You can tell a lot about a couple by how easily they laugh together, especially when asked to do something  silly just to make their partner smile.  Morgan and Cory are such a couple. The love they feel for one another is obvious; you can see it in their gaze and in their touch, and of course in their shared laughter which accompanied us though most of our time together. Though their wedding is almost a year away, they are anxious to announce to the world their upcoming union, as if to exclaim, “Here we are, come share our joy!” Having someone love us for who we are, exactly as we are, is nothing short of miraculous and should not be taken for granted. Thank you Morgan and Cory for reminding all of us that love is grand and really does make the world go ’round:)

 Here is the link to their slideshow: www.photoartbymarie.com/morganandcory

The other day I got a phone call from a client whose baby I had photographed when she was only 7-weeks old. Sosie had just celebrated her first birthday and her mom thought it would be fun if we photographed her and her two best baby girl friends, who were only weeks apart. Sounds like a party, I said.  And a party is was! We chose a sunny and bright Saturday morning, made sure everyone had a full belly and clean diapers and let the fun begin! I have to tell you that it was one of the hardest shoot I have ever had to do, only because they were soooo-ohhh adorable that I would forget that I was supposed to be shooting and not playing with them! After an hour and a half of non-stop activity, it was nap time…for me! The babies kept playing;-)

This is Megan. She will be graduating next summer and hopes to become a vetenarian one day. She is as extraordinary on the inside as she is on the outside:  she loves animals (she has several fish tanks in her room!), adores her younger brother Wyatt, is best friends with her mother, is an awesome student, loves her community…and is as sweet as the day is long! For Megan’s senior shoot, we selected three different outfits to wear and photographed her both outside as well as inside of her home. She and her mom had laid out several wardrobe choices, complete with shoes and jewelry, which made our session more fun since we did not have to worry about what she was going to wear!

Thank you for the privilege of hanging out with you for a couple of hours, Miss Megan. It was a lot of fun:)

To view Megan’s slideshow, please click on this link: www.photoartbymarie.com/megan

 When you want to have fun outdoors and take some cool photos in the process, a great place to go is the beach. I recently spent an afternoon with Chausa and Daniel at Balboa Beach celebrating their engagement. They are going to be married in January ‘09 and could not wait to have images capturing their love for one another! I really love engagement shoots, it’s a great way for me to get to know couples such that by the time we get to the ceremony, we are old friends!

Here is the link to their engagement slideshow: www.photoartbymarie.com/danielandchausa

I love the wine country, it is one of the most scenic and romantic areas of the Inland Empire. I’m not sure how many wineries are here, but there are quite a few in the Temecula/Fallbrook area. There are wine tasting tours for those wanting to sample the local vintages and the Temecula Valley hot air balloon and wine festival in June is always a big draw. I must confess that I don’t know too much about wine but I do enjoy a good glass of cabernet with dinner:) My last visit to the wine country was a business trip, I was second shooting for my friend April who invited me to the gorgeous wedding of Heather and Jason at the Faulkner Winery.  It sits atop a hill so the view is extraordinary. The food was excellent and the staff very professional, I would recommend it highly.  Thank you Heather and Jason for the honor of sharing your day awesome day with you!

I have a beautiful, talented friend, her name is Jean. Jean recently married a wonderful man named John. Each has been married before, their children grown, both bring a lifetime of experiences and expectations to the table. There are probably lots of good reasons why people who have been married before do not want to do it again. It seems that the older we get, the list grows longer. Then something wonderful happens……we fall in love! Jean and John were married on 08/08/08 the luckiest date of the year, perhaps of a lifetime. I was not able to attend their wedding though I know it was beautiful. A couple of weeks ago, they found themselves in my part of the world–they live in Wisconsin–so we went out to the beach and played. And played! Seeing their love for one another warmed my heart–Congratulations you two. You are truly an inspiration!

Here is a link to their slideshow: www.photoartbymarie.com/jeanandjohn

Neither Jean nor John enjoy having their photo taken. I hope I changed their mind!

