I don't do weddings, but...

I love doing engagement sessions! Lucia and Brad are high school sweethearts and I had so much fun photographing them. Their love for each other is so apparent, and I predict they have many happy years ahead of them.

Here is the first picture I pulled from their session... this is at the top of a parking lot in downtown Durham, and the light coming in was just unbelievable. This image is really cool in black and white, also, but I just had to share that amazing pre-dusk sky.

the tiniest ones

Last week I took part in a project to photograph babies in the NICU at UNC Hospitals. Fellow photographer Dana Atkins and I spent about four hours documenting families with their beautiful babies in the NICU, with the eventual goal being a series of portraits that will adorn the walls of the unit.

This was an entirely new experience for me, as my own babies were full term and home within a few days. It amazed me to see these perfect, tiny babies - some only a few pounds and born several months before their due dates - and witness modern medicine in action. Almost everyone has seen pictures of premature babies, but until you actually see dad's wedding band slip over the hand onto the arm, like a tiny little gold bracelet, it is hard to grasp just how small they are.

It was a pleasure to volunteer my time to this project, and I am really looking forward to seeing the finished result!

baby's best friend

I've seen this look before. I've seen it each of the three times I've brought one of my own sweet baby boys home from the hospital for the first time... if only we could read dogs' minds!

It seems like almost every one of my clients has a "first baby" they'd like to have in a photo or two, but not all pets are as cooperative as Monet (posing here with baby Dylan, the adorable newest member of this family.) She was so sweet and careful while lying next to Dylan, and let me get a few great shots before going in for the lick:-)

I've been tagged!

Today I was "tagged" by the awesome Corey Civetta. In this new spin on a chain letter (photographer-style!), I'm supposed to list 8 interesting facts about myself and then tag 8 other photographers to do the same. I'm not really sure if I can think up that many interesting facts, but I'm going to give it a whirl!

1). My heart bleeds Carolina blue. I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill more years ago than I'd really like to admit. However, my heart still flutters a little faster as I drive past the "welcome to Chapel Hill" sign. On more than one occasion I've shown up at a session only to realize I recognize one (or more!) of my clients from my time in Chapel Hill.

2). My husband is a fantastic stay-at-home-dad to our three little wild men. Okay, so that is not a fact about me per se, but I seriously could not do what I do without his support. (And his amazing ability to keep up with the laundry... a task I never quite mastered doing in any sort of timely manner.)

3). I grew up in a tiny town in Iowa. It was the idyllic place to grow up... my mom would shove us out the door on summer mornings, only to see us again at lunch and dinner. I spent my days riding my bike and swimming at the pool with my friends. I moved to NC when I was 12, so I feel like my roots are deeply planted in both places. We went back to Iowa this summer to spend some time with my grandparents and it was so great. If you hear me talk, it will be hard to peg my midwestern/southern hybrid accent!

4). Bad drivers are my pet peeve.

5). When I was a kid I wanted to be an architect. I kept a little notebook of my pretend houses and floorplans. Then I got into all of the high-level math classes in high school and realized that unless I wanted to do a whole lot more of that, I had better change plans QUICKLY.

6). In college I waited tables at Lone Star Steakhouse, where I wore short shorts and where, on Friday and Saturday nights, I had to take part in an all-waitress presentation of a song whose starting lyrics were "I was drunk the night my mom got out of prison." Or something along those lines. It's pretty easy to sell your soul singing country songs in a smoky restaurant when you're only 21 and need rent money.

7). My favorite treat is chocolate-covered strawberries, and I make them regularly. Too regularly.

8). If I could meet any celebrity in person (or better yet, photograph them), it would be Michael Vartan. In case you aren't familiar with the lovely Mr. Vartan, he played Agent Michael Vaughn on "Alias" and has another show coming on this fall called "Big Shots." A coincidence that my youngest son's middle name is Vaughn? I think not. I admit it proudly.

Here are the photographers I'm tagging:

Ann-Marie Hensley
Val Godwin
Jennifer Simpson
Cari Long
Bethann Frillman
Erica Ledrowski
Marie Cox
Jen Lane