice, and so easy to work with.  I'm sure their wedding next year will be just as great!

I think Angela stalked the weather report for about a week to figure out if it would rain for their portrait session on Friday.  We decided day-of that despite the cloudiness, it would be a good day to shoot in Faust Park and headed off.  Unfortunately, we only had about 15 minutes of patchy sunshine until it started raining on us.  We were trapped on the front porch of one of the old houses for a bit until we decided to head back out to shoot quickly before it started raining harder.  It's a good thing cloudy days make for the best lighting!  Thanks for tolerating a little rain, guys!

Ivy Hill is a boutique just opening in the Central West End.  They needed some promotional images for their website and various things, so I basically just played around in the store for a few hours taking photos.  The owner, Hillary, has stocked the place with some cool accessories and clothes and all kinds of fun random stuff.  I couldn't leave without getting myself a t-shirt (it has a yogi on it and says "enlightenment rocks :)" - I'm a sucker for yoga shirts!)  The store is now open off Maryland and Euclid - go check them out!

I love when couples like old run-down stuff as much as I do :)  Angela and Sean liked the more urban stuff I've been doing, so we wandered around downtown for some cool backdrops.  I've never seen someone so excited to sit in front of a pile of scrap wood - it was great!  We also took some photos at Angela's grandfather's house for good measure, which had some pretty fall colors.  I think they are my last engagement session for a while - thanks for making it so fun, guys!

At first, boudoir is awkward - how could it not be?  But once each of these girls relaxed into the photo shoot (and had a glass of champagne!) they all did awesome.  We shot in a loft downtown, and this time the windows faced a fairly dead street so no one was honked at while they were posing.  I love the giant windows in those lofts, so they are featured in a lot of photos.  Thanks ladies for being so fun, and for letting me post a few of the images online!

All three of these little cousins have sweet faces - they are so cute!  We made a quick trip to Forest Park for some portraits of the three girls and their families, and the weather was perfect.  The girls were playing in the leaves a bit when Carter found a giant stick bug - you can see it on her hand in one of the photos.  They were having a great time with that bug while all of us adults made faces about not wanting to touch it!  I'm so glad that these families came out for their first family portraits.  Hopefully they'll make it a yearly tradition!

It was COLD today!  Poor Sarah was freezing out there in her little sweater - eventually she had to stop taking the coat off for photos and just keep herself warm.  Fortunately, she and Dan didn't have a hard time smiling and laughing in the cold wind.  We shot a few photos at City Hall (which is where they got engaged last July), and then wandered over to Lafayette Park.  Hopefully it will be warmer for their wedding in March!

Mika is just shy of a month old, which makes her just about the perfect age for infant photos.  Like most babies, she was a little camera shy at first, but she eventually let me take photos of her both awake and asleep (which is an accomplishment.)  She's so sweet!

The last time I photographed this family, Jenna was just over a year old.  Now she's a little past 2 years - and has the most adorable pigtails!  There was a bit of disagreement between Jenna and her parents about the pigtails (she was not pleased), but I'm glad they persisted.  She looks so cute!  Last time I caught photos of her crawling down the hall - this time she was on her little bike.  Next time who knows what she'll be doing! 

Noelle is super high energy - which is perfect for a personal trainer.  She hired me to take some photos for her new website promoting her personal training services and Zumba classes.  Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance class, and it looked like a serious workout.  Just watching the class made me a bit tired - and glad I teach yoga instead :)  We took some photos in Forest Park and Noelle brought her adorable Italian greyhounds.  I had to take a couple shots of them because they're just so cute.  I'm guessing that last one won't be going on the website!  If you're looking for a trainer in the area (getting in shape for a wedding maybe?) you can contact me for Noelle's info!

We all know the economy is a little....wonky....right now (I’m an optimist, that’s as negative as I’ll get.)  As a result, some of my clients have started wondering if they should be saving their money rather than spending it on “luxury” items such as portraits. 

But photography isn’t about vanity and luxury - it’s about celebration.  Even in tough times it’s still important to celebrate your life by documenting your family, photographing kids before they grow up, and capturing those newborn moments you can never get back.  It makes me sad to see people struggling between saving money and having good photos.  So in the interest of spreading some love around (and slightly increasing my own good karma) I’m holding a special one day marathon of mini-sessions at a special price.

