meet marissa, for whom summer is no match.

On one of the hottest, if not the hottest, nights of summer 2011, this super-cool head cheerleader and senior-to-be braved the high temperature and humidity in her cheer gear for this fun shot in Tower Grove Park.

Shot at twilight, you should have seen our team of three working to light the scene. Rather comical, but definitely well worth it!

If you don't like smiling, look away.

We warned you.

hello, my name is...

... Jamie. Photographed in Tower Grove Park. 100 mm at f/3.2. Gorgeous.

Meet Dominic!

We were honored to spend the day with Dominic to celebrate the Big-Oh-Three! He is such a sweet and loving little guy and we had such a good time (I even braved the penguin-themed party to hang with the Dominator). Dominic had a stroke in utero and consquently suffered brain damage to the basal ganglia, affecting his ability to suck or swallow. To learn more about Dominic and the mission his parents are on to give him the best life possible, visit: http://www.specialneedsconnections.com/

Matt and Hilary said it best with, "Dominic is our life; he is what makes our life complete... Blessings come in all shapes and sizes and our son is the best blessing that we could ever ask for."

"It was absolutely perfect."

How would you describe your wedding day? I asked Doug Marsh that very question, and got that simple but profound reply. Here's a quick glimpse from that very hot, but perfect day.

The love of a family is life's greatest blessing.

From the moment we met little 2-year-old Rhythm last week at Quail Ridge Park he was smiling, his big grin setting the perfect tone for our first "For the Love" photo session of the year. (What exactly does that mean? In summary, later this year we'll carry out the rest of our special "For the Love" photo project -- essentially a fund raiser for our church's girls camp and Scout camp that consisted of families purchasing photo gift certificates to give away to a deserving friend or family member. The big day is set for Sept. 10... More on that later.)

Back to the shoot... Each of Doug's kids had his own awesomely unique personality, which was fun to see play out through the lens. Two minutes into our shoot, we knew one thing for sure: they all were super-comfortable in front of a camera. (Dad, you've taught 'em well!)

No question, we were blessed that day. For starters, it was practically a miracle that we got the shoot in that evening... The day's sun had been nothing short of scorching. Near-record temps put things into question early on. And then the rains came in the late afternoon -- thunder, lightning, the whole nine yards. Turned out, the storms were just what we needed leading up to our 6:45 start time, cooling temps off in the ballpark of 15 degrees.

With the help of a few good friends on set, we breezed through the shoot. It's amazing what a few extra hands can do (Thank you to everyone who pitched in!).

We are so excited to finish editing this round of images, along with the Schmutz Family images, which we made that same night (see the previous post). Now that our hard drive is back up and running (another miracle, indeed), we're ready to get things moving again.

A beautiful sunset -- in black and white.

Just letting the clouds speak for themselves today.

And you feel like it's a beautiful day

Last Saturday we had a double location shoot with Lafayette High cross-country runner and class of 2012 senior Hannah, who was fresh off a college visit to Loyola. We started off at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, one of Hannah's favorite places in the 'Lou (especially the Japanese Gardens). After the Botan, we headed 1 mile south to Tower Grove Park, dodging kickball games and farmer's markets, to find some new, unique places that we LOVED. Thanks for a beautiful day, Hannah and mom Chris!

Add two to the crew

Left: Sam Emerson, born June 30th at 1:01am, weighing 7lbs and 20" in length.
Right: Eli Craig, born June 30th at 1:17am, weighing 6lbs 5oz and 19 3/4" in length.

Identical, but not without their differences. However, both were just sweet, sweet, sweet to photograph. Thanks for having us, Ashlee, Craig and Grant!

U. City. Great for concerts. And senior photos.

Saturday, July 2. Hottest day of the year. And where were we? In the Delmar Loop.
Paige, a Parkway West senior-to-be, picked the locale (not the weather!) for her passion for music and the eclectic nature of University City. We're big fans of the Loop, although it's been a long time since we have gone there to make photos... Yeah, most of our time there is spent at Fitz's (mmm... root beer...), Blueberry Hill, and The Pageant (one of the best places in the world to see a concert*). We love a good concert, but it was definitely nice to get out and do something different there this time!


Did you know? The Delmar Loop is one of America's 10 Great Streets, according to the American Planning Association (2007). We'd have to agree.
*According to Pollstar 2010.

The last of Utah... until September

Fun Facts about Becca's "home" state:
1. Utah mountain peaks, on average, are the tallest in the country. The average elevation of the tallest peaks in each of Utah's counties is 11,222 ft.--higher than the same average in any other state.
2. Utah is the only state whose capital's name is made of three words. All three words in Salt Lake City have four letters each.
3. The name Utah comes from the Native American Ute tribe meaning "people of the mountains."
4. Utah has five national parks: Arches, Canyonlands, Zion, Bryce & Capitol Reef.
5. Utah has seven national monuments: Cedar Breaks, Natural Bridges, Dinosaur, Rainbow Bridge, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Timpanogos Cave & Hovenweep.
6. Utah has six national forests: Ashley, Dixie, Fishlake, Manti-LaSal, Uinta, & Wasatch-Cache.
7. The federal government owns 65% of the state's land (it is any wonder with all those national parks, forests and monuments?!).

Ben has has yet to visit all the sites listed in #4. This September, he and his father will head out to photograph Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef. That will make him 100 percent complete. Then it will be on to the national monuments... someday.