Image 365

Winter blues

2007-11-25T21:41:00.000-05:00

I recently got a new backdrop for an event. Unfortunately I didn't get to use it for it's intended purpose but at least Ella got some shots with the wintery scene.

Winter is really here!

2007-11-20T22:06:00.000-05:00

We woke up to a surprise snow storm this morning. It was very pretty and the kids were so excited - no surprise! We had some time outside and a lot of fun. It's amazing how much kids can do with a stick! Hit a tree, hit the snow, draw, poke, drag, pull each other, hit each other! The list goes on! This will be the beginning of a long season of snowy shots in the same clothes, I better get used to it!

Winter already? Ha ha!!!

2007-11-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

Here is another one from our winter scene in the studio. They liked the sled a lot but the most fun was decorating the tree with the fake snow and having fake snow ball fights!

She's 5 now!!

2007-11-10T10:57:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that she is 5! My first baby. She seems so grown up, having regular conversations with me about her life and experiences at pre-school. I can't stop staring at her wondering how this girl is replacing my toddler although he still is very much the same...quick to laugh, quick to hug and always wanting a little fun.

Vermont in autumn

2007-10-06T20:29:00.001-05:00

As I was driving home from the preschool practise shoot I pulled into a dirt driveway. This view has caught my eye as I go speeding by for almost the whole year. Today I had my camera in my car - yippee!! As I'm focusing I hear clomp, clomp, clomp behind me and I turn around to see an annoyed farmer. I profusely appologize for trespassing but say I couldn't possibly pass this beautiful view without getting a picture. I butter him up by saying what an amazing place he has and how lucky he is. After I am done rambling, he softens up and says...I thought you were a hunter going after my cows!! Ha! It's hunting season (bow and arrow) and he's found some arrows in his pastures. Anyways, turns out he's super nice and invites me back any time to photograph his view and his property if I want. Here's the shot I got.

Lots and lots!

2007-10-06T20:03:00.000-05:00

I am photographing preschool pictures next week so this morning was dedicated to finding a good spot to photograph all the little kiddos. It's a little tricky because there is barely any shade. But hopefully it will be a cloudy day. Here are some shots of my kids... they got treats when we got home for being such good sports!

Some fall posing!

2007-10-02T10:55:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to be able to do this very often...these poor mums probably lost 15 flower buds by the time we were done. What is it with little boys and flowers? Does the phrase "smell the flowers" mean pick off all the flower tops? Ha ha!! I have a school shoot coming up next week and thought I'd put a little fall flair into the photos. I get to practise on Griffin, he was very pleased about it!

The Petti Skirts are here!

2007-09-19T21:16:00.001-05:00

I have been waiting since MAY. It seems like forever ago but finally these beautiful handmade petti skirts are here! Ella and Madeleine are crazy about them...actually that is an understatement. I took a few pictures out in our yard before they started riding bikes and drawing with chalk. I finally had to conviscate them before they got

ruined. But I'm sure we'll be pulling them out a lot from here on out.

What I've been doing....

2007-09-10T22:01:00.001-05:00

Sorry, no pics today. This is what I have been working so hard on for the last little while. My new website is up and running. Have a look!
http://www.louisalarson.com

First Day of School

2007-09-07T22:10:00.000-05:00

The first day of school! Here they are walking the plank, oops I mean bridge! Griffin first all smiles as he rolls Noah's Ark across. Ella next showing off her new dress from Granny. Then Madeleine with her shy smile. It's the first day of her going to a real preschool. The only time that she will be with Ella. The last pic is of three of them walking towards the front door. Too cute!

Swim lessions

2007-09-03T20:21:00.000-05:00

I know, I'm bad. Hardly any posts in August. The end of the season is just tough for some reason! Here's a snap from swim lessons a couple of weeks ago. Madeleine was so proud because she went off the diving board!

Family shots

2007-08-26T22:16:00.000-05:00

Here are some snaps of the kids. I am trying to jazz them up a little with some fun borders, what do you think? I'll have to find some more I think I like them. This first picture was a little pose that Ella just threw together! I wanted to take a picture of her hair because it's getting so long. Time for a hair cut Miss Ella!

Sorry Grif, this isn't so flattering! But it's the way it really is - he LOVES his watermelon. Afterwards there is a huge mess, even with the bib and a towel on his lap but who could resist watching him go at it?!

Two sisters. They were excited because they matched! Right now they are very interested in looking the same and wearing each others clothes. I wonder how long that will last, hmmmm.

Serious sandbox games

2007-08-16T22:19:00.000-05:00

Although he's almost smiling in these pictures Griffin was quite serious about his sandbox games! He kept loading up the dump trucks, then move them around, line them all up like a train and then finally dump them out. This went on until I had to take him in for dinner (under great protest!). Such a boy. I couldn't resist the last picture, I love catching Madeleines' fuzzy hair in front of the sun!

The real sleeping beauty

2007-08-14T22:03:00.001-05:00

We were a little mean today, Ella and I. Madeleine fell asleep while watching Pinky Dinky Doo and whatever I did, I couldn't wake her. So we (Ella and I) decided to take her into the studio to take some pictures of her! She will never let us so sleepy time is really my only opportunity! We pretended that she was sleeping beauty waiting for her prince to arrive - it was really very sweet. We placed her on a sheepskin then on a fluffy pillow, then we created a garden of flowers around her a some rose petals. The whole time she was just slumbering away. There is one of Madeleine waking, she was not very pleased to say the least. She stamped out of the room and sat on the stairs with her arms crossed. I can't say I blame her. But later on she asked to see the pictures and I could tell that she was secretly pleased we pretended she was a princess!

Back in Vermont

2007-07-29T17:45:00.000-05:00

I'm back from Louisianna. It was so great, what a perfect workshop to pick for my first one. The workshop was taught by Tim Babin, master of lighting and posing and was held at Kirk Voclain's training center in Houma, La. Wow...two amazing photographers. The people I met were awesome, coming from all over the country to learn the technical side of lighting and more. We started class early in the morning, got a lunch brought in to the classroom then talked well past midnight about photography - for 3 days! Talk about intensive!

It is so nice to be home though...although I did get pulled over driving home from the airport at 12:30am grrrrrr (just a warning, luckily). Since it was so late I didn't get to great the kiddos but their expressions when they saw me in the morning was priceless!

Here is a picture of Ella I snapped this afternoon (it's full size so click on it to see her amazing eyes.) She let me put her hair into braids for like the first time EVER (such a funny girl). So I just had to get a picture but this one was my favorite of the series and you can barely see her hair, oh well! Now that I have learned a great lighting technique, I can't wait to use it. I needed a reflector for this picture but just didn't have the extra hands, it's an OK pic but would be great with a reflector. Next time hopefully.

Special Shoot

2007-07-24T21:18:00.000-05:00

These are from a shoot I had on Monday. It was so fun and the girls were adorable. Big sister led the way and 'lil sister followed suit. It was the first time they had had studio pictures taken so I hope that they enjoyed themselves. I'm still in the middle of editing but here are a few.

