jackson is three months old

Remember baby Jackson? He is three months old, 17 pounds, full of smiles, and the cutest kid ever!!! His parents, Kristen and Justin, brought Jackson to our studio today for his three-month photos. He has such distinct features for a three-month old, and he is so cute. He was such a good baby and we enjoyed the session. Kristen and Justin, thank you for fitting us into your busy schedules and coming in to hang out with us!

Here are a few images from the session...

rafting through the grand canyon

What did you do last week? Oh me, I just went on the trip of a lifetime! 28 men from my family and some close friends took a 3 day 100 mile rafting trip on the Colorado river through the Grand Canyon. We rafted and hiked through the day and slept under the stars at night. It was the most unbelievable experience I think you could ever have. Every turn was more beautiful than the last.

We started out in Vegas and took a chartered flight to a gravel runway in the Grand Canyon. From there we took a helicopter to our starting point where we met our 4 guides and two rafts. The river was the same color as the one in Willy Wonka's factory but didn't taste nearly as good, especially if you thought about the "liquid hits liquid" restroom requirement. Gross. Every single rapid was a blast and provided quite a few splashes to keep us from melting in the hot sun. The breeze felt like a hair dryer so the wetness didn't last long.

We had to hunt rabbits and rattlesnakes for lunch and dinner and had rock soup for breakfast. OK, that's not entirely true. We did have breakfast, lunch and dinner, but the food was more like eggs, bacon, sausage, coffee, spaghetti, shrimp cocktail, steak, salmon, cheesecake, poppyseed cake, blueberry cake, birthday cake (happy birthday Tim!) and all the lemonade and water you could ever want. The last night the captain announced that the dinner was black tie. The two male guides then proceeded to put on a tuxedo shirt and bow tie. The two women guides put on black formal dresses. I wore a dirty swimsuit and t-shirt and my formal Colts hat. That night ended with a fire twirling extravaganza by Kelly, one of our female guides. Both nights we were treated to a great meteor shower.

The trip ended at Lake Mead and from there we took a bus back to Vegas. In total, no broken bones, one bug bite (sorry James), 2000 images for me to edit, and probably a combined total of 100 pounds gained. We sure were roughing it!

Here are a few shots from the trip...

brad and ryan

My sister, Jenny, came down from Ft Wayne to visit the zoo. Before checking out the elephants, they stopped by for a quick photo shoot. Brad is 4 and Ryan is 15 months and they get unbelievably bigger every time I see them. I'm going to start working with them soon on how to protect Samantha from boys. They are going to be her little bodyguards.

Thanks for spending some time with your uncle Dan. Hope the elephants were awesome!

studio update

Here are a few photos of some of the recent work that has been done at the studio! It's amazing how different it looks every time I go out to the site.

This is our "North Light" wall. Can you guess which way it faces? It will be floor to ceiling glass. North light is a non-directional light that gives a great soft light from sun up to sun down. This is one of my favorite parts of the entire building! We will base most of our future shoots around this area.

This is our north wall. You can see the North Light window, the front opening is a patio that comes off of the waiting room. Eventually there will be a courtyard outside for outdoor options.

This is the front of the building. The wood part of the building houses our offices and changing rooms. It will be brick on the south side and wood on the east (front). The narrow slit in the big concrete wall looks into the Viewing Room. That's where we will have all of our meetings and Viewing Sessions.

This is inside the "office" section of the building. There will be windows in all of the cutouts on the walls.

This photo is looking into the waiting room and studio.

josh and sarah are engaged

"Sarah B", as we called her growing up because there were so many Sarahs in our class, is one of my oldest friends! We met in second grade and have been close through all of the years. She and Josh are absolutely perfect together and we are so excited to attend their wedding next June to celebrate their new life together! They drove in from their new home in Dayton yesterday to visit with us and have their engagement photos taken. We had an awesome day with them taking pictures today and just hanging out too! I'm sad they're leaving tomorrow... Josh and Sarah, thank you for visiting and for giving us the opportunity to take your engagement photos! We love you! Congratulations!