These beautiful girls received their first Holy Communion on Saturday and what a beautiful day it was. Despite the cold temperatures, the sun shone down and smiled on their day.

On a day when

the wind is perfect,

the sail just needs to open

and the world is full

of beauty.

Today is such 

a day.

-Rumi

A perfect day indeed when this sweet boy entered the world surrounded by love and people that have been awaiting his arrival. Gen & Ben–congratulations! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this most beautiful time in your lives.

This month, our circle of photographers focused on portraits taken with backlighting and sun flare. When the subject is backlit, the photographer is shooting into the sun and this often creates sun flare. I adore sun flare and backlighting that occurs at the golden hour just before sunset.

Life with my boys is so busy right now with spring sports, so these photos were taken just minutes before the sun went down. We were chasing the sun and had a great time doing it. To continue through our beautiful circle of photographers, you can begin by visiting my dear friend and amazing photographer, Christine Blaylock. Her images are always so inspiring.

I have been fortunate enough to photograph this sweet girl since she was a babe in her mama’s tummy. It is hard to believe that she just turned one.  She celebrated with family and friends at a spectacular bowling party. She is such a beautiful little girl and is surrounded by love. Happy Birthday, sweet Lilly!

This sweet boy whom you met earlier is the perfect addition to his family. You can see that all of his siblings are completely smitten with this new little guy. And the big brother couldn’t be happier to have a playmate for life. I had such a wonderful time photographing this family that has grown from a family of five to one of six. Love is all around and it is a beautiful thing to witness.

Is there anything more perfect in life than a new baby? I think not. This little boy is the newest addition to his family making him baby no.4! You can guarantee that he is going to be well loved and snuggled by his siblings. I had such a wonderful time snuggling with this little guy and savoring that new baby smell. Nicole & Pat, congrats on your latest addition. He is absolutely perfect. Thanks for inviting me to capture this most special time in your lives.

As a natural light photographer, I am always on the look out for ideal lighting situations to shoot in. And, who would think that the garage is one such place? For our project 12 portraits, we challenged ourselves to use garage light this month.

Surprisingly, when my subject was facing me and my back was to the light source, it was too bright for him–all I got was lots of squinting and watery eyes. Therefore, we moved around a bit so the light is a bit more directional than I would have liked coming in from the right side. But, since I have to utilize my subject when he is a willing participant, we just rotated until he was able to give me that sweet smile that I adore.

To see how the other photographers in our group captured garage light portraits, begin my visiting my very talented friend who is always so inspiring, Krista Keller, Danville, CA child, family and senior photographer.

A fun way to photograph a person is to frame them literally within the frame of your lens. Since it is still very cold here and snowy, it was difficult to search for frames in nature, so instead I photographed my little guy in front of a frame. I purchased this oversized frame several years ago at a flea market. It is fun prop and my sweet boy enjoyed this.

To continue through our circle of fabulous photographers and to see their take on this theme, you can begin by visiting the very talented, Suzanne Carey, Hattiesburg, MS Photographer.

This mama-to-be could not be more beautiful. She radiates joy and love. She is in it with all her heart…waiting…expecting…preparing…cherishing each moment of this journey on her way to motherhood. I cannot wait to meet that precious babe in a few weeks.

Some recent iphone favorites. I love that I can capture simple things in life with an easy and ever-present camera.