portraits, danielle style

This little Darling is Finley. (not named after Carter-Finley). She has the most spectacular eyes and eye-lashes I've ever seen. And she is a blast to photograph; she has definite opinions about her hair, accessories, wardrobe and posing). And, like in the photo below, she sometimes takes breaks for snacks.

Here she is in her mom's wedding dress. How adorable is that? She is wearing her mother's dress. OH, how I know she will cherish these photos when she is older.

And lastly, here is one of miss Finley contemplating the meaning of life. In the most awesome furry vest (very Rachel Zoe). Stylish. She picked it out.

no words wednesday

Izzy, the wonder dog

This is Izzy. She;s the most easy going, sweet, obedient 2 year old I've ever met. Spending an hour with her made me really miss having a dog. I fell in love with her.  Although I don't miss all that hair ONE BIT. 

 I photographed baby Winston with Izzy today (even though she weighs nearly 150 lbs and has paws as large as Winston's head, she was super careful around him).  I wanted to photograph the largest dog possible sitting next to Winston - illustrating the crazy scale difference. This is my favorite shot of the two of them.

Izzy is an American Mastiff. And a sweetheart. And I am pretty sure I want to steal her.

Look how regal.

Would you even THINK about messing with her. No way. (although if you have cheese or chicken nuggets, she will do WHATEVER you ask her to. it is amazing).

birthdays & cupcake bandits.

This little man is Fletcher. 

He is 1 year old and 17 days. To celebrate his belated birthday, his mom and I decided that a cupcake with real sugar and real m&ms would be just the perfect treat for a photoshoot. For the baby. Not the dog. Until...

Cupcakes get attention. There was alot of sniffing (by Bailey, the dog). I think he was planning the perfect cupcake theft from the second he laid eyes on that delicious large cupcake.

It all happened pretty quickly.

AND BAM, just like that, the birthday cupcake was G. O. N. E.
Candle, wax paper and all.

But Fletcher didn't seem to mind, he likes to share.  He even offered me some of his half eaten cupcake. Which was very sweet.

Oh, and here is a sneak peek of the crib and blue truck photos that I just love. So cool!!!

little things

I feel sad today. It's not a monday thing, it is a 'my baby is growing up too fast' kind of thing. It all started last night. Winston grabbed my finger and shoved it in his mouth... and chomped down. That is when I felt IT.

A  t o o t h .

The quintessential sign of my child no longer being my BABY. Teeth are a little boy thing, a toddler thing, not a 'didn't you just come out of me?' thing. UGH. Part of me was ecstatic, I yelled for Dan to come feel our little boy's tooth. But the majority of me, the mother, the creator of this small human, felt disappointed: The baby days are over. I hate it. I love love love the tiny baby stage. And it is now gone. And I will miss it.

Winston is 6 months and 1 week old and sitting on his own. He has been drooling really badly for 3 weeks. So, we kinda knew it was coming.

He sits and plays (by himself) and can finally sit in grocery carts. Which is good because he officially weighs 19 pounds which is simply too heavy to carry for more than 10 minutes. Here we are at Staples. he thinks all shopping carts are fun.

He is sleeping 5-10 hours at night. Which means I am sleeping 5-10 hours per night. Wonderful. Thank goodness. So aging/ growing up isnt all bad, I know that. I get it. But now I regret not taking more photos of his pre-teeth smile. I loved those empty gums.
Me and Dan love this little boy more than anything in the ENTIRE world.

teeth and all.

corey williams is too talented.

look at this RIDICULOUS photo Corey took of baby Winston. First sitting up. i love it too much. I am thinking about buying a HUGE HUGE HUGE print of it. maybe wall size.

6 months old.

Ahhh, my tiny baby Winston is now 6 MONTHS old. And about 21 lbs, just guessing. He's a healthy baby. Chubby legs. Chubby arms. Delicious double chin. 

Now he is sitting up. By himself. (pictured above)

 For the past 4 or so weeks, he's been showing definite preferences: milk over prune juice, standing over laying down, books over tv, country music over classic rock and roll (which is sad), and squirming instead of sitting still... here he is enjoying his pears/prunes. (pears are his absolute favorite food)

he absolutely loves to giggle and babble, nothing he says is understandable. He says Ewwwww and Gaaaaaaaa and smiles like he is saying something truly spectacular. He absolutely LOVES dan and his nose. He bites it. And growls at it. and sticks his tongue up dans nostrils and just GIGGLES, like this is the most hilarious thing he could possibly do. I too, think it is pretty funny.

Winston is changing every single day. Yesterday (on his 6 month birthday) I noticed his hair has gotten longer and lighter. He prefers to wear it spiked. He feels he looks most cool/hip that way.

Winston discovered his feet last week. he grabs them when he is laying on his back and tries to get them into his mouth. i love watching him discover new things. he has this bouncy exerciser that allows him to jump and move side to side and dance, and he jumps hours at at time. i love watching him just figuring it all out. He loves it. 
He doesn't however, love for any of his toys to fight back when he smacks them. This bumble bee on his baby walker pinched him and DANG was he mad.

Winston and I go on play dates now. While visiting my friend Anna, Winston decided to practice his "looking super cool" skills in this crazy masculine chair. LOVE. how cute is my boy?

Anna was sweet enough to let me borrow a fancy antique pipe. And of course, Winston promptly stuck it in his mouth. Perfect!

6 months has just FLOWN by. the best six months of my life. Hands down.

shoe photography

I love product photography. I just finished up a HUGE job; over 60 pair of adult and child shoes with 3 different views per pair. It is the second time I have worked with this client: Soft Star Shoes. They're located in Corvallis, Oregon (where Dan and I lived for two years when we first got married) and hand make the most beautifully crafted shoes.

They also sell the CUTEST handmade cat toys. My friend Anna's two cats, Godfrey and Oscar, "modeled" for me. Cats are FUN to photograph.

After photographing these pink leather mary janes, I ordered them. SO FREAKING cute!

I may also buy this pair!!!

Since Winston wore this pair in one of the photographs, he gets this pair!!!

Here is the photograph - he is MODELING with the gift certificates!

I love soft star shoes, find them here: www.softstarshoes.com

working on new blog

please enjoy some new photos I added to my website -

while I muck with my blog design.

lots of love, nose crinkles

(updated post)

I finally am allowed to post my most favorite family photo from this fall (photographed inside Tanglewood). My eye goes right to Johnny's expression (the dad) and the little girl looking at the camera (me). Nicole (the mom) had just smooched her cheek! I love that HUGE brown hair bow.
I love this one too, the interaction between the parents and children, the super smile on the baby's face, the color of Nicole's sweater, the orange in the tree on the right, the fence. I just love it.
Here is one of the Christmas cards I designed for my clients - this yellow/green is my new favorite color.And every kid needs a photo of themselves in a little red wagon. And this little man was so smoochy and giggly and delicious, he fit perfectly.
(Here is the original post)
She loves her baby brother so much, she nearly squeezed the snot out of him. Look how crinkled up her little nose is!!! And look at this photo of her mom and Dad who still have serious love and affection for each other. (mom's nose crinkles too!)