I usually have a lot of fun with my clients but I have to admit that none of them have ever tried to pick me up—literally! My crazy friend Jean thought she could do it, but found out she was wrong! LOL She is so silly!

There is a lot of talk these days about heroes. Usually, it’s a sports personality who hit the winning home run or someone with a noble profession such as a fireman, who risk their lives on a daily basis to save the lives of others. My hero is not flashy and not too many people have ever heard of him but to many of us, he is the greatest man on earth. He is my father. Today, we celebrated my daddy’s 82nd birthday in a quiet  unassuming way which defines him. Yes, I am a daddy’s girl, but then, so are my other two sisters. Unlike the traditional daddy’s girl, we were not spoiled with lavish gift and allowed to get away with murder, though we tried! No, his way of spoiling us was to give us the most precious and scarce of commodities; his time. My dad has always been there for us, no matter what. I have never heard him say that he would rather be somewhere else, or be something else other than what he was, the head of five rambunctious kids and husband to  a beautiful but high maintenance wife.

My father came from nothing, growing up in a house with dirt floors. With the help of the GI Bill, he was able to go to college, the only member of his family to do so, and became a chemical engineer. Through his guidance and abundant love and support, all of my five brothers and sisters have college degrees, three of us have masters degrees.   Although he is the biological father of only five of us, he has mentored countless others, teaching them his gentle and thoughtful ways of solving problems.

These days find my daddy taking care of my mother who suffered a stroke last October. It would be easier for him to have others take care of her but he refuses, insisting on doing it himself, a physically and emotionally draining job for someone half his age. Every morning he goes for a walk with his faithful dog “Patches” and once a week or so you can find him out on the golf course teaching young whipper snappers the meaning of the word respect! He is truly the embodiment of Tom Brokaw’s Greatest Generation.

So on this first day of Fall, my sisters and I and our families gathered together for a quiet celebration to commemorate the passing of yet another year of this remarkable man’s life. Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you so much, so very very much….

This is a photo of Sarah, Grandpa, me and Peter. Doesn’t he look great for 82????!!!

Three of grandpa’s seven grandkids let him know how much they love him.

Aiden and Peter having fun with the birthday boy…grandpa started it!

Peter and Sarah having a fun moment trying on Aiden’s Halloween costume.

Sissy says, “Happy Birthday Grandpa! See you next year!!”

After two long years, I decided to give myself time off for vacation! A real vacation, not just the usual day off here and there. Sarah was spending a month in Minnesota and rather than simply fly out to pick her up, I decided to make it an adventure of sorts. My good  friend Mary Lou, her daughter Angela and Angela’s friend Amy were my travel companions.  Our itinerary included a trip to the beautiful state of Colorado, where I went whitewater rafting for the first time, soaked in Glenwood Canyon hot springs (heaven!), crashed a wedding (chech out the slideshow at www.photoartbymarie.com/sarahandbuck), stood on the Continental Divide (whoo-hoo!), actually began and finished reading a novel Playing for Pizza by John Grisham (fun summer read), and rode an Amtrak Train to Chicago…..sort of.  I had packed a library’s worth of books, thinking I would catch up on reading, something I love to do but seldom find the time to do it.  A 17-hour train ride should have been perfect for that, right? Well, overnight there was a tornado which had derailed a cargo train which in turn converted our train ride into a bus ride to the great city of Chicago. I don’t know the actual millage between Omaha, Nebraska and Chicago, but it must be a LOT because it took at least 12 hours to get there. Twelve hours! I can read on a train, in a car or bus, not so much, so I found myself playing “Go Fish” with the 10-year old sitting in front of me…..11 1/2 hrs to go. I’ve traveled throughout the Midwest, it is green and lush, serene, and the people who live there are truly the salt of the earth, but after about a half an hour, the scenery looks pretty much the same, especially if, like me, long bus rides are not your cup of tea (I am not used to sitting in one spot for hours and hours on end…I know, I’m whinning! ) In route, we traveled through Iowa, and though it had been at least a month since the floods, the water level remained increadibly high. Homes and farms remain under water, roadways washed away, telephone poles stuck out of what appeared to be a lake….it took your breath away, but for all the wrong reasons. Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those affected by the floods. Chicago was everything I expected and so much more. It was my first time there, and sadly, we had only 4 hours to cram as much sight-seeing (on foot) as possible–I enjoyed  every minute of it! From Chicago, we rented a car to take us to our final destination of Winona, MN, argualbly one of the most beautiful small towns on the Mississippi River. Really! There, I reunited with my beautiful daughter Sarah, and visited with as many friends and family as time would permit in a few short days…..Whew! Who knew vacations could be so fatiguing! I can’t wait for next year and do it all over again, although I think I’ll skip the train next time;)