PS. I won't be posted for a few days. I have my first ever photography workshop being held in warm sticky Louisianna. Who goes to Louisianna in late July? ha ha!! I guess I do!

Pretty in Pink

2007-07-22T15:18:00.000-05:00

No boys allowed in the studio today! I recently bought coral paper so we had a little session in the pink studio. The girls loved it. Here are a few.

Camels Hump

2007-07-21T20:04:00.000-05:00

These are some photographs that I took on July 16th. My mom was staying with us for a few days and we were able to actually go on a hike. Every day we look at this mountain (Camels Hump) but we have never been able to climb it the whole time we've lived here. Having 3 kids will do that to you! The first picture is just a snapshot I took this evening, it is the view of the mountain from the bottom of our driveway.

I don't have the actual stats on the mountain although I'm sure my husband knows. I am used to hiking in Colorado where everything is SO high. We frequently hiked mountains that were over 14,000 feet. Well, in New England we are at sea level so nothing is that high. But the difference between New England mountains and the Rocky Mountains is that in New England they just don't believe in switch backs! You start at the bottom and walk straight to the top with no curves or turns inbetween no matter how steep!

Our hike to the top was full of roots and rocks, all the way to the top. It is the highest point around so we were able to get a panoramic view of the whole area. It was really amazing to see the ski resorts that we ski in the winter, Lake Champlain which is the huge lake between Vermont and New York and various other landmarks. We had such fun hiking and now we're looking forward to our next one...maybe that will be in another 3 years!

New summer flowers and friends

2007-07-21T12:24:00.001-05:00

Just some nature shots today. The sun is shining (finally...we've had a bunch of rain lately) and it's a beautiful day. The butterflies and bees are out in full force. I had to stop Griffin from grabbing the butterflies and even at the bees! They are so concentrated on getting the nectar they didn't even move when a grubby 18 month old hand came lurching towards them!

All three and more!

2007-07-18T19:56:00.001-05:00

Here are a few of the kids....black and white just seemed better today. My mom has been visiting from Colorado so I had help getting the kids attention. And.... she actually got a couple of me too!

Fun Family Reunion

2007-07-15T22:08:00.000-05:00

I photographed a family reunion today. I think there were around 25 or so people. It was fun, especially since my husband came as my right hand man! We got all the formals then right at the end the 6 sisters agreed to let me do a fun shot and it is by far my favorite!

18 months and loving it

2007-07-11T20:14:00.000-05:00

18 months has got to be the best age. They are just so darn cute! I don't just say that because I have an 18 month old, I say it because out of all my 3 kids they are the best at 18 months. They still have the pudgy legs and arms of a baby, they are still toddling everywhere halfway off kilter looking like they are about to tumble and they can't talk yet. Well, at least this one! We are just now experiencing the beginnings of tantrums. The text book kind, you know...throw yourself down on your belly and pound you arms and feet into the ground! It's really quite funny. We have managed even to capture it on video - ha ha, just wait 18 years! The other day I sent a package to my sister half the country away (boo hoo) but that's another story. I printed some pictures of the girls on my printer and realized to my dismay that I didn't have any of our son. Well, I have a ton but he's got mud in his mouth or peanut butter all over his hair - the typical 18 month lifestyle. So the last couple of days I have kept my studio door open and before you know it curiosity gets the better of him and he ventures in. My lights are all ready to go and my camera is all set. It only lasts for about 4 minutes so I have to be fast. These are some shots I got this morning.

Anyone for a fully caffeinated latte, extra sweet?

2007-07-10T19:46:00.000-05:00

Ha ha!!! I FINALLY got my coffee cup! Yippee! We don't have any around here so I had a friend pick one up for me two states over. It has taken me about 6 months to get it from her but now I'm so pleased to add it to my prop collection.

Harry Potter and the Fairy

2007-07-09T21:13:00.001-05:00

I have never really like fantasy stuff. Until I had children. It's funny how they change you. You start to look through the eyes of a child and realize that there are so many fun things to imagine to make your world more interesting. I recently did a photo shoot for two 6 year old twins. It was the first time that I had photographed outside of my studio so I wanted to do something really fun. Their mom said that they absolutely loved fairies and Harry Potter. They brought some costumes with them to the session and we had some fun. These are the images that I came up with. I really hope that they like them. My own kids loved them...saying "more stars mommy, more stars!"

The artists canvas

2007-07-06T13:21:00.001-05:00

While I was putting away the groceries the girls pulled out their chalk and created this masterpiece! So much fun....they drew gardens, rivers, flowers, hop scotch, their siblings...you name it, it was there. This is not the primary reason we got the driveway but it is one of the fun reasons!

They paved over paradise

2007-07-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

....to put up a parking lot! Do you remember that song? Well, we don't actually live in paradise but we did pave it over today. Eeek! We live on top of a hill with a killer gravel drivewayIt has an embankment on one side to a creek and is pretty sketchy in the winter. We decided to have it paved. It all started this weekend when my daughters took to their bikes and were riding in circles in the garage, great fun. They reminded me of circus clowns! I thought how great it would be if they could ride on the driveway. So I made a phone call to get an estimate. It all happened so fast. The guys gave us a deal that we just couldn't refuse.

This first picture is of my girls walking down to the mail box, with our cat Belle of course who joins us everywhere. I was feeling nostalgic, knowing that I would never get a picture like this again.

The second shot is a sillouette of the girls sitting in the garage looking out towards the driveway getting graded. I love getting these shots

The men working....

And finally...our little piece of paradise! Not so bad, eh?

4th of July Vermont style

2007-07-04T21:41:00.001-05:00

We pretty much just layed low for the holiday. With the children so young it's hard to go to town to see the fireworks. They are in bed early and I kind of like that! So we did something a little different. We made s'mores for the first time ever. Actually we have never even roasted marshmellows before. We had heard it was going to rain, but it was 4pm and still it hadn't happened so Paul made a small fire and of course, it started to rain. But it didn't ruin our fun, we just threw on raincoats and made yummy snacks anyway.

Baby C

2007-07-02T22:58:00.000-05:00

He's no baby anymore. These are a few shots from his one year birthday shoot. How cute is he? I got so many sweet captures I couldn't decide on which to post....and I'm only halfway through editing his session. I love when the little ones cooperate. Thanks for such a great time little guy. Happy birthday.

The Twins again

2007-06-28T21:43:00.001-05:00

These are a couple of pics from a session I had this morning. This is the second time these 6 year twins have come for a photo shoot. We had such a great time. Usually I'm in the studio but since I have my new lense I wanted to try something new. We took a short hike to a place where I had seen some nice light - just off our property. We had lots of company...my dog and cat joined us, much to the glee of the twins. It was so relaxed and fun. I got the best compliment as they were leaving. They said that they wanted to come back again and that they wished they could live here!

