I had the extreme pleasure today of photographing my aunt and uncle (who also happen to be my godparents) for their 50th wedding anniversary. Their children planned a special dinner where the whole family would gather and recognize their love that has remained strong over the past 50 years.
I began by photographing my mom helping her sister into her wedding gown... it had originally been white but, after 50 years, it faded to ivory (although through the magic of photoshop, I was able to make it look white again in some of the photos!). I'm sure many of us would have trouble getting into our wedding gowns 10 years later, but my aunt looked lovely in her beautiful dress!
I had a fun little photo shoot with both my aunt and uncle... with my uncle being silly and cracking me up (I told him he better straighten up or all the photos would be blurry because I was laughing!). They are such a cute couple and I enjoyed every minute of our photo session.
My Aunt and Uncle were told that my parents would be picking them up so they could all ride together to the dinner, but in reality, a limo had been ordered. It was so fun to watch them as the big white limo pulled into their driveway! After pinning on beautiful yellow corsages, they were on their way to a great celebration with their family.
I am anxious to hear all about it from my Mom... my cousins had no idea my Aunt would be arriving in her wedding gown! I'm sure it was a lovely surprise!
I think you can see what a wonderful couple they are in each picture! I am so lucky to have them in my life!
Most of the time vacation photos are only interesting to the people who were ON the vacation. I think that is because the photos help us remember how we felt while on a great trip. To a friend, the photos are just meaningless images of landscapes or landscapes with a person standing in front of them (smile). Now, that doesn't mean I think all vacation photos are uninteresting! I've seen vacation photos that tell a great story, are stunningly beautiful or hysterically funny.
That being said, my husband and I recently visited Niagara Falls, Canada and then stopped in Buffalo, New York on our return trip. We had a lovely time and I snapped a variety of photos to "document" our trip. After reviewing the RAW images, I found about 2 dozen that I felt would make a good collection for us to look back on and remember our trip.
The images below were taken at the Falls and at a small botanical garden near the Falls. I especially loved the strange flowers with the vibrant colors we saw at the garden.
I finished up my edits on little McKinley's photo shoot and was ready to "file" away the RAW files and the edited photos when I came across one more beautiful image that I couldn't resist! This image is so lovely... the parents are obviously so in love with their little one! Baby McKinley almost looks surprised with her mouth shaped like a little "O"! I was having so much fun trying out different artistic effects on this photo (and after saving about 10 images, I decided it was time to stop :-). I am posting some of my favorites. I hope you enjoy looking at them as well... but then again who doesn't love looking at a sweet, little newborn?!
I shot my first newborn session today... tiny, baby McKinley. This little girl is absolutely beautiful and I had so much fun taking her picture. I have known McKinley's parents for a long, long time... her dad was a member of my very first class 22 years ago and her mom was my jr. high helper when she was in 7th and 8th grade. Fast forward about 20 years and McKinley's mom gets a teaching degree, subs in my classroom (she was always my sub of choice!) and eventually gets a full time position teaching across the hall from me! (OK, so that does make me feel a little bit "old" - smile). I was THRILLED when they asked me to take their newborn photos.
It was a perfect morning and McKinley was the perfect subject! I honestly expected her to be sleeping most of the time, but it was actually the opposite! This little one is only 4 weeks old and is taking in the world around her like she is researching it for a dissertation! She has these AMAZING eyes that are not only gorgeous, but look at you like she actually understands everything you are saying to her. After our shoot I spent a little time holding miss McKinley and "chatting" with her... and it was mesmerizing - she looked right into my face the whole time I was talking, eyes WIDE open and studying my face. This is one amazing little girl!
I hope you enjoy the photos below... I think this family is beautiful, inside and out!!
PS I'll post more photos as I finish editing them (I know McKinley's Grandma will be happy to see these up so quickly! - smile)
My husband and I spent a few days on vacation before I start back to school this week. We enjoyed some time at Niagara Falls (we stayed on the Canadian side) and then stopped in Buffalo, NY on the way back. Yes, I have many pictures of the Falls and it was absolutely beautiful... but my favorite photos were actually taken at the Knox-Albright Art Museum in Buffalo. If you are visiting Buffalo and you have a few hours to spare, this is a must see! We spent over 3 hours viewing all kinds of art... from Van Gogh to Andy Warhol, this place has a little bit of everything! We especially enjoyed the video exhibit which was REALLY interesting. The last exhibit we wandered into was filled with these tiny, beautiful clay pots. I fell in love with all these teeny, little pots... hundreds of them... all displayed in one area. The artist is Katheryn Wilder and you can read about it here. Yes, I'll post some of my "vacation" photos (when I get a chance to go through them... we all take WAY too many photos on vacation and I am no different!). For now, here is a little collage of those lovely, little pots.
