you gotta have faith

after some recent consultations with potential clients, i suddenly became aware of a trend arising among our subjects. they're all filipino! and it isn't just family. apparently we've found a niche among eileen's peeps. ;)

so i guess we have to give credit where it's due. there's no getting around it. i think the quality of our images has to be credited mostly to how photogenic filipinos are. so keep calling on us! and our consultations will continue to begin not with "nice to meet you," but "have you eaten yet?"

however -- to be clear -- yes, we will take your photograph even if you aren't filipino. ;)

our most recent filipina subject is the brilliant, energetic, and beautiful faith elizabeth. (don't those cheeks just scream for a good pinching?) at two years old, she's already speaking in complex sentences and remembers names better than i can at 25.

her proud mommy and daddy are "tita" and "tito" to us. and we couldn't be prouder to be faith elizabeth's "ate" and "kuya." (if only she lived close enough for more frequent cheek-pinchings. alas, florida is so far.) don't grow up too fast, faith elizabeth. xoxo

carrie & andy (...and ella)

what a week, eh!? another presidential election came and went, history was made, and no angry, gun-toting mobs threatened our peace after all. (i'm afraid the same probably cannot be said for any moose wandering near an alaskan city when the voting ended.)

in other news this week, i was able to fill my car to "full" without maxing out my credit. a little disappointing, since i didn't earn anywhere near the points i had been racking up on my discover card. but i'm an optimist. so i couldn't help smiling when we paid just $1.98/gal. on the way back from snellville, where we took these maternity photos.

the happy parents-to-be are eileen's brother andy and his lovely wife, carrie (who was glowing, i might add). we haven't met our niece ella yet, but she appears to be rather oval-shaped.

a baby shower followed the photo session, and almost our entire family came together for it -- which, since we're all spread out, only happens on very special occasions or on days of the week that end in "-day."

here's to you ella. we can't wait to meet you next month. sorry your birthday falls so close to christmas. you'll have to get used to it, life is tough -- and wonderful!

these are some of our favorite black-n-whites. can't you just picture them framed?

i love the shot of andy kissing carrie's tummy. you better believe this kid is gonna get a lot more of those after she's born. andy is a fanatic for cute babies -- and ella is bound to be one of the cutest!

here is one of our ninang ("godmother") ruthie's many artistic contributions to the young parents: a delicious cake, complete with edible pregnant woman. (now that's ironic. a pregnant woman who is "eaten" instead of "eating.")

looks yummy, huh? let me give you an idea. the icing on the cupcakes was made with six sticks of butter. yeah, they were yummy.

wow! how 'bout them baby blues?

carrie's and andy's niece, emily, was supposed to give baby ella a hug for the camera. this is the closest we got.

we love you, carrie, andy, and ella. congratulations!

business & pleasure

baby logan's portrait session and gretchen & steve's engagement session are now up on the gallery page. check 'em out!




___

it's rare that i get two days off in a row in the middle of the week, so i decided to use this time to play catch-up on photog stuff. i realized that once i get started, however, it's hard for me to stop. i was telling phillip yesterday how i hadn't given myself a break in hours and my legs were cramping up from sitting too long in front of the computer. then i said to him, "but i'm loving every bit of it!" how can i complain? communicating through visual arts is what i enjoy doing, so i sometimes forget i'm "working." for phillip and me, business IS pleasure.

the girl of my dreams (...and my favorite co-worker)

...not that you aren't great to work alongside, too, dad. (i also work with dear old dad in our family's pool and spa shop.) but you have to admit, eileen looks a whole lot better in a wedding dress.

for the longest time (like practically since i laid eyes on her) i've wanted to photograph this beautiful woman who is now my bride. and this weekend, after nearly a year of marriage and no time to squeeze it in, we finally did it. i loaded my camera with a fresh roll of 35mm (okay, it was a CF memory card -- but, really, how romantic does that sound??), eileen loaded her dress with a fresh stick of dy-no-MITE, and we were off for a long overdue bridal session.

as those of you who know her can testify, eileen tends to shy away from the spotlight; so this took some coaxing. when we arrived at the park and she realized other people were there, too, the whole thing almost didn't happen. but she loosened up, and the results... well, you can see for yourself!

by the way, this post-marital photo shoot has got me thinking. ladies, have you ever asked yourself what good use you might put that wedding dress stuffed in the back of your closet to? it's never too late for bridal portraits. well, you may not want to put it off until your golden anniversary. let's just say there's no time like the present!

anyhow, as much as she rocks that white gown, that's nothing compared to how she rocks the flannel pajamas. so, i'm gone...



























what a cut-up! ha!!

happy halloween!

yup. it's hard to believe, but that was us almost exactly one whole year ago -- unknowingly beginning a new family tradition, picking pumpkins at milledge avenue baptist church. we weren't yet married, and we were just beginning to house-hunt in earnest. eileen was rooming with a friend and still warming up to life here in athens. of course, athens has always been home to me. but on that cool october night, as we harvested our first halloween pumpkins together, the old city started to feel like a new place for both of us. it started to feel like home.



we returned excitedly to milledge avenue again this year, ready to meet those two lucky gourds who would sit proudly on our own front stoop: our first official jack-o-lanterns (since last year's pumpkins never became anything but a soggy mess on my parents' driveway).



the selection was endless. there were big pumpkins, little pumpkins, and pumpkins that climbed on rocks.



it was a hard decision. but i finally decided in favor of the orange one.



eileen counted pumpkins while waiting for me to decide.



in honor of this little milestone, i tried to carve a likeness of my beautiful bride. she says she doesn't see the resemblance. (everybody's a critic.)



eileen carved the tree silhouette. qué artista, ¿no?