{Wishing for Spring...}

Is it Spring yet? I know, Winter just began, but I'm ready for Spring. Today was so warm here - 70 degrees. So I had to go outside with the kids. Here's Miss B pretending I'm not nearby - refusing to look up. Tyler was so excited to be outside! He's been dying to play outside for the past few days, but rain kept us in.

Being the last day of the year, I had to post some shots even though they don't fit with the season. Happy New Year!!

(a little bit of faded vintage...)

{when mommy's on the phone...}

I was on the phone today with a client and whenever 'mommy's on the phone', Brielle is nowhere to be found. As soon as I hung up the phone I went up to her bathroom looking for her (she's obsessed with brushing her teeth). She wasn't there. Then I ran down stairs to my bedroom (she loves to 'pretend' she's sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed). She wasn't there. Lastly I looked in my bathroom. There she was standing on my chair in front of the vanity putting on my make-up. I ran to get the camera and got this picture before she saw me (the colored image). When she heard the shutter she said in a guilty but enthusiastic voice, 'Briella put make-up on - sooo cute. So pretty? Look at my lips.' Then she looked in the mirror and smiled proudly at herself. She had gotten out my lip liner and put it on 'like mommy' she said. If I ever go out of the house with my lip liner going up my lip to my nose, someone please let me know ;-) {Notice how pretty she applied the lip liner to the area above her lip - oh so pretty Briella...}

As for my son... he was completely involved with his favorite thing right now. Miniature cars from the 'CARS' movie. He loves them! I got out my camera to take some 'product shots' but when my son saw what I was doing he asked if I could take pictures of his cars - he even lined some up for me. So I took a couple of pictures :) He was giddy as he arranged his cars for the 'shoot'.
So smooth and shiny...

A little bit of texture...

{Christmas Wishes}

I wanted to wish all my blog viewers a Merry Christmas! What an amazing and special day it is, with many blessings. I hope this holiday season provides you with peace, comfort and love.
Thank you to my clients who have made my first few months in business in South Carolina a wonderful and enjoyable beginning. I can't wait for the exciting new things that 2008 will bring.

Oh my...I can't believe how behind I am on blogging...

I always try to update my blog at least 3 times a week, but this past week has been completely nuts with packaging orders till the wee hours of the morning, wrapping Christmas gifts when my kids are soundly sleeping, baking-baking-baking, making goody bags for school and friends, going to holiday parties {couldn't miss those fun times}, having a little one with strep and another one with a sick bug, and trying to find time for sleep ;-)

Anyway, it's been a fun, challenging and busy month. I'm sure that's the same for most of you reading this.

Had to leave you with one vintage Christmas picture of my kiddos that we used in our Christmas card this year {although it wasn't vintage in the card since there were several other images that accompanied it}.

More...

I have so many 'out takes' from the kids... Wanted to add a few more...

I'm finally starting to think about my own Christmas Cards for this year, so I took my kids out for a little session on Friday. I ended up just laughing and shaking my head by the end of the session. To start, it was really chilly! So Tyler and Brielle's nose were bright red and my hands felt frozen to the cameras shutter. And they had an agenda of their own... of course. So I finally just gave in and went with it...

We'll see what we actually get for our cards this year ;-)

Anyway, here are some out takes and images that just didn't make the cut this year :)

Aw... can't you feel the love between the two? Well, maybe not today...

Psst... Brielle, a little more attitude please?!

Yep, that's my girl. Doing her own thing and full of tude... I really fear her teenage years...

Tyler, trying to get a reaction out of Brielle, it didn't work. He'll laugh at this someday. I think...

Cute Little Gnome?

or something parents want to 'accidently misplace'?

I want to preface this by saying: Grandma & Grandpa May - we have a love-hate relationship with the newest little member you introduced to our family. Even I have fun playing with this little guy. But as you experienced, there's times when you'd like to just toss it out the window {wink}. Most of the loud toys the kids have, we cover the speakers with packaging tape (something we learned from our good friends Josh & Jamie before we had kids). But with this little, soft, cute guy, we just can't do that.

Grandma & Grandpa May brought Tyler this fun little gnome pictured below during their recent visit. It really is fun for the person playing with it, but drives others in close proximity a little crazy after a while. You record your voice (about 12 seconds worth) and then it plays back to you in a little elf-like voice. Really fun! But after hearing this all day, (Tyler is truly addicted to playing with this little creature) you start going a bit insane.

Brielle loves it too, but since it's Tyler's - he only allows her one whole, huge, long, minute to play with this then it's his again for the next several hours. Anyway, the gnome has had to take it's share of time-outs (rests) in it's house (on top of the refrigerator), so mommy can get her wits back. We finally went to http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/ (where grandma got the little guy) and got one for Brielle too. Are we asking for it? Afraid so, but it's fun for the kids. And the few moments they let daddy and mommy have there turn with it.

