The Amazing King of Harpers Ferry!!

I had the pleasure of hanging with Konrad this afternoon, and although I'm exhausted and should actually be packing for Miami, I leave tomorrow morning, I just need to get all the wonderful things he did onto... um, paper... *sigh*, I"m so old... before I forget them all. So, he's 17 months old now, and I've barely seen him since starting at the Museum. Well, let me tell you that I was shocked and amazed by his growth. I always have a great time with the Doctor, he's a neat kid, very kind, never mean or nasty, even when he's sobbing his eyes out wishing me back to the cave I crawled out of to terrorize him, he never lashes out with his little limbs, or has a look in his eye that has any type of malice at all, he just really wished I'd leave him the 'F' alone and return his parents... immediately. But, my time away has made me realize just how extraordinary he is, and how amazing he's going to be... let me essplain.... in pictures, of course
This is the current Kaiser. Look at that new expression... he's funny! He's bright, and inquisitive, and kind of hysterical, I mean, what other 17 month old makes this type of statement with their little hands hanging onto their suspenders like they're running for office. I think he was telling me that he already knew all about spaghetti, and I was seriously boring him...
Hahahaha!!, so his new thing is to put things in his pocket. If I handed it to him, into the pockets it went. Check out, yet again, the cool stance, hand on low slung pants (thank goodness for his suspenders) perfect expression, and yup, some cool toys just chillin in his pockets... what a little riot!
Today was in the low 50's and although it's still really cold to me, he just wanted to be outside, um, like all frigging day, Kid, seriously, I'm from Miami... I almost froze my face off... while Konrad couldn't have been happier or more comfortable...
Ooooohhhh... today's first wonderful adventure was to the library. I'd never been to the library with the Kaiser, and I thought he might be at the age where he could appreciate the change of environment and all the colorful books, oh, and FISH!!! uuuugh!!!! He could not get enough of the fish. I brought over a chair that he could stand on, and although he roamed the library and had an awesome time, he kept coming back to these fish, he even said it several times, although it sounded like he was saying, fshhhhhhh, or iiiissssss.... but whatever, I got it...
So, the first amazing thing of the day, for me, happened here. Konrad had picked out several books, and one of them had a fish on it, after staring at the tank for a while, he got down, went over to his pile of books, on the floor, picked out the one with the big fish on it, pointed a the fish, looked at me, pointed at the tank, and said fshhhh, and then about faced, and walked over to the fish tank to show the fish. I about fshhhh'ed in my pants. 17 months!!! WTF!!! I was in shock, mouth open, stupefied shock.
here's a close up of the book in his hands. Fsshhhhh!!!!
yeah, so the library was a huge success until a little, not to be named, genius pooped his pants, and it was time to go home.
on the way home, we passed a little dog and I said, hey Konrad, want to see the dog, de hund? (hund being one of the handful of German words I know, and I use it every chance I get, that along with kitze: cat, vassemelon: watermelon, vassah: water, elephante: seriously, if I need to translate that one, you are just looking at the pictures, aren't you), so Konrad looked over, and said, whoo, whoo, whoo, ahahahah! vunderkind, Konrad vunderind! We then passed a cat at the next house and I stopped again and said, Konrad, look, Kitze!, and he said, oew, oew, and then the cat came over and said, meow, and we all laughed, as the cat blew the Kaiser's mind (Corey said it was his first meow, and I believed it because he was just THRILLED) and he blew mine, kitze's say oew and hunds say woo wooo, and the fish, oh man, the freaking fish book, just WOW!
we got back, had a snack in some lovely light, and then...
he threw some pretty mean gang signs at me, and I danced with him to alleviate the tension... I had no guff with him or his boys... and by boys, I mean, his stuffed elephant, the john deere tractor and his wooden fruit that I knew he kept hidden in his pockets should things go down wrong... I wanted no part of that, no sir...
Yup, I would have trashed this, but Corey said it was neat, so here's my totally overexposed glamour shot of Konrad in his Dad's mad shades. Corey said that Brendan wore these one summer, and all I can say is, Dude, I hope you and your brass balls rocked these things!!!
Cause you got some stiff competition, Brendan...
uuh, hahaha!!! This was so awesome, we were making spaghetti for lunch, and I gave Konrad a piece to play with, and as he was pulling on it, it snapped... right onto his forehead, it broke on both ends and the middle went splat, right onto his knob. Oh, I was howling, and the poor Doctor was just confused. When I finally came to my senses and could breathe without gagging with laughter,
I pulled it from his forehead, and then he thought it was funny too... I tell you, he's just amazing!!
and then Mom came home for lunch, and look at his eyes, he loves, loves, loves this lady. I understand why, but it's so great to watch him with her, and in turn,
check out the flow... this kid is well loved, and it's so lovely to see it...
I love this picture... he's just making sure I know he's the man... and his Mom is home, and he's loving every second of it...
Hey!! Here's a milestone, this is Konrad's fist picture that he's ever made. Ha!! and it's a self portrait. I was making pictures of him and the glasses again when he leaned over and put his wee finger on the trigger, and poof, a portrait of the artist as a young man, take that James Joyce (no offense, Mr. Joyce, I love that book, I'm just saying...)
Ugh, again with the outside and the cold, my fingers were freezing, along with my pointy nose and my elf ears, and he just loved it.
And then, the little man weaseled me into taking a walk with him, which I thought was just a meandering down the lane, but this kid had a purpose in mind when he pointed at the gate and said, ou, ou... so ou we went, and didn't he go two houses down and sit on some other kid's bike! Hahahaha, it was sitting in the front of their house, and he thought that was just right.
I finally managed to coax him indoors with the promise of the big yellow truck, which he thoroughly enjoyed
for about 3 minutes. (this is my favorite image of the day, not sure why, but I love it)
and then we were outside again... hahaha, doesn't he look like a forest gnome on his stone stump? I saw this sitting in the yard and made a beeline to it with Konrad trailing happily behind me, ou, ou, ou...
Once done with the stoop, it was his turn to lead again... oh little man... such an adventurer... he even picked up a walking stick... hahaha!!!
and the day's never complete without a turn in the bucket... and the babysitter shivering in the 50 degree afternoon... hahaha! Miami, here I come!!
What an amazing day we had... the world is such a wonderful place...
Cheers!

