Senior Portraits for Stormin' Norman; Fulton, IL Senior photography

I recently had the pleasure of helping out with a project called "Stormin' Norman Portraits." A friend from the Muddy River Camera Club, Beth Wiersema, has organized this fundraiser for the past 2 years to raise money for Relay for Life.

Beth is a member of the Stormin’ Norman American Cancer Society Relay for Life team of Clinton County and sprearheaded the portrait sessions because she wanted to help her relative, neighbor, and friend, Norm Criss, who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer almost 8 years ago. This year, Stormin' Norman Portraits raised over $2,000!

Beth and I had a great time shooting senior portraits for this beautiful and very sweet young lady. Here are a few of my favorite shots....

A & J at Clinton Country Club; Clinton, IA lifestyle photographer

Oh my! Beautiful people, beautiful day (well, the diffused light was beautiful through the photographer's eyes!). It's amazing how little the cold and drizzle bother me when I'm capturing moments like this. :o)

Sweet A & J were not only 2 of the most adorable children imaginable, but they were also so easy to work with. You can tell this family is very loving -- I couldn't resist including a few pics here that show Mom & Dad interacting with the kids.

We had a lot of fun riding from location to location in the golf carts. If only I had a golf cart at all of my shoots -- what a great way to lug all of my gear and props around!

Sneak Peek for M and L; Eastern Iowa children's photographer

What a crazy month it's been! We've had visits from both sets of grandparents, an out of town wedding weekend, and lots of shoots! In the coming days, I will blog some of my other shoots, including some fun senior sessions with my fellow photog friend Beth.

In the meantime, check out these gorgeous girls! We met out at the beautiful Bickelhaupt Arboretum on one of the few dry and sunny days we've had of late. Still a bit chilly, though. :)

for my pal across the pond

This summer, the members of the Muddy River Camera Club had the honor of having our work on display at the local art gallery -- The River Arts Center in downtown Clinton.

A friend in Switzerland requested a viewing for my non-stateside friends; here are the six photos I had on display for the exhibit.

 "Young Guitar Hero"

"Gentleman Caller"

"S is for Swing" (when hand-written, "S" is formed backward to reflect the S-hook in the picture)

"Leaf Bowing to Beauty"

"Purple Haze Solitude"

"In the Thick of It"

Little Blue eyes, little brown eyes; Clinton, Iowa childhood photography

Two more sweet boys I had the pleasure of capturing in photos....















And Mom snuck in on one as well. :o)

My Sweet boys.... Fulton, IL Children's Photography

On Monday afternoon, I eagerly opened the box that contained my newest lens -- a 50 mm prime lens (no zoom; I have to zoom with my feet!) I couldn't wait to try it out, so I took the boys to Heritage Canyon in Fulton, IL. Here are just a few of my favorites.
























Under the covered bridge


What a beautiful location with so much to explore! The kids had a blast. (As did Mom with her camera!)

Fallon Raine; Clinton, IA Newborn Photographer

My family traveled to Mississippi last month to meet our new niece -- Fallon Raine. This beautiful little doll was 13 days old, and I was soooo excited to be able to capture these shots of our very first niece. She still has her days and nights mixed up, so we shot these in the last light of the day with hopes of catching her with her eyes open. We did manage to get a few, but my favorites are those where she's sleeping peacefully.







Love those little toes!

More on Brandon... Clinton, Iowa children's portraits

Since I promised more pictures from last week's shoot with Brandon, I'm finally back to deliver. (Better late than never, right?!) Brandon was a lot of fun to work with. By the end of the shoot, he was even coming up with cool new location ideas.


the Lyons district



the back yard

Oh, how to begin.... Clinton, Iowa Children's Photographer

And so the blogging begins. This is a new venture for me. I guess this year has been a series of new (and exciting!) ventures in my world of photography.

The perfectionist in me says, "Don't launch this yet! Are you crazy?!" Well, yes, a little. My logo is not perfect yet; I don't have a beautiful collage of favorite photos already prepared to splash across the top of my blog; and I don't know the first thing about blogging. The idea of creating a blog was suggested to me only 2 days ago, and I've since spent an inordinate amount of time researching templates and various other blog-related topics.

But alas, I've decided to jump right in -- after all, I had a really fun shoot tonight so why not start by sharing that?

The mom's chosen location for the shoot? Their own back yard. And why not -- their landscaping was absolutely beautiful! But after meeting 11-year-old Brandon, I decided some urban flavor was also in order. Fortunately, I knew of some really cool spots only 2 minutes away (and we found a few more along the way!).

So for tonight, I'll start slow by sharing some of tonight's shots. And in the days and weeks ahead, I'll share some of the photos that brought me to this new and exciting era of my very blessed life.

Well, I had several more photos in mind to add, but the late hour suggests I should continue this tomorrow. More to come....