Beach Day

2007-06-24T20:52:00.001-05:00

Usually it's not warm enough here to go to the beach until after July 4th. So we're ahead of schedule! I took my older camera today- an Olympus E500, I hardly ever use it anymore but it does have a 40-150mm zoom which I wanted to use today. My husband decided to take the sail boat out so I wanted to try and capture him sailing. While he was doing that we all went down to the little beach. Griffin has been sick so it's not the best representation of him but he was having such a great time in the sand and water...it's the first time he's really been old enought to play. I decided to convert to black and white just for something a little different. Funny how it makes it seem like it's not very sunny out. You can see by the shadows on his face though that it was bright out.

This sea gull was SO BOLD. He walked right onto our blanket and stole grapes from our tupperware! By the time we managed to get to our blanket he had dragged the whole bunch over the sand in an attempt to get one free from the vine. Unbelievable, I thought they only liked chips and sandwiches and stuff!

Here's a sailing one. It's just a little boat but it gets going really fast in a brisk wind. Lots of fun!

Creek Play

2007-06-21T21:36:00.001-05:00

My new lense is here! Yippee! I'm really going to love it once I figure out how to use it. I got the 24-70mm L glass for my Canon. I love the way I can be so close and still get a full body in the frame. Such a difference from my 50mm. Here we are practising (well I'm practising!). I had to convince the kiddos that it would be a good idea to go for an adventure hike down the part of our creek below the waterfall. I knew this would be a good area for our little one, so he wouldn't fall down and be in total danger in the creek. The hike down was pretty wild. I haven't been down here since the forest took over and I forgot how enormous things get here very quickly. We managed to beat a path, it was worth it once we were there. I had given the girls some sparkly buttons. They pretended they were jewels, and dug them into the mud to hide the treasure from the pirates! Then they would do a search to find the treasure, dig it up and wash it off in the water. It's amazing how long they played this game! The little man...well he was just content picking up rocks and watching them splash down and of course he loves to bang sticks against the water.

I didn't have much time to edit, so these are pretty much just sharpened for web. Now that I look at them they are quite grainy. iso 1600. We didn't know it but at the time it was raining. We were protected by the canopy of trees so it was kind of a nice surprise when we got out into the open again.

Lambs ears and more

2007-06-20T20:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry if you're getting sick of these nature shots but I just can't resist. I thought this first batch of flowers were weeds until recently when they came into bloom. They are so pretty I'm happy I didn't pull them. The second picture is of some of my favorite...lambs ears. I love the way that they are so fuzzy and soft. Tomorrow I'll try to post some people pics!

Grass

2007-06-19T20:17:00.000-05:00

Today I got a little alone time to hike around and take some pictures. The mission I was on was to find a good "fantasy" landscape picture. I have wanted to do a fantasy fairy landscape picture for ages. I found all kinds of good trails that hopefully will work, when I get one done I will definately post it...well, only if it turns out. I saw this grass...liked the way it looked in the sunlight. It reminds me of Colorado so it made me all warm and fuzzy!

A boy in his garden

2007-06-18T22:32:00.000-05:00

I haven't really been letting him roam in the garden. He just has no respect! He tramples right over the peppers and pulls on the zucchini leaves. But he loves it so much, I think it's the vast amounts of dirt/mud that he loves! So I let him have a gander around the garden today. Here is is actually being quite gentle with the lettuce!

Next he takes to digging under the broccoli and between the sweet peas! So much fun.

I loved the way the rain drops had gathered on this broccoli plant. I was trying to get the reflections of the girls in the drop, you can almost see them!

These little hands are the end product of planting two rows of carrots.

A little bit of nature

2007-06-16T21:15:00.001-05:00

Aaaah, it has been so amazing here lately. I almost don't want to say it because I'll jinx it! We have had NO rain for ages! Why that's so great is...less bugs (always a good thing especially those annoying may flies that get stuck in your eyes) and no humidity. Lovely. Today I was out just snapping pics of the kids being silly in the yard when I decided to take some of our irises which are on the way out due to all the hot weather. While I was snapping the irises a lone bumble came along. It was so cool. He/she actually goes right inside to get what he's going for, completely dissapears that goes to another flower. It was hard to capture him since he kept dissapearing but here he is! I cropped a little closer so you can see him, furry legs and all!

A little bit later when the kids were supposed to be in bed we were sitting in our adirondack chairs watching our cat Belle, be a cat. She was staring at a tree so intently the way that cats do. A robin then flew down and landed on the ground...dummy! Luckily the cat did not get him but started climbing the tree. We managed to scare her down and low and behold, look what we found! Now we're just going to have to figure out a way to keep her out of there. I am really looking forward to following these little eggs. I will be so totally devistated if our cat gets at them.

This next one is a bit goofy and just for fun. Photoshop is so fun sometimes!

First Trip to Urgent Care

2007-06-15T13:01:00.000-05:00

It always gets a little crazy around dinner time. Last night was no exception. The girls were busy running circles around the fire place when all of a sudden I heard a scream. It turns out that Madeleine had run straight into the corner of a wall. She was sitting on the floor with her hand on her forehead and all I could see was blood starting to drip. Yikes! To make a dramatic story short. She's OK! I took her to the urgent care clinic to be looked at. She had a great time! All the nurses were complimenting her clothes and shoes (which she loves)! By the time she was ready to be seen I think she had just about forgotten about her head, unbelievable but true. The doc said that even though it was quite open he thought he could fix it with glue. So luckily she did not have to have stitches, phew. She just had to be glued back together! Here she is the next morning, right as rain.

Museum day

2007-06-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

Today we all headed out to the museum. It's not your typical type of museum but rather a living history museum, and it's all outside. There are old buildings, old relics (well from the early century) it's really all about how people in Vermont lived early on. It's so great. They have an old school house, a real blacksmith shop, an old carosel (still working much to the kids glee!) an old general store, many different kinds of gardens, a pond...you get the idea. So today I was there with new eyes...as a photographer! It was amazing. There are tons of old stone walls, old doorways, little paths leading into forests, a covered bridge...the photographic opportunities are endless. Unfortunately I didn't get much cooperation from my kids. They are just not interested in modeling for me - no surprise there. But I did manage to capture a few of Ella.

First Ever Ad

2007-06-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

I know, I know...it's been so long since I posted. I should change the name of my blog to Image 150 or something like that! I have just been busy doing end of school year stuff and getting my business ready for summer stuff. I had a huge photo shoot with a preschool that pretty much took over my life for 3 weeks. My first ad ever just came out in a newspaper magazine type thing called Vermont Kids. It's available for free just about everywhere. Once a year they do a resource guide where just about everything you'd ever need for kids is listed. You can get listed for free but you have to pay for an add (ouch)! But these issues are held onto by people for reference, so I thought it would be a good one to be in. Here is what I had printed.

