Janessa's 3 Day Prego Photo Shoot

While I was out in Utah last month, my friend Amie and I stayed with my cousin John and his cutie-patootie wife, Janessa. They were the best hosts we could have asked for. They gave us some history of Salt Lake City, drove us around to Ghost Towns, fed us well, and let us take photos of them :o) Amie and I used to take pictures all the time together, so we wanted to take a quick trip to do that again...just take pictures, and talk without interruption from a toddler. Utah is uber beautiful. The skies were soooo blue and the weather was perfect. After about 5 minutes of taking scenery shots, I asked Janessa to start posing for me. I realized that I love capturing the human element in my pictures now more than ever. She is so beautiful-I just had to capture her while she was glowing. These are possibly some of my favorite shots ever! I was going to put them below, but I had so many that I just made a slide show instead. Love you guys and we can't wait to meet sweet Delcia!

Still one of my all time favorites! Slideshow below :o)

Mario + Jessica's E-Session

Mario and Jessica drove all the way to Indy from Evansville for our E-Session this weekend. They were so much fun to get to know better. I love my brides, and engagement sessions are just another excuse to hang out with them. These two want to save the world...one child at a time. Jessica is in school to become a teacher and Mario is in the process of becoming a police officer. I truly enjoyed listening to the call that was on their hearts. Oh and did I mention how amazing Jessica's eyes are? Here are some of my favorites from our afternoon together ;o)

Jackson Turns the Big 2

After I heard the word "boat" in my conversation with Jackson's Mommy, I knew I was in for a fun time. Jackson is an amazing 2 year old. Very verbal and smart. He even has some pretty stellar dance moves :o) He's already a heart stealer with those big brown eyes. I couldn't narrow these down very easily, so here are my favorites! Thank you so much for letting me be part of your family for a moment!

Here are those I eyes I was talking about!  What a cutie!





I know, right?  This whole family should be in a magazine!


Watching Jackson on the boat...














Here is Jackson throwing just like Daddy!


I love this shot.  Classic bw and in the moment.








Here are some of those dance moves I was talking about :o)


These are the flowers that Jackson picked out!

Photo Tips: Garage Lighting

I love talking about photography, and I've often passed on the following tip: LOVE YOUR GARAGE. Yup, garage light is so yummy. Nothing is direct inside the garage, so nobody squints. Plus, the light looks diffused because it's bouncing all over the place. My kids were riding their bikes in our garage last week and as I looked over at them, they looked so beautiful in the light. So, I ran to get my black fabric (any ol' bed sheet will do) and used those grippy thingies (I'm very technical) to hold it up. If you were driving by and saw my ladder and random sheet, would think it looked totally janky, but the 5 minute photo session turned out great. My awesome neighbors were over, so I made them sit down too. I think it's so important to get in pictures of yourself now...especially if you're the picture taker of the family (thanks Mindy!). So here is my "challenge" for you. Grab an old sheet (whatever color you have), put a simple little stool, pillow, basket etc. in front of the sheet, turn the faces towards the light, and have your kids be silly. Enjoy!

PS I really did just use light/dark bed sheets until this year, when I decided...maybe I should be more professional :o) So I went to JoAnn Fabrics (with my 50% off coupon of course!) and bought a cream and a black piece of fabric...I tried to find the one with the longest width in cotton. I then scrunch mine into a ball so it has a bit of texture and no distinct lines.

2 Awesome Brothers

I had the privilege of taking pictures of the sweetest family this week. Ben is 3...almost 4 (he's having a Kung Fu Panda Party) and Sam is 1. Ben was a dream...he smiled, read an entire book to me, jumped with Kung Fu Panda moves, and even did some break dancing for me! Sam was a typical 1 year old...cute and fast! I did get him to laugh a bit though :o)

Jenny and Pat thank you so much for letting be a part of your family, play with your children, and making me feel so welcome! I can't wait to show you the rest!

Just Singin' In the Rain

Lydia is one of those rock star brides...and Josh wasn't too shabby either. Even though the most random evil rain cloud came over us during our outdoor pictures, these two still were HOT and GORGEOUS and up for anything!!! My fabulous second shooter, Joni, and I had so much fun with this crazy crew. Lydia LOVES pictures...so naturally we were instant friends. She looked absolutely sensational and her girls were so much fun. The boys were wild, kept us on our toes, and had us cracking up the whole day. Did I mention these guys are singers? As we were taking all of the bridal party pictures, everyone was singing for us...it was awesome.

I took a million dance pictures at the reception. Lydia and Josh had an amazing first dance! Lydia...your dress looked so beautiful while you were do your thing girl! Thank you so much for getting the party started! I'm sure you both danced all night! We hope you're having fun in the sun right now!

I LOVE these pictures...and I hope you do too.

I have no idea why the last two pics are not working...I'll be fixing it soon :o)

100 Days and Counting...

My Adventures with LarKar:

I'm so excited! I get to be Kara and Larry's photographer for their wedding in 100 days! Did I mention they're getting married in the Grand Cayman Islands?! Holla! I met Kara at Teresa and Joe's wedding last year. I remembered her immediately when she called because she was soooo much fun.

We follow each other's blogs and keep up through facebook etc. So even though I've really only met her once, I feel like I've known her for years! I can't say enough how much I love these two.