Here’s the deal.  On Sunday May 3rd I’ll be dedicating my day to doing mini-sessions for family/kid/baby portraits.  Each session will be 45 minutes long, and everyone will get a DVD of all their high resolution files from the session (with copyright consent to make prints.)  Morning sessions will be held at Forest Park for the nature lovers, and afternoon sessions will be in the Lafayette Square neighborhood and park for the urban dwellers.  The fee for the session and the DVD is only $100 - less than half of the normal full session price.

This is a one time thing, so if you’re interested, call or email me ASAP to get the time you want.  I’m looking forward to it!

Sheena and Ryan are getting married in Florida in about 6 weeks, and they decided (somewhat) last minute to get some engagement photos taken in St. Louis before they leave.  We met at the Landing and then wandered around the riverfront for some more urban shots.  The wind was going crazy towards the end of their shoot, and Sheena's hair was definitely doing the whole windblown thing.  I think it looks cool in some of these shots.  At least we finished before the temperature dropped so drastically last night and the snow started!  Best of luck to Sheena and Ryan at their upcoming beach wedding!

Urban Breath Yoga has a "Mommy and Me" class for new Moms and their babies, and the studio owner was looking for some promo photos for the website.  So I joined them for a class this morning - well, I should say I watched them.  I didn't have to do any of the hard stuff.  There may have been a little fussing, but overall the kiddos were pretty zen.  And yes, that is little Mika Belle, who I photographed in her earlier days (man, she's got a lot of crazy hair!)  If you're interested in pre-natal or post-natal yoga classes, check out the website.  And non-pregnant folk can always stop in for my Tuesday night vinyasa class as well!

Ok, so these two have been engaged a while....they are getting married at the start of June.  But since they both live out of town, this was the first chance we had to do engagement photos.  Good thing the weather was so nice this weekend!  The wind got a little crazy (poor Kate had hair flying everywhere), but it was fantastically warm for April.  I'll see these guys again in June - should be fun!

I've been interested in doing something a little different with my portrait sessions, and Lee and Rob graciously agreed to help me out by letting me follow them around on a date this weekend.  We went to the Soulard Market for some groceries, played at the Botanical Gardens, shopped at the Vintage Haberdashery, and had a glass of wine at 33.  It was a fun afternoon, and I think we got some great shots that represent who they are as a couple.  They claimed that they weren't photogenic - I strongly disagree.  I hope more people get into the idea of engagement photos as a date.  It's very creatively engaging for me and pretty fun for them!

Sheena might be my biggest blog-stalker :)  Or at least the one with the best memory!  She remembered all kinds of things from old blog posts - now it's her turn to be blogged!

We went to Main Street St Charles for some engagement photos on Sunday.  Sheena's bright red skirt provided some great contrast for the images.  It looks great against the green weeds along the riverfront.  You may recognize Sheena from Sarah and Dan's wedding photos - I love when I get to see clients partying at other weddings.  I'll see these guys partying again at their wedding in September - looking forward to it!

This was my first shoot with just a mother and daughter (technically daughter-in-law to-be!)  The session was a surprise gift to Kathy for Mother's Day - although she wasn't too keen on having her photo taken.  Hopefully once she views the result she'll think differently!

Meet Joseph.  He is 11 months old, and has awesome hair.  During this portrait session he had his first ride on a swing, and took his first family photo.  It was a big day.  I think the last image (where he's reaching for the camera) is my favorite.  It may not hang on anyone's wall, but I think it's fun :)

I think this was Brody's first official photo shoot.  It was a bit bright for him outside - he was squinting a bit and hiding his pretty blue eyes!  He's still adorable, especially in overalls playing with his favorite tractor toys.  And he got to go to the zoo as a reward for his efforts - that's 30 min well spent!

I've known the Stufflebeams for a while - but I didn't know that Bear was their newest addition.  Apparently he cannot be left alone without Thatcher's supervision (even if Thatcher only wants to throw him around!)  I think he makes an excellent fourth member in the family photos :)

Lacy Branch is a wedding planner here in St. Louis, and she snapped up a timeslot during my portrait marathon on a technicality - "me and my assistants are like family!"  These three barely stopped laughing for me to take their headshots, so I believe it :)  I hope they can carry that laughter with them into the busy wedding season!

I've gotten three emails in about a week inquiring about boudoir sessions.  I'd be happy to set up a Marathon day if enough people are interested.  Like last time, I'd rent out a loft downtown, bring in a hair and makeup artist, spend an hour with you shooting, and give you a DVD of the images.  Send me an email if you might want to do it!

