Ryan – Drooling at 6 months

These were the finals that mom selected.  She had trouble picking which ones she really wanted, I think she did well!  I love the drip of drool in the image on the left.

Happy Easter little dude! Don’t let your brothers eat all of your candy.

Portraits of Kahlen – Future Grammy Winner

I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Kahlen a few weeks ago.  He is a local musician and has recorded his own demo CD to start showing his work around town.  After hearing one of his songs “While u can”, there is no doubt that he’ll go somewhere with his musical talent.  He published a few of his songs on SoundCloud, go check him out!  He even promised to give me a “shout out” as he’s accepting his Grammy  I said whatever, you can even wait until they start playing the exit music and just mention my name.  I’m proud that I will be able to say “I knew him when….”  Best of luck Kahlen, go make your dreams happen!

 

Ryan – Gahanna Children’s Portrait

I love this age!  Ryan came in for his 6 month session and it’s always fun to see how the kids are developing.  Some can fully sit up on their own at this age and some… not so much.  Ryan is trying to sit up, but really resembles something more like a weeble-wobble.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s completely adorable but in the blink of an eye (or quicker) he could be face down on the floor.  Luckily mom has reflexes like a jungle cat and was able to keep him from bonking his noggin.

The little trooper lasted about 25 minutes before he let us know that the session was over.  As soon as his bottom hit the car seat, his eyes were closed and he was off to dreamland.  I can’t wait for our next session.  I wonder if he will be trying to take his first steps.

Sometimes from tragedy comes something good

During times of tragedy it’s hard to look down the road and see any good that can come from your situation.  On June 16th, 2008 we  lost our daughter Quinn to SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) when she was just 3 months old.  Similarly, Michelle and Nathan experienced the same tragedy on July 31, 2009.  Their son “Baby Will” was found unresponsive when trying to wake him from his afternoon nap.  He too was a victim of SIDS.  Michelle and Nathan two amazing people and out of their loss have created www.babywill.org a non-profit organization aimed at a SIDS free future.  So, SIDS has brought us together.

Little did I know that from my loss I would meet so many amazing people.  I have had the opportunity to become friends with the Hurd family and Michelle came to me when they wanted to update their family portraits.  The three boys are totally crazy as they should be.  Boys will be boys!  Here are a few images from their session.  Can you tell which one may be the “trouble maker” out of the bunch?

Tour de France 2011

Last week I was in France for a wedding and being an avid cyclist I had to check out where the Tour de France would be traveling during my trip.  I really wanted to go to the 2nd day of the tour to see the time trials but that would have involved a 6-8 hour drive to the far western edge of France.  Instead we decided to rent a car and catch the finish in Lisieux, a small town about 100 miles from Paris.

The town was easy to find and we scored an awesome parking spot about 200 meters from the finish line.  I’ll admit, I had no idea where I was when I parked on the side of the road.  It just looked like a good point to pull off and have a lunch.  A British man approached and said he just found the finish line was right around the corner! SCORE!!

We walked around the awards podium a bit and tried to get into where the team buses would be parked.  No luck.  So we picked a spot at the 300 meter mark where we could see a bend in the road and the finish line. Now we wait…

Overall the kids were in great spirits.  During our almost 4 hour wait for the riders to come by, there was a parade of floats passing out candy, stinky goat cheese puffs, hats, shirts and even a car passing out laundry detergent?  All of the excitement trying to catch the schwag from the vendors made the time pass by pretty quickly.

Some of the more famous floats headed up the procession.  I love the lion.

As the floats and parade of race support cars started to thin out, the black clouds moved in.  The wind kicked up and the ran began to fall.  We scurried to put on our raincoats and I was doing everything to keep my camera dry!  Luckily it rained just long enough to get everyone significantly wet and then the sun popped back out just in time for the riders to come by.

The 4 hour wait was well worth it to be able to see the Tour de France in person.  I have watched it on TV for the past 10 years and to actually experience it first hand was a thrill.  More importantly I was able to make memories for my kids that will last a lifetime.  Here is an image of me (sporting my Pelotonia 11 t-shirt!) and my daughter.  I think she has caught TDF fever!

 

Sherry & Jay – New Albany Wedding

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet a couple last week who are truly in love.  Jay and Sherry met like any other couple these days, on the internet… I think it’s amazing how many people start their relationships after an online introduction.  I suppose it saves a lot of time spent with blind dates and all the other “old fashioned” ways we used to meet people.  Did  I really just type that? O.K., I must be getting old!  Regardless, fate has brought these two together into a new family.  Sherry with her two children and soon to be son-in-law, and Jay with his beautiful 7 year old daughter.  Together they have formed a wonderful new family.

 

Jay’s daughter brought up the rings to Damian King who officiated the wedding and Sherry’s children walked her up the walkway to meet Jay.  The wedding was held at a small green space in downtown New Albany and the rain was kind enough to break about 2 hours before the ceremony was expected to start.  We can all thank mother nature for that one.

 

The rings were exchanged and Damian announced Mr. & Mrs. O’Connell to the family followed by applause from not only the family but onlookers across the street.  As the photographer, I found myself taking just a few seconds to admire the awesomeness that Jay & Sherry just committed to.  It’s truly amazing.

Just a few days after their wedding and Sherry is busy closing on her home in Cincinnati and making arrangements to move to New Albany to convert Jay’s bachelor pad into their new home.  I wish them the best of luck in all of their journeys and hope to see them around town soon!   Help me to send warm wishes to them by commenting on this post, it’s here for them to read.