The baseball season was coming to an end and I haven’t seen my nephew, Michael, play this year. My younger brother, Matthew, called me up and told me Michael was pitching. It’s been at least 3 or 4 years since I’ve shot my nephew playing baseball and that’s way too long for me. As soon as I got there old memories came flashing back of my younger days playing baseball on the same field. It didn’t take long to get “warmed up” with my camera gear and find a couple of good shooting spots.

Michael did a great job pitching for his first year as a starting pitcher. Matthew taught him well. Pump fastballs and changes speeds, but under no circumstances was he allowed to throw “junk”. I am very proud of you, Michael! Not only are you a good little ball player, but more importantly, you are a great student in school and a wonderful person. I am proud to call you my nephew.

Because Michael is all those things, I wanted to create him a special surprise. He just assumes I was there to “take pictures”. This is the poster I created from a series of photos. Surprise! We hope you like it, Michael. We love you!

***Warning – urban vernacular and ghetto slang were used in the making of this post.***

Cause dat’s how I roll! You know that old saying… “Practice makes perfect.” In my case, practice makes me not suck as much.

On June 17, at the last minute, a client canceled her photo shoot. Since the gear was ready, the batteries all charged and the bags packed, Michelle had Sandra and Brian waiting in the wings as backup models. Even though I like shooting in natural light, I love the look of flash photography when properly done. Shooting Sandra and Brian gave me the perfect opportunity to practice my off-camera-flash technique.

For those of you that do not know this young couple, Brian is Michelle’s younger brother and Sandra is his wife of nearly six months. They volunteered to be my guinea pigs. I hopped in my ride, scooped them up from da crib, and we jetted out to the Wunderlich Farm Museum. When we arrived at Doerre Middle School, the parking for Wunderlich Farm, the driveway was blocked by two 18 wheelers. We circled back around to get a closer look and by then the trucks started to move out. YIPPIE! We don’t have to find a new location.

We arrived at the Wunderlich Farm Museum around 6:30pm and shot til near dark around 8:15pm. It was so much fun. Sandra and Brian were great sports. They were open to all my suggestions and ideas. Sandra was a trooper even through all the bug bites. Next time I’ll bring bug spray. Thank you guys for being my willing guinea pigs and not knowing any better. As it turns out, these two kiddos have birthdays very close together. Sandra’s is June 18 and Brian’s is June 21. Happy Birthday to you both! I really hope you like your photos. These are just a hand full we picked out to show online.

The Cherry family needs a photo of all five members in one frame.  Phil is Dad Cherry and co-worker of our family photographer.  He asks Sonny to meet him in front of the temple on Saturday afternoon.  Jana, Mom Cherry, and three Cherry kids will be in tow.  In order by birth, we have Mathew, aka Matty, Katie and Ally.  These kids are adorable so the photos were bound to turn out great!

I think Sonny enjoyed shooting a family portrait session.  Since kids are so full of energy, it was still a lot of action photography.  He used fun angles and tried to catch each person interacting like they usually are playing around on the weekend.  They just happen to be dressed up.    The colors are vibrant.  The detail draws you in for a closer look at the full scene.  The focus is always on the family while the background is a natural frame.

I laughed out loud while watching the slideshow for the first time.  Some of those action shots remind me of our three little busy-bodies.  I won’t tell my favorites yet so that you can be surprised as the photos roll across.  Do you think Sonny has a new calling as a family portrait photography?

Left to right: Jana, Matthew, Katie, Ally and Phil.

Katie leads the pack.

This is a good looking family!

Daddy loves his little girl.

Jana found Ally's tickle spot.