I'm in hobby heaven

I pretty much haven't put my new camera down since I got it in February; if it wasn't so heavy, I'd probably wear it as a daily accessory.  But after a while it gets a little old taking pictures of my husband, food, plants, and random farm animals. So you can imagine my excitement when some of my friends asked me to take pictures of them. I was overjoyed, honored (to say the least), nervous, anxious, felt under-prepared, and overly excited. Taking pictures of live, real humans with honest emotions and breath-taking expressions is a wonderful prospect, but also a nerve-racking one for an amateur hobbyist like myself.

I gladly accepted their requests, but insisted that my work be pro bono due to my limited experience, amateur status, and lack of the equipment needed to produce the professional results commonly seen in today's pho-tog industry. (I have a pretty good camera with a decent lens,  but would need upgraded lens and all post-processing software to really be proud of my work). Despite these setbacks, I decided to jump on the great oppurtunity to increase my skills, spend time with my friends, and mainly do something that I truly love: taking pictures and capturing memories.

My first subjects were my dear friends Daniel and Jennifer who wanted some pictures of their first pregnancy. They are one of my favorite couples on the planet, and I was so touched they asked me to photograph such an exciting time. (Talk about being nneerrvous)

Daniel and Jennifer are high-school sweethearts and truly bring out the best in each other. Their personalities are easy-going and humor-filled; a perfect combination for a anxious first-time-picture-taker like myself.

Next stop was Claire's first birthday party; the daughter of my sweet friend Keeley.  I love, love, love this family and was about as excited to photograph Claire's party as I was to spend the day with the Nash clan. Jameson came along for this party too; he's a great sidekick and partner. It was a really fun day- thanks for including us! :)

Such an adorable little girl!!

And last but not least was my best friend Meda. She is a beautiful person inside and out and I knew that taking her pictures would be an amazing experience. Meda is a very soulful and impassioned person and I anticipated that her emotions relating to the magnitude of the event I was photographing would translate beautifully through the camera. And they did.
These are only a some sampling of the maannyyy pictures we took that day. The last photo is my absolute favorite. Maybe one of the favorite pictures I've ever taken. (And of course Meda gets all the credit for it...I just released the shutter button).

The emotion and expression in her face is gorgeous.

Thanks friends for allowing me to help capture your memories!! I had a blast!