Sunsets with Shae

I don't think that it is accidental that "Shae" means admirable.  She was the perfect model and the greatest of sports to allow me to direct her and take her to several locations surrounding the Carmel area and the best part about the whole experience (besides these images of course) was the conversation.  Shae is as complex and deep as she is beautiful and it was an honor to capture these images of her.  Thank you Admirable.


She is not offended to be referred to as a lioness...

 Did I mention that backlighting loves her?

 Shae, if I ever get a studio, you can bet your buttons this will be a large canvas on my wall.

One of the many things that struck me about Shae was her amazing ability to give me the straight-on gaze without appearing to be angry or suicidal.  This is a very difficult thing to direct people. She is queen of "smiling" with her eyes.

Graham Newborn

It is SUCH a small world we live in!  When I was sent a facebook message asking if I could take photograph someone's soon-to-be-born son, I was thrilled.  When I found out that this someone was actually a fellow member of the missions trip I went on back in 1999 I was shocked!  Finding out that it was Lindsay was such a thrill!  So after meeting with her for a catch up dinner and talking all things baby, walking with Lindsay to get the little guy moving, and praying, praying praying...he FINALLY arrived!  Welcome to the world Mr. Joel Graham!

 By far, the most adorable model for my new "Frank Sinatra" hat

 Sweetest sleepy owl

Big brother stole the show sporting his best cowboy stances!

Mom and dad read lots so it only made sense to make a Dr. Seuss-themed photo prop.  Such blessed to have sweet little Thing 1's and 2's.

I don't say this enough...

I LOVE MY JOB!

Fergie Fun

I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph the beautiful and famous Ferguson family a few weeks ago.  J and I first met the Fergusons in a small group that was meeting from our church while we were dating/on the brink of being engaged.  Jonah was sharing some stories of premarital counseling and Andrea was so warm and quick to make us laugh while being pregnant with baby #5.  They have a wonderfully blessed family in large supply (did I mention that they are expecting #7?)  And the love that they share is so clearly evident that you can't help but want to hang out with them all the time in order to witness their love and be a part of it.  You'll see what I mean by the pictures.  


This shoot was so much fun and I literally walked away with my smile muscles absolutely exhausted.  I have not once failed to laugh when editing some of these pictures because of the great stories behind them....oh Jonah you kill me!  




See what I mean? Smokin!

*funny story behind this next picture. I had asked Andrea to close her eyes and relax and even hum "mmm" for me.  Well little Ms. S was in the room with us and goes, "yeah mommy, like you're really hungry!" hehe

Oh baby #7, you have no choice but to be beautiful, just look at the rest of your family!

Little Ms. S

Their love for each other is beautiful.  

 I can hear Andrea laughing at Jonah's middle-school dance rendition here. 

This picture is such a great example of the Lord's craftsmanship- from the baby in her womb to the beautiful sky we were able to capture.  He is why their love is so enrapturing. 

Seriously what a handsome/gorgeous family!  I got a true smile from Ms. C!

DYY-ing! ouch! sides still ache!  There is another picture that I'm not sure Jonah would appreciate if I posted, but let's just say the superstar he poses will always make me laugh just thinking about it!

Thank you Ferguson Family for a HIGHLY enjoyable shoot.  SO MUCH Fun!  Stay tuned for little Ferguson's arrival as I have the awesome privilege of taking pictures of that sweetness as well!

Best...Job...Ever!

Mmmmm..... Granola

In addition to photography I love to cook, bake, and consume the items created by these means.  One of my favorite things to have around the house for the whole 15 minutes it usually lasts is homemade granola.

I first started making granola way before I knew of Mr. Smith.  I sometimes wonder if it wasn't the granola that landed him hook, line, and sinker. hmm.  Well anyways, would you like to learn how to make the famous Smith granola?

Here is the picture-list of ingredients that you will need in order to make the Smith famous granola.

8 c. Old-Fashioned Oats

3 c. nuts of your choice

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. honey

2 t. vanilla (yes that is GENUINE vanilla from MEXICO (thank you Rebecca) not an alcoholic beverage that it appears to be.)

3 c. dried fruit (in this case cranberries)

**I added 1 1/2 c. of sunflower seeds just because I like them!  Feel free to add what you have or don't add what you don't, it's VERY difficult to mess this recipe up.

Combine together the oats, brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon, salt in a VERY large bowl or you will have the tidal affects of an oatmeal mix overload all over your counter (trust me on this).

In a small saucepan heat the oil and honey until it begins to bubble.  Once it is bubbling remove from heat and add vanilla.  Pour this mixture over your oat mixture and stir, stir, stir.  The goal is to coat the entire mixture so that it is all moistened in order to create a yummy, yummy treat.

After it is all mixed thoroughly spread it out evenly onto two deep-edged cookie sheets.  Notice how my cranberries are not added. I prefer to add these in after the granola has baked so that they remain dried fruit rather than the plumpped fruitage that will happen in the oven.  Bake at 300 degrees for about 40 minutes.  I stir my granola halfway through and only then. This creates a very crunchy and chunky granola. If you prefer less chunky, stir about every 10-15 minutes. (oh and go easy on the stirring, or those little oats will burn at the bottom of your stove...not the best aroma, again trust me on this.)

If you follow all of those instructions you should be driving your apartment neighbors nuts with your yummy granola fumes!  When the granola appears browned as the picture below, you are done.  Set those babies on a nice cool hot-padded surface and go ahead and add your dried fruit.  Since hubby is not that big of a fan of cranberries, or anything that is dried of fruit, it goes only on one cookie sheet in our home.

*******DO NOT TASTE-TEST AT THIS POINT!  It is imperative that you fight your fleshly urge to dive into this deliciousness.  The small pleasure of flavor will be wiped out by the overwhelming of burnt taste buds, that will in effect, ruin the rest of your granola tasting experience for days.  It's worth the wait I promise.  (trust my husband on this one)

I hope that you get a chance to make this soon, in fact more than likely you can make this today!  Let me know how it goes and how your world has been rocked by the yumminess of this granola.  

Thanks for stopping by!

The Maple-smelling momma,

Christina