Dayton Dragons

Before school started, the Chiles' invited our family to go with them to a Dayton Dragons minor league baseball game. Mike works for a Ford dealer, and Ford was sponsoring the entertainment for the game that night - Rockin' Ray and the Skyy Dogs. All of us got to go behind the scenes and get a mini-tour....including walking into the dugout and stepping onto the field. Then we got to meet Ray and one of the Sky Dogs before the game. He invited all the kids the meet him on the field during the 7th inning stretch to help him sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". So exciting! Believe it or not....I had decided not to take my camera that night and just enjoy the time with my family. I had no idea we'd have photo ops like this! Lucky for us, they had a photographer who took photos of all the events throughout the evening and then emailed them to us.

On the field before the game....


Meeting Ray and one of the Skyy Dogs.... One of the Skyy Dogs in action.....
Singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" - Dane didn't want to go on the field....he has a slight phobia of people in costumes and didn't like their mascots! Jacob and Cade have on Skyy Dog hats with ears.....One...two...three strikes you're out.....

Abbie {class of 2010}

I was so excited when my cousin Deb asked me to take Abbie's senior photos. Abbie is a beautiful girl and has such a great personality....I just knew her photos would be fun! She decided to do her photos in 2 sessions - one in summer and one in fall. She had the great idea of taking the summer session photos at my cousin Denise's house before a family get together. There were some great photo spots on her property...and we also got to use another cousin's awesome car. Abbie's biggest request was that she wanted photos of her near and in the water. I wasn't quite sure how to tackle that idea....but I love what we ended up with. She was up for anything...and had some great ideas herself. I love how her part 1 senior photos turned out....the girl can seriously not take a bad photo. I can't wait to do part 2 in the fall!!

Back to School...

Today was our first day of school. Jacob and Jenna were both up and ready in time for me to take our traditional first day of school photos. This year Jacob is in 6th grade and Jenna is in 2nd. Jenna will still go to school with me....but Jacob moves on to the middle school, which means he will ride with Chris each morning. It was weird not to have him hanging out with Jenna and I this morning.

They both had a great first day of school. Jacob switches classes for each subject and has some of his good friends in each class. He was excited about the change and being at the middle school. Jenna's good friend Savannah is in her class again this year. Her teacher also paired her up with a new student named "Amy". Amy just came to Van Wert from China and speaks no english (I will also be working with her each day). I saw them several times today and Jenna was so kind to her - holding her hand everywhere they went. I think Jacob and Jenna are both going to have another great year of school!

PS Mom/Grandma D. - Jenna loved the JCPenney dress and wanted it for her first day of school outfit. She looked so cute in it!!

Miss Toothless.....I love her cute little toothless grin! I'm hoping she will lose the other top tooth soon and keep her toothless grin long enough for school photos. Jenna and Savannah.....Jenna at her desk (Jacob escaped the extra photos since he isn't at my building anymore!)...

Adam & Nicki {6.13.09}

This summer I have had the opportunity to be a "second shooter" at several weddings with my friend Nicole. It has been so much fun to go with her to these beautiful weddings and help capture photos of their day. I have learned so much from watching Nicole in action and taking my own photos. I love that I don't have to necessarily capture the high pressure/must have photos (that's Nicole's job!), but instead am able to hang back and capture some of the story telling and emotion photos. The next 3 posts are some of my favorite images from 3 of the weddings I did with Nicole this summer.

Zach & Maria {6.29.09}

Dan & Brittany {8.1.09}

Lilly

I met Miss Lilly and her mom at the Children's Garden for her 2 year old photos. She had the cutest outfits , bright blue eyes, and cute little curls! I love how her little personality really shows in each photo. She had so much fun exploring the garden and interacting with Jenna (I brought her along to be my little helper - she's great at getting little kids to look at her and smile). THANKS again for asking me to take Lilly's photos. I had so much fun with her!