Wind-blown away

So yesterday we did a maternity/family photo shoot with a new photographer I found online.  (I really wanted my girlfriend, Jacquie, to do them, but unfortunately we are still a little too far apart.  : [ )  Anyway, her name was Alicia and she has a very similar style to Jacquie, in my opinion, which is why I picked her.  Haha.  She was very cool, though - young and easy to work with and made you at ease in front of the camera.  We went to a location called Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven, CT.  It was our first time out that way and unfortunately we didn't do much sightseeing while there, but the park was really pretty.  There was a building with a really cool vintage carousel that we used as a backdrop for our pictures here.  Rieley was bummed she didn't get to ride on it because they were getting ready to set up for a wedding.  But I'm hoping the pics came out amazing!!!

Outside it was a really windy day!  According to the News weather, a Noreaster is brewing near Maine and we're feeling some of the effects over here.  The clouds were dark and grey (which made for great lighting and nice background) and it was extremely windy.  We're talking 20-25 mph winds with the occassional gust up to 45 mph.  I was constantly flicking my hair back from my face!!  The temperature was already in the mid-50's and the extremely high wind breezes made it feel like it was in the 40's maybe.  Haha.  Rieley wanted to hide out in the car for most of the shoot and who could blame her since her fingers were turning purple!!!  It was some crazy conditions for this Hawaiian-made family.  Despite the crazy winds, the camera captures only moments of time and I'm truly hoping that Alicia caught some of those and can turn them into amazing shots. 

I've never been to a mainland beach before and it was really cool to see the seagulls up close and the crazy awesome seashells that lay in the sand below the water line - it was a low tide period.  You don't see seashells like these in Hawaii...you have to hunt for tiny shells in Hawaii...at this beach, I found a clam that was almost the size of my hand!!!!  I took a few of my own pics of the scenery around.  I hadn't been up close to a lighthouse like those before and had to take advantage.  I take my own DSLR camera every time we head to a new town!!!  I hope you enjoy the pics we took and I will be sure to add some pics Alicia took as soon as she is done editing them and sends them our way!!!  : )  I've also included a couple of shots from our drive through Hartford and a really pretty colored tree we pass every day on the road that I'm obsessed with!!!  It is a neon red/orange and I had to try to capture the colors on camera before it was completely bare for the winter.

Enjoy!


The city - The castle-looking building is the State Capitol...isn't it HUGE!?!



Jacquie - if you're reading this, I know you have a shot similar to the shells above, but I just couldn't believe how many were just scattered like that on the sand!!!

Boys, Boys, Boys

Before we left Hawaii, one of my best girlfriends allowed me to take some portraits of her three rambunctious boys in her backyard...just to have a lil something to remember them by and well because she needed some recent pics of them, too.  Hehe.  I had fun, but boy were they antsy.  I had to keep things as short and sweet as possible.  These are just a couple of my favorites.

the Pooch

Maka is now 5 months old and we recently took him to the doggy beach on Hickam Air Force Base for the first time.  It's a great place for doggies and toddlers.  He and Rieley had a blast (as you saw in the previous post).  Maka is getting to be a big boy.  He's about the same weight and height (when he stands on his hind legs) as Rieley is and uses that to his advantage when he plays with her.  He's always knocking her over and playing Mr. Tough Guy, but we all know that deep down, he's just a real chicken!  When he's at the dog park with the bigger dogs, he surrenders to them without a fight.  Haha.  He's got quite the terrier personality from the Airdale part...so hyper, but at the same time he's got a laziness to him and the most text book puppy dog face I've ever seen.  He's also got beautiful light brown eyes that I love to look into.  We all like to rile him up and he gives it right back to us.  Check out our playful little pup and his big floppy ears below.

Steph

Rieley-Eden is going to be 3!

Hello Family & Friends,

As you may or may not realize, 2010 is speeding right along and we are already almost a third of the way through the year.  That means, that it is spring and what happens during spring?  Flowers bloom.  Our flower bloomed in April 2007 and continues to grow big and strong!  : )  Lil Miss Rieley-Eden will be three this year and I am already beginning the party planning process.  One of the first steps to that is doing an invitation and so far I've put pictures on each party invite.  This year, since I have my monster camera, I decided to venture out and do my own portraits for her 3rd year of celebration.  I hope you like them.  I snuck in some pictures of her with her daddy and our pooch, Maka!

Enjoy! ~ Steph

P.S. As you can tell, I can't figure out which ones are my faves...there are too many...even though I need a little work on using the light source better and more editing lessons.

Day 1

Day 2