Ramping up for our Halloween Open Portrait Sessions!

We just did an early Halloween costume portrait session today! Yippee!

If you are inspired by these photos and you have little ones with costumes, please drop by Recherche this week for my Open Portrait Sessions! I had priced the session at $50, but due to the current economy and my own recent personal loss I am asking for DONATIONS ONLY. Just bring what you can afford to spend, your baby & costume, any fall/halloween props you have about and let's have some fun!

I'm looking forward to meeting new moms and hanging out with all my friends this week! Please forward this blog link to any friends and family that you think might enjoy coming to play with us! Just call me at the studio: 303.665.2708 or email me if you have questions!

Wednesday, October 29: 10 am -12 pm
Thursday, October 30: 3 pm -5 pm
Friday, October 31: 1 pm -3 pm

I adore this photograph of my baby sister with her new baby. They are both so gorgeous.

Please come play with me this week! See you soon!

Isabella Davis is 4 and a half!

I am dying over these images. I sometimes wonder if all my images start looking the same, but I just cannot get over how much I love the way these turned out. I photographed Isabella when she was two years old so we could post the images online for her daddy to see who was in Iraq. So of course I was super excited when the whole family came in for Isabella's 4 and a half portraits and a few family shots! And I finally got to meet Bob! Isabella seems just a bit more shy than Bob, but it didn't take either of them long to warm up and start smiling at me!
Put a girl in a tutu and just TRY to keep her from spinning. Actually, just try to keep a little girl from spinning at all!OK, I'm exceptionally emotional these days. But these images just made me choke right up. They resonate with me. Perhaps the expression of quiet uncertainty in a new place with a new person. (I'm much more shy than most people realize.) And when do we really grow out of needing to hold our favorite stuffed animals for a little security and comfort? To be honest, I don't think I have yet. Elly, my elephant that my mother made me when was two, is unpackable. She sits on my closet shelf and I kiss her every day. Ahh, midnight blogging confessions... Back to the photos!Someone was starting to feel a little left out!

Watch out, Vogue, here comes Isabella- in about 15 years!!

And here's one of my favorites! Shot right behind my back! We were playing a "your camera can't catch me" game that Isabella invented and in the midst of about 20 shots of cars and clouds I caught this gem! Yippee!

A Sunny Stroll down Main Street

Heather Clark is not only sweet and organized, but generous and thoughtful. I haven't been tipped at a wedding for probably 5 years! I've been hoarding the bills away like treasures and this morning I decided unequivocally that I was not going to be practical- instead I was going to splurge.

So I took myself on a walk down Main Street.

The walk in itself was a splurge. The light has that warm glowing quality of fall- reflecting off the orange and yellow leaves that fill the sky and carpet the sidewalks. The breeze is refreshing. People are sitting outside the cafes and coffee shops chatting with friends. No raised voices so I assume they're not discussing the debates and politics!

I stopped across the street at the Louisville City Hall to pay my quarterly sales tax. Not romantic, but I like staying on top of all my bills when I can and how lovely that I can WALK my payment across the street?! I strolled a couple blocks down to Auriege Spa and booked a facial and massage for next Tuesday (the ultimate luxury that I have foregone for what seems years!) and talked for a while with Pam and friend about their holiday plans and new business dreams. I stopped in next door at Hair Culture to book my appointments for the holidays to make sure my hair looks fabulous in the midst of my busiest time of the year. And right next door to them is A Grande Finale, a pastery shop. Why not? It was so wonderful just to walk in the door and breathe deeply.

I love that there are people still committed to handcrafting culinary victuals- preparing them from scratch, wrapping them in little papers and ribbons and selling them individually. It is an art. And it seems rare in American culture so I love that I can find this just a couple blocks from Recherche.

Change is taking over Main Street. I lamented how many business we are loosing due to the economy. It seems like every 3rd business on Main Street is closing their doors. We just lost Senor T's after 36 years. The Vietnamese restaurant has closed and there is a rumor that Hank's Train Shop is closing as well. It's so sad.


And as I was walking back to the studio I kept thinking about the conversation my coach, Jennifer Hofmann, and I had a month or so ago related to death and transformation. I have been experiencing so many parts of Recherche dying away in the last 6 months and I've felt so disappointed, resentful and very very sad. Recherche is an extension of my heart. For nine years I have poured everything I had into her. Change, even when it is necessary or intentional, is painful. But Jennifer reminded me that the miraculous thing about death is the transformation that comes on the other side.

Stay tuned for much transformation to come...