Bye bye Binky

2007-06-03T21:55:00.001-05:00

These will hardly win any awards but this is a momentous occasion in our family. Madeleine finally gets rid of her binky's (pacifier). We said when she was two, we would take it away...didn't happen. When she was three, we said we'd take it away...didn't happen. We were too scared, this little girl can really scream! So we told her when she's 3 1/2 we'll take it away. Well, she turned 3 1/2 on June 1st. Daddy wasn't home so she didn't want to do it. So on June 2nd this brave little girl walked right up to the garbage can and spat her binky into it! The first pic is of her doing just that. The second pic is her looking to see what it landed on and thinking...hmmmm, I wonder if I can retrieve that?! She did this with about 4 of her binkys. To our immense surprise, she hardly mentioned it at all. Even when she was going to sleep, she only said once that she couldn't fall asleep without her binky. But then she did. We are in total shock. Why didn't we do this 1 1/2 years ago? Today Daddy took the garbage out. We noticed as he went down the stairs, that she was staring at it wistfully. Awwww.

Little mommies

2007-06-01T22:45:00.001-05:00

How bad am I not posting since May 26th? Yikes! I've been so crazy busy. It's not that I'm not taking pictures, I am. It just takes such a long time to find the right one, then convert from RAW to jpeg then to edit and then post. I'll try to be better this next half of the year.
This series of shots was taken in the back yard around 6pm just when the light is getting really nice and is coming down in angles between the trees. The girls were out in their white dresses and playing the mommy game. It's so funny how girls naturally want to nurture and boys....don't. Griffin is still too young so I'm only speaking from 16 months of experience. From what I've seen already they have to touch EVERYTHING, climb EVERYTHING and bang EVERYTHING! Ha ha. It's nice to have both genders.

The real sleeping beauty

2007-05-26T21:02:00.001-05:00

It has always been her older sister, Ella that was the princess. Since Ella was 2 all she wanted to do was wear princess costumes. But now at 3 1/2 Madeleine has become obsessed with these princess costumes. It definately has to do with the new Cinderella movie we just bought them. The two girls will act out the scenes of the movie - so cute. If no one agrees to be the step mother (which happens often!) they pretend that they are the birds and mice that help Cinderella get her dress ready. I love it because this keeps them busy for a very long time. But...this post really is about Sleeping Beauty. I thought Madeleine was in her room playing dress up. When I went to get her for dinner, this is how I found her. You can't tell but she's asleep on the floor right next to her bed in her full get-up. Glass slippers and all! She came to dinner...it wasn't pretty. Then an hour later we put her to bed. Needless to say she wasn't tired so spent the next couple of hours putting on an aray of princess costumes very secretly. I didn't even find out until I heard the velcro rip 2 1/2 hours after I put her to bed. Ha! Busted! I couldn't resist this picture...she is so sweet while she sleeps. A spitfire while she's awake!

Baby on a rock

2007-05-23T18:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry my posts have been few and far between for the last little while. With the preschool shoot almost behind me, hopefully I'll be better at posting my own. Last Saturday we had such a nice day outside. The weather has been gorgeous, not too hot, not too cold...and no bugs - yet! We spent the day planting cold hardy veggies in the garden that was made on mothers day. Nothing fancy, just some lettuce (different varieties) some herbs and some broccoli. I keep meaning to plant peas but haven't gotten around to it yet, hopefully I won't be too late. After the garden we went on a small hike into the forest to see the "fairy dust". The fairy dust is only sawdust from a tree that Paul cut down last fall. The girls LOVE it. They throw it in the air and spin, they sing and they get all giddy with it. They even put it on Bronwyn's bottom (our dog) to see if it will make her fly. (They are in a Peter Pan stage right now!) I love the imagination of children, so refreshing. After the fairy dust we hiked back down by the garden and played in the creek. Madeleine is now just able to negotiate the slippery rocks and get the idea of not stepping in the deep parts so it doesn't go over her boot. This picture is her of her sitting on the biggest rock in the creek. She took forever to get to the top by herself (well with her baby of course which was more of a hinderance) then when she was up there she stayed there...singing goodness knows what at the top of her lungs. I love to get pictures of her doing her thing because she is so hard to photograph when she knows you're coming!

preschool kids...

2007-05-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

It's been a very busy week. I had my preschool photo shoot this week. Whew, I'm happy it's behind me now. I was so worried about bad lighting and hot spots and I got beautiful dreamy mist and overcast skies. Pure pleasure for a photographer! I'm in the midst of editing 70+ kids with at least 3 photos each - so a lot. Here are a couple to share...

Happy Birthday Friend

2007-05-15T21:53:00.000-05:00

I can't belive that baby Carl turned one on mothers day. Hows that for a mothers day gift? He is so sweet. I took many photos of him on that day but I couldn't resist sharing this one. He had his fill of bannana bread cake with loads of chocolate on it...so he had to suck his thumb. Too cute!

Bell Belle

2007-05-14T22:01:00.000-05:00

Her name is Belle. Named after the city of Bellvidere, VT where she was born. For some reason we have taken to calling her Bell belle. She is just your ordinary looking cat but she is very different from any other cat that I've known. We got her when she was only 5 weeks old (she is now 9 months), she was so tiny that I thought it was too soon for her to be away from her mama. But the vet assured us it was OK. We also have a dog, Bronwyn who is always intrigued with cats but loves them. We believe that Bell Belle thinks that Bronwyn in her mom! Whenever we go walking outside on our property, she follows us. She has crossed creeks either jumping the whole thing or by slowly picking her way over the stepping stones. Where ever we are in the yard she is close by. When we play on the swingset she lays out underneath the slide. She even walks like a dog! The one thing that clued us in to the alter personality was when she joined our dog in eating food bits thrown on the floor by our toddler. Have you ever met a cat that ate mac and cheese?!!

This weekend she had to go in to be neutered (I can never remember if it's neuter or spay for a female but you get the idea). For some reason I felt really hesitant. Would her personality change? Would she resent us? The children certainly couldn't understand why we wouldn't want kittens around. But we still did it. She is fine. This portrait of her was taken the day before we took her to the vet...just in case.

I should also add, just in case he feels left out. We have another cat named Bogart. I've had him since 1993. He's old and thin and has a big bump on his side. But he's very accepting of Belle and we love him for it.

Happy Mothers Day

2007-05-13T21:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers out there. I had a great mothers day today. We spent the whole day in the garden. For my special day my husband dug me a vegtable garden! He got 5 cubic yards of compost and and rented a rototiller then got busy! I now have a beautiful spot to grow fresh veggies for everyone. I'm so excited! This week I'll be able to get in the cold hardy veggies like lettuce, peas and brocolli then do the rest after Memorial Day. I'm hoping to grown some corn as well! I finally got a pic of myself with all the kiddos. The wheel barrow is a great container for children...they are all in one spot and usually smiling and looking in the same direction!