This session nearly got rained out, but Kelly and Joe persisted, and we did a quick shoot this morning during a break from the storms.  We shot in Lafayette Square, and managed to keep dry long enough to wander the park and the neighborhood.  I've shot in the area quite a lot recently, but I don't mind - I live less than 2 blocks from the park so I know this area pretty well.  Despite claiming he didn't like having his photo taken, I think Joe did a pretty good job laughing and posing - you'd almost think he had fun :)  I'll see these guys again for their wedding in October!

I had the pleasure of photographing Katie and Ryan's wedding back in 2007 (has it really been that long ago?!?)  They are about to move from Kansas City down to Florida, so they were making their last visit to St. Louis to visit family before they head south.  Katie's family took the opportunity to get a family photo taken in Faust Park - getting it in early for the Christmas card this year :)  Best of luck to Katie and Ryan in Florida - and thanks Conrad family for a fun session!

I can't show you anything from Laura's bridal session yesterday (can't trust that Brian won't take a peek!)  Let's just say Laura was very brave for going out during the threat of thunderstorms, and also very smart for bringing a bright white sheet perfectly sized to fit under her dress without showing - great protection for the bottom of her dress!

I'm leaving for Chicago shortly - I'll be back next Wednesday, just in time for my three wedding weekend in June.  More on that later...Have a great weekend!

It's amazing how many excellent baby photos you can get in just 30 minutes!  8-week-old Hannah was very well behaved (no crying or anything!) for the first 30 minutes of portraits this morning, and then she started getting just a tad fussy.  To spare Molly and Scott from any upset that may have ensued from pushing her any further, we ended the session there - and I am surprised at how many good images we were able to get!  It was fun to see Molly and Scott again - I photographed their wedding in 2007 - and see the newest addition to their family.  She's a sweetie :)

Sheena participated in my Good Karma Project last month - she had photos taken with her future mother-in-law.  That session was actually intended to be Sheena with her Mom and her future-mom, but Barb fell ill the morning of the session.  So we separated it into two sessions, finally getting Barb's done on Father's Day (even though it was a Mother's Day present!!)  You can tell Sheena and her Mom are very close, and they both love having their photos taken.  See you ladies in September for Sheena and Tim's wedding!

How pretty are Colin's blue eyes?  He's such a cutie - even when he's being a total boy with his mouth wide open or his tongue sticking out!  His mom, Shannon, wanted to get some photos of the two of them together at Faust Park yesterday, and a few of him alone.  At 4 years old he already has a "fake camera smile" just like the rest of us.  Fortunately at 4 he's still susceptible to laughing at the word monkey, so we managed get a laugh out of him for some of the shots.  I just love this first one - I hope Shannon does too!

I photographed Sarah and Kevin's wedding last year in August, and I remember at the reception hearing Kevin predict that they were going to come home from their honeymoon pregnant.  About a month or two after the wedding I got an email from Sarah exclaiming that they had, in fact, fulfilled on that prediction while honeymooning in Italy.  And now they have little Noah, who is just one month old!  I love the "Made in Italy" onesie, which apparently Kevin had specially made for their little one.  So fitting :)

I love so many of these photos - thanks guys for thinking of me again, and letting me move around all of the furniture in your house to get good light! 

I've decided to extend the deadline for the Engagement Giveaway (posted below.)  You all now have until August 25th to send me your stories.  I'm also broadening the scope to include proposal stories.  So send me your best!  At the request of the "single friend" I mentioned in the post, she will be helping to judge the winners, so I hope to have a good variety to share with her.  Can't wait to read them!

Stacy is a yoga bad ass.  (She's also Mommy to super cute Mika.)  She has a new website launching soon for her private classes, and needed some photos to show off her skills.  We took these shots in the Botanical Gardens yesterday.  I had a great time taking these shots - I only wish I could so some of the crazy arm balances Stacy was doing.  I can do some crazy things myself, but you'll have to come to one of my classes to see that :)  Speaking of which, yoga in Forest Park on Sundays continues through the end of September - stop by the Visitor's Center at 10am for a free practice!

Boudoir shoots just keep getting more fun for me.  I photographed two sessions this weekend in a loft downtown, and we had a great time.  I'm always surprised to find out who is interested in this type of session, and how much fun each person is once they start getting into it.  The two ladies I photographed this weekend looked awesome thanks to hair and makeup artist Shannon.  If you need someone for your wedding contact me and I'll send you her info - she rocks. 

