brooke, dave & seth

this holiday season i have been very fortunate to photograph a lot of friends of mine. what is so special about this is a lot of my friends have new families which means new babies.

true, i have not photographed babies in awhile [except coop of course!] but this december i have definitely had my practice.

and just as each adult is different, so is each baby and each baby's family.

the most recent photo shoot i did was for our dear friends brooke and dave and their little one seth. seth was a champ and put up with us changing his clothes and laying him on the backdrop 100x with the greatest of ease. dave, however, a bit challenging at the beginning. my first thought was he just didn't want his photo taken but as the photo shoot progressed, i realized he was just a bit run down from the weekend activities.

have no fear though. just when i thought i could not get dave to smile anymore, i noticed how happy dave got when i held up the little pooh bear to get seth to smile. actually, i noticed both brooke and dave were smiling rather well whenever i held up the pooh and started talking in a high pitch tone. since i will do anything to get a good photograph, i kept it up and before i knew it everyone was in stitches. now i need to remember to bring a pooh bear to all the photo shoots!

well, with no longer ado, i present you with some of the seth photos:



of course, what is a holiday photo shoot without a little santa baby!



this little outfit was so sweet on seth. the hat. the plaid. i love baby boys. they look like cute wrinkly old men!



my favorite photograph from the shoot, thanks to dave who had the idea to put the bear in the photograph. i love it. so sweet.



family photo. love it.



my second favorite photo. can you see the glimmer in dave's eyes? thanks pooh bear!



this is something new i have started doing and it is just so darling. very symbolic and poetic i believe.

thank you very much brooke and dave for letting me capture this moment in your new family. i am so grateful to be able to call you friend.

the wagar family

last week i had the opportunity to photograph the wagar family. they have recently had a little one and he is a pure miracle since he was born 2 months early and weighed in the 4 lb. arena.



since it is around the holidays, we had to do some christmas photos and who can resist a sleeping baby in a santa hat?





while mom and dad were holding baby, i could not help but think of my little one. was he ever this small with such delicate features?





lately, i have really been excited about storyboards. i love how they tell a story. i love the layout and i love how the colors pop against the black background. as i was taking photos of the wagar family, i could not help but get excited about their storyboards. [of course, i do not have one for my own family but hey, that is a different story all together!]



and just mom and dad.....



thank you wagar family for allowing me to capture the beginning of your family. it was a delight to be a part of your holiday season.

tim & lynn

i was very fortunate to photograph tim and lynn a couple of weeks back. i can definitely say that their love for each other is so evident that a camera was not even necessary to see the bond the two of them share for one another. even though there was some serious shots, this photo shoot definitely has to be one of my favorites in a long time. we were all relaxed and the laughter was abundant.

thank you tim and lynn for letting me spend a lovely fall afternoon with you.

on father's day, i had the opportunity to photograph sarah and grant. an adorable couple. deeply in love. surrounded by so many people who love them. standing firm in a foundation of faith.

it was beautiful. it was heart warming. as a matter of fact, during the slide show at the reception i even got all teary eyed and i hardly even know them!

so. here is to sarah and grant. may your hearts stay one forever.
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to view more of their wedding pics click here

i have "officially" began my maternity leave from tKs photography. i am currently booking photo shoots for april 2007.

if you are interested in pricing or booking a photo shoot you can contact me at scrappersmoot@yahoo.com

spots will fill up fast for this gorgeous green season, so please reserve your photo shoot as soon as possible.

thank you.

there is one thing i believe i love more than photography and that is bartering.

hmm...weird statement to put under a photograph of a beautiful sleeping baby girl, huh?

let me explain. i work with this amazingly, talented and friendly woman who is just purely gifted behind the sewing machine and once i found out i was pregnant with cooper, i knew that i would love to have dark brown and lime green baby bedding. well. as you can imagine. these colors are not that easy to come by so....

i made a deal with my co-worker. handmade baby bedding in exchange i would take photographs of her new one-year old granddaughter.

and even though her end ran a bit smoother than mine. i am so pleased with this photograph that i believe it was all worth it.

plus. it is just fun being near those babies!

just as jeremy and i celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this year, so did the wegner's. the wegner's, however, celebrated by renewing their wedding vows.

the ceremony took place at a charming home in the outskirts of lawrence. it was a cozy setting with close family and friends and their two children as the best man and the maid-of-honor.

thank you for letting me capture this beautiful moment for you and your family. may you have 10 more years of love and happiness.

the reed family is definitely a family that i know for mr. reed is my store manager at hobby lobby and his wife, is also an employee there. so. as you can imagine i was shocked and thrilled to have the opportunity to photograph their christmas picture this year.

the thing that really impressed me with this photoshoot was the mom, jennifer reed. she had things organized to the {t.} there were at least 4 family clothing changes and multiple plans on how each photo was going to be shot in their home and we made them all happen in right at 2 hours!

i am still in awe with her marvelous ability to maneuver her family.

and just because these photos were so sweet...here is another one of my favorites...



so. thank you reed family for letting me come into your lovely home and capture a piece of your gorgeous family.

christina and ryan were one of those couples i instantly fell in love with. their style. their sweet personalites. their excitement. their love for one another was just so contagious that even though they live in oklahoma, i begged them to move to kansas just so my husband and i would be able to hang out with them.

see. i told you. contagious.

and even though, they do live so far away, i am so thankful that i had the opportunity to photograph christina and ryan on their one year wedding anniversary. it was a wonderful experience and i wish you two the best of luck in all your years to come....

