Willa is One!

 

Oh Miss Willa, you are already a heart breaker! Pure sweetness!

 

 

 

Bennett is ONE! Cake Smash Fun!

 I LOVE a first birthday cake smash! What a fun way to celebrate that first year milestone!

 

Mmmmmm.....good stuff!

Bennett looks like the cat that ate the canary here!

 Here Bennett is showing us how big he is....the fingers are glued together with frosting :)

All cake smash sessions are followed by a little rub a dub dub in the tub!

The "END" to a very fun morning!

Willa

Miss Willa came in to have her 6 month photos taken. I just love this age; such a smiley, happy age. And Willa was full of smiles but I also like the more serious looks Willa gave us too! Thank you Willa for playing dress up with me, wearing rabbit ears, letting me put you in a flower pot, etc. - it was a super fun time in the studio!

 

 

 

 

Stylized Session; Making Cookies

I've had this idea for quite some time to start offering "stylized/lifestyle" sessions and my neice Leanne was gracious enough to let me come to their home and try this idea out on my great nieces; Claire and Nora. Our theme for the session was making cookies and between Leanne and I we came up with some great props that were cute but also very meaningful. We had old kitchen utensils, rolling pins, recipes cards and books, etc. that belonged to my mother, as well as some from Leanne's other grandma. I loved seeing Claire and Nora having fun with these things - what a neat way to honor their great grandmothers who are no longer with us!

Anyway, it was fun to get out of my studio and do a session in the girls own home. I loved working with the natural light in Leanne and Jon's house, it was perfect! I have many ideas for other stylized sessions with anyone who may be interested. Some ideas running through my head are doing chores with Grandpa on the farm, dress up tea party (this would make for a great indoor or outdoor session!), little fireman in my pedal car firetruck at a firestation or any downtown alley way with old brick, planting a garden/flowers (with a trip to the greenhouse!), vintage back to school (outdoor) session, etc., etc. If you would be interested in a such a session and/or want to brainstorm some ideas with me, give me a call at 605-661-3812!

A Change of Pace

I am taking an on-line course called Beyond Layers and am trying to keep up with a weekly assignment which I don't always get accomplished but it is a fun change of pace playing around with textures in photoshop. You can check out the amazing art coming out of this group on Flickr by searching for Beyond Layers. Here are a couple of my latest attempts at attempting a "one word" assignment and "creating blur."

Maria and Doug are Engaged!

One of the most gratifying aspects of photography is the people you get to meet and spending time with them as they mark a happy occasion with photographs. Doug and Maria made the trip from Omaha last Satuday for their engagement photos and we had such a good time - their joy is contagious! I am glad we did this last weekend as it looks like Omaha was in the center of a winter storm that missed us up here. I hope Maria has gotten back from her trip this week and that her and Doug get to spend a nice, cozy weekend together!

Doug, you are such a great sport, to get down on one knee and re-enact the proposal on the Vermillion-Newcastle Bridge.....in the cold, with cars speeding by and passengers gauking. You are one lucky woman, Maria! Congratulations to the both of you! Can't wait to photograph the wedding and celebration afterwards in Bow Valley in September!

Melissa & Nick; Soon to be Mom & Dad!

Melissa and I started off as biking budies in 2006 and since I took up photography a few years, Melissa has been a wonderful mentor! This last year we haven't done any biking together but we have done a lot of photography together! I was honored to do some maternity photos with Melissa and Nick as part of the Valentine special fundraiser for the Wakonda Pool. These guys are going to be the csoolest parents ever - I can't wait to meet their little one due in March!

Valentines Mini-Sessions

I can't wait to share with you all the photos from the Valentines mini-sessions from this past Saturday. Thank you all for supporting this fund raiser for the Wakonda swimming pool and thank you to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Dick and Julie Logue for providing matching funds! A total of $400 was raised.

And to show my appreciation to all who participated, each family that brought their child/children will be elgible to win a free photo session with photo CD (to be used by June 1st). Here are the rules:

• Go to Photography by Cathy Jo's Face Book page.
• The winner of the free photo session will be determined by the photo with the most votes.
• Votes may be placed by commenting on a photo (only 1 comment per person per photo).
• Double votes awarded to those who comment who are new fans of Photography by Cathy Jo (click the "like" button at top of page to become a fan) at the time the photos are posted.

Here are a few photos from Saturday - remember officially voting needs to take place on my Face Book page!