Bun in the Oven!

Every professional photographer these days has seen them, experienced them, and perhaps even had a run in with them… the guests at events that also have DSLR cameras.  I’ll translate for those not knowing what a DSLR camera is.  It’s basically the big ones, the heavy ones, the ones that take great pictures!  In 2008 they were the number one holiday gift of the year and for big events such as weddings they often get brought out!

Ummm, why am I mentioning this on a Bun in the Oven post?  Well that is how I first met Kristen! BUT in a good way, Kristen was the first female “other” I had seen at a wedding. Unlike the male “others” often referred to as Uncle Larry’s in the photography magazines, Kristen just happily did her own thing and never once said something obnoxious to me like, “So how do you feel about a little competition?” or “I just do this as a hobby but I tell you my pictures are amazing” or “I’m not sure about your angles, I would have shot that from a different perspective”. Breathe. But in all honesty these are some of the things that I have been told by the Uncle Larry’s of the world!

Back to Kristen.  As the night went on, I really enjoyed watching her take pictures, she was having so much fun and really seemed to have some good ideas- I had to talk to this one!  I approached her and we chit chatted for a bit, she was so friendly and humble and I instantly liked her!   I liked her so much I wanted her to try my favorite lenses! (For any professional photographers out there I know you think I am crazy to lend one of my pro lenses to a guest at a wedding…but she was that cool!) Now lenses are ONE of the differences between a professional and the Uncle Larry’s out there and I wanted Kristen to experience the magic of the lens I refer to as “my baby”!  I grabbed my 70- 200mm and clicked it into her camera’s body and the rest is history!!  Two years later we are friends, fellow photographers, have attended workshops together and lastly and probably the most fun, we are about to become new Mommies together!  Her due date is 4 weeks behind mine!

Leading me to this post, I was extra THRILLED at the opportunity to be able to take maternity pictures of her to document this special time in her life!  I was REALLY THRILLED to be at a wedding 2 years ago with a sweet female photographer and not an obnoxious Uncle Larry!

Meet Kristen, her husband Pat and their adorable new dog Daisy in front of their beautiful new home!  Even though this shot is nothing fancy and even Uncle Larry could take it, I LOVE taking shots in the front of someone’s home if possible.  I strongly feel that we have to be our own historians in this world!  I know I just love looking at old pictures from our family albums and seeing how life was either 5 years ago or way back when. I imagine that little baby looking at this image when he or she is about to leave for college, or perhaps about to get married.  Do Mom and Dad still live there?  Did the baby grow up there? Does it conjure up memories of chasing Daisy around the yard? Life evolves and that is one of the reasons why photographs are so special, they can capture a moment in time that can be preserved for the sake of one’s family history.