Games, Giggles and a Little Defiance....

We did a little photo session with Grandma & Grandpa May when they were here. The kids had their own agenda though... who knew? And unbeknownst to me little Brielle had a horrible right ear infection. Normally she's pretty cooperative in front of the camera but on this day -- not so much. So we did what we could :) The kids really miss having their grandparents here and are incessantly asking when we are going to visit them as well as their other grandparents. It's strange not living near family but we're thankful for the visits that we have with them throughout the year. We miss everyone so much, especially as the holidays approach. Thank goodness for phones, internet and web cams...

Here's a few images taken last week.

Holiday Deadline

Just a friendly reminder that all Holiday Orders need to be submitted to me by tomorrow - December 2nd, to get here in time for Christmas. Please e-mail me at kara@karamayphotography.com with any questions you may have :) Thank you!

On a side note, January is quickly filling up so if you are interested in booking a session for after the new year, I will soon be starting to book February dates. I will also be focusing some time in December and January on several commercial projects, but my primary focus remains on photographing children had continuing sessions during these projects. It's just going to be a little busy.

Lastly - below is an example of a new storyboard collection I've put together. :)

Chaos & Silliness...

I was finishing up the dishes last night when I was informed that we needed to do a little impromptu, one last picture of us all with Grandma & Grandma May (since they were heading back to Arizona at the crack of dawn the next morning). Chaos and silliness is how I would describe the pictures we took. The kids were being silly and soon that spread to all of us. The kids giggled and squealed watching to see if mommy could quickly run into the picture after setting the timer on the camera that stood on on it's tripod (pretty sad tripod at that). And the best part for the kids was making silly faces - they thought that was the best! So here is what we ended up with - one final 2007 memory captured with Grandma & Grandpa May during their visit with us.

Tin Horse Round Up & Tea Time

Another fun tea party! Of course I love it when the little girls I photograph want to have a tea party! Grace was ready with giggles & tea cookies (teddy grams). And little brother, Hunt, was rounding up his little horse (a beautiful family antique of theirs). Anyway, I had fun with these kids and they kept me on my toes running around everywhere.

Here's a little peek at our session...

Little Beauty...

I had so much fun tonight during my session with little Elyse! She is so sweet, all girl and just breath-takingly beautiful. We had fun doing all the girly-girl things - she danced for me, showed me her many silly faces and gave me beautiful smiles. She was such a good sport through the many wardrobe changes I put her through so as a little reward I let her take a couple of pictures with my camera (shh... I didn't say that, really). ;-)

She was a lot of fun - making this session really great! Here's a peek at just a few of the images from this evening. :)

Two Little Cuties!

I did it!! I posted this sneak peek before mid-night! I just couldn't decide which pictures to post. And I couldn't resist 'going vintage' on one of them... (hint: there's a truck in this particular image). :) These two kids were so great! Vance, who is 5 years old, showed me his cool dirt bike (or was it a motorcycle?). I'm going to have to post a picture of him on it in the next day or so. But before he showed me his cool bike and his two soccer balls, he was very willing to let me photograph him. He did so great and even helped his sister during her portion of the session. Little Olivia is Vance's younger sister and she is all girl! We dressed in petticoats, had a tea party and went on a nature walk. I feel so lucky to have this job. I get to play and photograph children and turn into a kid again while doing it! Here are a few images from tonight's session.

Oh my... look at those eyes...

They are the bluest eyes I've ever seen. I photographed 8 month old Daniel today, and the whole time I just couldn't stop looking at his big blue eyes! They are absolutely beautiful! Daniel was a trooper - the weather changed a bit to overcast and a little chilly and he was so mellow during our session and during outfit changes. It was great! He wasn't sure about my camera, smart little guy. I'm sure he was wondering who this stranger was with this big lens in his face ;-). He did great! Here are a few images from our session.

Preserving the memories...

Grandma & Grandpa flew from Seattle to be here for Tyler's 5th birthday! What a treat! Tyler was thrilled! We decided to have a little photo session since I rarely get the opportunity to capture the kids with them. G&G played ring around the rosy with Tyler and Brielle, they threw rocks into the pond, ran and explored with me behind the lens trying to soak it all in. The kids miss them already... in fact right after we dropped them off at the airport, Tyler said, 'It's really too bad that they had to leave.' It was very sweet. Later that night Tyler kindly informed me that it was boring without Grandma & Grandpa at the house. Thankfully, the kids get to see their other grandparents on Saturday when they come to visit for a couple of weeks.