Book a session now with this guy! :)

It’s that time of year – time to start thinking about Valentine’s Day pictures, Easter Pictures, Senior Portraits and fun spring family pictures. I’m booking for Spring 2010 now and prime dates are getting booked up now.

If you a book a session between now and March 1st, you’ll get a free DVD with all of your images with your normal session fee.* That’s a $200 savings!

I’ve had a couple beautiful ladies book boudoir shoots as Valentine’s Day presents for their significant others. If you’re interested, send me an e-mail. I promise you a relaxed, professional and fun shoot, where you come out looking especially ravishing. Give your significant other a present they’ll never forget.

I am excited to be doing some volunteer photography work in the next couple of months. I’ve donated a couple sessions to local charities I support, so I am looking forward to helping out and doing my part!

In other news: I am officially over winter. And I hear they are predicting more snow. What gives Mother Nature? How about some 60s already? :)

*This promo can’t be used in conjunction with any other offers, such as a discounted session fee.

Exhibit A:

Baxter’s dirty lil monkey. Last week he ripped it open and the squeaker and the stuffing started coming out. I took it and headed to the trash can, thinking I’d toss it. Baxter followed me all of the way and, as I got to the trash can and was about to toss it, he let out this little pathetic whimper. I look down and his eyes were pleading with me. :)

So, I took out all of the stuffing and the squeaker, because I didn’t want him eating it, and gave him back the shell of the toy. He hasn’t noticed. He still carries it around in his mouth EVERYWHERE. It’s pretty adorable. I wish we could remember where we got it so I could go grab another one. But you know the new one wouldn’t be the same as the filthy, slober-soaked shell of a monkey he loves so much.

In the mean time, here are some pretty creatures from my life. :)

3 out of 4 fur babies went to the groomer’s last weekend. Lexie, Hudson and Baxter all spent the day getting combed, bathed and clipped while Gunnar enjoyed having the house to himself for a bit. We noticed about 3 weeks ago that Gunnar was losing hair in a few spots. In the last couple of weeks, it progressed pretty fast, to where he was bald in spots all along his back. A quick trip to the vet and they figured out he has a Melatonin deficiency, which is causing the hair loss. He’s on tablets and the hair is already growing back. But, since he’s mostly hairless, there wasn’t a reason to get him groomed. We’re bathing him ourselves and we’ll wait for his hair to come back in. Poor little man. We keep telling him he’s beautiful with or without hair though. Don’t want his self-confidence tarnished. :)

So, anyway, here are some adorable, clean, yummy-smelling baby dolls…

Huddy, the littlest of our pack. Such a loving, funny little man. :)

Lexie Lou, our little monster! She’s so ornery that you can’t help but love her.

Baxter’s beautiful eyes. Note: I always hate it when he comes back from the groomers – he’s so puffy he looks like a poodle. A day or two after, the sweet little waves come back into his coat, and it drapes as a labradoodle’s coat should.

She is such a pretty girl!

Good baby boy.

And fur babies aren’t the only adorable creatures living in my house…

Blinky here is pretty easy on the eyes too. He has bronchitis pretty bad, which makes me sad. :( But I’m taking really good care of him, so it’ll all be okay with time. :)

So, that’s what’s happening right now in our world. How’s life treating you?

I was at work today and heard someone say, “I’m beside myself with worry”. For some reason, I started thinking about how to portray that in a photo, so I came home and took this. It was a quick deal: one shot for each pose, no re-takes, a little post-processing (or a lot) and it was done. I like how it turned out.

So, without further delay,  I present to you my 2010 resolutions – in no particular order.

Teach my dogs to pick up after themselves.

I love those crazy babies, but they are worse than children with leaving their toys EVERYwhere. I am going to teach them to put them back in their basket (or, more than likely, I’ll just keep picking them up).

Take down our Christmas lights.

Yeah, I know. But, in my defense, there’s still 2 feet of snow around the perimeter of my house, so there’s no way I’m getting on a ladder (and none of my neighbors have taken ‘em down either). I expect we will be Christmas free by Easter.

Ride my bike more.

And by “more” I mean “at all”.

Drink more root beer in frosted mugs

Cause it’s yummy and makes my happy.

Go someplace I’ve never been.

In 2009, I saw Niagara Falls, which was crazy awesome and romantic.

Be filled with wonder.

I get so focused on work and everything else, that I sometimes forget to discover new things and be in wonder over their beauty. This world, and the people in it, are simply amazing and beautiful. I must remember to stop and appreciate that every single day.

Get Gunnar over his fear of cameras.

My handsome little man came to us from the SPCA and he had obviously been abused in the past. He’s melted into our family without any problems, other than he’s terrified of us when we have anything in our hands, especially my camera.

Replace our kitchen counters.

They have burn marks on them from the previous owners and a hole (you can’t see it in this pic) from where we had to cut them to replace the dishwasher (long story). Also, we have flooring. This pic is from before we closed on the house when the floors were all stained concrete (yuck).

