Photo of the Day: Okinawan Pottery

Another throwback to Okinawa... seems it's happening a lot lately. But after four years there, it has become a part of me.

Okinawa has some of the most amazing artisans. There is a pottery village in Yomitan that sells some beautiful pieces... Check out this link to my old blog for a few more pictures. But like so many other things that was on my 'to-do' list before I left, I didn't get around to buying that special piece before we moved. Ugh. But... thanks to my friend Cheryl, I have this one little jar.



Sometimes it's like this... the little things in life that make you happy.

Until next time,

~ K

Photo of the Day: Ladder

Yes, more garage stuff... sometimes old garages have some great finds!



This ladder came with the house... it's old and worn and speckled with paint and I love it!

More photos coming soon!

Until next time,

~ K

Photo of the Day: Garage Window

Haha! I ventured outside the house for a few photos today. DJ was putting the new grill together, Trey was at school and Noah was napping... so I took the chance to get out of the house :)



Our little garage... and I mean little... barely fits our little VW Jetta, but it's great for storage. If I owned this house...maaan...it would convert so nicely into an office. Alas... that's not the case.

Until next time,

~ K

THIS is a family... | Yorktown Hampton Family Photography

When I say THIS is a family... I mean it. The way they interact really shows how much they care about each other and I think it reflects in their portraits.

Mom and I first met shortly after I moved here to VA, but we knew OF each other through work. She worked in the same office as I did...though at different times... so we knew a lot of the same people. They were stationed on Okinawa roughly the same time we were, so when we got together it wasn't the least bit awkward. It was kind of like we had known each other for years. Of course, it helps that she has one of those warm, outgoing personalities that just DRAW people in. But you know, I like to think it was me... hahaha.

Okay, enough chattering, bring on the pictures...



I love how mom is holding onto her son. As a mom to boys, this really speaks to me...



Can't you just feel how close they are?



Oldest son. What a looker (okay who says looker anymore?! Apparantly just me). He's gorgeous and polite and smart... and an all around great guy. Ladies back off.



Middle son. He looks like a movie star to me. Just has that cool quality... :)



And he can run faaast... *wink*



Daughter. She had some serious spirit! She kept saying, "The camera LOVES me..." Girl didn't lie though, she's just naturally vibrant.



...oh and something of a daddy's girl...

What a photogenic bunch.

But THIS is my favorite... hands down...



I love how you get a real sense for their relationship from this picture. THIS is what photography is all about to me... it says something. Tells a little quick story... if someone comes across these pictures 100 years from now, they'll be able to tell what kind of family this was. I love it.

This was long overdue, but I'm glad I waited to post this on the new blog because it really does the pictures justice.

Great family.

~ K

Photo of the Day: Sunglasses

I loved my last pair of sunglasses, but so did Noah. And one day they were beautiful great sunglasses and the next they were the product of an 11 month old's curiosity...broken. I went several weeks without and finally broke down the other day when I couldn't take it anymore.



Ahh. I *heart* these sunglasses. And I *heart* the BX because I got them for $49. Go AAFES. And I don't normally sing the praises of the BX... because, I mean really, it's the BX.

Until next time,

~ K

Photo of the Day: Noah's Internet Habit

Noah is a master of finding our cell phones, grabbing them, crawling over to someplace secluded and then pushing all possible button combinations. Yeah. Last month, he cost us an extra $7 on our cell phone bill because of all the internet he used!



Faabulous...

Until next time,

~ K

I Love These! | Hampton Roads Photographer

This is another long overdue post. Remember The Beautiful Family ? Well, they ordered some gorgeous fine-art canvases and they turned out so beautifully I wanted to share them with you!



The quality is truly amazing... and they come ready to hang! These are the 1.5" gallery wraps.



Look at the detail on the wrap... i LOVE it. These look amazing on the wall... and you don't have to worry about framing or anything. Instant conversation pieces!

Just you wait, I'll have these ALL OVER my house. I already have a whole folder on my computer called 'Wall Art Options'. I'm so excited...!

Until next time,

~ K

Photo of the Day: My Junk Basket

We actually have several junk baskets... this is just one.



It's amazing how much crap piles up in here... but it's either this or junk all around the table. One day I'll learn how to de-clutter. Not today though.

~ Until tomorrow

K

Rewind: The 'N' Family | Hampton Roads Child and Family Photography

In the midst of the madness back at the end of last summer, I had the pleasure of shooting an amazing family. We started as neighbors back in 2007 when we lived in our first itty bitty house on base. They moved into the unit directly across from us that had previously been inhabited by Dave & Dee who we had been very close to. I was nervous. Ack...new neighbors! But we were SO lucky with this family. Andrew and Trey hit it off immediately and the rest just fell into place so beautifully! Good friends. Good times. :)

I can't imagine a better way to start off this photography blog than with this crew...



This is Andrew. He is a force to be reckoned with... I haven't met a child with this kind of spirit since him... I was so glad he was a part of Trey's life.



We ran around Toguchi Beach and had a grand time. Andrew is very high-energy so when I say 'ran'...I mean RAN!




How gorgeous is this family??????



And Andrew's mom... just beautiful. She's probably one of the most photogenic women I've met. They had a great time playing on the little playground after the shoot.