About Madeleine

2007-05-11T21:23:00.000-05:00

We got a dress from my mom. It wasn't one that I would have chosen and I think it was actually for Ella. But when I looked at the dress then looked at Madeleine, they matched. They were both orange! Today for some reason, she looked so cute and I was dying to take her picture ALL day. But she's funny about the camera...never looks into it and always looks down with a silly smirk. I got a few of her today that are really different for her. I can't really say that I've captured her as she really is because these pictures make her seem much older and more serious than she is.

School pracise shot

2007-05-08T22:34:00.000-05:00

This shot was taken at the school were I will be doing school pictures. Ella and I went there for a practise shoot. This is about one of the only ones that turned out light-wise. There is one sole pine tree to offer shade, this was taken under it.

Ella in the sun

2007-05-08T19:14:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness, it's been ages since I posted. Sorry. My internet was down for 4 days. At least it was over the weekend so I was busy doing other family things. Next week I am taking school pictures of over 70 kids! The owners of the preschool are set on having the pictures done outside - yikes! It will be high sun when I am there and with no shade to speak of I am very nervous about racoon eyes and unflattering shadows and hot spots. So.... I practised on Ella. This picture is taken in the sunlight with my husband holding up my reflector to block the light on her face. I think that will work. My only worry now is, how do I do the whole class?

Sunset daffodil

2007-05-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

I loved the way the daffodils look so delicate when they are backlit. I took this one during that irresistable time right around sunset.

I'm not quite sure what that red squiggly line is on the right. I'm sure it's something to do with light getting in somewhere. I don't really like it. If someone can clue me in so I don't get that when the shot really matters, I'd appreciate it.

Family Picture

2007-05-01T20:49:00.000-05:00

I'm still working on getting all my pictures together from our trip but here is one of all of us. Photo taken by my mom (she taught me everything I know)!

I'm back

2007-04-30T19:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been gone for what seems like ages. I took gads and gads of pictures. So many in fact that I don't even know where to start. Our family travelled by car to Connecticut for an overnight stay then on the road at 4am to Washington DC. We spent a few hours there - so much fun. My first post of pictures is from there actually. We stayed overnight in Virginia then headed to the Outerbanks NC the following day. It was so beautiful and low key there. The beaches were gorgeous as was the weather. I will be posting some of my favorite pics from my trip in the next few days as soon as I get them all sorted out. Here are a couple from Washington DC, although they could be from anywhere. I love flowers (who doesn't?) and since none had really appeared in Vermont before we left, I just couldn't take enough pictures of these tulips. Here is Griffin checking out flowers for the first time in his life.

Starry night

2007-04-18T22:19:00.000-05:00

Tonight I say farewell for the next 10 days. We are going on a journey to the beach - yay! All of us are heading south for a little r&r...although I'm not sure how much rest we'll get with the kiddos running around. But, different spot different mind set. I'm really looking forward to getting some different shots of kids on the beach, cool sunsets - or I guess I would be sun rises since we're on the east coast. Hmmmm, not sure if I want to get up early, ha ha!
I also wanted to say thanks for everyone that looks at the blog and those who post comments. It means a lot to me when I see that someone has taken the time to write a word or two. Ellen, if you're reading this...I thought of you when I shot this. Even though my subject was a real light, I did like the differences of the two lights - stars vs. the light out the window.
This shot was taken right after I put the girls to bed. The stars hang in their room. Lately they have been afraid of the dark (even though you can tell it's still light outside!) so I have been leaving the stars on for them. When I peeked in tonight to make sure they were all sleeping soundly I saw the glow of the stars and the reflection of the light on the wall. Cool.

Water works and more

2007-04-17T20:41:00.000-05:00

Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty nice days but a little wierd too. My two daughters both go to pre-school, one for half a day and the other for a full day. Griffin being only 15 months just gets schlepped around dropping off and picking up...and doesn't really get a nap unless he cooperates (never). So, it's too late for him to nap because we have to pick up Madeleine in 45 mins. but he's fussing up a storm so I take him outside for a walk in the backpack. Since I didn't show any water shots yesterday on my post, here's one now. It's not as impressive as yesterday but hey, this is what I was taking pictures of today. This is our waterfall just next to our driveway. It was a little precarious since the ground is a boggy disaster, I'm carrying my precious little boy on my back and my new camera in my hand on a very steep embankment.

Across the creek I see these very cool mushrooms...they are everwhere but I'm always pleasantly surpised when I see them. They remind me of fairies and elves!

This next picture is really dorky, but those who are studying photography know...the art of getting a tack sharp image. So, I practised on this barb. (I just found out this was beside our property yesterday too, I wonder why?) Here is the full image...

And here is the cropped image of the barb I was working on! I know, I told you, I'm a nerd! But pretty good, eh? Ha ha!

Then of course here is my trusty side kick. She loves these jaunts!

That's it, or at least that's all that's worth showing. After the frog pond I grabbed the mail, headed back up the driveway, hopped into the car to get Madeleine. Griffin was asleep by the time I got to the road.

Tree Hugger

2007-04-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

The north east had a crazy storm last night. Luckily we didn't get the brunt of it since we are not coastal but we still got about 4 inches of snow. The thing is, the snow was super heavy and wet. We were afraid we would lose power but it never happened. From our patio we could hear our creek roaring from all the snow melt off. So of course we had to all check it out. Here are the girls being silly by our creek. Sorry I'm not showing any pictures of the water because I thought the girls were cuter!

Just another Saturday

2007-04-14T19:51:00.000-05:00

Today I finally got up the courage to send in my registration for my business. Ack! This means it's real. When I get accepted I will get a letter returned I can then file with the state for my tax ID number. I'm hoping that one day I will say..."remember when I put that letter in the mailbox? That was only the beginning."

Here's another pic for you. The snow is finally melting and leaving behind mostly brown drab grassy type stuff. But in the forest it's a different story. The ferns are starting to unfurl their fiddle heads and the moss is in full vibrant color. This tree is in the middle of our "fairy forest"...

The hand that feeds me

2007-04-13T18:55:00.000-05:00

My hungry boy getting tidbits from his daddy at the breakfast counter.
I really only wanted to show the size difference of their hands during this waffel exchange, but was then pleasantly surprised when I saw how back lit it was.

Keeping in the lines

2007-04-11T20:08:00.000-05:00

Madeleine is not yet 3 1/2 but she is always trying to keep up with her big sister Ella. She does a pretty good job with all of the physical things but one thing that she strives for is better coloring skills. She is still at the point where she scribbles over the whole page whether it's a blank piece of paper (which I prefer) or one with pre-drawn images. Today she was getting so frustrated as she saw Ella's nicely colored fairy while her own was under a layer of deep red crayon. She asked me to teach her how to color. So sweet. I'm not a believer of staying in the lines but since she asked me so sweetly how could I refuse? Here she is with a firm look of concentration as she tried to keep in the lines.

