The sun. The warmth. The sky. The blue blue sky.

We got to work in the yard for the first time in at least a year… we finally have kids old enough to play outside around us while we work! YAHOO for toddlers+preschoolers vs. baby+toddlers! We raked and bagged and weeded and trimmed and mulched. There is nothing like flower bed covered in new mulch to make you smile every time you pull in the driveway!

I am now attributing like 99% of my mood to the weather. Because even today, a gloomy semi-chilly day, my friend mentioned how I was taking my craptastic car-stuck-in-the-mud-flat-tire-busted-windshield-wipers-morning in stride. AND I WAS! I laughed about it! Got the car fixed and moved on. And am working in a straightened house with dinner simmering so I can feed my family and enjoy the craziest time of day with my kids!

I AM HAVING A GOOD DAY and a month ago I wouldn’t have.

So THANK YOU GOD for bringing spring!

*macros lens play yesterday…

Becca lives a few houses down from my parents so we grew up neighbors. They moved in, I think, when Becca was a baby, her older sister Hannah was a toddler and her mom was pregnant with her little brother, Adam. I grew up baby sitting for this family, her parents are best friends with my parents and I can’t tell you how many nights everyone had dinner on my parent’s deck. Great family friends!

While we were driving away from her senior session yesterday I said it would be neat to know Becca now. And if you’ve ever watched a kid grow up you might know what I mean. Becca has always been quiet and shy and sweet, as a child and yesterday too. Soft spoken, calm and always polite. But then yesterday, in her white tank top I noticed her TATTOO and I realized that she might not be as quiet and calm as I think she is! Maybe she has a bit of a wild streak! HA! Becca… let’s grab coffee one day and you can fill me in on your life!

So get ready. We are literally bombarding you with photos because we had such a blast yesterday! And we talked her and her friend Beth into following us to some pretty crazy places (I kept laughing that I was glad her mom, Lisa, was out of town or she might have freaked! Sorry Lisa!)… which is why we are absolutely hands down FALLING IN LOVE with senior photography!

IT IS SO MUCH FUN!

Kim and I had a long talk on the way home and we might be making some changes to gear our business for newborns and seniors mostly. It is just what we LOVE and I think when you love something it shows in the photos! Doesn’t mean we won’t do family sessions, but it might mean we really limit how many we book!

And remember, we extended our half off senior session deal into April so spread the word!!!

This shot is just for Lisa! To show her a bit of where we took her sweet daughter! HA!

I mean seriously!

Isn’t Becca gorgeous? And MAN did she rock out the poses!

Thanks Becca and Beth… you girls were serious troopers!

HALF OFF SENIOR SESSIONS if you book for APRIL!

We have a senior session later today and I can’t wait! Great light, warm temps (50’s), beautiful sky and a gorgeous girl!

You have no idea how happy I am to feel spring in the air… it seriously lightens my mood and makes ALL the difference!

Before we shoot Becca I’m taking the kids to the transportation museum here in St. Louis… I’ve never been there so I’m excited to see all the trains! And get the kids running around! Then “new Abby” (Kim’s daughter) is watching my kiddos while we work AND THEN the kids are going to my inlaws so C and I can have DATE NIGHT!

OMG we need this! And for us, date night on a budget is eating hotdogs at the Webster basketball game! HA! We’re such nerds! But we’re cheering hard for the WG to bring home another state championship this year!

Wow. Can you tell this day is making me all kinds of excited? HA!

Also wanted to share with you guys a book I just finished of some of our favorite newborns…

here’s the cover…

And this is the first inside page…

and this is the back cover…

and here are a couple pages…

We’ll let you know what we’re doing with the book once it’s here! Just sent off for it this morning!

Alright! Have a GREAT Saturday!

HELP US GET OUTSIDE!

50% off! Spread the word!!!

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So yesterday Kim and I got to spend a chunk of our day with Stella, who had the biggest blue eyes you’ve ever seen! She was beautiful and the perfect mix of her mom and dad!

Jen and I had started emailing about six months ago so it was great to finally meet them and capture Stella at such a fun age! AND it was warm enough that we had her outside, for short spurts, in a t-shirt! BONUS!

