Autumn in White Cross

Sometimes you have only to ask to get special permission. I've been to public arboretums in Atlanta and Raleigh but they don't compare to the place I went in October. A private arboretum hidden in the back roads of Orange County. Due to a turn of fate, I knew about this place 2 years ago through a friend of mine, but I never found the time to ask the owner if I could visit. Life has a way of getting in the way of your plans, you know. So, when I found myself with a few October weekends with no plans on my hands...I scoured my email for the contact information to this arboretum. After many emails and discarded dates, we finally settled on a Sunday late in October. As I got geared up to take this road trip, I casually mentioned to my 2 besties, Rachelle & Sarah, that I was going and would they like to join me for the ride. I thought there was no way either of them would be interested...I was way wrong. Both of them jumped at the chance to get away on a girls' road trip to a secret location! It turned out to be an overcast day with the leaves starting to turn and the colors really beginning to POP! We spent 1 hour driving there, 2 hours walking around with me taking tons of pictures of the scenery and of the besties, and an hour coming home. It felt like we were in the book, "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett (one of my all-time favorite books). Hidden from the world, in a garden that only a couple people know about, walking with 2 of my besties and surrounded by beautiful plants and statuary. We had a wonderful Sunday afternoon together and I took some pictures of my besties that made their mommas proud! It was a day full of memories, smiles and sincere, true friendship. It was a blessing and a bendiction from God.

Crossing Cultures

Having a curious mind is a very eye-opening thing. I have always been fascinated by other cultures, traditions and ceremonies. Receiving a phone call to document a ceremony for one of my favorite families was quite a pleasure. The richness of everything, the symbolism of the baby's first solid food, the closeness of the family and the rituals that created the entirety of the morning all came together to present me with a great Foto opportunity! On a week that provided me with numerous Fotoing moments, this was one that was unique, even for me!

Baby Fingers, Baby Toes and 3 Times the Fun!

I was really able to indulge my need for a Foto-fix this past week. A friend of mine let me spend my morning Fotoing her 3 adorable children. Part of the purpose was to take fotos of her newest member of the family, the 6 week old cutie pictured above. He is very cute and very alert. He likes to snuggle into my shoulder when I get to hold him and he's a very easy baby to foto. Deep blue eyes that want to see everything and he seemed especially taken with the flash from my camera. I could take thousands of fotos of this child and not grow tired of him. To see the fotos of him, please click on the foto above.

I really wish I had the energy that these kids have! Constant movement, constant questions and constant CUTENESS! It was a true challenge to keep up with them but it was so much fun at the same time. My camera loves these faces. I think even their mom was surprised that I actually captured so many good pictures because we were all in perpetual motion that morning! I know I was pleasantly charmed when I started downloading and previewing the enormous amounts of cuteness that I had somehow managed to foto. I am usually happiest working outdoors with natural light for my kid fotos but somehow, it all worked out. I knew I needed to work on my indoor technique and this certainly gave me the opportunity and motive. I truly wanted to be able to present their mom with wonderful fotos to put on her walls and to be able to share with all their family members. And I was able to fulfill my wish...she loved these fotos. To see the fotos of all 3 cutie pies, please click on the foto above. Let's Foto!

Kids and Ice Cream

Have you ever just walked right into the perfect situation and you were at exactly the right place at the most opportune moment? That happened to me this past Wednesday. My office mates decided to host an end of summer ice cream sundae social for our residents. No better opportunity to Foto than kids & ice cream!!!! So, I packed up my camera and that spiffy new lens of mine and went to work. I love the fact that I had so many beautiful and different faces to capture. I could have easily taken hundreds of Fotos and I didn't even get the chance to catch all the faces I wanted! In the Foto showcased above, yes, those are her natural color eyes. No color editing there! I love the fact that kids are so natural and their smiles can light up a whole afternoon. From the amount of smiles I got Wednesday, I should be brightened for the next 3 weeks. They have the most beautiful faces and I'm so blessed to have been given the oppotunity on Wednesday to immortalize them. It feels good to have such a gift to share with their parents. And the parents...what a wonderful group of people. Each one I have called and told that I have Fotos for them...they have been so excited and happy!!!

In the green of morning...

As my followers well know, I have been attempting to capture, however fleetingly, the beauty of hummingbirds...I finally feel that I have succeeded. After purchasing my newest lens, an AF Nikkor 50mm 1.8 (thanks to an endorsement from my friend Amanda), I spent most of today learning how to best use its talents. I am so happy with the Fotos I captured and wanted to showcase them to you. We have 9 hummingbird feeders hanging off the front porch where we can spend hours watching their dogfights and fun. They are so fascinating! After you sit outside for a few minutes, the hummingbirds become accustomed to your presence and then they begin to show off. I have had a hummingbird hover directly in front of me, chattering away and evincing his displeasure at the missing feeders that we were cleaning to refill at the time. Each year, we have between 50-75 hummingbirds migrate back to our front yard. Generation after generation...bringing the new generation with them as they return. The gentleman who previously owned the house told us that he has had hummingbird feeders hanging in the same spots for the previous 30 years...I guess that's why they know to come back now that we are the owners hanging them! So, this country morning, I was able to indulge my need for a Foto-Fix...which I have been sadly lacking the past 2 weeks due to a crushing work schedule. Fotoing enables me to relax and enjoy the beauty that God surrounds us with each day. I'm glad I took these moments to Foto-tize our hummingbirds since sometimes it feels like we are running around just as fast as the hummingbirds' wings are fluttering. Take your moments when you can...they will save your heart and life.

Every Blessed Moment

As I take more Fotos, I am reminded to appreciate every blessed moment I am given. So many days rush by without even a moment to slow down. Or maybe we just don't take the time to dwaddle...for fear we will miss something...but we don't realize all that we are missing by running around. I took some time recently to take some very precious Fotos for one of my favorite families. It was, as Carolina always is in the summer, humid and hot outside. Even still, we got some good family pictures. I learned long ago that language is a barrier only to those who let it become a barrier. With gestures, smiles and love between subjects, we can accomplish much more without words than you might be able to imagine. I had only to motion for Grandfather to turn in toward his wife and he turned. I only had to capture the love on his face when he hugged his wife and daughter close, without me suggesting the pose. I love natural actions...I love natural Fotos. I am not the type to stiffly pose people...I want to capture the kiss from Grandmother to her grandson, or the adoring look of both parents down to the creation they brought into this world. I want to capture the true emotion of the people I Foto. I want to Foto people as they are naturally. I just want to share my Foto gift.

4th of July

There's nothing like spending time with family and friends to make a hot summer 4th of July get together fun! With so many models to choose from, I had to make the most of the fun. It was good to have a beautiful day for a backdrop. I am finding that natural settings are my favorite format. I love being able to use the backgrounds that God has given me. They are so much more interesting and changeable than working in a pseudo-studio or Foto-graphing indoors. I love the natural light and the ways it presents my subjects to me. It didn't hurt that Rachelle is beautiful anyways. One of these days we'll find the time to take the Fotos of her that I've been trying to do for a long time! Hope you enjoy seeing in the window to our fun, sunny day! Off to get my next Foto-fix!

Hummingbirds: 1; Me: 0.5

Fast as lightning, jittery as a caffeine addict and as hard to capture as the dreams you have in the middle of the night. For my first real attempt, it wasn't really so bad. I think I needed to use a different setting but it also wasn't the worst I've ever done. I shall attempt again, maybe with some better results. We'll see. So, for now, the little buggers are winning.