While I was downloading images last night, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh. You see when I arrived to start Ethan’s session yesterday, his mom was a little worried that pictures might not go over very well. Ethan is going through the fun of cutting teeth right now, and yesterday and the night before were especially rough for him. I would have never guessed it though! As soon as I pulled my camera out he started smiling, posing, and giggling. There was a point toward the end that he wasn’t just giggling, he was knee slapping, belly laughing.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone back to look at this series today, just for a smile. I know his mom will more than appreciate a little sneak peek and I figured there were probably a few people out there that could use a smile too.

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I used to be able to stay up as late as I wanted and never have a problem. Now, it is 10:30 (which is actually 12:30 in my regular timezone) and I’m struggling to get my fingers to do what my brain says.

Today was a jam packed day of staring at a computer until I headed out to Ovid to shoot one of my favorite cutie little boys. I can’t wait to get up a few images from today’s session, and I know his mom can’t either. They’ll definitely be worth the wait though.

Before I give in to the sandman, I needed to stay good on my promise of an image from Parkview. It wasn’t the original image I was going to blog. In fact, it was one of the very last ones I even edited, but is a new favorite for me. This shot is taken in left field, where the doors to Mitch’s shop open onto the field.

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I just got to Sterling and it is PERFECT out! I couldn’t help but jump out of my rental (by the way did you know they still make cars without cruise control?!) and run to my parents’ backyard to get a couple quickie shots. My last few trips I’ve had the worst timing in the world as far as weather goes. I came in last month to a blizzard, while Fort Wayne saw the first nice days it had seen in a long time. This time the thermometer is hovering around 75 here, in Colorado, while it has apparently been raining off and on back in Indiana. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the rain holds off for the TinCaps game tonight, though.

Look for some new ballpark shots up here tomorrow. I have some great sessions planned for this week and then Saturday get to finish the trip off with a wedding that I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. Not only is it going to be a super fun and beautiful wedding, but it is one of my closest friends. I can’t wait!

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It is currently almost 3:00 a.m. on what is finally the TinCaps Opening Day. I left Parkview Field about 1:00 a.m., and there were quite a few members of the front office still there, putting their finishing touches on their contributions to the big day. On the field were two guys who will probably still be there for a couple more hours, will go home, catch maybe two hours of sleep, grab a quick shower, and head back down to the stadium. Those guys are Grant, the Assistant Groundskeeper, and my husband, the Head Groundskeeper, Mitch.

Like the title says, this post is me bragging a little bit, so be forewarned that the cheesiness begins here. Almost five years ago, in a moment that can only be described as fate, I met Mitch (the fact that he ever even talked to me after that night is a miracle in itself). From pretty much that day on my friends were asking if he had a brother, because they knew there was no way that I was crazy enough to ever give him up. As if treating me like a queen, encouraging me to follow my dream of photography, and being the best friend I could ask for isn’t enough, he is also one of the hardest workers I have ever met. Mitch doesn’t do anything half way. If something isn’t done right, he will start over, and continue to start over until it is perfect. Just tonight when I asked how things were going, he showed his perfectionist side, and voiced his concerns over the couple of spots where the sod hadn’t taken yet. I’ve lost track of the amount of nights that he has pulled all nighters to make sure that his lines are straight in the mow pattern and his on field painting is exactly as he had it pictured. On top of being the kind of man that I can’t help but be incredibly proud of, he has somehow managed to balance those long nights, and the long hours, that working at a ballpark requires, with spending quality time at home.

Tonight as I was getting ready to head home, I was standing on the warning track behind home plate, (trying to keep off of the grass) just taking it all in. All night I could sense the beginning of an absolutely electric atmosphere, and couldn’t help but feel 100% thankful for our far from perfect life, that just seemed pretty perfect tonight.

Hard to believe that the end of September Mitch was finalizing the design for the field and eagerly watching for progress.

So many fans often take the playing surface for granted… I know I used to. Now that I “get” to hear all about the different varieties of Kentucky Blue that are on the field, which one is coming out of dormancy a little slower than the others, and why Poa is such a bad thing, I appreciate it a LOT more.

Parkview has already provided so many memorable moments, it is going to be great to see what new ones pop up throughout the season. (Hint: Those who attend the game tomorrow will better understand what was going on in this shot.)

I think this is probably the best “self portrait” of us that I could finish this post with. Thanks for putting up with my cheesiness and allowing me to gush. I’m normally very anti-PDA, so I’m going to consider this giving credit, where credit is due.

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I had almost three months at the beginning of the year, where I had to force myself to sit back behind my computer and do all of the little, not as fun as shooting, businessy things. Luckily, the majority of that time it was too cold and gray out for me to even want to go outside. Don’t get me wrong I did a little shooting for myself in that time though.

However, when it came time for me to shoot an awesome senior, on a beautiful sunshiney day last month, I ran with it. When I say I ran with it, I mean I shot and shot and shot. Editing Matt’s images down to a somewhat respectable (meaning not massive) number was hard (I may have failed there). The moral of the story was that a cold dreary winter + an awesome senior + a beautiful Spring day = lots of images!

You can check out Matt’s sneak peek here.

Class of 2010 Seniors, just a quick reminder to check our Senior Rep. Program. For the next week only, all seniors who apply (even those who aren’t selected) will at minimum get their session for half off! To check out more pricing and rep. info click here.

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It seems like I’ve been going 100 mph this week, but my to do list doesn’t have hardly any checks on it. One of the few that I do have was the second half of Tyler’s session (the first half is here). In retrospect we did his sessions completely backwards. We got all of his outdoor stuff done on a freezing (and I mean freezing) cold day in December. We couldn’t get all of his sports stuff done that same day though, so we did those indoor shots on a beautiful March day.

I always try to get a few series of shots each session that are completely different and will help that session stand out from any other one. Sometimes those ideas don’t totally pan out the way I imagined, but if they do, they are usually my favorites. Tyler totally trusted me as I ran him all over the gym, and I’m so glad because I love how the shots came out.

Thanks again Tyler!

Class of 2010 Seniors, just a quick reminder to check our Senior Rep. Program. For the next week only, all seniors who apply (even those who aren’t selected) will at minimum get their session for half off! To check out more pricing and rep. info click here.

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What was once so easy, has now become ridiculously hard. I was in a nice habit of blogging regularly and then just suddenly forgot how to do it. The trip to Colorado didn’t really help with that, neither did the exhaustion that came after the trip. The great part about it though, I had a few awesome seniors that we managed to squeeze in after the blizzard and before the sickness that seemed to hit the whole area.

While I work to finish up processing those, here is a sneak peek of Matthew’s senior pics. We had to get an image out ASAP for the All State Football program. Remember what I said before about always getting super smart, talented, and overall great seniors?!

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