OOF!

Yeah, that's how I feel.
I don't think I've stopped feeling full since yesterday morning. Thanksgiving, love everything about it except standing on the scale the Sunday after. Yeah, that's where that OOF comes in, right?
Please be kind, Mr. Scale. Let's be friends this year, shall we?
Little late for Halloween, but monsters are cute anytime of the year. This one was for a friend from my teaching days- monsters and boys fit so well together. :-)

Imagen Backdrop Giveaway/ 20% off for you!

Hello there blogoids-
Just a couple of quick really fun and exciting things to say to you and then I will be on my way!
First off:
I love you.
Second:
Because of that true, unending, and devoted love, I have a special gift for you through this weekend! I just posted a bunch of hats lying around my house into my shop for immediate shipment. They are ready made just for you. And if you order one now, you can save 20% until Saturday at 10 p.m. mountain time. What else says true, unending, devoted love like 20%??? Click HERE to check out the shop and see what's cookin'.

Third:

These guys are amazing. AND they are hosting an incredible giveaway with TONS of stuff. AND I am giving away two newborn hats in this giveaway in one of the collections! I have to say that I was browsing through all the really cool stuff they are giving away and I'm a little bummed I can't enter. However, if you refer to the first announcement, you'll understand why I am sacrificing my entry for you. :-)
So click on the picture above and follow the instructions to get as many entries as you can! Giveaway starts November 17 and ends at midnight November 24.
Have a fabulous day.

Back on the Train

Oh blogging...
How I miss thee.
Time just escapes me sometimes, sheesh! I'm actually backed up in my blogging- starting to understand what it's like for "real" photographers who never have time for blogging. Better then the alternative, where I'm scraping the barrel for something to write about. Not that I, uh...was ever uncool enough to do that....ahem....

This family was SO easy to work with. All of the kids were just smiley and sweet and the parents just the same. That is until we tried to get from point A (the oval on CSU campus in Ft. Collins) to point B (an old hotel maybe two or three miles north of there in downtown Ft. Collins) at 5:30 in the afternoon. First we got stuck behind a 15 min. train (seems a lot longer while you're sitting there waiting)- let me just say whoever runs the train schedule is a madman. Who in their right mind lets a train THAT long block traffic during rush hour in the busiest part of town??? Madman train scheduler, that's who. Then we got stuck in a section of downtown at a light that changed at least 4 times before we moved an inch. Yuck. When we finally started moving, we may or may not have made an illegal turn to get to our location out of sheer frustration from being in traffic so long.
Don't tell anyone.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun and I love some of these images. Fall. The Oval. Beautiful warm weather. Beautiful family. The next day was the megga snowstorm that smashed all the trees to pieces all over town (including our backyard trees....poor old friends, they hung in there, but it was ugly...), and The Oval definitely looked much different after that.
Stay tuned, got more a' comin'...

I heart faces photography challenge- Black

Okay, I know that the horse is actually white, but there is black in this photo! This was a shoot I did not too long ago and is likely one of my all time favorite maternity shoots I think I've ever done. She decided not to do pictures with her horse (a European horse, no less- this love-bug was flown over from Denmark, where she is from) initially, but while we were out at their ranch her husband suggested that we just take him out for a few pics since I was there. Let me tell you, I am SO glad he suggested it. The shots of the two of them were incredible. Sunset, mountains in the background, open range...couldn't get much more glorious than that. I just love the intimate moment in this capture.
Check out some more amazing photos incorporating the color black by clicking on the button below! Creative challenge this week for serious. :-)
Love

Caps for Sale

Anyone ever read that book? It was a children's book written by a Russian author. When I was student teaching, my amazing host teacher taught this adorable little song with orff instrumental accompaniment to do for first graders that I did with my first graders for three years in a row. We even performed it once at a Barnes and Nobles book fair. Sometimes I feel like that man who didn't carry his wares on his back, but on his head. You know, if I actually wore my hats...or something...
I actually have a lot of commissioned work right now with my hats. Yay! But I have to warn some of you who are thinking of using my services. I am completely open for business, but if you are looking to use me for Christmas gifts this year, all orders need to be in by Thanksgiving. Or I'll never get them done in time. Just sayin'. :-) I have some very cute creations upcoming, stay tuned...
Like this little charmer. Ordered for a little wee girl, this is the "baby bump" hat. (HAR HAR). I know, I kill myself...I just LOVED scaling this one down to itty bitty size. Anything made itty bitty size is better. Except for chocolate. No use for itty bitty sized chocolate around here, that's just irritating.

It's all about the pose

Hello Lovers.
I have done nothing but take pictures for the last 4 or 5 days!
It's been amazing. I have others to edit right now, but per request of a very anxious junior in high school, I decided to post a couple of these right now. And also because I just think they are grand. Seriously, this shoot made my morning! She and her wonderful, keenly eyed BFF accompanied me around down town Windsor and we had a blast! And can you believe her sense of style? Amazing. For serious.
And time for bed! Hope you all enjoyed the nice weather today (totally meant to take the kids to the park today and just didn't get to it...so sad!), it's supposed to get chilly. And possibly snowy. ICK.

Home again, home again...

We have three VERY large bags of candy waiting just outside my kitchen for our church Halloween Party Trunk or Treat tonight. It's difficult for me to just let them sit there...they look so lonely. And wrapped. Don't you think just a couple of them should be free?
...or maybe I should print out a picture of a 400 lb woman and set it nicely on top of the bag...as a warning.
We made it to Utah and back! And I have a busy couple of weekends ahead of me! Five photo shoots in two weekends...yeesh. But also yay!
Last night some of our very favorite friends met us at the park during their visit out to Colorado for a couple of weeks. Although I am happy that they have settled into their home in Missouri since their move a couple of years ago, I have to admit I feel a little jealous whenever I see them with new friends on their blog. Just a little. :-) My plan for them to be so lonely out there that they would just HAVE to move back obviously isn't working. :-) We are so happy to see them when they come through and I usually get to do some pictures for them while they are here! Super plus. They were some of my first "clients"...I mean, "friends" (sorry, I said the wrong thing last night, ha ha) who let me take pictures for them! And now Mommy is getting into photography as well and is taking our family pictures. It works out to be a nice trade! Check out some of her work HERE.
Anyway, on to some of the good stuff. They are expecting baby #2 in December and we couldn't be more excited for them!