Baby J

Remember my cousin and their beautiful pregnancy photos? I finally got to take photos of their new little guy! He's over 3 weeks old already, so as you can tell in these photos...he's past that sleepy curly newest new newborn phase already! He was wide-eyed, alert, and interested the whole time.

Okay okay, I know I am biased to babies in my own family...but isn't this fella just gorgeous?

Okay, we have to see that pose a little bit closer :)

Cherry Blossoms!

The cherry trees blossomed early in Michigan this year. Luckily I caught them before they were all gone--but I didn't get to do nearly as many shoots in them as I had hoped. Oh well, maybe next year! Anyone want to schedule a shoot for April or May of 2011? Because you cannot beat the beauty of this location--and it only lasts a few weeks out of the year!

I know everyone is curious to see how my beautiful nephew Kai is growing. He's 7 months old now, and cuter than ever. The first pictures are of him, and the second group of photos are of my girls, Rowan and Piper. I finally got some photos of them together that I like! Woo Hoo!

Mr. D

I had the privilege of photographing a very interesting, compassionate man last weekend--Mr. D. He needed some photos for a website, for a book jacket that is in the process of being published, and some head shots for when he has speaking engagements. I love photographing children and young families, don't get me wrong...but it's a whole different bag than photographing a sophisticated gentleman, let me tell you. It was fun to stretch and be creative with someone who stayed still and was up for anything! I really had a great time getting these photos.

Festival of Faith and Writing

I had a really fun photography assignment last weekend. My Alma Mater, Calvin College, puts on a great conference every 2 years called the "Festival of Faith and Writing". It's rather big--2500 attendees-and they get some really fabulous writers who are there speaking and leading workshops. It's a 3 day celebration of words, literature, and the process of writing....all from the perspective of faith.

For anyone who loves words--either writing them or reading them--the weekend is an absolute pleasure. It's a chance to hear (and meet!) well-known authors, and learn how they work and how they are influenced and some of their life stories. As an English major, and a lover of words, this is my kind of conference. I wasn't planning on attending this year--because of the cost, and because of having to figure out child care for 3 days.

And then I was asked (by my neighbor, who happens to be on the planning committee!) to photograph the conference! Score! I could go, do work, a work that I love, and also soak up the thoughts falling all around me!

So here are a few pics from the weekend (I took hundreds)....there are only so many ways you can photograph a person standing behind a lectern :) I'll indicate who is in the picture underneath each one. I'm including here the main speakers...but there were many many others who were there doing workshops, including my favorite poet Luci Shaw.

Prof. Felch introducing Poet Scott Cairns.

Scott Cairns.

Wally Lamb ("She's Come Undone" and "This Much I Know Is True").

Wally Lamb signing books. He was such an animated guy!

Eugene Peterson (who wrote "The Message" and many many other things). He wasn't so animated while speaking...

...But had a great smile while signing books.

Kate DiCamillo ("Because of Win Dixie" and "the Tale of Desperauex" yes the one that was made into a movie) She was a hoot.

Scott McCurry, the photographer who, yes, took THAT photo that he is signing. What a thrill to meet him and be around him for a bit--the person who took probably the world's most recognized photo. And he has many other amazing images, and some books also...hence his presence at a Writing conference. His images are still on display at Calvin's art gallery through Saturday---GO if you can! I felt kind of intimidated taking photos of the photographer---he asked me a bit about what I do, and even wanted my website address. Eekks!



Richard Rodriquez ("Hunger for Memory" is a book he wrote, but mostly he is a journalist who writes essays)

Rodriquez from afar.

Prof. Hettinga introducing Mary Karr. This shot of him just makes me smile :)

Mary Karr ("The Liar's Club" and "Lit") She was super funny.

The 5 year olds

As promised, here are a few more images from the 5 year old photo shoot from a few weeks back. These girls are not only beautiful, but also very sweet, and very eager to have their photo taken. A dream! A big thanks to these 2 for their positive photographic influence on Rowan, and to their mommas for loaning them to me for a few hours!