Soothing Sounds....

I had a great session today with husband and wife music-thanatology team, Tony Pederson and Margaret Pasquesi. I didn't know what a music thanatologist was until I spoke with them. What a remarkable talent and calling they both have! They use singing and harps at the bedside of the dying to ease the transition from life to death and also to provide comfort for the families. They told me that they are two of only 70 music thanatologists around today. If you would like to learn more about this amazing profession, click here.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from today.

Mothers Day & Fathers Day Special Offer

I am so excited to add some new photo jewelry to my offerings.

This sterling silver bracelet with respositionable charms is a new favorite of mine. You can place the charms anywhere you wish on the bracelet, or put the charms on a necklace you already have. Moms, if you have a growing family this bracelet is great because you can add more charms later as needed.

Here is a beautiful sterling silver charm necklace with crystal and pearl accents.

This sterling silver 2-sided tile necklace can be accented with your choice of semi-precious stone.

And how about something for Dad? Since we all know that keys take a real beating in pockets and bags, this silver-toned keychain is actually made of pewter for extra durability. It is two-sided, so you can choose to showcase two images or have the same image repeated on both sides.

SPECIAL: 15% off all jewelry ordered before April 8th!
For complete details about photo jewelry, click here.

Mothers Day is May 10th. To ensure delivery in time to give as a gift, all orders must be submitted by April 8th.

Fathers Day is June 21st. To ensure delivery in time to give as a gift, all Fathers Day orders must be submitted by May 18th.

and the mommies enjoyed the fabulous cake....

It's so much fun to do a one year session for a baby I also had the opportunity to photograph as a newborn. E has grown so much!

When she first arrived for the session, she was a bit shy.

But within a few minutes she was blowing me kisses.

Her mom brought a dress that worked perfectly with my green paper background.

Inspired by R's successful cake smash session from a couple of weeks ago, E's mom made an incredible cake. Unfortunately E was not too interested in the cake but her mom and I ended up pulling out a couple of plates and eating some of it after the session. I should have photographed THAT, huh? LOL!

CAKE SMASH!

We did R's 1-year session a couple of weeks ago but wanted a cake smash to be the finale of her "Baby's First Year" album. She came back this week for a cake-only shoot. I have only done one other cake smash session before and it was for my own son two years ago. Unfortunately he was not too into the idea, cried the whole time, and I didn't really get any good shots. Back then I was not tuned in to the concept of seamless paper (which can be cut and tossed), so I had the whole studio floor tarped in clear plastic. What a pain in the neck! R's session was much easier than that, and she loved the cake her mom made for her (ummm, yeah A, is there nothing you can't do??). The session ended up with R getting rinsed off in the bathtub, with was clearly not her favorite part of the event. I would have photographed that part, but my hands were a necessary component of the cleanup process. LOL!

Sacci Design Faux "Backdrops"

I have been asking myself for awhile why I decided to paint the studio walls white. I guess I was thinking about reflected light and technical things of that nature. After seeing some of the very cool things Lauren from Sacci Design has come up with for the faux finishing side of her business, I decided to consult with her about the studio walls. I wanted something that could be used as backdrops, and I am thrilled with what Lauren came up with.

Here she is, hard at work:

I got my little guy to pose for me today in front of the new walls. He's such a ham, and also such a typical boy. It's hard to take a shot of him without some sort of scratch or bruise on his face.

This was such a fun project. Now I really want to just paint the whole studio, not just my shooting walls!

If you need a little makeover for your home, office, or studio, I highly recommend Sacci Design. I am really excited about these new walls and can't wait to test them out during some upcoming sessions.

Periodontics Ltd.

Last week I did some headshots for the awesome docs from Periodontics Ltd. If you are in the Chicago area, I highly recommend these folks. Being the daughter of a general dentist in the area, I sort of get the inside scoop on which specialists are really good. And these guys are really good. I am the world's biggest baby about any kind of dental work. My Dad takes me after hours so I don't scare away his other patients, and it's not because of anything he does but because I pretty much demand novocain for a routine cleaning. That said, when I needed some special work done I actually enjoyed my experiences with Drs. Rosen and Yamada at Periodontics Ltd. Okay, so maybe "enjoyed" is a bit of a strong word to use when talking about dental surgery, but I wasn't freaked out at all and the whole experience was infinitely better than I ever expected it could be.

Dr. Yamada, Dr. Rosen, Dr. Gorin, Dr. Marinello, Dr. Russo, and Dr. Doan - it was great to work with you all. I hope you are as happy with your headshots as I am!