When we heard they were going to be in Indy this past weekend, Josh and I were so excited. We went out for some drinks Saturday night and we had them over to our house on Sunday afternoon. Let's just say it was more than likely great birth control to be with us all afternoon :o) After a sweet cookout with not one, but two, different types of potato salad, we went on a quick photo shoot. I literally laughed after every picture I took. I had to make a quick slideshow of my favorites. So many of the pictures had a short story behind them, or a scene of a movie, etc. For example, LarKar recreated the last scene of The Karate Kid, J. Crew magazine covers, and poses like that of the American Gothic painting and so on. WARNING: You may laugh out loud.

LarKar...we can't wait to see you again in December!!! Kiera and Josh

PS Lar...Josh thinks you have some mad ups.

Lydia + Josh sneak peek

Can't wait to show you more :o)

New York! New York!

I love New York City! I always have. Instead of going to Florida for spring break in high school one year, I went to the Big Apple and saw a million shows on Broadway. I spent my senior Winter Term at DePauw there working for the Children's Television Network (Sesame Street) right in Midtown. And again, saw shows the whole time I was there. For me...it's a great place to visit, and after seeing strollers on the subway, I'm happy that I'm a Hoosier. I'm pretty sure I would have lost a kid or two in the hustle and bustle of the things. It's funny how things change as you get older...I would have NEVER thought about strollers when I was 21! All that being said, I had not been there since 9/11 and was very excited to reconnect with the fast paced city. I met my sweet friend, Naomi, there for a few days to help her pass away the time before she went back to South Africa. I've known Naomi since 1999 when I lived in Scotland. What can you say about Naomi...a lot. She's one of those people you meet and then you never want to be too far from her. Anyone who meets Naomi becomes a better person.  NOt only does she bring out the best in people (I love that quality) she actually always thinks the best of people (something I can always learn from!)  "Aunt Nomi" as we call her in this house, did her PhD work in Ohio, then worked at Tufts in Boston and now works at a university in South Africa (she's wicked smart). She was over in the States for a few months, seeing old friends and teaching up in Canada for a while. She had a 3 day layover in NYC and asked if I wanted to join her for some fun...ummm...okay! 

Sidenote:  I've always loved Greenwich Village and SOHO. One of my favorite things this time around was walking into a really cute store, looking at the price tag that said $200.00 for a t-shirt (seriously?), perusing around the store for a bit to not look too out of place, leaving and then laughing hysterically that someone would pay 200 for a t-shirt. Ironically, I'm pretty sure they knew I was out of place since I totally wore my tennis shoes with my outfit that day (I knew we'd be walking a lot!..I'm so old)

Anyhoo... I took a ton of pictures, so I just had to make a quick slideshow of my favorites. Some are from Naomi's camera too. I played around with some fun effects. Here is a top 11 list of things that I loved about my trip ( and to look for while viewing the slideshow).

11. I got to be with the sensational Naomi
10. Very large signs celebrating the CW (I've now admitted that I'm a total closet CW fan...90210 anyone?)
9. I saw The Lion King
8. I ate at Irish/Scottish Pubs
7. I found a peanut butter cafe and went into a sugar coma (this one is only for Americans apparently)
6. We both loved walking through Dylan's Candy Bar...luckily there is NOT one in Indiana
5. We had a cool bathroom in our hotel
4. I love the movement of NYC and tried to capture it in some photos
3. Central Park. Period.
2. Bryant Park, even though it's under construction (I love the movie August Rush)
1. Going to Ground Zero.

lymi Nomi...

Quote of the Morning

Xavier: Mommy, you're tall.
Kylie: That's because she's 32.

Rain Rain Went Away!

I just had this bad feeling when I woke up Saturday morning. I knew Jake and Brooke's outdoor wedding was about to be ruined by rain. Luckily I was COMPLETELY wrong!!! Not only was it totally dry, there were rich blue skies and a nice breeze! Brooke and Jake were married at Brooke's parents' house out in the country. It could not have been more beautiful. Every detail was perfectly planned out. Everything was pink and black...right down to the cake and car! Plus, Brooke's earrings were fierce! I absolutely loved hearing about their story (they've been together since middle school!!!) But what I loved most was how the day was geared toward the Lord. His hand has been very evident in their courtship.

I haven't taken pictures in the country for a while so my brain was on creative overload (as if I'm not ADD enough!). Thank goodness my second shooter Brian was with me to keep me in line (or at least try). I have a slideshow below, but I just had to post a few of my favorites from the day as well. I LOVE these.

Brooke and Jake thank you so much for getting creative with us in the heat of the day and for being so well versed in bringing on the "serious faces" with the joyful ones. Have a fantastic time in Hawaii!!!

Here is a collage of all of my favorite details:

Brooke and Jake's Sneak Peek

I can't wait to tell you about this wedding...until then, enjoy this one!

I'm Back...Back Again...

I've decided that Facebook is my Blog's Nemesis. I now post little things on my "wall" that I really should expand on and write down as a blog post. So, alas, my friend...my blog, is getting some much due attention. In amongst the whole family having colds, traveling around the States, cleaning up baby powder from every corner of the house that Xavier decided to decorate with, Kylie reciting her numbers 1-100 at the top of her lungs, and cleaning up poor Eli from the baby powder explosion...I've been scheduling weddings for next year and lots of portrait sessions for this fall, but mostly I've been taking pictures and really enjoying it!

Here are just a few sneak peeks of what is to come in the next week or so:

A mini vaca in Salt Lake City that ended up being a 3 day long maternity shoot :o)

Sweet Lyla at one year

The most unphotogenic children I know...my kids on their first day of "school"

A Tech football game that we walked to from our house...more on this one for sure!

Family Pictures for an awesome family

Gorgeous Ben at 4 months...yes, this is a Hewitt!!!

My darling neighbor Caden