Spend more time with my family.

They are crazy, but I love them.

Do something new once a month.

I had never been to Oktoberfest (where I snapped this picture of Jer) before this year. It was a blast! And HULLO! delicious food!

Plant more flowers

Because I love doing it, and they’re pretty and make me happy.

Get Huddy in to agility classes.

This little baby, even though he’s 9 lbs. soaking wet, can jump higher than any dog I’ve ever met. He loves running and jumping and meeting new people. He would be in Heaven doing agility training (we wouldn’t compete, we’d just do it for fun).

Observe more wild animals.

In their natural habitats, of course. Rawr.

Learn to cook.

Jeremy is a wizard in the kitchen. Me? Not so much. I want to be able to cook better, so I can treat him to a night off now and again.

Get Lexie to walk on a leash.

Right now, her idea of walking on a leash is for us to drag her as she whines, or to be carried (she’s pretty timid). She’s getting over it little-by-little, but we need to help her through the rest of it in 2010.

Make ornaments for my 2010 Christmas tree.

I don’t have a plan on this one. It’s just a goal.

Figure out Baxter’s hair.

I don’t want to shave him, but he’s extra shaggy now. I need to get with our groomer and figure out how to keep him looking like the scruffy teddy bear I love, but balance it with not letting his coat get unmanageable.

Play more Wii.

Cause it’s fun. (And, yes, that’s a picture of Jeremy and I tying in bowling. It was the second time, in a row, that it happened!)

Avoid blizzards.

The snow was fun for about 24 hours, then I was ready for the roads to get back to normal.

See more concerts.

Jeremy, Laura and Sarah at the Brandi Carlile concert at Cain’s.

Be a good husband.

Be a good hubby to the best man I know, and my best friend. Show him every day how much I love him, need him and want him in my life. Oh, and let him know he’s pretty cute too. :)

…and last but not least…

Be the best version of me.

This is a tough one to elaborate on. I want to grow, learn new things, shed bad habits, gain good ones, love others without fail, be kind, be generous, be reliable, be available. Just be a good person, with a kind heart and a willingness to help others.

So, those are my resolutions for the most part. What are yours?

Rest assured, I am alive and kicking.

It’s been a hectic few weeks and I haven’t had much to share worth hearing. There have been a lot of positive developments in my personal life, so I’ve been taking more time out to live for each day and appreciate the blessings in my life.

This is a Christmas of firsts in my house. First Christmas in our new house, first Christmas with Gunnar, Lexie’s first Christmas, Hudson’s first Christmas and Baxter’s first Christmas. First Christmas for my sister and her family in Dallas, Texas. First Christmas that Jeremy and I are hosting at our home. First Christmas for Jeremy in his new job. Lots of fun firsts! I’ve been taking a ton of pictures of course, so here are a few of the season so far.

Lexie and Baxter were thoroughly unamused about the mess we made with the tree, with ornaments, ornament boxes and assorted junk that filled up our living room and covered their favorite chewing spots. So they curled up in a bed together and watched the madness.

I decided I was going to get a picture of all 4 dogs in front of the tree, because I apparently like being frustrated and saying “sit” over and over and over and over. The first attempt didn’t work so well. Lexie kept running off and Baxter kept getting in my lap. I finally had to give them a firm talking to, in which I apparently hurt Baxter’s feelings. He went under the tree, plopped down and gave me puppy eyes until the camera went away. (Note: Gunnar, our white Terrier mix we adopted from the SPCA, hates the camera. He doesn’t run from it, but he won’t look at it either.) Sigh.

A couple weeks later, I decided to try again. I had a little more success this time, but I’m not totally in love with the pictures (from a technical aspect). I’m really glad I have some pictures of all 4 of them in one place at one time though. My little snuggle buns babies. Love these little sugars more than words can express! I love how they each have such different personalities and they all have their own little quirks.

Lexie (second from the right below) is our only girl, but she plays harder than any of the boys. We just had to buy her another new collar because she’s so hard on them. And, as hard as she plays, she loves twice as hard. She’s definitely Jeremy’s little baby girl. She follows him and whines for him when he leaves a room. When we get home, it’s like I’m not in the house. She is so focused on Jeremy it’s crazy. But I love it. I gave her to Jeremy for his birthday, so it makes me happy that she’s so in love with him (and he eats it up too).

Gunnar (far left below) is our snuggler. His favorite place in the world is in your lap or next to you. He will come up to you and lay his head in your lap (queue heart melting here). Gunnar is also our most obedient of the 4. All of the dogs listen very well, but Gunnar is driven to please. We never have to ask him to do things twice. He sets a great example for the other babies. We are so blessed to have found him at the SPCA. We wanted to rescue an animal in need and he has just blown us away with how he’s blended into our home without any trouble.