Lisa and Andy's wedding

Jenna and I shot Lisa and Andy's wedding last weekend and we had a ball! Lisa and Andy are lovely people and when we had our first meeting with them, Lisa told us that she didn't want any images made of her. HHHhahahahaha!!! HUH? No images of the bride? This was our task? Our hearts stopped and for the next several weeks we poured over the internet, looking for wedding images from other Photographers that had managed to make beautiful images of the wedding not including the brides face. We sent emails of pictures back and forth and made lists of things we could do that would keep with that taxing request. A few weeks later, Lisa backed off that request, and we both sighed with relief, would have kicked her shins had she been in reach, but then thought about it and both wanted to hug her for making us work so hard, trying to create beautiful images. Thanks Lisa, your request made us better Photographers... hmm, did you do that on purpose... hmm...
Anyhoo, we had scoped out the church the week before and then had lunch to talk about how crafty we could be... and we are crafty... The morning of the wedding, we split off and Jenna went with the girls and I went with the boys to shoot their preparations. I like going with the boys, because they are usually more calm.

Here's a lovely shot Jenna made of the Lisa having her hair done. The girls are always nervous and edgy which makes me nervous, where as the boys are usually joking around to shed their nervous energy, which makes me feel better.
True to form, when I asked Andy what he wanted for his groomsmen picture, he said, by the boat... the sailboat, up on wheels, out in the field, that is... so out we tromped into the cold to make some fun shots.
Here's Andy running from his groomsmen while they threw snowballs at him. They eventually caught him, scooped him up over one of their shoulders and gave him a hard time. Fun shots, made, we headed to church to meet up with the ladies. The ladies all looked lovely, and Lisa's dress was AMAZING! I could see Gene Tierney wearing this dress, it was that type of elegance. Jenna made this one, and I love the little one watching all the fluffing and excitement. I barely remember when my Mother got married to my stepfather, I was 4 years old, but I do remember how great it felt to wear my dress! Haha, I was horrible at their wedding, crying and having a full on temper tantrum when I had to throw the flowers (I was their flowergirl) and my Mother tells me that it was a miracle that my Dad said yes when asked... ugh, I was a rotten kid... but the memory of all the dresses layers rustling when I moved, that is a permanent memory.
Hahaha, Jenna made this one too! I love the nervous stance, and the garter belt, which was not taken off by the groom's teeth at the party. I abhor that tradition! And, I LOVE the shoes! Hot red heels for a new wife, how saucy!!
Here's the bride to be, with her Mother while they were getting ready, another one of Jenna's.
The wedding was lovely, the church was beautiful, and it allowed us to make images that we have not been able to make in the past. I made this one, but only because Jenna saw it's potential when we first toured the church. I'm not sure in the frenzy of the after ceremony pictures that I would have seen this opportunity. Nice eyes Jenna! I love and fear every wedding we photograph. Weddings inspire terror in me, the images must be great, you've got one chance to make them and they are always soooooo long. This one was no different, with the exception that Jenna and I have shot enough of them together now, that I trust her, as well as myself, to get what we need independently of one another but to also be able to read her. I can see her getting the good shots in the relaxing of her shoulders, and I can see when she misses one and I make sure to get make a couple of the same thing to make sure as a collective that we've got it all. She does the same thing to me, and in the end, we come up with really great collections. I love shooting with Jenna, and I can't say it enough. She's a good partner, and she makes me laugh, hard, and often.
Here are Lisa and Andy in the middle of their wedding, and there is nothing but them, and a moment of pure joy. Nice one Jenna. I couldn't see this from the back of the church, and I'm sure most of the other people in the church couldn't either.
The ceremony, my point of view. Jenna calls me the closer. I am more comfortable shooting from the back, and so I always get the happy newlyweds leaving the church or place of marriage
and Jenna always gets the juicy ceremony shots.
Jenna gets the fronts, the close ups, the intimacy in their faces, the good stuff, the sweet looks, and the love...
and she leaves me to my strengths, which is to just shoot what I see... the pieces of intimacy that make me smile, that I wouldn't be able to see without Jenna shooting from the front. I hate shooting weddings without her. (and I love that while she was making a lovely picture of them in the window, I could make this picture, which I love, it's one of my favorites of the day)
This is another one of my favorites that I made that day. It's their first dance. The reception was at the Carnagie on 15th and P St, NW, and their reception ahll is gorgeous!! Jenna stayed on the floor to make close ones of them and gave me the opportunity to make lovely ones like this from the balcony.
Which brings us to the best image of the day. Hahaha, I know it's not of the bride and groom, but she just nailed this image!
Hhahahahaha!! This is Andy's Father with his brother, 'Uncle' Dick. Don't they just look like they stepped out of the portraits on the wall to get a couple refreshments before exiting back into their paintings. Jenna, you crafty girl!!!
So, another successful wedding, another happy couple that were just wonderful.
Congratulations Andy and Lisa!! Live long and well.
Cheers!

