My favorite photos - 2008

I could not narrow down my very favorite photos for 2008 to just 5 - or even 10. There were so many that weren't just technically spectactular photos, but also photos that reminded me of this year and the things that happened.

Most of these are in random-ish order.

{It's official}

Gene and my engagement picture. Technically, Tanner clicked the shutter.

{The Midway}
Lights of the midway set against the courthouse during the Nodaway County Fair.

{Torrie's Post POST Bridal session}
Torrie was great to play along, and let me take some photos of her for my portfolio, in her wedding dress, a couple YEARS after getting married :)




{Growing up}
A reminder that I'm getting old, and so are my kids. My oldest is a senior - this is my fav senior pic. You know you're getting old when you have to remind your kids to shave.

{I do not have an A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E!}
Maddie, part of a session we did whil they were visiting. One of my top 3 fav portraits for 2008.




{Sunset Kiss}
Amber and Cole, at a fall shoot. This was Amber's fav pic, and mine too! In fact, I caved and let her have the 16 x 24 canvas I had made of it for a Christmas gift. (with the stipulation I get visitiation rights)






{Grandpa Love}

There's just something about this photo, that I love so much. It's not a portrait anyone would buy, but you can see the love between grandpa and his girl. I also love how happy Gene looks. Have I mentioned in the past few days how much I adore that man? It's my desktop wallpaper at the moment.

{Finally}
I waited months for this shot, and it came at the perfect time. After 1/2 year love relationship with the corn, this was saying goodbye.

{Amy and Zac}
This photo nearly made me cry. Not because we are close personal friends, or it was life altering, it was the shot I was going for. It was the shot that made me realize, that this isn't just an accident, my photography, that I *can* create something that I see in my mind, and this was what I was trying to capture.

{Inspirational}
The weather has been kinda crazy for a year, and we've had many ups and downs from -25 windchill to the surface of the SUN hot. BUT.... I love it here. I love that even when it's so cold you can barely breathe, I can step outside and see literally the entire sky. That things just look different here.



{Welcome to the world little one}
Inspired by another photo I saw, I wanted to capture a tiny piece of life here, throughout the seasons. The tiny sprig, was just an unexpected bonus.


And now a couple photos that I did not take, but were important for our year:


{Goodbye}
This is my Dad back in the 70's. *this is how I remember him most* He died in June. I'm sure my mom actually took this photo, as I remember the polaroid instant camera we had. And I kinda remember the photo being taken, or maybe I just think I do. Either way, it's my fav pic of my dad.




{Mr. and Mrs. Cease}

July 4, 2008, I married the love of my life.

Photo by Jaime de la Cruz (a very lovely person btw) and post processing by me. I owe to Jaime also, the gift of getting me interested in Flickr. It's because of flickr that I have become intensely interested in making my photos better. I study photos i love and try to figure out how they did it, and how to make myself better. If you want to take better photos, I suggest you do the same. Thank you Jaime!



And now.. for my very favorite photo of 2008:

{Dandelion on a Dewy Day}

I have fallen in love with macros. I love discovering new teeny tiny worlds right in front of you. I love taking a photo, then opening it on my computer, blowing it up and exploring a whole new place never seen before. See the full sized version here.

This photo literally made me gasp when I saw it on my computer. And now it hangs on the wall in my living room in 16 x 20 size. And I still sit and stare at it sometimes.

snow snow, go away, sunflare come out and let's play

When you're down about the weather. When your back yard is ice/snow/ice sandwich, when no matter how hard you try, you can't get warm, you can always pull out pics of green grass and bare feet and it makes you feel warmer, at least in your heart.

Here we're playing with light - a nice sunflare across the lens - some people love sunflare, i'm one of em. I also punched up the saturation *a lot* to make the grass much greener and to balance out from the sunflare.

Now, back to looking out my window. Did I mention I'm kinda hating winter?

These boots were made for ass kickin' ....

"Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world"

- Bette Midler

This morning, I got up and around early. The list of errands and tasks was long and the days seem to get shorter, not longer. So I was getting dressed and picking out what I'd wear. Shoes are an issue for me sometimes. I have the issue with the plantar fasciitis still, something that has some support and yet cute and comfortable - not as easy as you might think.

Add to that snow on the ground and the promise of it being kinda slick.


I remembered my boots.

