Aunt A-ka.

I have no idea what it is about my name that makes it soooooo hard to pronouce for a little kid, but whatever the reason....it is. I have been called Eh-nika and Eka. My cousin, Sarah, couldn't say Ericka and called me Urlicka forever. My Aunt Jean will still call me that when she calls me on the phone. My sister couldn't say Ericka when we were little so she just called me Ketchup. (Of course, that could've had something to do with the fact that I ate ketchup on practically everything.) And Danicka is just carrying on the legacy.

"Aunt A-ka".

A couple weekends ago (I know!! I've been so busy I couldn't even find time to post these until today!!)....Anyhoo....a couple of weekends ago, I kept Dani so my sister could go out to celebrate her birthday with some friends.

I love this kid.

The only time she didn't have us in stitches was when she was sleeping. We laughed so hard at her, the things she said, and the things she did. I kept my camera handy for most of the day just to catch her in action. Don't worry, I'll save you the bare toosh pictures.




See what I mean?! This girl is a comedian in her own little world. I wish I would have taken a picture of the aftermath of the Spaghetti O's. Oh my gosh. Bryce is our messiest eater in this house, and Dani put him to shame.

This picture makes me smile so hard....from the inside out.

The cool thing about being an aunt is spoiling the kids. You know, letting them do the fun things at your house that they'd get in trouble for at home -- jumping on the beds, eating Spaghetti O's with no silverware, eating candy before dinner -- the really cool things that make "Aunt A-ka" really cool. (I'm always up for some extra cool points.)

I took this set of pictures in about ten minutes. As in, ten minutes total. Once she crashed, she crashed hard.

Once the plans were made for Dani to come to my house, I immediately started scheming ideas for a photo shoot. The last time I did a mini-session of her (remember these?!) she ended up winning a Cute Kid contest. I think she'd win again......I'm just sayin'.

These were actually taken in my kitchen in front of a half wall next to my patio door. It was late afternoon and I was losing the available light pretty fast...so I had to work quickly. And with a 2-year-old, it was probably a pretty good idea. I fired off about 20 frames and ended up with some pretty amazing shots in the little time that I had. This one was, hands down, my absolute favorite!!
Now, if I could just get my nephew for a couple hours........

New Site!!

If you've stopped by my website, you had to have noticed the big change. It wasn't subtle. In fact, it was shockingly obvious!


Yep! Out with the orange, in with the new. And, I like the new. Alot!

I've been in need of an update for quite a while and I've been working on it for the last couple of months. I absolutely la-la-LOVE my logo (thanks, Reata!!) and wanted to really build my site around that.

Not only have I given the website a facelift, but I have also revamped my branding -- so, everything matches!

My blog is next!!! But that update will be sometime this summer. For now I've had enough HTML, SEO, and meta tags.

So, if you haven't checked it out yet, head on over and have a look.

Sisters

We couldn't be more different.

Growing up, she was the kind-of-shy-sports-player. And I was...I was more of the social-butterfly-band-dork. She was a picky eater, I'd eat anything. She was coordinated, and I'd manage to run into doorways. I'm right-handed and she's a lefty. I'm creative, she's super-smart. I'm brunette, she's blonde.

And we've seen it all together.

We were right next to each other thru bowl haircuts and feathered bangs, missing front teeth and braces. We were there thru pegged jeans and "Just Do It" t-shirts. We had our share of bad relationships and heartaches together. We stood shoulder-to-shoulder and stared death in the face when we lost our mom. And supported each other when we were raising ourselves.

We've shared marriages and divorces...and new marriages. We've celebrated the lives of our children they day they were born, and weaped when one became an angel. Thru birthday parties, engagements, holidays and everydays. We were there. Together.

And our love is unconditional.

It knows no boundries and has never waivered in 31 years. It's not contingent upon who you marry or divorce, what we do for a living, or where we live. It is as constant as the sun rising in the east. It has never faltered on the rocky roads of life, but rather filled in potholes with it's determination, support, and love.

Today my little sister turns 31. She no longer has the bowl haircut or those Eastland shoes with the funny knots, but she is still as important to me as she was when she wore them and our love is as durable as the leather those shoes were made of.

Ava

For as small as she is, Ava is a record-breaker for me. All 8 pounds and 2 ounces of her. Yep....to date, she is the absolute youngest client ever at Picture Fizz.

5 days old.

And practically perfect, I might add.


Babies are still, and probably always will be, my favorite sessions to shoot. There is something about how "moldable" they are. They're so fresh and new and innocent. And they smell soooo good (most of the time).