Thanks Chew family for having us over! We loved meeting Stella! Happy Birthday sweet girl!

peek-a-boo!

This gym and dance studio were completely transformed into these amazing rooms now!  Remember this incredible weight room?

The one that used to look like this?

Which was a mirror room to what is now THIS amazing gym!

Normandy School District also did a great job in completely redoing  this fabulous dance studio:

Curious as to how we accomplished these panoramic shots?  No, not a fancy lens, though a nice wide angle/fish eye may accomplish it, we simply used the 24-70 2.8 lens at 24mm, stood firmly in one spot, and rotated shooting across the room.  Yes, all the better to use a tripod, I’m sure, but seem to avoid using one at all costs.  Then it’s just a matter of merging each little section in Photoshop, and you get this great panoramic image!

Nothing special will be over there… just my thoughts, snapshots and life. Nothing was wrong over here, it just lets me be a bit more free as to what I write and post over there. I’m able to keep better track of the tiny details of our life without feeling like I’m taking up precious client space over here. And it allows us to keep Fresh Art a bit more professional!

And speaking of Fresh Art… we are BUSY this week!

We took some new photos for Normandy High School today with three of our ten kids in tow this morning… Kim snapped this on her phone in the parking lot and I love it!

Even though I totally look pregnant!

And lets just say that taking three kids ages 1, 2 and 3 to a session, even a quick one, is not the best idea! HA! Luckily we were photographing an empty room!

And tomorrow we have a cute one year old session, Friday I have soccer pics to take at 4am (oh yes, 4am) for Chris followed by a couple seniors this weekend! So lots of fun blog posts coming soon… just wanted to finally tell you all that I’ll be HERE most days too!

Happy day!

He was totally cute in is (filled out) appliqued onsie from Initially Yours

Thanks, Nancy, for a great morning!  It was so wonderful to meet sweet Colin!  Totally up for that coffee anytime!

Onslaught because we were obsessed with Kalie! BEAUTIFUL all because of her! She’s just gorgeous!

I could go on and on about Kalie and her sweet nature, her kind heart, her beauty… but I want the photos to speak for themselves! And we’ll have another dose of Kalie soon…

Oh. Did I mention she was homecoming queen? Yeah. She was. Because she rocks! And actually, at Webster, it’s called Friendship Queen. Just sayin’!

THANK YOU KALIE!!! We LOOOOOVED hanging out with you and your awesome mom! Just wait until you see your entire gallery! Love!

Because we realized how much we love these shoots we’re going to extend our Love Light half off offer! Through MARCH and APRIL! If you book IN March/April you’ll receive the session half off! Email us if interested!

Thanks for a great night Angela and Tony! It was a blast to meet you guys and run around in the freezing cold together!

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And the winner of the February Fresh Favorites?

Was there any question? I mean the Goltermann’s are practically professionals at this point! So little Gretchen… shoot me an email (oh yes, this three month old has her own gmail account! And she sends me photos every week all by herself!) and we can talk about your cards!

Thanks to all who voted!

I laughed as I looked back at them because little Gretchen has been in THREE of our contests already and she’s only 3 months old! It’s a good thing we LOVE photographing that girl! HA! So Lauren, Emma, Grace, Jack, Tony and Lauren… you guys are going to have to work hard this time because Gretchen’s parents are pros! HA!

#1 Baby Lauren

#2 Gretchen

#3 Emma, Jack and Grace

#4 Tony and Lauren

(sorry guys! you are up against some TOUGH and CUTE competition!)

Because we have an awesome Love Light session from last night we are dying to share this contest will be QUICK! TODAY ONLY!

The contest ends tonight at midnight and the winner will be announced tomorrow when we show the sneak peek of Angela and Tony’s Love Light!

Oh, are you wondering what you’ll win?

A pack of 25 super cute note cards! They will be customized with your photos and can say anything you’d like on them! Great for thank you notes, thinking of you cards, etc!

Here is a sample of what the front would look like…

They are 5×5 cards with a space to write on the back! Really, I just am in love with these cards!

And remember… comments on THIS post are the only ones that count! Make sure your friends and family know!

Happy Saturday!