Josh and April

I absolutely hate photographing weddings. And while I don't under any circumstances normally photograph weddings it is hard to turn down a friend. So after much deliberating and post processing here are a few of my favorites from that special day. Josh and April Best Wishes to you both.

Another peak...

Here is another family that has blessed me by letting me capture them at their best. Thank you so much. N. is now a year old and is getting ready to be a big brother this coming year. Many blessing to this family as they forge ahead in what God has called them to.

A peek at some friends

It always makes me feel good when people come back to me to take portraits of their families. But to have friends come back year after year, well, that really makes me feel wonderful. Here is a beautiful family who I have known for close to 16 years. Great friends and family is what this time of year is all about. I have been blessed in my life to have and enjoy both.

Holiday Pets

Today I went to a friend's pet store in Salem to take Holiday Pet Portraits. We were doing this in hopes of bringing in new customers to the shop. We had a few people come through the store today and they brought with the some of the cutest dogs I have seen in a long while. Here are a few of my newest friends.

Spud

Here is a quick peek at Katie's new little girl. The one of Richard and Spud is my favorite. Such a sweet little girl.

Katie O.

Meet Katie, a beautiful mother to be. I couldn't have asked for a more cooperative mom who was game for just about anything. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot. Thank you so much Katie.

Favors from my friends

Here is how the first conversation went:
ME: Hey Hannah, what are you doing tomorrow? I need a favor.
Hannah: I have to coach volleyball, why?
ME: I need you to be a model for a photo I want to use on a CD cover. No one will see you, it's just a silhouette of you. So, can you do it on Saturday?
Hannah: Yeah, I guess.
ME: Ok, thanks I'll call you later with a time.
Hannah: OK, just let me know.

The next conversation:
ME: Hey Brenda, can I use your front yard to take some pictures of Hannah G?
Brenda: That's fine. What time?
ME: About 7pm.
Brenda: OK, see you then.

As it turns out my life is a little "interesting", and because my life is interesting I tend to ask my friends for interesting (read strange) favors. Like true friends do, they always pull through. Let's us not forget the every popular, "Cindy can I trade cars with you so I can drive to beach? Your car gets better gas mileage than mine. Thanks!"

Here is the finished (kinda) CD cover with my friend Hannah in my other friend Brenda's front yard. Thanks Ladies!!

The first one is my favorite and the second is the one the band has picked out.

Mason

Here are a couple of shots of my nephew Mason playing in is first official ballgame of the season . This is his first year playing pee wee football and he is doing great. His number is 25 and he loves playing. Cutting, blocking, running the ball... he loves it all. The last shot is my favorite one. It is his dad, Greg, who is standing on the sidelines helping measure the distances, all the while keeping a watch on his boy.

Hannah Grace

Here is the newest addition to our extended family. Rachael's new little sister Hannah Grace. Such a beautiful little girl and her mommy and daddy can't stop smiling.

This is Baylee...

...in these three words is a world of information. At 10 years old my niece Baylee is a dynamite. She is a cheerleader, a fashion diva, a big sister, a rock star, mom and Nee-Nee's helper, daddy's princess, the boss of Mason (NOT!), Poppies' Boo, Aunt Dah's highlight of visiting home, and as you can see from the pictures a beautiful young lady.

Boots, Flowers, and a Barn

Just a few from around my house. It is amazing what I can find to take pictures of around here. My husbands boots, a bunch of flowers from the grocery store, and our old barn... pretty cool!

Soon-to-be-big-sister Rachael

Here are a few shots from my latest session. Rachael is my goddaughter and is so beautiful... not that you would know by these pictures. She is also a little on the stubborn side and decided that she did not need to look at me while I was holding the camera to my face and saying things like "Hey Rachael, look over here, Smile for me Rachael..." You get the idea. So far these are my favorites, but it is so hard to pick a favorite of this sweet girl who will be a big sister by next Friday.

Lil Miss Firecracker

Hope everyone had a safe and wonderful July 4th weekend. Here at Casa Laster things were quite. I was alone this weekend with the Rabbit and Daisy's new puppies (pictures to come soon) due to Mike being out of town on dog business and though I missed my dear husband it was AWESOME to get to do what I wanted to for the entire weekend. Yes folks, I got to watch the Food Network, bake bread, take photos of the new pups and edit my backlog of photos to my hearts content all weekend long. Did I already mention that? I crashed at a friend's house for a few hours on the 4th and got to spend time eating, watching a stupid movie (is there really any other kind?) and taking pictures of this little cutie. She is so full of herself and her daddy isn't going to know what hit him when she turns 13.

My Sister's Dining Room Gallery

my sister lives about 45 minutes away from me, which means i don't get to see her or her family as much i as would like. she is in the process of redecorating her whole house but her dining room is what she is working on right now. might i just add she is fantastic at this kind of stuff. she comes up with ideas to colors that i had no idea would go together. anyway...she is wanting to hang large (8x10 pictures framed in 16x20 frames) pictures on the wall of her dining room. the walls are painted a really cool dark dreamcicley orange (see i told you see comes up with some cool ideas)... and she wants to use nature photos that either she or i have taken. she called the other day and wanted to see some more photos for her to pick from but since we live 45 mins apart and we are both extreeeeeeemly busy right now we couldn't get together this weekend to look at what i have on my computer, so here are some of my submissions for my sister's dining room gallery.