The Christmas Card that Never Was

Things were really crazy before Christmas. I wanted so badly to do a nice family photo for our Christmas card, but I quickly found myself running out of time and creative ideas. My best friend, and incredibly talented seamstress, Danielle from The Little Pink Peony had just made Molly a gorgeous infinity scarf, so I decided on a whim that a picture of my cutie kiddo in her new scarf and peacoat, would make for a perfect Christmas card.

I never ended up using the photo for the card, as I did find 15 minutes later on that week to set up a tripod and get a relatively normal looking photo of the three of us and our dog for a family picture. But I keep coming back to my five minute photo shoot with Molly in front of our neighbor's tree (because they totally would not have though it was weird to look outside and see me with my huge camera taking pictures of my kid on their lawn without permission) and laughing because the outtakes are so Molly being Molly, especially when she lets me take her photo.

Here are some of my favorite outtakes from our very quick December photo shoot.

The "Cheese" Face

The "Hey, What's Over There??" Face

The "I Can't Believe She is Making Me Wear This Dumb Headband" Face

The "Hey, Why the Heck Did We Leave that Gorgeous Light??" Face

The "You Know You Want to Give Me a Donut" Face

The "Pensive" Face

The "I'm Just Going to Stand Here and Be Cute" Face

And a few of my "normal" favorites. :)

I'm so lucky to have such an amazing kiddo, who is my most favorite model.

Being Molly's Mom - Her Fall Photoshoot!

They say that when you become a parent, time suddenly moves at warp speed. I'm starting to understand the truth behind this statement. It feels like yesterday when we were at the hospital holding our brand new baby girl. She was so tiny, and perfect, and I will never, ever forget the feeling of having her sleep on my chest those first few nights, or watching my husband be so very comfortable having her in his arms.

A few weeks ago I decided to take Molly out for a little photo shoot..just she and I. I knew it would be my last chance before the snow hit to get her in her adorable fall outfits, so we headed up to the park one chilly afternoon. She was a bit on the serious side, but I was thrilled at how well she did without anyone there to help me rein her in, and it also hit me how quickly the time has flown. My brand new baby girl now walks, talks, plays, laughs, and gives loves. Just when you think your heart can't get any more full, you have a child, and you watch your child grow, and your heart just grows and grows with it. There is nothing in the world like parenthood.

Here's my Molly last fall, on the same weekend, in her monkey Halloween costume:

And here she is, one year later...dare I say, all grown up and ready to conquer the world.

There is nothing better in the world than being a mom.

See more photos from our shoot on my photography blog.

Katelyn's Bachelorette Weekend: Part I

A few weeks ago I traveled to Geneva, New York for my good friend Katelyn's bachelorette party. I still have yet to go through the pictures I took of our 8-vineyard wine tour (yup, you read that correctly), but I did take a quick break from the wedding editing to go through some of the shots I took on our first night there.

If you've never been to the Finger Lakes region of New York, hop in your car, and make the drive. It was completely worth the 9 hour drive (yup, you read that correctly too), for both the scenery and the company.

We spent the first night of the weekend at the Ramada in Geneva. I rode most of the way with my friend Kristen, and to be honest, we weren't expecting much from the Ramada (we both travel a lot for work and have developed a bit of a snotty side when it comes to hotel preference. Not that I need the Ritz, but I don't tend to slum it in my Hampton Inns either).

When we pulled up to the hotel we were greeted with a huge building right on Seneca Lake. A tent was set up out back, probably from a wedding that had happened earlier in the day, live music was playing on the patio, and people were dancing, drinking, and having a blast.

The true beauty of the evening though was the sunset. I don't know the last time I saw one so pretty. The sky reflecting off of the lake made for a gorgeous blue and purple tones in both the water and the sky. It was so hard to put my camera down at all while we walked the pathways behind the hotel. I only hoped I was able to capture the beauty of what was in front of us.

I still have a long way to go when it comes to scenic photography. I'm no Ansel Adams, but I love to take scenic shots. Having a photographer's eye is such a cool way to live..I really think I appreciate what I see around me so much more than I used to.

Anyway, here are some of the photos I took that evening. I'll have many more to share when I can get another little break from the wedding photos to go through the rest. And as always, if you are interested in purchasing any of my photos you can email me directly at kristina@kristinaobrien.com.

 

Memorial Day, 2011

(For those of you who also follow my professional blog, you can stop rubbing your eyes and checking your address bar..this is posted twice. :) I just had to share these photos!)

I meant to post this earlier today, but the sun was shining, it was a perfect 85 degrees outside, and I was thrilled to be outside with my family to celebrate this Memorial Day.

It still was important to me though, to write this post, and to post it today, even though there are only a mere 2.5 hours left to it. On Saturday, I was in Boston, shooting Laura and Preston's engagement photos. I used to live in Boston, and haven't been downtown in awhile, so I thought I'd go a bit early, feeling lucky for the opportunity to be in the city with my camera.

I stepped out of the parking garage on the Common, and was just about to cross the street into the Public Garden when I looked behind me and gasped, (actually it was more of an "ooooooooooooooh!" Just ask my husband who was on the phone with me at the time. I think I might have actually hung up on him, I was so excited). On the hill of the common were thousands, and I mean thousands of American flags. I simply could not resist.

It was amazing. I learned that they were placed in memory of fallen Massachusetts service members. There were so many, I couldn't stop taking pictures.

I was so amazed by the whole thing that I spent most of my free time just looking at it. It was simply breathtaking. The last shot I took was of this yellow rose, attached to one of the flags towards the front. I wondered who placed it there, and who it was in memory of.

I hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day. I also hope you took a minute or more to stop, remember, and thank those who have given their lives for our freedom, and also to the service members and their families who are currently serving our country.

Please Help - Sales to Benefit Tornado Victims

Maybe I'm just getting older and more aware, or maybe my eyes have opened up a bit more since having my daughter eight months ago, but for whatever reason, the recent devastation caused by multiple tornadoes across the country is simply eating me up. I can't go down and sift through the rubble, and help families piece their lives back together, but I can do my part to donate funds to help those who are in so much need.

Starting today, and through Monday, May 30, I will be donating 100% of the profits from any of my scenic prints to the American Red Cross in the name of tornado relief. It doesn't matter the size of the print, framed, matted, or just plain, I will not make a penny off of these sales.

Here is just a sampling of some of the prints you can purchase through my Etsy shop:

You can also pick from any of the pictures on my website. Just email me at kristina@kristinaobrien.com to place your order for any print not listed in my Etsy shop.

All of these photos are printed in a professional lab and framing and matting are available.

I'm very hopeful that together we can send along a helpful donation to the American Red Cross. Please pass this along to your friends and family, and keep the victims of these horrible storms in your thoughts and/or prayers over these next few weeks.