the story of the poor frog. :)

once upon a time, there lived a frog.
and there also lived a beastly man.
a man who found great pleasure in scaring the snot out of his beautiful sister-in-law. :|
but the beautiful sister-in-law had a camera.
so, she took pictures of the frog.
oh, how the frog lasted on the windsheild of that car.
and lasted...
and lasted.
the frog stuck to the windsheild of that car until finally meeting his demise
taking a great heroic leap off the windshield onto the harsh reality of route 64.
poor frog. :)

have a great weekend! :)

candy apple red :)

it's not a secret that I like antique stores...
wait..you didn't know that?!
well, then yes...I most definitely DO!

but not simply for the sake of having an entire house full of antiques...
although that might be kinda cool.

no, my love affair with antiques began when I started working at liberty market.
my friends dave & kiersten, who happen to be owners of LM :)
are amazing at taking something old (an antique) and putting a modern spin on it.
their restaurant and house are full of these amazing details...

an old gasoline price stand in bright yellow is the house marker for their home...
they use single strung edison light bulbs hung from the rafters...
old steel packing crates are re-crafted to be bar stools throughout the restaurant...
in my office upstairs at LM, my desk is an old lit drafting table that even works!
and early in our friendship, they gifted me an old (working) maytag washer that has
now become my outside drink cooler!

needless to say, I LOVE walking through antique stores now...looking with the intent to make something really old, look really new with a funky, modern twist!
I have an antique claw foot loveseat that I originally loved...but it's kinda too heavy to lug to shoots...
so I'll be selling that one...($100 if you're interested...just email me!)
and a dream of mine is to someday find an antique fainting couch and re-cover it in a zebra print.
yes.  I know I'm crazy. :)

but the other day I did find a really cool antique wood carved chair...for $5 BUCKS!
I know!!! *insert craig fergusen accent*
I simply love the hand carved flower details...just a really cool chair! :)
and it was cool in with the kinda dark wood detail but it seemed kinda of tired - the chair, that is. :)
plus, I've been on a red kick lately...so WHALLA!  instant personality for the chair! :)

five bucks + a four dollar can of candy apple red spray paint = super happy jen!

you just might find it's first appearance in my shoot with a very pretty young lady this friday! :)

but. :)

I am home.
and trying to get back into the flow of my life.
you know, the
"Ijustgotbackfromvacationandhavehowmanyloadsoflaundry?gottacleanthehouse
getthroughthemassiveinboxatwork.dangIforgottoreturnthatlibrarybookbeforeweleft.
don'tforgettosmilecauseyoujustgotbackfromvacation."
kind-of a flow. :)

but. :)  (I love "but's".) :)
I can pause tonight remember and smile at these beautiful,
fun-loving kids that I simply loved getting to know!
mckenna is the daughter of one of my school age friends.
strange to think of him as a parent now.  but he is...I guess that makes us grown-ups?! :)
he has raised a seriously cool little girl so far and I loved the hugs she so freely gave during this shoot!
her cousins aren't bad to look at or hang with either!
kirsten is a future m.i.t.m. (model in the making)...gorgeous and fun-loving!
and ben reminded me of my own boy - all boy and "tolerating" me throughout the shoot very nicely ;)

thanks again karen and jill for making this such an amazing shoot!

worth the wait. :)

I love my family.
I love being a daughter, a daughter-in-law, a sister, a sister-in-law...and lately an aunt.
I love being an aunt to all my neices & nephews...but this week is focused on one on one time with
my hayden.

I have been waiting for this boy since this session in new hampshire...
and oh, was it worth the wait!
his blue eyes that crinkle when he smiles...
his little mouth that wants to put e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. into it... :)
his curiosity that seems to fill him with wonder at everything...
he seems smarter than his five months to me...
yes.
yes, I love this boy...and he was most definitely worth waiting for to meet :)

silence to grow.

shhhhhhh.

do you hear it?

quiet.  pure. quiet.  rest. :)

that's what I felt when I was taking these shots...
well, that and a little creepy for the moon shot...it was about two in the morning (illinois time).
but it my defense it was only midnight arizona time - which I declare to still be on!
(especially since I've been waking up at 10:30a.m. every day in IL...I can almost hear my in-laws thinking how super lazy I am and how I must be a major diva.) :)

but I like this quote...
"...see how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence;  see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to grow...”

I'm learning that I need chunks of silence and alone time.  strange thought considering that at home I am almost constantly on the go and almost always around people.  but I think that is why my soul is restored when I come here.  there are large chunks of silence. albeit at two in the morning. :)

legends never die.

it's been an amazing week full of...
vacation|rest|family|mini-golf|despicable me|water balloon fights|photo's|food|and...baseball.
it all started with m&m watching the sandlot a couple weeks ago.
you know...sandlot.

"...you play ball like a girl!'