I took a ton of photos but here are a few of my faves. There are more on the slideshow if you want to take a peek!

SLIDESHOW (double click here)

The Continental Divide. It’s called that because it separates the water sheds of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. So if it rains to my left, it ends up in the Pacific, to my right, the Atlantic. In the middle??  On my head!

Somewhere in Colorado…I shot this from a speeding red Jeep. No, I wasn’t driving though I have done that before….

I took this photo at the wedding I crashed. This cowboy informed us that the way to a woman’s heart was to make love to her four times a week……must be true because his wife sure looked happy!

I am somewhat afraid of horses, mostly because they are BIG: they have big eyes, big teeth, big hooves….but they sure are pretty. Maybe one day I will learn more about how to handle them so I won’t be so afraid.

These are Mrs. Beacon’s Grandchildren. Mrs. Beacon is a remarkable woman who makes quilts for people who have lost a loved one as a tribute to their memory. She asked me to take this photo for her, the day after Sarah and Buck’s wedding—for you, my dear lady, anything.

Amy practicing for a career on Broadway!

Denver, CO. Don’t you love the lighting right before a storm???!

We got off (detrained?) the Amtrak train early in the morning. Most passengers  were still too sleepy to say much, some complained loudly of their inconvenience and how they were never going to take a train again, etc. Amongst the commotion sat this woman, sitting tall, waiting patiently, without saying a word. Extraordinary.

I don’t have the words to describe how this photo makes me feel. It is in Iowa, near Burlington, I believe.

Chicago is an amazing city. If you haven’t been, go!  Say hi to Oprah for me!

Navy Pier, Chicago, Ill. Don’t you love old ladies!

Minnesota wild flower. They’re wild, they’re beautiful……I love them.

This is Fernando. He has always been there for me and I love him like a brother…..Wait! He is my brother! Thanks for taking care of Sarah while she was in MN!

My niece Olivia, who is not only adorable but reall, really funny. Can you tell?

My good friend Jean and her husband John. They are newlyweds, once again proving that it is possible to find love after 45! Congratulations you two lovebirds;)

This beautiful path is part of Lake Winona. I have put in a lot of miles running here, the city keeps it groomed even in the winter. It never fails to renew my spirit.

Sunrise over Lake Winona. Ahhhh.

I belong to a networking group of photographers, known as the LA PUG  (Pictage Users Group), led by Jules Bianchi. It is a fun bunch of folks, all photographers of some sort or another. Some famous, most not, but all willing to share trick of the trade with one another. Usually, our monthly meetings are a little bit more formal, someone showcases their studio and shares whatever info will help others in their business. During our last meeting, we paired up and shot one another. It’s a bit odd being in front of the camera instead of behind it! My team mate was Nick Collins (the tall guy in the black shirt– Thanks for the great shots Nick! ) I hadn’t been to a meeting for a couple of months and it was a lot of fun to catch up with old friends (great to see you Marianne–you are sooohhh much fun to hang out with!)  Adam  (Happy Birthday!) and Matt  (thanks for carpooling with me), and make some new ones (great shirt, Ty!).  See you all next month!