Easter pictures of my children

2007-04-09T22:22:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to take pictures of my children in their Easter gear for about a month now! It has never seemed to work out. Either one is sleeping, the other is sick or they are all not in the mood. Today the girls really wanted to wear their dresses so I said only if you let me take a couple of pictures. And there it is....no planning or anything. Sometimes it just happends that way. Luckily my studio was pretty set up. We had lots of fun, well, it only lasted about 15 minutes. But I got a few. Here is my favorite. But since there were so many that I love, here is a link to see the rest! http://www.louisalarson.com/easter/

Griffin in the zone

2007-04-07T20:38:00.000-05:00

Here's Griffin watching his big sister jump on the trampoline. I wonder what he's thinking?

Look at my pretty smile!

2007-04-07T20:12:00.000-05:00

Ella being smiley for the camera! She has gotten so good about the camera lately I only hope that Madeleine and Griffin will follow suit soon! We are just hanging out in the living room. I was practising with my open aperature.

Crayons - don't you love the way they smell?

2007-04-05T09:40:00.000-05:00

OK. It's probably just me but don't you love the smell of crayons. Not when they are used and all raggedy but when they are fresh out of the box? Ha ha! I also love the smell of play doh but it's probably just a psychological thing that takes me back to my fun play-doh childhool.

This picture is going to to be for my contact page on my website. Now that I view it here it might be a bit too saturated....hmmmm. What do you think? I did kind of go crazy with it using a color pop and boosting my saturation a bunch.

Oh, by the way...if you read my last post about spring showing its face, well forget it! It's snowing today and looks like winter. We are told to expect between 4-8 inches of snow. I wonder what happened to the crocuses?

The signs are here!

2007-04-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

We are finally coming out of the deep freeze! Ella spotted these crocus' growing in our future flower beds. You don't know how happy we were to see these little guys! I know that warm weather is still a long way off but at least there's hope now.

Spring is starting to show it's face

2007-04-03T10:02:00.000-05:00

Again, I apologize to anyone who looks at this regularly. I have been very busy not posting on this blog. I have been working hard on my new web site which is now up and running. You can check it out if you would like to: http://www.louisalarson.com
My pictures for today were taken at the weekend. We all have spring fever very badly. The weather hardly warrented short sleeves, but at 50 degrees it feels like we are in the carribean (OK maybe not that drastic) but anyways. Here are some pics of Madeleine climbing a tree, Ella coloring all of our stepping stones and Griffin in the sand box for the first time.

On a walk

2007-03-26T22:16:00.000-05:00

We have been away for the past four days, trying to get last tracks on the ski hill. We did manage to get both girls up on skis this weekend, too cute. I took so many pictures but I'll post this one while I sort all the others out. Here is Paul and the girls getting some fresh air.

The Little Man is walking!

2007-03-22T22:10:00.000-05:00

He's doing it and very very proud. A couple of days ago he took a few steps, almost by accident. Now he's trying to walk just about every where. Ella feels that she was the one to teach him since she has dedicated quite a bit of time to the task. Who knows, she probably was! Here are a couple of shots of Griffin in the studio. He was more interested in trying to walk to the ball than to look up at his momma for a smile, but that's OK.

What good manners!

2007-03-22T21:46:00.000-05:00

It's just a mommy thing....but my son, at 14 months old can eat with a fork! Not only can he eat with a fork, but he prefers to!! I don't remember either of my girls being so interested in utensils at this age or any age. Here is a series of pictures with Griffin successfully and happily getting a waffel to his mouth!

Mad River Rocket

2007-03-18T18:52:00.000-05:00

The Mad River Rocket is a sled but you kneel on it with a strap over your lower legs to keep you secured. The idea is that you have total control over the turns unlike a regular sled. It is named Mad River Rocket after Mad River Glen ski area which is very close to us. It is to be used in the back-country and if you can get permission - at a ski area. I bought this for Paul for his birthday in September and here he is getting freshies in our back yard. He says that it is so much fun, it's almost better than skiing! Ha, if you knew him then you'd know that it MUST be fun! From the pictures you can barely tell that he's moving but look at our dog! She loves it! Here are a couple of zoomed in pictures then a full shot so you can see the full slope. I'm going to give it a try tomorrow - can't wait!

Riley's eye

2007-03-17T22:33:00.000-05:00

This pic was from a shoot yesterday. This is Riley and she has the most beautiful blue eyes and dark hair. She was especially fond of this flower.

Working on high key

2007-03-16T09:23:00.000-05:00

I got a new light yesterday so total =3 now. Yay. I really wanted to do high key the right way and it was just too difficult with only 2 lights. This was just practise this morning for my shoot later today. I had the camera set to an iso of 200 - for you non-photo types, iso is a way of controlling the light. Usually I have it set at 100 but with all the bright white I felt I should bump it up a little so so my f-stop wouldn't be so high. Even with an iso of 200 my f stop was 18 - yikes! I am not happy with the iso being so high. When I enlarge the image, I can totally see the grain. So, back to the studio so I can get it right.

Building shapes

2007-03-15T21:20:00.000-05:00

Ella is really into these shape things. This is probably a unique way of stimulating the brain - trying to fit all the shapes together and figuring out new designs. She can play with it for hours during the day...carting it around everywhere she goes. I have to get more pieces so she can add to her creations. I highly recommend them, even my 14 month old loves them. Although he's more into just seeing how far it can fit into his mouth!

Splish splash pretty girl

2007-03-14T21:15:00.000-05:00

Oh my gosh, I have been gone for so long. Sorry. I guess I just needed a break. I found I was just taking pictures for the sole purpose of the blog and I became uninspired. But, I'm back and inspired again!!! The snow is melting - yippee!!! Not that I don't love snow and all that comes with it - skiing, snowshoeing, snowmen, etc. But I have spring fever bad!! Here is a cute shot of Ella splashing in the rain puddles. I took a picture of the whole of her because I wanted to see the fact that she's wearing a long dress under her rain coat! But I think the better picture is the one of her feet.

Oh, by the way...those of you who say my last post. The mom bought 7 images of this little guy...and she wanted to keep the drool. She said it was so perfect, like spun glass! Only a mother would talk about drool that way! Thanks for your input.

To drool or not to drool

2007-03-05T23:36:00.000-05:00

Isn't this little guy cute. He's from a photo shoot a week or so ago. The question is...do I keep the drool in, or edit it out? I really like it but what do you think?

2007-03-03T00:19:00.000-05:00

Ella is entering her tree climbing phase. I remember when I was little I always wanted to spend the day in a tree. She is doing exactly what I remember doing! She said today that she wanted to climb everything in the whole world! This was said while she was climbing mountains of snowbanks and then finally this tree. It's funny how kids bring back all the great memories you had when you were young.

For the love of dance

2007-03-01T22:23:00.000-05:00

Ella at her dance class. Not taken today but dug from the archives. It is one of my favorites.

Grandparents visit

2007-02-28T22:46:00.000-05:00

My in-laws came for a visit today and brought their snowmobile. We live right on the edge of a network of snowmobiling trails so they thought they would come and check it out. The pictures I have today are just snapshots of my little ones going for a ride around our house! Ella, 4 years and Madeleine 3 years.