And this is my favorite of the day... gorgeous!

Hey guys! We miss you! Good luck in your impending PCS and with the new little one, I wish I could be around to see it all unfold!

~ Until next time,

K

Photo of the Day: Cocoks

The internet was out for a while today...I don't really know if there's anything more frustrating to me... so while I was nursing the little guy, instead of browsing the net, I went through some old pictures on my laptop...

I'm really loving living here in VA. But sometimes I really miss Okinawa... just little pangs of homesickness that kind-of hit me in the gut. As I was looking through a folder on my computer titled 'Random Okinawa', I found this picture and one of those little pangs hit me. I just knew when I saw it, this was my photo of the day.



There's a lot that I miss about that little island, mainly food and friends, but Cocoks is right up there. As I sit here writing about it, I can smell the place... that chemical, nail-salon smell combined with the smell of the ocean (at the seawall Cocoks). I can hear it... the American's chattering on about which design to choose and the Okinawan nail artists jabbering on about who knows what...

*Sigh*

Until tomorrow...

~ K

Photo of the Day: Trey's Race Car

I had a heck of a time getting this shot today... everytime I sat the car down on the carpet in the "good light", Noah came racing over and made every effort known to man to hijack the shot. He'd stick his hand in it... put his grinning chubby face in the camera...pick up the car... So finally I just put it on the window sill away from prying hands. Whew.



This cute little car has a cute little story behind it. Back when we were in VA Beach with my mom, we stopped into one of their little stores and started looking around. Up at the counter there were two very blonde, very boisterous, very happy ladies chatting away with each other while they were paying for their goods. Trey, in his crazy-I-must-touch-and-feel-every-toy-I-can-get-my-hands-on-frenzy, happily walked right in the midst of them to look at this little car. Slightly mortified, I immediately chided him and made him apologize for butting them out of the way, and we moved on.

It was chilly and late in the afternoon, Noah was getting fussy, and I was getting tired, so I started making my way to the door...hoping that my movement would goad the rest of the troop to follow suit. I noticed a small commotion by the checkout counter, made nothing of it, and kept on... When our little entourage finally made it out of the store I noticed that Trey was holding his little red race car.

The lady had bought it for him.

It absolutely made his day and he talked about it for weeks afterwards.

It's nice to know that there are people out there like that.

Inauguration day at our house...

...means watching in PJ's. Yes, we sure did. I think that day we were in our pj's all day! :) It was great fun.

Anyway, much to Trey's displeasure, the normal fare of kiddie cartoons were replaced by CNN commentary on one of the most-watched inaugurations in history.



As you can tell by this picture, he was, uh... less than thrilled. Some of his commentary included:

"Mama. How long is this 'naugaree movie' going to last? Aaalll daaay?"
"Mama. How long is Bawack Obaama going to be pwesident? Until he diiiies?"

And to pique his interest we had a big long discussion about the new armored car that the President rides in... I think I said something like, "It's got super cool bullet proof windows! And there's holes in there where guns can shoot out of!" (yeah...i dunno...you try getting a 5 year old to watch the inauguration). So then came, "And those guys are the good guys protecting the pwesident from the bad guys?! Whoaa... Hey mom. Where are the bad guys? Are they aliens like in Ben 10?"

As you can imagine, it continued this way for quite a while...



Noah was equally enthralled with the whole ordeal...



And preferred to attack his unsuspecting brother with slobbery kisses and drooly hugs than watch the historic event.

But it was a good day. I'm glad Trey watched it with me. Maybe someday, when he's older, and they're discussing it in school, he can remember watching it on TV with me...

Onto the Photo of the Day (you thought I forgot, didn't you)!



As mentioned earlier. Ben 10 is very popular in this house. We have Ben 10 paraphernalia EVERYWHERE. Here are two action hero guys. I don't know which ones... but they're colorful and pretty if you ask me...

Until next time,

~ K

Welcome to My New Blog!

Roughly two years ago it all began. My obsession with blogging, that is. It's hard to believe it's only been two years because I feel like this blog and my reasons for blogging have grown a lifetime's worth since then. For that reason alone, I felt it was time to move on. Move bigger. I love my old wordpress.com blog (and I'm keeping it up, you can see the link above), but it just wasn't giving me the big pictures that I wanted. So here I am. Back to blogger... (it's FREE!), but with those lovely big pictures that I've been craving. :)

And because I love seeing the big pictures on this new blog, I've decided to challenge myself with a 'Picture A Day' posting spree. When I'm not actively working, sometimes I get lazy about picking up my camera and just shooting and/or posting. So this is partly for you, but mostly for me... Skills don't improve without practice... If I don't post a picture I've taken that day, I'll be posting an older picture that I've re-worked or found or re-discovered in all my old logs... so here I go. I'm going to give this a go for about a month... do you think I can stick with it?! Only time will tell...



Here's a recent picture of Noah... I so rarely get a true smile from this one. Here it is. THIS is my Noah.



However, just a few seconds later, when my sister wanted to get a picture with that real smile he wasn't quite so cooperative...

Anyway, welcome to the new blog! I've got a few older shoots that I'm going to share with you as well... ones you haven't seen before :)

So update your bookmarks, RSS feeds, and aggregators!!!

Until then...

~ K