...even if you do choose to live in oklahoma.

do you remember mrs. valerie?



well. i recently got a chance to photograph her again but this time with her lovely sisters...



i have known val for many years now but it was so awesome to see her with her sisters. to see their interaction. each displaying their own unique personality but yet sharing such a common bond of sisterhood.

and to hear her dad shout up the chiefs score every so often from the basement made me feel as if i was a part of their home too.

i think even their parents became quite comfortable with having me there because they also joined in the photo shoot.



it was a day of fun and laughter and the best part....it ended with tea, fresh fruit and scones.

thank you val, lish and nat for letting me be a part of your family for a day. it was a delight.

the dieckman family.

when i met them, i could not help but see my own future: a mom of boys. but as i stood there, watching them poke and choke one another, i could not help but smile at this adorable family dynamic.

that is one thing i love the most about photography....is the opportunity to look at people. to see that spark in their eye, the love between a couple, the innocence of youth, a family, a piece of someone's personality coming through.

wow.

thank you dieckman family for spending a chilly, windy fall day with me.

aaron and courtney



looking at these two young seniors in love made me think so much of my husband and i when we were that age. so innocent. so unaware of the responsibilities of life and so terribly in love.

when i met aaron and courtney, i instantly loved them both. their energy. their playfulness and even though i was a bit nervous about doing 2 photoshoots in 1 session, i loved the dynamic of it all. how courtney would hide behind a tree to watch as aaron was photographed and how aaron would cheer courtney on as it was her turn.

so sweet.

and even though, i saw them as innocent, young seniors....my camera lens caught them as a piece of adults...



and



thank you so much aaron and courtney for letting me be a part of your senior year and for letting this 30 year-old photographer remember how exciting and wonderful being a senior is.

i wish you 2 the best of luck in all you do.

i can honestly say that spending the morning with amanda and ryan at the arboretum was definitely an adventure. an adventure that included an employee of the arboretum yelling at us, strange people making noise near our photo sites, numerous clothing changes and stiff hair.

but in the end, the pictures turned out great and the day was light and fun.

thank you amanda and ryan for giving me the opportunity to photograph your enagement. i wish the both of you many years of happiness.

emily, whom i cannot believe is a senior. she seems so genuine. so happy and being in her presence was just a delight.

and she even brought her dog, ginger.

thank you emily for such a fun afternoon and if you are wondering what to do after high school...you can always model for GAP. they could use a cute girl like you.

honestly, i didn't know what to expect when we drove down to oklahoma to participate in my sister-in-law's wedding. in jeremy and my mind's eye, we still saw anna as a 12-year-old; full of innocence and immaturity. but what we saw when we arrived was this young adult, smitten with her husband to be, full of self-personality and an aire of maturity about her.

for the first time, i actually saw her. her as an adult. her as a wife. her as an equal and as i looked at her through the lens of my camera, i saw her radiant beauty that permeated her being.

it was hard to focus without tearing up.

i mean i had seen anna grow up for the past 13 years. never had i seen her with a boyfriend-or even talk about boys for that matter- and when she called and told us about sean, whom we never met, it was hard for us at first. once we met him and saw them together, however, i knew it would be alright. that GOD would bless them in their marriage and that anna had indeed found her soulmate.so here's to anna. my sister-in-law. the beautiful bride. the great woman and a gem in my heart.

may GOD bless you always.

brenda. my co-worker. the b in the creative trio gtb. a girl with a contagious giggle but most of all brenda, my friend.

it was a great sunday afternoon that included a lot of photos, lots of giggling, and even ended with some delicious mexican food.

thank you brenda for letting me practice my new camera on you and i hope you enjoyed your birthday photo shoot.

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to view the rest of brenda's album click here.

dennis is definitely the great american cowboy. just looking at these photographs, i can visualize him on a horse. living off the land. driving cattle through the open-range.

thank you dennis for giving me this opportunity. it was very nice to meet you and spend a saturday morning with you.
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to view a sampling of dennis's photos. click here.

the moment i laid eyes on these 3, i could tell they had a great family dynamic and once i started shooting i could tell that my first instinct was correct.

this tight knit family was such a pleasure to take photos of at the gorgeous overland park arborituem. the weather was ideal (since we had to cancel our previous appointment due to SNOW!} and i believe everyone had a great time.

thank you beth for giving me this opportunity to photograph you and your lovely family.
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to view a sampling of their album click here.

spending saturday afternoon with baird, reminded me so much about the workings of an 18-year-old. the energy. the style. the carefreeness of youth. the ambitions so strong they can be viewed through their eyes.

baird is definitely one of the coolest seniors out there..he plays guitar. he reads numerous books. loves urban life. goes 'extreme' hamacking. he is just the epitome of cool.

thanks baird for letting me spend a saturday with you.
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to view a sampling of baird's senior photos click here.

little did i know 5 months ago when i took melissa's pictures that i would be taking pictures of her sister, jessica, as well.
jess is an amazing person. ever since i have known her, she has been very reserved and extremely kind. today when i looked through the camera lens at her, i not only saw these charachteristics but i also saw these gorgeous dark eyes and this breath-taking look about her. she was very relaxed and even though i was dealing with some lighting situations she was patient and easy-going.
thank you jess for such a wonderful photo shoot. it was such a nice way to spend a sunday afernoon.
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to see a sampling of jess's pics click here.