There were some seriously good photos from these shoots, but I've decided not to post any but this one.  A recent (slightly creepy) email has convinced me to keep boudoir off the blog in the future.  So if you're interested in one of these shoots and want to see samples, you'll have to email me :)

Darci and Marc are the winners of my Engagement Photo Contest! 

These guys let me drag them to some of the places I've been dying to shoot in St. Louis before I leave town - including some run down buildings (one with a killer rooftop) and the train tracks behind Union Station.  At Union Station we worried for a minute about getting yelled at for being where we shouldn't.  As it turns out, we should have been more concerned about getting stuck.  While we were playing on one of the train cars furthest out,  another train started rolling in.  It made for good images at first...then we noticed we were completely trapped!  The train was really long, and there was no way around it to get back to our car.  In the end we had to duck under the other (not moving) trains, climb up a hill, hop over a fence, and then walk the long way back to the car.  It was really funny, and I'm glad Darci and Marc saw the humor in it instead of getting upset with me!

Thanks to all who entered the contest!  Darci and Marc met at a wedding back east a few years ago, where they bonded over a mutual love for mountain biking.  Marc was living in Colorado then, and it just wasn't the right time for them to get together.  But a few years later, the two had kept in touch and things fell into place.  Marc moved to St. Louis and they got engaged back in April.  Congratulations to them, and good luck with the wedding planning!

Can you find the yogi in this photo?  We lovingly call Laurie the Yoga Action Figure because she's so small and bendy.  When she comes to my classes, the other students are usually in awe of her poses.  I guess that happens after you've been teaching for as long as she has :)

Laurie is also a social worker, and she's starting to do some yoga programs with urban youth.  Since it ties into her work (and I love shooting in rundown buildings), I thought it would be very fitting to have her doing the postures in an urban setting.  She was brave for doing crow pose on that metal scaffolding, and side plank in the blue doorway - it was very small!  Good thing yoga gives you excellent balance.

Anyone else looking for yoga photos in the next few weeks should contact me - I'm doing a special for yoga teachers and studios until I leave town!

Each time I run into an old client and tell them I'm moving, I seem to get the same type of response: "But we wanted you to take photos of XYZ!!"  So I've decided to offer one Last Chance Photo Marathon before I leave town at the end of October. 

The marathon will be on Sunday, October 18 at Forest Park.  You can sign up for any type of session you want - family, kids, babies, engagement, trash the dress, newlywed (anything but boudoir for obvious reasons ;) ).  You'll get 30-40 minutes of shooting time, online proofing for one month, and a DVD of your image files to use as you please.  The cost is $200. 

Email me at sixeightythree@gmail.com to reserve a time slot!

Last time I photographed Taylor she was far less mobile.  At just over a year old, she has discovered her freedom, and she was definitely on the run during our photo shoot yesterday in Forest Park.  But how can you be mad at someone with such adorable blond curls and big blue eyes?  You can't - you just follow her down the path and get whatever you can!

I've been really behind on blogging because I've been sick - I'm still getting to everything!  So my apologies for the delays :)

The Stufflebeams came out for my Last Chance Marathon this past weekend.  Since Thatcher loves playing football now (and not so much getting his photos taken), I took a bunch of shots of him playing with his family.  I love the shot of Stacey and Patrick watching him play - so cute.  This was probably my last photo shoot with the Stufflebeam family, which is sad.  Maybe they'll come out to Colorado - I hope so :) 

Heather and Jason are starting to plan a wedding for next year, and Heather must have found my site in the process.  I'm glad she did, because they joined in on my portrait marathon and were really fun to wander the park with.  I love the one where they are making odd faces - they're so goofy it just works for them.  Too bad I won't be around to take more photos of them in the future!

Stefanie convinced Mike to get their portraits taken last Sunday.  I'm not sure how she did it, but I was told it was a "Once in a lifetime opportunity."  Talk about pressure!  It turns out the key is to make them laugh.  I think it worked - I just hope these portraits will tide Stefanie over for a while :)

The perfect, sunny fall day and an adorable family - what a perfect way to finish out in St. Louis.  We started bright and early in Faust Park this morning, and I'm glad we did.  We managed to just miss the throngs of photographers and families out getting portraits taken in the beautiful fall colors.  I love so many portraits from this session today, but the ones with the leaves have to be my favorites.  That's one thing I'll miss in Colorado - St. Louis has Denver beat hands down for fall color.  Thank you so much for coming out to play today, Adkins family!

I'm off to pack up my life.  I head out to Denver next Friday, so if you're trying to contact me, I appreciate your patience over the next week :)