love her | nappanee photographer

this girl rocks my world.
she is magical, i tell you - in the very best way possible!

it's like having one great big piece of eye dessert, getting to spend a little camera time with her.





this girl does not disappoint, not for one moment. i can barely keep up with her!

i love her new haircut - it so fits her. she's a no-nonsense, roll-with-the-flow girl & i love that about her.

she's a breath of fresh air, this one.
gonna breathe in as much as i can get☺

my garden boys | nappanee photographer

how has your summer gone so far?

it's been kind of different for me.
i would really like to chat about why, but that will be a near-future post.

a normal summer break starts something like this:

clothes on the lines - check.
basketball camp for the over 6' crowd - check.
swim lessons - no more. (in the books as of last year)
summer camp - check.
mowing, and more mowing - check.
garden - check... err, kind of.

my flower garden is a disaster.
take-over of an ivy kind literally strangled out several of my perennials.
in my old age, i'm giving this up as "lesson learned".

our vegetable garden is mostly per the usual, except that my participation has been next to nill.

i went along to purchase seeds & plants as is the tradition, but i've done very little else.

post gardening rest...

did you know that a hoe can double as a light-saber or some other sort of weapon...?

although i had good intentions, the new strawberry patch was planted by the big guy alone.
i'm wondering about those new plants... i never really discussed the "proper way to plant strawberry starts" with him.
somehow i just don't have it in me to verify these facts.

so, i've been busy inside and my guys are doing all the gardening themselves.

*oh, hey... i did spread hair around the jalepeno plants, and well... that's a whole nother ball of wax.

nothing like a good book | nappanee photographer

one thing that i am a strong believer in is kids & books.

we started reading to ours when they were babies & we have never looked back.
my boys both loved being read to & became big readers as soon as they could read for themselves.

so, we appreciate a book lover here at our house & could just eat this one up when she pulls out the books....

completely enthralled.... absolutely precious.

love her ♥

happy | nappanee photographer

random happiness captured.
circa 2006 with my trusty, now dusty, fuji finepix☺

love that guy ♥

i ♥ faces "from a distance" | nappanee photographer

this week's theme at i ♥ faces is "from a distance".

if you read my last post, you know i love the close-up, so distance shots are not exactly my forte. normally this type of shot doesn't stick out in my memory.

buuuut.... it just so happens that i'm still in the midst of the world's longest archiving event over here, so i actually had a few shots to choose from!

i decided on this one because it's from a beloved vacation.... awhile ago.

can't wait till we get to go again, but with temps like the 99 degrees here today, i'd rather imagine this vacation in the fall☺

can't get close enough | nappanee photographer

one of my favorite quotes regarding photography is:

if your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough.
-robert capa

so it makes it very convenient that i love a good close-up! i actually have to think outside my own little personal "box" to back up and take something other than a close-up.

i generally shoot with a prime lens, so there's no zooming for me.


at first it might seem weird getting so close, but soon it becomes second nature. i've always got about 3 feet to work with, so i'm not exactly on top of my subject.... but i am pretty snug...


(yes, there was a moment i thought this one might take a bite out of my camera...)


i nearly always frame my shots in camera. i rarely plan to "crop creatively" in post processing. so if this is what i want, i get in there....


i've just come to love getting really close. there's something about framing a face & gobbling up those eyes...


and that nose and those lips...


so if you want your photos to capture the heart & soul of your subject, get in there! get close, forget about those background distractions and fill up your frame with those wonderful faces!

good times | nappanee photographer

have i told you that i'm diving into the archives and sorting, organizing, and - gasp! deleting (oh, how i love deleting!) many of my photo files?

it's a task that begs doing... especially since the hard drive and the external hard drive are nearing the red line, so to speak.

tonight i found this moment below.
instantly, i remember exactly what was going on here.

people are uncooperative.
mother is getting irritated.

the neighbors are wondering just how is it that this woman can possibly take other people's photos when her own family doesn't listen to a word she says.

while i'm pleading for just one decent photo of the three of them, the father of my children is giving out these instructions...

"on the count of three... we'll all turn around and moon her!"



real nice... very mature dad! ☺

makes for a good story though, doesn't it?