Huddy (second from the left below. Mr. Pointy Ears) is our little Mr. Personality. He loves everyone he meets, and he gives them kisses to show it. He is always in a good mood and he’s happiest when he’s in your arms making you smile. His tail is always going 100 miles per hour. I’ve never met a dog who loves other dogs or people so completely. He greets all new dogs with tail wags and puppy kisses. He’s a little love muffin.

Baxter (at right below) is our big dog in a medium-sized-dog’s body. He sleeps in bed with us (because he wouldn’t stop crying in his crate) and he has absolutely no idea how big he has gotten. He thinks he’s still a tiny puppy and that there’s room for him on my pillow (I usually end up with a foot or tail in my face several times throughout the night). He’s just a good, loving boy who wants nothing more than to be told what a good job he’s doing with a given task.

Baxter has decided that the tree skirt is actually a really special dog bed made just for him. He loves to take naps on it and chew on his bones and toys on it. Silly me for thinking it was going to be anything other than another dog bed. :)

Notice that there are no presents under the tree. Jeremy and I agreed that we don’t need gifts this year since we’ve had such a full, rich year together. We’re both spending $25 on stocking stuffers and that’s it. The rest of my family will be getting cards or giftcards. We’ve really reassessed what’s important over the past year and we’ve decided that it’s not a $40 toy that the kids won’t remember in a year. The real present is the time we share together and the memories we make. So, no wrapping for me this year! Yay! :)

Life is good. Our babies are good. I’m looking forward to this Christmas in a way I’ve never looked forward to Christmas before. This years, with all of its firsts, feels like a new beginning for me. This is a year where my family will begin new traditions that will last a lifetime. My sister and her family (and Copper the Golden Retriever) will be coming into town and staying with us. We’re going to have a full house with 6 people and 5 dogs! But Jeremy and I both are SO looking forward to it.

To all of my friends and family: I hope you have a Merry Christmas and that the New Year brings you good health, happy hearts and memories that last a lifetime. Take care.

The current layout is alright. but I’m not super happy with the Flash slideshow on my homepage. I’ve received e-mails from users who can’t get the Flash portion to work and, without that, the site is unusable for the most part.

So I’ve done some digging and found a solution I’m pretty happy with. But rather than just switch things over and deal with the fallout, I’ve been working on it and testing it in production here and there.

Thanks for being patient! Keep checking back to see the new version of the site! :)

Baxter is a 3-month-old Australian Labradoodle, and is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve never met a dog with bright green eyes before. He has the most captivating, human-like eyes I’ve ever seen on a pup before. Add that to his rose-colored nose, his beautiful apricot-colored coat, and he is one handsome little man.

Jeremy, Kim and Ellia Ballard are 3 of the most relaxed, go-with-the-flow people you’ll ever find, which is saying a lot since Ellia is just a wee sprite. Initially, we had planned on doing the Ballard Family’s session at Woodward Park in Tulsa but, once we got there, we realized it was just too jam packed full of people to make it work.

But I had a back up plan!

We headed to a small park in West Tulsa that I had driven by several times and thought to myself how cool it would be to do a session there. It has pretty little hills, beautiful foliage and 3 bridges that would just be awesome backdrops for portrait work. The Ballards, holding true to their title of the most relaxed couple ever, were immediately on board.

So, off we went to scenic West Tulsa (I say scenic because we saw quite a bit of it as I got us lost getting to the park)! Once we arrived, it was a total blast from there. Ellia loved all of the leaves, the bridges and the water. Kim and Jeremy were completely unafraid of getting themselves dirty or messy, so we were able to try some different backdrops, which made this a really fun shoot for me.

It’s sessions like this one that make me feel like the luckiest guy on Earth; I’m being given the opportunity to do what I love and I’m getting to meet so many new people who are just a total joy to be around.

Danielle and Weshi have three boys:

DJ, their eldest son. He’s the most laid-back, playful one of the three. I see a lot of Weshi in him, but he’s more reserved than Weshi is.

Darris is the middle son, and he’s the most serious of the 3 boys. It was nearly impossible to get him to relax and smile. He’s at that age where his family is crazy and he’s just over it. I know, because I remember being that age and having that same feeling. :) He’s a really good young man though.

Dailyn is the youngest and, oh my, is he funny! He’s just a sweet young man, who is very much a mama’s boy, but in a good way. His big, cheesy smile had me laughing all day. :)

We went around downtown and shot at several different locations. Danielle had the idea of shooting in front of the mural outside of the Flytrap in downtown. I hadn’t ever notice the mural before, but I thought it was a great idea and the pics came out really cool. This definitely represents them as a family: Dailyn is dancing to make them laugh, Darris is too cool for school, DJ is going with the flow and Danielle and Weshi are sitting back taking it all in. :)

We ended with a few shots at Woodward.

I always enjoy spending time with Danielle, but it was really awesome getting so much time with her family as well. They are so vibrant and full of love. What a great way to spend an afternoon!