in the 40's

Holy Moly, 40 degrees feels so WARM!! Hahaha, we've been under freezing during the days for so long, that for the last couple of days it's been in the 40's and I feel like grabbing my bathing suit and laying out in the sun (well almost, there's still snow on the ground, so that's just not happening, but it still feels so much warmer!). Anyhoo, the hounds and I packed it in to go visit with Chris and Cane for the afternoon and try to get some running time in before the earth realizes what's going on and drops us back into the freezer. Chris and Hank stayed indoors and the younger hounds and I went for a walk along the canal path. With everything going on, I've forgotten how much I enjoy these long walks with the dogs. The days are beautiful (and so damn cold! even though I just said it was so warm, it's still only in the 40's and that's stupid cold!), and the rivers are lovely in the winter light. Here are some pics, enjoy.
HA! I'll start out with a doozy! Check out the mad ninja moves by Cane as he narrowly avoids being mauled by an overjoyed June. These two hounds are inseperable. I feel bad that when Chris and I parted, that they too had to part. They still see one another often as we're only 15 miles up the mountain, but still... whenever Chris comes to pick up Cane, June just sits by the door, looking out the window, waiting for him to come back.
here's June figuring out how to out ninja Cane... it's pretty impossible. She's not nearly as fast or flexible. Cane is built like a deer and June is well, built like a fat lab.
HA! here's Cane just living it up. He LOVES making her chase him. He runs laps around her and it makes her so MAD!
She is in full out run and look at Cane, looking back at her, taking his sweet as time, and then in a moment, he makes a 90 degrree turn and books it, and she has to do a three point turn (mac truck style) as she slams on the brakes and then looks around to find him, it's hilarious!
and while she's looking around, he comes at her from behind and just nails her. here she is almost finished rolling down the hill after Cane clobbered her close to the top. Hahaha, look at him just laughing and playing while she just gets pissed!
HHHHHHahahahahah!!! Here she comes and Cane knows it! I love this picture! Cane's got his eyes closed just waiting for her to get him! He's a good older brother like that, he knows when he's pushing it too far, and then he'll slow down and let her get him a good one in before he takes off again.
it was such a beautiful day! It got up to 50 degrees yesterday and although I was bundled up and still had my gloves on, I could feel the sun on my hair and it felt so great!
yup, still winter though... Isn't this lovely? It's ice that had been frozen onto tree roots and as it melted away from the tree, it left these patterns in the ice...cool...
I don't know how they do it, but they both went into the water and continued to play as if it were summer. They were only in it for a few moments, to drink and a bit of play, but it must have been SO cold...
stupid showoff's... I had to keep moving to stay warm, and these jerks played in the river...
I finally had to go back inside because I was chilled to the bone, but hahaha, hey Junie, what's that on your face? yup, I think it's happy hound slobber from a very good day.
Cheers!