Miss Fancy Pants

2007-02-27T21:50:00.000-05:00

Ella is on winter break this week. So I've been trying to come up with different ways to entertain her all day. The last couple of days she's rediscovered her dress up clothes. I think today she had about 6 different outfits on and at one point had a tutu on underneath her snow pants! I know that at some point in her life all she will want to wear is jeans so I guess having her declare it to be "a dress day" for the last 500 days in a row is OK!

Busy Little Boys

2007-02-25T23:51:00.000-05:00

More shots from a session this weekend. These guys are so cute and I had so much fun. 20 months and 7 month old boys. Oh my gosh, this little guy ran around the entire time. I have never really seen a 20 month old boy in action I guess! I was able to capture just a few but had to be pretty creative to capture him sitting for a nano second!

Sweet Pea T.

2007-02-24T21:06:00.000-05:00

This image is of Tyler, from a newborn session I had today. What a cutie pie! He is 5 weeks old. His favorite thing to do is snuggle in his momma's arms or stare into his Daddy's eyes.

I love.....

2007-02-23T22:49:00.000-05:00

I love baby eyelashes

I love the way all of his hair comes forward

I love the way his cheeks are impossibly soft when you kiss them

I love his creamy skin

I love his 8 little teeth and the little gaps inbetween

My little boy, he is so cherished.

Working on new website

2007-02-22T20:04:00.000-05:00

I only took two pictures today and neither of them are worth posting. So, I'll post what I've been working on today. It's far from complete but I'm happy with the way it's coming along...my new website. It's not new, new - just a different layout with some flowers to jazz it up. Have a look. I'll post the new one when it's complete, hopefully only days away!

Baby Blues

2007-02-21T23:17:00.000-05:00

Can you believe these eyes? Ella is becoming so willing to be photographed lately, I love it! She definately got these eyes from her Daddy!

Trying to play catch up

2007-02-20T21:37:00.000-05:00

OK. I'm back. We were away for the weekend to enjoy the massive amounts of snow. Vermont got hit with a large Valentines snow storm, perhaps 3 feet of snow. My pictures today are not very inspring, just wanted to post so I don't fall too far behind. The pictures are to demonstrate how much snow we got and of course I had to throw in one of the dog! She loves the snow so much and is in seventh heaven. The snow is almost up to the top rung of the ladder! No kidding! Paul had to get on the roof so the snow didn't tear off our gutters. I was scared he would slip but the girls thought it was lots of fun. The other one is of our swing set. Ella wanted a picture of it. She thought it was great that the snow was over the seat. I just liked the shadows!

Playing in the studio

2007-02-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

We got masses of snow, I don't even know how much. Best guess is about 2.5 feet. We are home again today. Not that we are "stuck" per say, but just because the roads are so bad why risk it? The kids aren't really interested in going outside. I can't really blame them since the "real feel" thermometer clocked in at -29 in Burlington this morning. Thank goodness we have two wood stoves and it's about 78 degrees inside! We played in the studio today. It is REALLY hard to get three kids 4 years old and under to stay in one spot and look at you at the same time. Griffin only hung out for the first few shots then had a melt down so I put him to bed. The girls always love hanging out in the studio since it's the only chance they get to play with the studio toys. This time I wanted to try some new tricks. I can never get Madeleine to look straight in the camera so today I said "do you see the monkey in the camera?" Ha, it worked! I also told the girls to see if the camera winks at them...you can see the shot were Ella is winking back at the camera - too cute! I tried blowing bubbles but I couldn't blow them far enough out and they kept running towards me. I'll have to work on that one. They are getting better at the photo thing, today I got this full session and all I had to do was bribe them with hot cocoa!

Too Much Snow to Sled!

2007-02-14T19:18:00.000-05:00

Well the storm got here and wow, what a doozie! The snow flakes are super tiny and light. When you go outside you can hear pfffff in the air as the snowflakes hit the trees and the snow on the ground. It is very beautiful. Our house is set back off the road so it seems like a complete winter wonderland. There are no foot prints, until we make them. No car tracks until we dig our car out. Very nice. But there are drawbacks too. How do we keep up with all the snow falling onto our driveway? Paul was out there this afternoon and it was falling faster that he could blow it away! We'll see what we're in for tomorrow morning. I took the children down to the mailbox to get the Netflix in the mail before the mailperson came (a high priority!) It took us about 30 mins. just to do that...however our driveway is very long and steep - an adventure unto itself. The picture of Griffin in the sled is of all the snow that piled up on him during our mail box run. He was such a good sport.

My Little Man

2007-02-13T23:05:00.000-05:00

This morning after I dropped the girls off at school, Griffin and myself had a little fun time in the studio. Boy is he hard to photograph! He is so fast. He wants to be everywhere except where I need him to be! Photographing babies/toddlers is definately not a one person job! I did manage to capture a few.

The frozen North

2007-02-11T22:17:00.000-05:00

Today I had the opportunity to go downtown Burlington to take take some pictures. There was not a lot of activity so I just took my camera down to the lake front. This is lake Champlain looking from the Vermont border westward to the Adirondaks in New York.

Photography 101

2007-02-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

I've been posting since January 3rd or so and everyday tring to work on something or another. I recently got a new camera, so although I knew how to operate my old camera, figuring out this new one is like knowing how to drive a car in automatic then switching to a standard transmission. I highly recommend the standard transmission (car and camera!). I know how to shoot in manual mode but often prefer aperature priority with fast children so I don't have to fiddle so much. But lately my AV hasn't been cutting it. I think with the backlighting in my house a lot of my images come up dark. Manual seems to be the way to go. I find myself switching to manual more often right off the bat. The goal of mine is always to have less post processing. That being said. After finishing "Understanding Exposure" - great book, by the way, I really starting to get a grip on correct exposures. My next goal is focus. Auto-focus - ha! I've tried different methods to get the crisp, clear images that seem so alusive but now think that I'm finally on to something. My camera has 9 focus points so I decreased them to just one (the center one) and would use back button focus on that one point - point it on the eyes, focus, then recompose. You'd think the eyes would be in focus, right. Wrong. Very frustrating. Today I learned that Canon does not recommend recomposing your images but chosing a focus point that works for the particular image. This seems quite daunting since I'm already chosing iso, ss, f-stop and now a specific focus point to aim right between the eyes...all while chasing down fast toddlers!
Well, today I placed my kids in a chair so they wouldn't move too fast and practised on the selective focus points. I think it worked! My depth of field on the first image was a little shallow and I only got focus on one eye, but hey it's just practise. Also, all of these were taken with iso 640 (that's why it's a little grainy)If you actually made it to the bottom of this post, I apologize for rambling...but just wanted to let you know what I have been working on.

