Double Digits. It's such a special time and yet so often it's not even recognized. The one cross-over in age we all make - from the single digits of childhood to the double digits we will most likely spend the rest of our lives in. I so love children at age 10. It's always been a right of passage in our house. When one of our kids reached 10, we made a HUGE deal about it and had what we called a "double-digit celebration". They all counted the days until it was their turn. It was very fun! It's the basis for the LSD Photogaphy Double-Digit session. At age 10, you should just have a big deal made about you! Laura had to watch her two sisters go before her and she was counting the days until she got to come have her double-digit celebration with me. I have been photographing Laura and her sisters since they were born so I actually have a little tear in my eyes for these sessions because the very thing I love about them is also the most sentimental to me. At 10, there is a special look - it's so hard to define in words - but it's the cross between childhood and adulthood and when I'm photographing these sessions and we're joking and talking, I see it through my lens - sometimes in just a blink of an eye split second it's there - the glimpse of this little child becoming an adult. For  me,  especially when it's a child I have been photographing for years, I feel so priviliged to have to have watched the transformation and the passover of this little person. It always moves me so. I have always referred to Laura as an "IT GIRL". I'm sure you'll agree from these images but I swear, she has been this way since she was born! As beautiful on the inside as the outside, Laura has got it going on now!  Laura is an outdoor girl and likes sports, reading and listening to Taylor Swift!  I expect her to have a fabulous life in the double digits and I'm proud to have helped her kick it off in such a special way!  You Go Girl!

Getting an engagement session in in Tulsa, in January, is tricky to say the least. The weather is crazy and so unpredictable! We set this up and Chrissy and John braved the wind and were total  troopers, not to mention Ethan.  But, let me mention Ethan. Chrissy and John are neither one new to love and marriage but through different circumstances and twists of fate, each had been alone for several years, wondering if there was another love in their futures or if they should just try to forget about it. Well, the funny thing about twists of fate? They twist the other way too!  And it just so happens that these two have lots of friends and family who love and encourage them and talked them both into registering on E-Harmony's website.  "Just put a profile on there. Can't hurt anything." They were SOO right.  Chrissy and John were a match!  These two are darling together. I love their playful spirits. Her soft-spokeness and his gentle kindness.  It's a match made in Heaven.   AND right in the big middle of things is....Ethan. Ethan is Chrissy's double-digit son -(almost 11)! So this is more than just uniting a man and a woman - this is creating a family.  A beautiful little family!  I gave Ethan a camera while I was shooting his mom and John and he's pretty darn good. He thinks he might like to have one of his own. YES!  John and Ethan are great friends already and, despite their allegiances to opposite Oklahoma football teams, are well on their way to a lifelong bond. (Just not on Bedlam Weekend!)

This summer Sophia and I had the opportunity to create images for a calendar to support a local dance theatre/troupe.  The calendar has just been released so here they are!   The Tulsa Folkloric Dance Theater was founded in 1999 to serve the community as a conduit for learning about the beauty and meaning inherent in dances from around the world.  Sophia has been a member of this dance theatre for several years and performs with The Purple Roses of Cairo as well as a tribal bellydance group,  throughout the year and in the summer theatre peformances at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.  These images feature the bellydancers and the band who supplies the beat!  In addition to being a stellar photographer, Sophia is a graphic designer by trade and did all the edits/design/layout for this calendar.
We had a great time stylizing and shooting this at The Barn in Tulsa.  As many of you know, Sophia and I have been BFF's since Kindergarten and she loves to dance here - and the costume part - she LOVES that part too!  Anyway, I added a few extra images of her at the end just because I love to shoot her but especially when she gets in her dance "zone". Her flair+my lens=Magic! This kind of gives me the opportunity to say how great it is to have a friend for so long who inspires and encourages and with whom you can rant, rave, whine, cry, laugh til you wet yourselves, laugh some more about that, cheer, swear and anything else with total abandon.  I guess that's friend freedom and it's a rare thing and I'm so thankful she and I have had it for so many years!  Strive for it - it's awesome! 

If you want to purchase a calendar, shoot us an emal and we'll hook you up. $19.95  and all proceeds benefit Tulsa Folkloric Dance Theater.  Support the ARTS!

There's just nothing better than a tiny baby.  I love the way they feel in your arms. I love the way they smell (most of the time). I love the way they seem to just be soaking it all in. I love just the tininess of them - their little hands, their little feet, their little ears...just their blessed littleness. This tiny boy belongs to two very young, teenage parents who love him so very very much. They may be young but they are both committed to their son and have tons of support from their families.  Bryceton is getting TONS of love!  He was only 3 weeks old here but I have never seen a baby that was more focused on his parents! He never went to sleep, little stinker! No matter how hard we tried we couldn't get him to close his eyes for a minute.  And he has the biggest, brown eyes ever! Three weeks old and he was looking right at my camera. Amazing! You guys are one of the sweetest families!  I just know you're going to make it work!

Well the streets cleared just in time for me to trek to OKC the week after Christmas to spend a little time with Sarah and Chris Rhoads and pick their branding brains! They are both fantastic photographers and just such kind and sharing spirits. I am always trying to increase my knowledge of both photography - technical and artistic aspects - and more over, the business of photography.  I have trouble with that part. Sometimes the creative just runs amok and the biz part is so very important. The two parts have to balance to be successful.   I just knew I could learn some biz tips from these two and I was right.  They are a great team and are doing the right things for their business but more importantly for their life together.  It was a small group - just 3 of us. It was perfect. About midday, they had a newly engaged couple, Ryann and Jake,  come by for a short session and we all just went out and walked about. Sarah is really fun to watch and because she shoots so differently from the way I do, (I'm a way back and she's an up-close) I learned a bunch and hope to mix it in with my current style. It's so easy to get used to shooting a certain way with a couple of lenses that I forget how fun some of the other lenses can be. Gotta dig 'em out and play a bit more!   So, of course, I had my big, stand back, lens on, and it was colder than --- you know -- but we were students first,  just kind of in the background anyway - listening and watching. Personally, I find it a little difficult to have a portrait session with people I just met that aren't mine.  I feel a bit intrusive and AWKWARD. But when I can retreat behind my 70-200, I soon forget that and just shoot.   The shooting session was just a little gravy for me!   I really went because I wanted to hear all the biz side of things - particularly work flow tips and time management. But I learned some key shooting points so I'm thrilled.   I still don't know how she shoots, edits, creates albums, blogs every day, does yoga, eats sushi, tweets,  plays video games and still gets to play with her husband too. I don't think I'll ever master that. BUT I did get a few tips to incorporate and hopefully they'll help me find the balance I so desperately seek.  Well, here's a few shots of the afternoon - I'm free to blog them I think since she's officially blogged them before me - BIG SURPRISE THERE, HUH? There is actually a little blogging tip I learned from Sarah & Chris in this blog post!  AND... I just want to say that in the morning meetings, Sarah had her beautiful hair down and was fussing with this little feather thing in it, which was perfectly placed, and she's always so relaxed but put-together, if you know what I mean.  Well, when we get ready to shoot, her boots go on and her hair goes up in a ragged little tuft and it is game on!  I just LOVE that about her.  :)  If you get a chance to have a mentor session with Sarah & Chris, just do it!  It's a great day of fun and knowledge. See all her stellar images of this darling couple at SarahRhoads.com.