The Nephew - 1yr

In anticipation of the upcoming arrival of my 2nd nephew (due any day now), I'm posting his big brother's 1st birthday pics...only 3 months late! This little guy has a smile that could melt steel. He has a hilarious sense of humor and a laugh that is contagious. As I said previously in a previous blog post of his early baby pictures, he is a huge source of all my photos slowing down my computer. He's my model, my guniea pig of baby photography! I think I'll have baby pictures perfected by the time his little brother his 1!

His 1st taste of cake/sugar. I think he liked it.

Landscapes- Bonito Lake

My passion for photography started when I was 17. I remember random things in my life and the moment I wanted to be a photographer is one of those random memories. My family and I were driving back from a weekend trip in Ruidoso, NM. The trees were changing colors and every time we made a turn in the road, I had my mom pull over so I could take a picture. The changing of the trees in the mountains was my defining moment, my spark, my "aha" moment! Right then I asked my mom for a SLR camera. I had no clue what SLR stood for, but I knew it was a camera professionals used to take great pictures, and I wanted to take great pictures too!

For Christmas that year, I got a Canon Rebel SLR(film camera). I LOVED that camera! I used so much film the first day taking pictures of ducks at a wildlife refuge. They're weren't the "great" pictures I had planned on, but it was still exciting to use such an awesome camera! 1 year later, they created the digital camera-ugh! I hated the idea of a digital camera! They cost over $1000, they took the fun out of developing film, and they were too high tech! I refused to ever buy a digital camera! Well,3 digital SLR cameras, 4 digital cameras, and 10 years later, I think I like digital cameras!

The pictures below are of Bonito Lake outside Ruidoso, NM. I hadn't been up to the lake in years, so I stopped one day while I was working in the area. It was early January and had been a cold winter so far. I was in total shock to see the lake completely frozen. January-2010

While I was working in the Ruidoso area in June, I stopped at Bonito Lake again to see what it looked like without it being frozen. It was gorgeous...again! I loved the colors. It's now one of my favorite places to go and get away for a few hours.

June-2010

BIRDS

This summer I enjoyed a little beach time down in Florida. I was standing near the waters edge when I noticed this bird standing in the water, so I took a picture. Well, apparently it didn't appreciate that, so he decided to fly as close as possible to me, and it scared the crud out of me! Lucky for me, I am a quick draw with the camera, so I snapped his "fly-by" and managed a fairly decent picture!

Farm life!

Farm life! It's great. I don't actually live on a farm, but I visit one every few months to see friends. I was headed over to the farm for a Halloween/B-day party and drove up on a field of hay. This field of hay went for miles and miles. I couldn't even see the end of the field. It was spectacular to see. When I got to the farm, I hopped on a my very 1st 4 wheeler as a child (we had given to our friends a few years back.) It wasn't the same as I remembered-it is a LOT smaller now and didn't go as fast..oh well. Anyway, I jumped on, cranked her up(as fast as it would allow) and went roaming the farm land and came across the freshly picked cotton fields, which is where I took my pivot pictures.

Hey, that's a lot of HAY! Thats what I call hayfever! Okhay, I'll stop with the bad hay jokes! The ol' cotton pivot.

We burned a house on halloween! It was AWESOME!!! The fire you see in the background was the last efforts to completely destroy the old home, which would have eventually crumbled without the help of fire.

Action Sports-Water Skiing

As most of you are aware by now, we are in the Fall season! I love this time of year. So many colors popping out in tree leaves, the cool brisk air, and in some places already, the first snow. As the weather starts to get colder, I occasionally long for the warmth of summer and the shinning of the sun. ( I don't like going to work and coming home from work in the dark!) Before the season turns to Winter, I just wanted to take a look back at some water skiing pics I took this summer of some good friends. The guy in the pics is a long time family friend I call "Big Rob." My brother and he share the same name, so to help clarify who we were talking about, we called our friend "big" since my brother was just a scrawny boy. His daughters inherited his sports gene and are out-going with athletics. I captured a few pics of his oldest girl, who is a joy to shoot because she is constantly smiling!! Enjoy!

(Ab0ve) Big Rob catching some air on the wakeboard.

Most of these shots were taken in the wee hours of the morn. I am not a morning person! I like my sleep and this morning was especially hard because we had been skiing the day before and got home late and then woke up extra early to get these awesome pics. It was so worth the loss of sleep to experience this morning. Of course we dropped anchor around 7AM and took a nap!

(Below) I caught her about to sneeze...I missed her wipeout due to her sneeze!

(Below) Taylor! She still looks natural after boarding for several minutes! I wish I had her stamina to board that long. Heck, I'd just like to get up on the wakeboard!

Nephew

I have a nephew that recently turned 1 yr old. He has a great personality and a smile that I can't get enough of. Currently, he is the only baby in the family. We are awaiting the arrival of his brother early next year. He was my first opportunity to take pictures of babies! It's been a learning process for baby photography and of being an aunt. I'd like to think I've progressed with both! I wanted to show you my first attempts of the baby pics. Be on the lookout for his 1yr old pictures soon!

Flower Girl

This little girl was recently in her first wedding as a Flower Girl! She was a bundle of nerves and excitement. I attended the wedding as a guest, not the photographer, but her mama thinks I'm their very own photographer and was told to snap some pictures! As if I needed to be told to do so anyway! I caught her throwing some leaves in the pond and was able to capture this picture which is one of my favorites! Hope you enjoy.