the gang's all here | tenney family

A tripod and cable release helped capture enough light shortly before sunset of this beautiful, colorful family in Chesterfield, Mo.

forget the park: family photos @ home

It's always such a joy to photograph the Tilton crew -- more so when it's actually above 40 degrees, which has hardly ever been the case! And although our favorite locale this year has been Faust Park in Chesterfield, Megan talked us into photos at their O'Fallon home.

Good call, Megan.

love these guys

love. synonymous with family.

All this talk about travel and family, we figured it would be downright dumb not to post at least a few pictures from our western adventures during the month of December. And so, with that:


Ahh, these crazy, sweet kids. Love them and their beautiful smiles. Funny that it was colder in California (the bottom pic) than it was in Utah (top pic). Who woulda' thought?

Two kids. Too cute.

"Ummmm. I'm telling Mom."

175mm. f/4.0. 1/160. ISO 200. Colors edited in Lightroom.

photography = ...

Today, we're giving away The Secret. More than the camera. More than the lenses. More than the lighting, location or angles.

Yes, this season we have discovered the magic formula: Photography = one part stress + one part timing + two parts pure joy. Seriously. Busy? Yes. But we love what we do. Especially when you get to watch a person or a family--like the Streichers in this case--grow so much and change over time. It just helps put it all into perspective, that you're doing more than just snapping photos. We record history.

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.

the martins on main

Good luck finding a better looking family in all St. Charles County. Seriously, you guys. If there were an award out there (who knows, there probably is...), you'd have our votes!

Add two to the crew

Left: Sam Emerson, born June 30th at 1:01am, weighing 7lbs and 20" in length.
Right: Eli Craig, born June 30th at 1:17am, weighing 6lbs 5oz and 19 3/4" in length.

Identical, but not without their differences. However, both were just sweet, sweet, sweet to photograph. Thanks for having us, Ashlee, Craig and Grant!

Now. And Then.

Couldn't help but go back in time and pull out a picture of J&K from 2009 to include with this sneak peek at their recent Faust Park 2011 shoot... So fun to see how these two adorable siblings changed and grown since then! During this shoot, we also learned that Baby J was photographed here when he was six months old. Pretty special place, no doubt.


Love the b/w of K&J on the rocks. Don't you?

time flies.

When you're watching the clock and marking the calendar, it feels like time just crawls along. Just watch the clock at the end of the school day, and wait for the bell to ring, or count the days until your next work vacation. It can be agonizing.

But step back from it all, and it becomes hard to believe where the time has gone... Just ask the parents of a 16-year-old as they hand her the car keys for the first time. Or look at the calendar right now -- it's already May! Or, in our latest example, just ask Danielle and Alan about Austin returning home after a two-year Mormon mission to Southern California. Strange feeling, isn't it? Heck, it hardly seems like it's been 18 months since Cailan stood in front of the camera for senior photos.

But it has. And, wow. Time flies.