I always have a hard time picking out my favorite image from these sessions. But not this time. This was the winner, hands down.

Until I look at them again. =)

All but one image from this session took place in the living room on the couch. Ava's house has this beautiful, big window in the living room -- which was perfect for the session. Not too bright for the babies eyes, but bright enough for delicious lighting.

My clients are always amazed by how my newborn sessions work. This polka-dotted blanket is actually laying right on the sofa cushions. Most of the time these sessions take place right on momma's lap. No lights, no flash. Just a few pillows and some blankets.

Of course, my job is a lot easier when I have a cute baby to work with.

Boys vs. Girls

I never would have thought that I'd be a mom to boys. After I had my daughters, I pretty much figured that was it.

Girls.

Nothing but dresses, bows, pink fingernail polish, doodled hearts, lipstick, sparkly earrings, boyfriends, to-die-for shoes and overzealous emotions.

And even though my boys have been in my life now for a couple of years, I still find myself shocked that I have sons. So, now instead of talking about cute haircuts at the dinner table, there's talk about farts....there's jock straps in the laundry with our unmentionables. There's spiral passes alongside of our spiral curls. And boogers on fingernails instead of polish.

I know you guys are laughing...and those of you with sons are relating. This is life. The way it is. Not just my house, but yours too.

So, every once in a while, the girls of the house have to break out and find some feminine sanity. And, on Friday, we did what all girls do as if it's imbeded into our DNA....

We went to the mall.

We ate fattening mall food and chatted about boys. We went into all of the accessory stores and picked out super-cute earrings, and visted every shoestore just to try on high heels.

That's when I saw it...just as we were rounding the corner to leave.

A photo booth. And it was calling my name like my mom used to beckon me from down the street. We each took a turn and the only rule we had was one picture had to be a good one -- the rest was fair game. The only thing more fun than taking these pictures, was trying to cram 3 people into a 2'x2' photo booth.

But we did it. And it was sooooo worth it.

Big changes

So, you've probably noticed the big changes around here, huh?

Consider it my virtual spring cleaning....in the dead of winter.

There's more to come so be patient if things look a little crazy over the next couple of days/weeks. And this isn't the only place that'll get a make-over either.

Exciting stuff!!

Perks of being a photographer

Last week I was asked to participate in Milton-Union's Career Day. I had 4 groups of about 30 seniors that wanted to know what I do for a living, how I do what I do for a living and why.

I forgot how fun high school was.

At the end of my presentation I let the kids ask me anything they wanted. Anything within high school reason, of course.

And they did.

They asked me about my marital status (a boy), about my kids, if I had any crappy clients, and how much money I make.

One of them asked me about the perks of my job.

Perks?? I don't even know where to start...

For starters, I don't have a dress code. I can work all day unshowered and in my pjs if I want to. And, admittedly, I have. Plus, it's perfectly acceptable to have my piercings and tattoos.

No management. As much as I loved my last boss, I have to admit it's really nice not having anyone to answer to. No one needs to approve my days off, no one to enforce flex-time, no one asking for reports. I am the boss. Me and my Spiderman coffee cup.

I work from home -- which also has it's downfalls, but I'm counting it as mostly 'perk'. I have no drive into work. And on a day with 18" of snow, ice, and salt trucks, it's super-nice knowing that my biggest travel to get to work is down a flight of stairs.

And since there is no drive, I also don't have to worry about getting a crappy parking spot out in left field of the parking lot. Nope. I have a designated parking spot about 3 feet from my door. In a covered garage. A DRY covered garage.

I have no set schedule. No 8-5 for me. I work as little or as much as I like. And, the majority of my work is done outside when it's beautiful. If it's nasty weather, I don't work outside. I get to decide if I'm going to have a busy week or an easy week. This week happens to be an easy week and next week looks pretty easy, too.

I get to work with some pretty amazing people. And the newborns! Ahh, the newborns are my absolute favorite. They look so fresh and new and they always smell so good (and when they DON'T smell so good, I just hand them back until they do smell good). And I have senior clients that are always so excited and bubbly. And couples that are so in love. I have clients that are farmers, pharmaceutical reps, homemakers, and teachers. I have clients that are family and some that are family to some of my friends.

And some that are my best friends.

A few weeks ago, I did just that. I did a quick session with my best friend and her niece and nephew. Definitely a perk.

It was kind of chilly that day, so we made our session outside short and sweet. Then, we headed to Tim Horton's for some hot chocolate and a doughnut. Another perk.