happy thirdmonthday | o'fallon, mo

It might seem we've been on a posting hiatus of sorts – but it's really only because we've been sharing images on our Instagram of late instead. But these photos of Baby L were just too darn cute for the Instagram square!

hand-off & hold tight | baby cam

As we prepared for this sweet sleeping baby photo, Eric and Ola got their little newborn all nice and tired, warm and relaxed. Two quick frames, and Cam's arms and legs popped right up. Going through the images after the shoot was done, his tiny little feet poking up ended up better than the photo with them gently tucked into Mom's hands.

You just never know. Ready, Fire, Aim...

on a more positive note...

It's been six short years since the Youngs set up shop in St. Louis and in that time, we've watched their kids grow, watched their family grow, and they've even watched our sweet Khloe grow -- taking care of our mischievous little pup when she was much, much (young)er. But now, we say goodbye, as Sam, Jennie and the gang are packing up to move out West this week. Sunday at church was rather emotional as friends hugged and said their farewells and made plans to help the Youngs get ready to roll. No one likes goodbyes -- so on a more positive note, we were happy when we got the chance to hit their home last night and capture these:


We'll miss you, guys. Enjoy the images, and good luck in your next endeavor!

Eric and Ola + One

Tonight was a good night. We were among the first in the world to meet Baby Max, son of Eric and Ola, born on 11/10/11. And while he was awake and alert for a good portion of the shoot (yeah, he must have been excited to meet Becca), you'd never know it by looking at the images below with Mom and Dad.


Later, on our way home, we found out our awesome sister-in-law had checked into an L.A.-area hospital, ready to give birth to our second nephew and their third child. To our surprise, it wasn't but a few hours later that we received a few texts and video proof that our cross-country addition had arrived! Ahhh... We feel so, so blessed.
Now sleep well, sweet boys. You've got a lot of growing up to do.

love that laugh.

Remember these guys? Time flies when you're having fun.

For the Love: the Wilson fam

When we get caught up in the busyness of our lives and become immersed in the thick of thin things, we run the risk of missing out on the joy in life. Seriously.
In May, we decided to help organize a fundraiser to benefit the young men and women of our church. Our goal was to donate our talents to something bigger and better than us, something that would serve a greater cause. We would encourage others to purchase a mini photo shoot for themselves or for a deserving friend or neighbor. Every dollar donated would go to help pay for the youths' summer camps.
We met our goal. On Sept. 10, with the help of some very good friends, we carried out the major part of our fundraiser event, which we called For the Love. In the days leading up to it and over the course of some days afterward, we have been working to finish the project (because not everyone who was invited to participate could join us on the 10th). We're not done yet but expect to be within the next 15 days.
After fighting off a string of bad weather, we moved one step closer this week when we met up with the Wilson Family on the St. Louis Temple grounds. Here's a look at some of their family's photos:


Several years ago, we started making photos of others because we had newborn nieces joining the family. We did it because others asked us to do it. We did it because we wanted to improve our own skills. And we did it because we realized how much we love to do it.
For the Love 2011 has helped us remember why we do what we do. Why we started. Why we'll continue.

a month from now...

A month from today, I'll be on an airplane with this fine chap headed on another photo excursion. This time to the amazing national parks of southern and eastern Utah.

Can't wait.
About this photo: Shot on a Canon 30D, f/2.5, ISO 100 at 50mm (50mm f/1.8 lens)

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.