A few years ago, I bought a pair of "combat" boots on a whim. The boys and I were in going to the grand canyon, and I had not really thought ahead about my footwear. See, I have a fear of heights, and really, the grand canyon kills a couple ppl every year. I kinda wanted to reduce that risk and flip flops or platform heels really didn't seem to be the way to go. I dunno, I'm just sayin'.

So I made a stop at Walmart and for some reason I decided that these boots were keep me at the top of the crevasse, and not at the bottom. In theory anyway
I fell in love with them and wore them on a regular basis. I've always felt strong wearing them for some reason. I call them my ass kicking boots - although I've kicked very little ass with them.

I wore them a lot at the beginning. It seemed like when I was down or feeling kinda weak, I could wear them and they made me a little taller, a little more grounded, a lot more *stronger*. I would wear them and think "bring it". I loved that they made me different from your average "girl". I admit I like to "stand out" sometimes in my clothing choices, which usually are my shoes. So that's why this bum foot really has be down.

They are now showing their age, I haven't really worn them since last winter, but something about them tells me that I can't get rid of them. They are special to me because they remind me to be strong, and they help me remember when I wasn't.

So when I suggested to Gene that instead of pretty bedazzled stilettos, I wear my combat boots, it seemed like a logical thing. Him? Notsomuch. Needless to say, I wore neither the stilettos nor the boots. That pesky foot had it's way again. But I did plan on bringing the boots, and having Jaime take my pics with my boots on, and I had one pic in particular I wanted. I got there that day and I'd forgotten my boots. I'll get that pic, if it means I have to drag the dress out, fix up my hair, and drive all the way to Iowa in the spring. Heck maybe I'll be 25 pounds lighter too. bonus!

As the happiness set over me that I had a good excuse to wear my boots today, I started thinking about the power of shoes. Yes - shoes have power. I know that seems strange, but think about how a simple pair of pumps with a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, has a completely different feel than a pair of tennis shoes with the same outfit. You see, the simple little shoe, has the complete power of how you feel, how you carry yourself, where your confidence lies in how you're presenting yourself. That simple shoe sets your stage for your day.

A pair of shoes can be full of memories - whether they be happy or sad. They can remind you of where you've been with a simple shoe print in the sand - or in the snow. They can make you feel grounded and strong and supported

That's a load to carry for a pair of regular old shoes, and the secret is, that it's not the shoes, it's how those shoes make you feel, because the real power is in just little old you. The shoes are just a reminder of where that power was all along.

Maternity and Hot Mamma all in one!

My sister in law, Laura is expeciting #2 VERY SOON. On Thanksgiving day, we ducked out for a bit into a super cold park for a few maternity pics. Stephanie (the niece) came along and we took quite a few sweet family/maternity photos.

Now, I have to preface these pics with the fact that Laura is pretty straight laced sorta gal... which is good. Someone out there needs to make up for my misgivings. LOL. BUT, totally contradictory to her personality, she drives a cute little hot yellow mustang. (girl after my own heart). I totally had to feature this mustang to let everyone know that Laura can cut loose with the best of us.

Some old school pics

While digging for a small plain photo album, I found these pics in an older album that I had. I forgot that I had stuck them in there:



Probably circa 2002. I can't quite remember what year, but I do know that the barn is now a John Deere dealership in Maryville. LOL. The soybeans around the barn were all dry, and it was so perfect. I bought these overalls on the internet and had our own little "shoot"

Seth {now 19} I think would be around 11-12, which would make Tanner around 7. I feel old.


This is probably one of my favorite pics of all time. I told Tanner to look down, and for set to bend over and tell Tanner a secret.

All these were taken with film, Sometimes I really miss film, I do think that they are less work in the end, and when you do it right, they just look better than digital.

I've been searching for this pic for about 2 years! I knew I had it, but couldn't find it. I found the negatives the other day, but couldn't tell which pic it was. I'm planning on getting a big 20 x 30 gallery wrap canvas to hang in my house of this pic. I *love* it.

Some of our christmas decor this year!

My antique silver tree. Nothing on it, It's just sitting in the rocking chair, I *like it there*, but completely impractical.

The pink tree. I lurve it. All pink shiny bright balls picked up at a garage sale for a quarter a box (in antique stores - around $5-$10 a box!)

Puddy Tat. cleaning himself in his new bed that I bought on Black Friday. He LOVES it.

Found the garland. The tree is about 95% done. Tanner has to put his ornaments on next week and I have to figure out where I left the angel for the top. Oh, and I have to tote all the empty boxes out to the icky shed for storage.