Wedding photography in the future??

Ever heard the saying "Never say Never"? Ever said it yourself? Well, I have!! I've thought it plenty of times, and I think I've actually said out loud once or twice, especially when it comes to Shooting weddings. I will admit that I DO "blog" stalk wedding photographers...simply because I find the work inspiring and love looking at creative/artistic shots.
So, when a friend asked me in early February if I would second shoot a wedding with her in June this year...I thought, "sure, why not?" Well, for one let's just say the NOT should have been clear knowing that I would be SEVEN months pregnant, and it would be the middle of the summer in our beautiful state of Oklahoma. The wedding was last night. After about 5+ hours on my feet running around with two camera bodies on me, plus a shootsac with 3 lenses, and trying to stay hydrated, I was done in...I'm not dismissing weddings forever. I am not saying "I'll never shoot weddings" again. Let's just say that I've developed a newfound respect for wedding photographers. Their job is exhausting!! I admire all those photographers who tackle weddings all on their own. I am glad that I did it. I am glad and honored that my friend trusted me enough to second shoot with her this job. But I won't be pursuing weddings in the near future, not as a primary photographer anyway. I would entertain another opportunity to second shoot, but I'll make that decision if and when it presents itself. I wasn't going to post any of the wedding pics I captured, simply because I don't want to confuse potential clients, but when I saw these I fell in love with how they turned out and want to share, just for the fun of it. I absolutely loved shooting the details...there are endless possibilities to be artistic...These don't compare to some of the work I've seen, but they aren't too shabby in my opinion!! Enjoy!

Tulsa Tough 2011

Every year we make it a point to go and watch some of the crit races, at least one day of the weekend. We had some good friends riding the 62 plus miles this morning, and while we tried to get out there to cheer them into the finish line, we sadly underestimated their awesome performance!! They beat us into the finish line, and we completely missed seeing them. Nonetheless, we were prepared to withstand the heat of the day, watch some of the races, and had kid bikes in tow. The kids were excited to participate in the "kid race". Here are some pics of our day!! We had fun, and even more so because after having daddy gone for a few days it was awesome to have him back and spend quality family time together!

US...I don't have very many pictures of US together...

so here is one....




who resembles who? i wonder who baby #4 will look like!! :)

Sometimes you just embrace the imperfection...

As a photographer mom, I've learned that I can't expect to get the perfect shot of my kids. For two reasons. One, I have the flexibility to shoot for that "perfect" shot at any time. Two, who am I kidding...because I can shoot at any time, the kids are TIRED of having a camera in their face...and as soon as they see it come out, they run the other way. This day, granted it's been a while back, I tried for a moody, low key image that I could enlarge and hang on my wall. I didn't want HUGE smiles, and I said, "just a little smile, almost serious look"...can you guess who took me seriously?? Yeah, Katherine had a "blast"...*sarcasm* Although it's not exactly the expression that I was going for, I embrace this photo of my kids.