It’s typically a habit of mine not to fall prey to advertising & succumb to the NEED to have some particular thing.  However, when the Dyson came out, & when I had a puppy & a newborn, I NEEDED to have one.  I HAD to have one.  I’d DIE without one!  And, as ever, my loving husband Josh gave in to my whining & pleading & manipulation techniques for why it’d be so great to keep the floors clean for the baby.  We got a Dyson (paid cash like smart people) & I have loved it ever since!  My “baby” is now almost 5 & my Dyson is still running strong.  We are on child #2 & puppy #2 and that vacuum cleaner is still one of my BFFs.  I mean look at the thing…it’s so sleek, so clean, so simple – and the guy who makes them has a cool accent!  Who wouldn’t want one?  Really though, I can attest to it’s ease of use.  I’ve taken the thing apart, cleaned it, put it back together, & it still works.  And I’ve sucked up some pretty brutal stuff too!  Just go get one, because I said so!

This image is me vacuuming up the pine needles that our dying Christmas tree left behind.  We got our tree again this year at our neighbor Jack’s nursery – Bay Ridge Nursery.  We like doing business with local people if we can, because Josh & I are local businesses.  So this tree looked big outside at Jack’s shop, but in our house, I swear it doubled in size & girth!  And then going out the door just an hour ago, it doubled again!  It was a great tree, & I’ll miss its scent.  But I will not miss its needles.  Which, by the way, probably dropped sooner than they would have if our dog Ruby hadn’t kept drinking the water from the tree stand.  Farewell dear tree!  And good riddance stinkin’ needles!

Images I’m looking at:  La Brisa Photography in Brooklyn, New York.  Chris is someone I randomly started following on Twitter & enjoy looking at the stuff he’s working on besides just work.  He recently had a post about a photographer meet up where they met & shot at night!  And I was like, “Whoa…how’d you shoot at night?”  He told me he’s in to pushing his camera ISO  to its limits to see what it can do.  That is totally profound & totally simple all at the same time.  Why am I then afraid to push my ISO above 400?   So, I tried that.  With my image today I was reluctant to use a flash (and hold my Dyson at the same time), so I bumped up my ISO to 2500 & I think it looks pretty decent.  Thanks, Chris, for the challenge!

Yesterday my oldest daughter turned four!  It’s hard to believe that four short years ago she was born!  And, it’s even harder to believe how much she’s changed!  She’s gone from a helpless infant, to a semi-independant four-year-old.  I hardly ever take a group of photos just dedicated to my children, so Emma & I decided to do just that yesterday for her birthday.  She donned her prettiest dress (that still fits…barely!), put in her favorite hair clip, and we went out front and snapped away.  I feel very luck to even have gotten as many photos of her as I did.  Since I’ve been taking her photo for four years now, she has a low tolerance for my camera.  Here is Emma Rose on her fourth birthday!

Thanks to Cousin Jennifer to playing with Emma during her “photo session” and helping her smile.  And thanks to our neighbors, Jack & Colleen, for unknowingly letting us use your stone garden…it makes the loveliest backdrop!  (You should visit Jack’s nursery if you want some awesome landscaping too!)

Happy Birthday, my love Emma!

Today I photographed a session that totally stretched my comfort levels.  For those of you who know me, fashion is not my greatest skill.  In fact, I’m hoping someone will nominate me for What Not To Wear so Stacy & Clinton can give me some serious help!

Anyway….I was contact through Facebook by Jack Carter of Bamboo Style Shop to help him get his online clothing store set to launch with some pictures of his great clothes.  I totally said yes, because I’ll pretty much photograph anything!  I had such a great time!  He had me come to his friend’s house in Baltimore and then proceeded to show me a detailed, very organized, list of all the outfits and shots he wanted.  How cool is that?  I was impressed.  Jack had two friends as his female models and another as his male model (who, by the way, I don’t think was told he was going to model until it was his turn!) and they all did a phenomenal job!  The coolest thing beside the photos, was learning that all his clothes are made in some part from bamboo!  I had never heard of that, but Jack proceeded to give me his bamboo speech about how it’s great in clothes and a totally sustainable resource.  (Thanks, Heather, for keeping me up on the “green” lingo)  These photos are for the adult line of clothes, so be sure to come back soon to see the kids clothes too!  Without further ado, I present…..(drum roll) The Bamboo Style Shop!