Nathaniel's Baptism

What an absolute privilege I felt to be asked to photograph the baptism of Nathaniel Reign. I photographed his parent's wedding, that of Krystyna and Michael in 2007. It is one of the the greatest honors to be entrusted with capturing the moments of one of the most important days in a couple lives together, their wedding. But to be called to continue to document the changing life of a couple that started out as two and now is three... well, needless to say, I was thrilled and just a bit teary-eyed, to be able to be there for this new important phase of their lives. Little Nathaniel was surrounded in love that was palpable. What an awesome family and extended family of friends he will have in his life. Thank you Krystyna and Michael for including me and allowing me to get to follow your lives through his first year and beyond.
Nathaniel looks absolutelyangelic during the baptism.

Feeling the love!

Little guy... all tuckered out.

The e-session of Jess and Ryan

Had a fun engagement session with Jess and Ryan at Hagerstown City Park at 8AM!!! Actually, I loved it. I'm more of morning person and like getting up early and getting things done. We had originally scheduled for that afternoon but the forecast called for strong thunderstorms. When Jess suggested the early am session, I wondered how it would go. Hopefully, they would be morning people too. I don't know if they were but I do know that they were great to work with. We moved all over the park, splashed in the pools of water, got slobbered on by their dogs and really started to feel the humidity, even at that early time but they kept a good humor the entire time. I'm looking forward to their wedding, which is not... at 8am.
Thanks Jess and Ryan!

Sammy

I love six-month olds! Sammy is a bit older than that but the same things apply. At this age, babies can't crawl yet, so they stay where you put them and the smiles are absolutely brilliant!
Sammy's "Baby's First Year" photo session was a shower gift to good friends of ours. Our sons have been friends since kindergarden and I am excited to follow Sammy's life in the family in photos. Plus it gives me a chance to catch up with a great family. It doesn't take long for things to change! So you gotta keep up. Looks like she's a keeper. :)

Sports and Memories

Below is a post of a photography session I was fortunate enough to be asked to do, a basketball game of a Catoctin High School basketball player, Renee. Her father, Keith, a Catoctin alumni has taken on the task of keeping up the family scrapbooks with his children's athletic achievements inside. Sometimes he has taken the photos himself, but this time, he had decided to hire me to capture this moment in the life of his daughter.

Being a former Catoctin Cougar myself, I happily accepted the invitation to photograph Renee.It was fun for me to head back to the old high school, run into a few people I know and see how the next generation of my classmates is coming along.

What I really found so amazing, was the foresight that Keith had to have Renee's game professionally documented. If you are the same as me, your childhood photo album has a TON of photos of you in your first years, maybe a few in your tweens and next to none in your teen years. Is it because we are not so cute or amazing anymore? I don't think so. We just get so wrapped up in the busy-ness of our lives and now, our teens lives, that it rolls by and we don't think about capturing it.

I'm not sure how Renee felt about being the focus of my attention and lens that day. But I do hope that when she sees these photos again in her future she feels happy. Happy to remember how much fun she had, how talented she was and how much her father loved her.

Renee , Catoctin Basketball 2009

Jackson, the cattle herding dog

For the past two years, I have been working with good friend and "agriculture" warrior Becky Long Chaney, on a series of agriculture education books as told through the eyes of her twin daughters, my goddaughters, Rianna and Sheridan. Our first book was about their experience raising an orphaned beef calf, "Star" called "Little Star, raising our first beef calf". The second book taught children about the dairy industry called "Mini Milk Maids on the Mooove" and yes, there are supposed to be three ooo's! We are working on the third book now. Star has had her first calf and the story continues. Yesterday, we focused on Jackson, the Chaney's cattle dog and family companion. In earlier books, he's been photographed doing his puppy antics like eating the kid's homemade ice cream and losing his head inside a pitcher to lick out all the milk. Lately, he's really started growing his herding skills and I was able to photograph him trying out his skills while moving the herd of Herefords. It was fun watching him be bold and back off in turns, depending on the audacity of the animal. It's so obvious he loves doing it.

This one's not about to be moved by something less than half it's size.
It's all in a day's work for Jackson.

Easter Egg Hunt for the Animals

Easter Egg Hunt for the Animals CLICK this link to view a slideshow of the egg hunt.

I had the opportunity to photograph the"wildest" egg hunt I've ever seen. With the help of members of the Lewistown Mt. View 4-H Cloverbuds, who created paper mache' eggs to hide treats in and about twelve dozen colored egg, Catoctin Wildlife Preserve and Zoo had an egg hunt for their animals. Monkeys, bears and tigers searched their enclosures, high and low, finding their treats. The zoo guests were just as excited to see the animals find them as they were cheering them on.