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Meet Chumley. He will be 12 years old next week and has been my most constant companion through lots of ups and downs. He’s a beautiful soul and I love him more than I can say.
Chumley is very sick, and we don’t expect him to be around much longer. I did this mini session this morning to try and get something to print as a canvas for my home. It’s not as easy as it used to be to get him to smile.
I’d love you to leave a comment and tell me which you think would be the best for a big canvas.
This will be a very large canvas on my wall. I’ve never captured ‘Amelia’ so exactly as she is 
Taken this morning
I have been so incredibly busy for the last couple of weeks/months that I’ve not had a chance to post anything outside of client previews….so now I’m taking the day-after-Christmas-lull to do it! Here are personal images from Christmas and the Aruba trip enjoy!
A few days after the Aruba wedding, the bride and I went out for her own session on the beach. You should have seen the SCENE we were creating. People definitely thought that she was a model, and there were pleas for her to do some topless shots…. One greasy Greek guy even jumped into a photo with her. Just sharing one for now, but I’ll probably add more as I go through the session.
i added another
I wanted to share some more images from Sarah and Bob’s Aruba wedding–beautiful couple, beautiful location, beautiful love.
Sarah, I’ll have all of your proofs finished by the end of the week!
Something different for me….thought it looked like an old photo, so ran with it.
My favorite sassy flower girl being a goof
A lot of people think that you can only do outdoor portrait sessions in the warmer weather… but I think there is something very special about them in the Winter. Whether you run out for five minutes in your best dress and run in for some hot cocoa, or bundle up and play…getting fun and bright photos. Really, what’s cuter than a close up of a child in a bright hat?
To prove my point, take a look at these taken this week in temperatures in the single digits.
Hello again from Aruba!
Sharing a few more images, as well as a few stories, from the happy island. I only have one more full day here before heading home to a half foot of snow on the ground….
Aruba is known for it’s Iguana population, and here at the hotel they let the kids feed them lettuce every day at Noon. It’s incredible how the Iguanas know that it’s lunch time and come charging as soon as they see them coming. Thanks to this week my daughters are getting an Iguana who will live with them at their Dad’s house (Chris is on the trip with me and the girls)…..and have decided to name it Rebecca. Libby said that it has to be Rebecca because every house needs to have a Rebecca there. Sweet, yes….but Chris was way too happy to name a scaly, green, monstrous looking creature after me.
And of course there has been tons of time at the beach. I could share photos taken there with you for days and days.
After a long and exciting drive around the island in a rented Rav4, we saw some wild donkeys walking on the side of the road a ways ahead of us. Of course, being a animal lover and photographer I make Chris pull over. After walking down the road to get closer to them and getting a few shots, one started coming my way. When he started getting close I made a break for the car…and he followed. Fast. After a few moments we had four wild donkeys surrounding the car, one eating a Burger King Chicken Sandwich out of my hand (just the bun), and sticking their heads in the car. I got a few very fun shots of them, but this one shows how close they were. To my photographer readers out there, you’ll get it when I tell you that I was shooting with my 85mm f1.2L fixed lens and couldn’t get back far enough to focus on him. This was what I got when I backed into the middle of the car….
The drive around the island was….eventful. The 3 and 5 year olds in the backseat were cranky and we were driving on Jeep and ATV trails in the Rav4. It’s incredible, really, that as touristy as Aruba has become there is one entire side of the island that does not have a paved road. Or a nice gravel one, for that matter. There were several times when we were forced with making the decision to either turn back or go through LARGE ‘puddles’ which were of unkown depth. The Rav4 did great on the first couple, which were deep enough to come near the bottom of the doors. Unfortunately, we weren’t as lucky when trying to get through a flooded spot that was very large, and as we learned the hard way, deep and slick. We got stuck and started to slide sideways. Chris stopped, told the kids to hold on, backed up a couple of inches and gunned it. We made it out, but the car didn’t sound exactly the same for the rest of the ride. When we kept having people honk and wave and point, we discovered that it was because we were dragging part of the car. Nothing really, just the thingie that protects the gas tank. Anyway, it was fine because it finally fell off entirely on a particularly rough patch of ‘road’. So you can get an idea of what the actual ‘roads’ (not the Jeep trails, the actual road on the map) look like….
There was a very cool isolated beach that we stopped at to hunt for shells and sea glass that was surrounded by handmade crosses. Looking at the names painted on them, we figure that it was actually an unofficial pet cemetary. It was really beautiful in an odd way…this is just one photo of the area–I have others which show how many there really were.
Have a great day and see you in the US soon!
Just have to point out once again that I am in ARUBA
And yesterday I had the opportunity to photograph the wedding of Sarah and Bob on the beach. You may remember their engagement photos from a few months back…the one everyone mentions to me is the photo of Bob dipping Sarah in the middle of Appleton’s main street… They are gorgeous and fun and I adore them.
I promised Sarah that I’d tear myself away from the beach and get a sneak peek up for her ASAP, so here it is! Now back to the sand, even if it is after 10pm
Since the flower girl is just so cute, I’m including a lot of her, too. Oh, fine, so she’s my daughter, but as the photographer it’s my perogative!!!
Sarah is a hair stylist, and it does not seem fair at all that she did the hair of all of her bridesmaids (and flower girl) THEN did her own hair and make up for her own wedding. She’s just a rockstar.
Here you go, Sarah, and CONGRATULATIONS!!!! We love you!!!!
Oh, and yes, I was in a dress and in the ocean up to my mid-thighs to get a few of these shots
It’s December 1st and I’m covered in salt and sand….must not be in Wisconsin anymore!
I am in Aruba to photograph a wedding and have some sunny family time, and had to share a few photos.
To those who have tried to email me and have gotten the ‘mailbox full’ message, I am sorry. It is fixed now, so please try to resend your message. I’ll reply as soon as I get back to the USA. If you are waiting to receive prints or for orders to be placed, I’ll get them delivered/ordered within a few days of returning.
