our godson, kian came for a visit today.

It was nice to see his parents too.

Seth and leah were some of the first kids I ever photographed when I decided to get serious about photography. At least they were supposed to be. The day of the shoot, Seth was running a high fever and spent the day in bed, so it was just me and leah. It was the shoot that helped me realize how much I enjoy working with kids. I don’t do it much anymore, but I don’t love it any less. Photographing kids is always so much fun, because they’re usually up for anything.

Last week, I did a mini-session with Seth and Leah. Mostly, because Leah’s missing her two front teeth, and those are memories worth preserving.

The Peschels don’t really need the services of a professional photographer. Merydwen is quite the photographer herself. But I can definitely relate to the frustration of trying to get a good photo of your family via the old-set-the-timer-and-run-into-the-frame method. So I was delighted to do a little mini-session with Merydwen and her family for their Christmas card this year.

I hiked them way back into the woods. It’s my favorite thing to do. Hike my clients back into the woods, until one them eventually says “are you taking us out here to kill us?” That’s when I know we’ve gone far enough. So on the way out, I snapped a few frames of her boys Ethan and Evan being–well–being themselves. Which is ridiculously cute. That’s just their general state of being. The side effect of having a photographer for a mom, is these guys are not shy about getting in front of the lens. Here are a couple snapshots from the afternoon.

We’ve been so focused on building our wedding business this year, we have done very few family sessions. And I think I sort of forgot how much I love, love, love working with kids. Kids are so great, because they’re completely uninhibited. working with kids always makes me feel young, and free, and spirited, and so happy.

I was reminded how much I love it a couple of weeks ago when we photographed Emily and Porter. These guys were so fun, I had to work really hard to remember to stop laughing and keep taking photos. Porter is such a serious little guy, and Emily on the other hand was nothing but smiles, and laughs, and cartwheels. She was also so good with her little brother.

We had wind that afternoon. We don’t get a lot of wind here in Austin. I wish we got more, cause I honestly love what it does for the photos. Flyaways, cowlicks, and all.

I can’t say enough about how much we like Jess and B. B is an amazing musician. I’ve had the honor of shooting his band a couple of times. Jess is a writer, like Amy, and they’ve been big supporters of each other over the years. Being around Jess and B is like a tall glass of water that you didn’t know you needed. They’re talented, funny, genuine, and kind. People this good looking shouldn’t get to be all of those things too. I think their child is going to be one of the luckiest kids around. Here are some more of our favorites from our first maternity shoot with jess and b. All the black and whites were done on 35 mm film. The color shots are a mix of Amy’s digital camera and my film.

Brace yourself for an obvious fact: I am not a maternity photographer.

Frankly I’ve stayed away from it. There is some really, really gorgeous maternity photography out there, done by some spectacularly talented photographers, who have a true understanding of the beauty of a woman’s body. They understand the beauty of pregnancy, and how to light a baby bump, and how to use dramatic lighting in a very specific way to make really make stunning images. And most of them, by the way, are women. Naturally. If I were a pregnant woman, I think another woman would be my first choice as well.

And then, let’s be real. There’s a lot of trash. People trying to do what the above mentioned geniuses are doing, and failing in a truly spectacular way. It ranges from bland, to tacky, to just plain gross.

Amy and I don’t have children, unless you count the dogs, which my mom always tells me doesn’t count. We’ve never been pregnant. So maternity is something I’ve promised to stay away from, and leave it to the pros who really know how to do it beautifully. Pregnant women are gorgeous. They deserve to be photographed by people who really understand how to do it.

But in the past few months we’ve had not just one, but several friends and clients who are expecting ask us to consider shooting maternity for them. Naturally I panicked, started looking for area photographers I could refer them to, and pretended their emails got lost in the ether. The thing is, it’s a scary thing to get your picture taken. I for one don’t like it at all. Who does? I imagine it’s got to be like 100,000 times more scary than that when you’re pregnant. The fact that these friends have asked me about it, when you won’t find a single maternity picture on my website or blog, makes me think that they’ve come to trust me. It’s honestly pretty humbling, and it makes me want to come through for them.

So I started talking with Amy. Amy has been my silent partner in this photography thing since day one. She scouts locations, helps style shoots, conceptualizes, comes along to help keep clients having fun when I’m geeking out on camera settings. She’s the second half of this business. And lately, she’s been getting pretty good with a camera. When I asked Amy about this, we started talking, and we decided, maybe we could do maternity our way. Black backdrops and naked bellies are not our style, but if our clients were up for something a little softer, maybe we could do something they would love. Amy actually got really excited about it, and agreed to be the lead photographer.

This weekend we took out our friends Jess and B, who are expecting their first baby this Christmas. Amy played lead for the first time, and for the first time in almost a decade, I pulled out my film camera, and came along with a roll of color, and a roll of black and white film. Something new, all the way around. I mean, if you’re going to go for it, go for it. We’re pretty thrilled with the images, and we hope our friends will be too. I think we’ve proven we can do maternity our way. We just got the film back last night, and I have to say, I had forgotten how truly beautiful film is. Here’s the first image I saw when i opened up the envelope.

We’ll be posting the whole shoot soon, including tons of Amy’s amazing work. I don’t think I’m going to be throwing any maternity galleries up on our website, but we’re looking forward to getting to be the photographers for our clients in all the important moments in their lives.

A couple of weeks ago we spent a couple of hours photographing a family reunion for some of our oldest clients.

We spent the day out on the river. I love these pictures. They remind me so much of the summers we spent growing up in the Rockies. Fishing and swimming in the colorado mountains. The deep plunge into the cold river water on a hot day. Wild canon balls and belly flops. Fleeting time with cousins and family.

Here are some of the finished shots of the shoot I did last week with Lizzie and Evan. Love them.

We spent the new year visiting my parents in Salt Lake City. It was a chance to get (most) of the family together for a few days before my brother Josh left for his fifth tour in Afghanistan. Josh’s wife Krista wasn’t able to make it, but Josh did bring his 3-year-old son, Andrew, and it was the first time Andrew had seen snow. Having grown up in New Mexico, snowy winters and skiing, and sledding, and tubing, and all of the great fun of winter was a big part of our childhood. It’s not much of a part of our life here in Austin, or of my brother’s in North Carolina. So getting Andrew out to experience his first bit of snow was a total blast, and a bit of nostalgia rolled up in one.

Usually when we visit my parents we do as much skiing as possible, but with andrew there, we all thought sledding was the way to go. We headed over to a hill at an elementary school in the middle of town. I thought it would be cute to watch Andrew, but it turned out to be quite an amazing little hill, and everyone joined in on the fun. Here are a few shots from the day. Oh And fair warning: By a few, I mean way too many. What can I say, I’m emotionally attached.

After the First day my grandparents arrived from New Mexico, and we had so much fun we decided to go out for a second day. This time we headed up into the mountains.

This is my Grandad. Full disclosure: I gave my camera to my sister while I took a spin down the mountain, and she snapped this photo. Greatness runs in the fam I guess.