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In the midst of the last week of school and the marathon of activities that brings! Whew! I will have a lot more to share of my kiddos in the next week for sure.
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I am so proud of my youngest & the fact that she just completed her third year of violin. Age 8. Love it!
Sunday was the recital, and of course I was camera happy …
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Violin LOVE
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Does it get ANY cute than this?
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Be back soon!
~Kathy
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I knew I wanted (and NEEDED) to relax on Mother’s Day. I decided the best way to accomplish this would be to leave the house! I asked hubby if he was up for a day trip to the beach, and he certainly was. Nothing like some sand between the toes, a dip in the ocean & an icy cold beverage to erase the stress and bring that sense of calm. Yes, I love the beach. Always have, always will.
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I realized about 30 minutes before we left the house that we would be driving right by my favorite flower field – you may remember it from this engagement session. SO, I delicately asked my sleepy family to please put on something picture worthy. (Yes, you can wear your bathing suit underneath if necessary!)
We stopped for five minutes flat, walked through the very thick and itchy flowers, and got this image I adore …
Yeah, our hair is tousled, the light was harsh and perhaps one or more smile looks a little fake.
BUT I will ALWAYS have this memory of Mother’s Day & be able to look back on my babies at this stage. And more importantly, my children will be able to look back & remember me.
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Okay, enough sap … here are some fun beach pics!
The ocean was rough and totally fun for boogie boarding! I earned a few new bruises this day, but it was worth it.
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Those are my hands on that boogie board…and my kids thinking, well, who knows what!
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I think I look pretty cool here lol!
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She doesn’t boogie board (YET), but she does catch a great fish!
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Ah, I love this.
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She doesn’t boogie board (YET), but she does model a great shot 
~Kathy
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This month’s contest features photos of the female type! Being that I have two daughters, I knew I had to participate. (Although this image is not of my own daughter!)
I have an abundance of photos of my own girls that I just love. But I found this one of my sweet-as-peaches nine month old niece, & our puppy. She loves animals, and I just can’t help but laugh every time I see this picture – I just love her expression! I knew I had to share this.
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Head over to I Heart Faces to see more lovely girls!
~Kathy
Just wanted to pop in to let you know I am taking the next week off with my family – heading to SW Florida for some much needed R&R and family time. I am looking forward to hanging out with my kids
Have a wonderful Easter & I will see you soon!
~Kathy
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The other day I received the TIME Magazine Style & Design issue in the mail. Per normal, I spent about two minutes flipping through, really liking what I saw. This image inspired me to start a ‘Portrait’ Board on Pinterest. Loved the lighting and mood of the image.
( If you aren’t on Pinterest yet, you should be! Email me if you want an invitation, or click HERE to follow me.)
We were all sitting around the table enjoying our family dinner. I do my best to make family dinner happen every night of the week, but it’s not easy!
I sit directly across from my teenage daughter. The lights were out in the room behind her, and in my mind I was analyzing how the overhead lighting was falling on her face. How it was shaping her based upon which way she turned her head. Not intentionally, but most likely because I had recently been inspired by that magazine. I love it when my mind goes this direction!
I non-chalantley left the table to get my camera. I didn’t want to do anything fancy, I just wanted to capture her in this particular light.
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Here’s the first one I snapped:
f/1.8 1/200th ISO 1000
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Then I asked her to gently put her hand on her face.
This one is my favorite, and is definitely going up on our portrait wall.
f/1.8 1/200th ISO 1000
Can you tell which direction the light is coming from? Not only from her skin, but look at her eye catch-lights too.
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The fabulous location of these two portraits, our crumbed up dinner table:
( lucky for me I got her before this mood took over!)
I hope this post inspires you in some way or another! Would love to hear if so.
~Kathy