Puppy Love

2007-02-09T21:46:00.000-05:00

The poor dog. She puts up with so much! I coaxed her to be in the middle of my valentines fun photo shoot. She was not happy but put up with us anyways.

Love

2007-02-09T10:11:00.000-05:00

I didn't really miss taking a picture yesterday (I took lots!) I was just too busy to post them. Here is a cute one of Ella. We were having some fun yesterday with some Valentine Day garb. Ella was very proud because she knew every letter in the word LOVE. Not bad for a newly turned 4 year old!

Sunset circles

2007-02-07T20:31:00.000-05:00

I guess I'm on a sunset theme. Isaw our window glass glinting in the sunlight, it was so pretty. All week I've seen other 365ers take pictures of circles for the theme of the week. Finally I found some circles...although the theme has probably changed for this week, better late than never!

Sunset Shadow

2007-02-06T19:40:00.000-05:00

I always love the light in the early evening, who doesn't right? We get a pretty good view of the sunset through out window and the light shines through the main room in our house. This evening I caught a glimpse of a shadow cast by my lampshade and went to show my daughter who loves shadows. She stood in the middle of the room to cast her own shadow and I snapped a picture of it. I was pleasantly surprised afterwards to see that the light was cast right over her face.

Grandfather and Grandson

2007-02-05T19:23:00.000-05:00

I got my copy of Proffessional Photographer magazine in the mail at the end of last week. I just LOVE that magazine and devour it cover to cover. One of the stories was about how a photographer captured images of the different generations together. She loved to photograph great grandparents with the third generation and everyone inbetween. How great is that? I know that years ago people hardly ever got photographs with their grandparents let alone their great-grandparents. I was inspired by this article to take this picture. It is Griffin (one year old) with his Grandpa Dave. I'm not crazy about the tilt but can't figure out how to fix it and little Griffins face is too bright from the big sunny french doors. But I still like it. I'll try again next time we see them.

Ode to a dog

2007-02-04T22:10:00.000-05:00

Bronwyn was our first baby. We got her when she was only six weeks old from a farm in eastern Colorado. She was the only female and the smallest of nine pups. She has always been the best dog. She is loyal, obediant, fun loving, gentle although she does have some quirks. She is afraid of hoses, ladders, brooms, vacuums and tape measures. She runs from beer but loves strawberries. She is the best frisbee catcher we know but doesn't give a hoot about tennis balls. She goes everywhere with us - and we go lots of places. Before kids we would take her on all kinds of adventures, snowshoeing and moutain biking being some of her favorite activies. Now that we have three small children she is still very loved but does not get the attention she deserves. She is very content to lie under the high chair waiting for the never ending delicious morsels that get tossed over. She rests her head on our knee when she wants to go out and gives a polite bark when she's ready to come in. She endures so much from our family...eye poking, tail pulling, horse rides, you name it and it's been done. Yet she continues to be the most gently lovely dog you could ever ask for. I'm sad that we don't devote as much time to her as we used to but she knows that we love her very much. This story board was a lot of fun to make, if you click on the image you will get a better look at her. This is Bronwyn having the most fun, she loves the snow and could play for hours in it.

The Driveway

2007-02-02T17:23:00.000-05:00

Most people are intimidated by our driveway but we kind of like it. Our driveway is about 500 yards long, quite steep and has an embankment on one side. In the summertime you drive under a canopy of green trees until you reach the plateau on top which is our house and property. In the winter though, it's a different story. We typically don't have trouble considering we have good snow tires but on a day like today I just couldn't make it up. We had been having very cold weather, sub-zero weather so the snow was very tacky. Today it warmed up a little then re-froze making the snow into a layer of ice. So...I parked at the bottom. I had my camera in hand and took a picture of Ella and Madeleine pulling Griffin (in his carseat) up the driveway. I can't believe they actually helped me instead of demanding to get into the sled themselves.

Staring out the window

2007-01-31T15:33:00.000-05:00

I saw my son Griffin and my kitten Belle staring out the window together. I knew that I'd probably blow the shot since I'm terrible at this kind of lighting but I'll post it anyways because I think it's kind of cute and it's the only one I took! If anyone has any advice on backlighting, pleae feel free to fill me in. I metered on the cat with eval metering. Oh, by the way, Griffin is feeling MUCH better today - he even smiled!

I've been tagged!

2007-01-31T14:33:00.000-05:00

1. My pinkie fingers turn in at the ends and look really bizarre.
2. One of my favorite foods is Marmite which is basically yeast extract. It smells toxic and tastes really salty but I love it, so does my son!
3. When I was pregnant with my first born I dreamt that I was lying in the gutter having purple puppies while my co-workers walked by!
4. I really like the sound of crinkly paper, like the kind they make for the inside of baby toys! I think I remember it from when I was young.
5. I have a wicked good memory for things from when I was very young (3 and 4) but have a very bad memory for anything recent.
6. Hats and gloves make me feel claustrophobic...a bad thing in Northern Vermont.

I still need to tag 5 more people. I've already tagged Maggie and Christie.

19.8 pounds

2007-01-30T21:35:00.000-05:00

That's my Grif. He had his well baby one year check up today although he was not such a well baby. He has been sick for the last 4 days or so, poor little guy. Nothing major, just a bad cold but he's definately not been himself the last few days. He has been fussing pretty much non-stop morning 'till night. I feel so badly for him, I know that his throat is hurting. Hopefully tomorrow he'll feel a little better. I found out that his height and head circumference put him at almost 50% but his weight is only 10%. I guess he'll take after his Daddy, having a high metabolism - what a gift!! The picture today is only a snapshot since I couldn't get too technical in the office with a fussy baby.

My Madeleine

2007-01-29T19:03:00.000-05:00

Everyone who has children has one...a child that refuses to look at the camera! Madeleine is mine. She either looks up or away or smiles nicely for the camera but looks down, it's almost like she can't help herself. Today she was looking especially cute after her dance class. Her hair was not in dreadlocks, she had her black leotard on with footless dance tights. I really wanted to capture her in some nice natural light. So, I asked her. "No mommy" she said. "Please, you look SO cute today and your hair is so stylish" I said. "NO" she replied. "I will let you have your binky (pacifier) if you let me take a good picture of you". I can't believe I bribed her with my bigest pet peeve (how low will photographer moms stoop?). Her whole face lit up and she actually let me take a whole series of her with her angel bear. At one point she said enough and I told her that I was only taking pictures of angel bear. She thought that was OK. Afterwards I gave her her binky and she settled onto the couch. After I got done uploading the pictures I went over to her to see what she was up to and she was snuggled up on the couch fast asleep! Needless to say, I grabbed my camera again and went photo crazy, it was great! I've never been able to get so many pictures of her! I'll spare you and only show you a few!

Baby Sadie, a Christmas miracle.

2007-01-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

My photo today is of a newborn named Sadie. She was born on Christmas day, then adopted into this loving family. She is such a lucky little girl because she is SO loved by this family. I felt very honored to have been asked to photograph such a special time in their lives.