"...just stand out there and stick your glove out in the air. I'll take care of it..."

"...hey smalls, you wanna s'more? some more of what? no, do you wanna s'more?  I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have some more of nothing?  you're killing me smalls!"  

"...the sultan of swat!  the king of crash!  the colossus of clout! the great bambino!"

and the best one from the babe himself (well, in the movie) :)

"...remember kid, there's heroes and there's legends. heroes get remembered but legends never die, follow your heart kid, and you'll never go wrong..." 

my boy is especially into it lately...so grampa and daddy took him out to the backyard to hit a few.  even now I'm smiling...you should have seen his determination stepping up to the plate...it reminded me of the movie and how a simple sandlot was transformed into yankee stadium...

it was in the boys eyes...he wasn't in the backyard anymore - he was wearing p.f.flyers getting ready to hit a homer...just like the great bambino. :)

about a girl :)

I remember holding this girl as an infant...amazed at her long lashes...
I remember this girl as a tow head toddler shyly peeking out from behind my aunts leg...
I remember this girl easter egg hunting as a little girl in her pink dress with ribbons...being the slowest one. :)

but this girl now?
she is stunning!
she still has the long lashes but has grown into a most beautiful lady...
and is starting a new chapter in her life...
she's traded the little girl ribbons for a white wedding dress and is planning on walking down the aisle in september...crazy fun to watch and hear about!
congratulations sarah and ryan!
I know you'll be amazingly beautiful on your day!  and thanks for letting me get to spend an afternoon with you both...seriously fun for me! :)

did you SEE the flowers my ah-mazing aunt created...sarah's wedding (along with the numerous other weddings she's serviced) is going to be stunning!...loving the orchids + roses with crystal detail! :)

rest. :)

these last three day's have been AH-mazing!
golfing.
meijers.
amazing photoshoot.
heidi's bakery.
town house books.
jogging at night w/ lightning in the distance.
the giant chair upstairs.
water balloons.
hand floating out the car window. :)

ahhhhhhhhhhhh...rest. :)

here's my "on vacation so far" favorites and not-so-muches for this friday!
 

I simply love this flower...or rather, it's a weed out here...but queen anne's lace is the name of it...maddie simply loves it and I had to stop on the side of the road as the sun was setting...just beautiful. :)

arcedium coffee house downtown st. charles...oddly enough I ran into an old piano student of mine who has grown up and chatted with her for awhile at this coffeehouse.  I love coffeehouses (even though I do not drink the dirty water) and the vibe that they have...great place to edit and get things done :)

spider webs.  I DO NOT like spiders, but I DO like the web's they weave...it reminds me of being a little girl and reading charlotte's web...they're just pretty. :)

polaroids.  obviously I like them...my site's logo is built around them! :)  but now I HAVE one and will be shooting randomly with it...mine is kinda cool cause' it comes in a case with an additional f112 lens attachment...definitly gonna be some fun :)

and now for the "not-so-muches" :)

yes.  these ugly creatures were under the railing on the deck.
ew.

that's it for this week!  have an amazing weekend! :)

sneak peek - sara's bridal/engagement shoot

I couldn't wait until after vacation...here's a sneak peek of her super fun and gorgeous shoot! :)

stuck in the aftermath

today I am somewhere in between the aftermath and the promise of what's to come.
or rather the "hope" of what's to come.

this last weekend was a whirlwind.
the boy turned nine this weekend.
and it was fun.
and it was colorful.
and it was wet.
there was cake, I think?
there were definitely smiles and laughing.
and I know there were presents.  I think I just stepped on one. :)

but now?
now is the aftermath.
clean up time.
why?
because vacation is right around the corner.  the what's to come.
and I simply can.not.wait. :)

amidst the clean up of the aftermath and the packing for what's to come...I am daydreaming of my wants for this vacation.  rest is coming.  and I can't wait.

in the name of art. :)

there are things, as a photographer, that I just want to do...
I want to recreate edward hopper's "nighthawks" art in a photo.
I want to have a shoot on a trolley/train car.
I want to stand in the middle of the street in my hometown in 30 second long exposure. :)
I want to have a [secret]session with a mexican mamasita :)
*sigh*
I want to do a lot, apparently. :)

but this week I focused on low-light long exposure and purposeful low-light bokeh.  a friend of mine asked me to shoot some abstract bokeh lighting shots for some print work he is working on.  shooting that and wanting to learn more about low-light long exposure for the 4th of july inspired today's blog post.  I'm still learning, but it's fun and I like the way the colors meld into each other in long exposure. :)

p.s. don't be surprised to see my hometown later this month...I'm gonna do it, I think.  that is if I don't hit in the process. :)  all for art, right? :)

I like the over-exposed-ness :) of this one. :)

and my personal favorite of one of my most favorite places using tra's infrared action :)