Welcome Ashton!

I'm so excited!  I have a new nephew!  I just love new babies - the way they squish, smell, sound...everything.  Ashton is such an amazing little man.  He has such a great little nose and the cutest little old man bald spot!  LOVE.

We're going to do a more formal shoot soon, but here are a few from my hospital visit today. At just over 8lbs, he's not a very small tater tot, but he's a gerber baby for sure!

Dog Tired

Sometimes, it pays to have your camera ready to go.  And when I say, "ready to go", I mean really ready.  I almost always have mine with the memory card loaded, the battery (mostly) charged, and flash nearby.  On nights like this one, where the dogs come back from a walk with adorable and priceless expressions, I'm ready to capture them.  No matter what kind of camera you have, I suggest you keep it in the same location, ready to rock and roll.  That way, when something is happening, you can quickly spring to grab it and capture your family memories.

When you actually think about it, what are the odds that I would remember these little moments years from now without the photographs?

Cookie Cobbler

 

I needed to bring something to work for our Thursday Luau and I had a ton of fruit in the house that I knew would go bad if I didn't use it.  I also had a few rolls of sugar cookie dough in the fridge and I decided we'd give it a whirl.  So, here's my recipe for Cookie Cobbler.  YUM!

First, I lined the bottom of the pan with one roll of the sugar cookie dough.  I put it in the oven for about 15(ish) minutes.  My goal was to get most of it somewhat brown on top and once it did, I let it sit until it was room temp.

I mixed up some blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and peaches and added about 3/4 cups of brown sugar, but I can't be sure that's how much I actually added because I didn't really measure.  I also mixed in about a tsp. of butter because everything good starts with a little butter and a little sugar.  ;)

Once the cookie bottom was cool, I put the berry mixture on top and popped it in the oven for about 20(ish) minutes.  I also sliced a log of cookie dough and baked the little rounds in the oven with the berry mixture.  When those were done, I pulled them out, let them cool and then crumbled them.  I put the crumbled cookies over the berry mixture and let it bake another 20+ minutes.  I waited until it was hot and bubbly and the cookies were good and crispy, but not too brown.  YUM!

As I was baking, I realized that the light was pouring through our back sliding glass doors and my daughter was down to her undies and playing with the dogs.  A pure three-year-old moment.  So, I grabbed my camera and snapped some pictures.

"Mom! It's hot!"

As I buckled my daughter into her car seat this morning, she complained that it was too hot. I agreed. But we were late for school, Barbie needed to move her long beautiful hair out of the way so I could see the buckles, and I was counting the minutes until we'd pull into the Starbucks drive-thru and a venti iced coffee would finally be mine. It was one of those mornings. But it wasn't too bad - no fits had been thrown, no tears. It was just crazy and hot and we were running a bit late.

Now I know this is going to sound goofy, but I wish they would invent a camera that sits inside the rear-view mirror of a car. I swear my daughter makes the funniest faces when she's strapped in (with no escape) and has only her imagination and amusing noises to make me laugh. Her lips go every which way, her eyes cross and wiggle back and forth, and her nose scrunches time and time again. It's like she's learning how to use parts of her face for the first time.  I've been able to capture some of her "car faces" on camera, but I still think it would be nice to reach up and press a button and get them in the car, where they belong.

Nicole's Senior Pictures

First, you have to picture that it's 97 degrees and about 80-something percent humidity. Hot. Nicole's shoot was nothing short of an olympic sport (for all those involved). Luckily, Nicole is a very easy-going and fun girl and even jumped into one of the fountains at the end! We got some great pictures, despite the heat (and, I'll admit, with the help of the hot sun) and she is just beautiful.

Now you also have to understand that Nicole has an adorable dog and this was one of the most well-behaved dogs I've ever met. When we needed the dog to lay down, it did. When we wanted to dog to cuddle up next to Nicole, it did.


Good dog. :)

Baby Jordyn

Jordyn: I LOVE big baby cheeks! There's nothing more squeezable, pinchable and kissable than soft baby cheeks! This little cutie pie has such a cute soft dimple smile. She was so well behaved and really seemed to enjoy the camera - and a particular toy her parents brought along. It was a very enjoyable morning at the playground and we had the whole place to ourselves for at least the first 30 minutes.

Check out Jordyn's cheeks!

Taylor's Senior Pictures

TAYLOR: Talk about a beautiful girl and a beautiful summer night! I love shooting on nights like this - even if it was super hot out (in the 90's with lots of humidity)...

Taylor was so fun to work with and was up for just about anything. It was fun to see the perfect mix of sunlight and smiles. She looks like a supermodel in the photos and looks like she's in a different country or something!

Enjoy the teasers!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Tovah Photography Blog! I'm excited to share my professional and personal journey and have some fun!