Be sure to check out the rest of the entries at I Heart Faces.

I Heart Faces

Weekly Challenge: Let Them Be Little

I shot this for her 9-month-old session. I waited a little too long to capture it, though, and unfortunately my husband had already harvested all of our own wheat. To top it off, both Addie and I had the worst summer colds, and I almost canceled the whole thing. But wheat harvest in our area was nearly over, and I had scrambled to track down a field that hadn’t been cut yet. This one was scheduled to be cut the very next morning, so it was now or never. I’m so grateful we did it because I think it worked out even better than I’d imagined. The wheat had grown so heavy that it had fallen in a few places making it the perfect spot to photograph her.

My main purpose was to photograph her standing up as it was a recent milestone for her. But I can’t help it, I just love this image of my baby girl bathed in sunshine. You could eat the light with a spoon, and her solemn gaze just makes me want come out from behind the camera and smooch her chubby cheeks.

I Heart Faces Weekly Photo Challenge

Theme: A Touch of Sun

My calendar before then is almost completely booked, so contact me quickly if you are wanting to book a session. At this time the only Saturday’s I have left are October 1, 29 and November 12, 19. There are also a few weekday sessions available the second week of October. After November 19, I will only be accepting newborn and maternity clients for the remainder of 2011. Summerland Photography will be closed for the holidays from December 18, 2011 through January 3, 2012.

I Heart Faces Weekly Photo Challenge

Theme: Props

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.

- Jim Valvano

A happy, happy Father’s Day to all of you amazing father’s out there. And because words can not always express a father’s love for their children, just a few of my favorite images.

I Heart Faces Weekly Photo Challenge

Theme: Let’s Hear It For The Boys

A mother reading to her daughter under the watchful Ponderosa Pines.

I Heart Faces Weekly Photo Challenge

Theme: From A Distance

My only Sunshine.

You make me happy

When skies are grey

You’ll never know, dear,

How much I love you.

Please don’t take my sunshine away.

This is the song I sing to my sweet Addie Jo when she is fussy or just can’t settle down enough to sleep. It is the same song my mother sang to me as a child, and before that, her father to her. We even have an old recording of him, my grandfather, singing it in his boisterous and jolly off-key voice. Of course, the next song on the tape is “Roll Out The Barrel”, followed by a made-up ditty dedicated to his “little Polish” wife, but that’s just the kind of merry elf he was.

My Addie has the same lively spirit as her great grandfather. I call her my little sunshine girl. She’s so sweet, and I wanted to capture that in the images I made last week for her seven month photos. This was taken in late afternoon in a patch of wild mustard on my parent’s property. Thank goodness the plant isn’t toxic because she grazed liberally on the flowers all around her, happy in the day’s last sunshine. Come to think of it, she may get her lively appetite from her great grandfather too.

I Heart Faces Weekly Photo Challenge

Theme: Yellow