Annie Get Your Gun:: Cairn University Spring Musical

This past week I had the opportunity to photograph Cairn University's spring musical - Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun. The directors and cast put on a fantastic show. The costumes were beautiful and ornate, fitting to the scenes and the characters. The scenery was minimal, but very effective. The singing, dancing, and character interaction was done so well, and with such infectious smiles. The leads were spot on, and the ensemble and supporting roles played an equally tremendous role in the entire production being a hit. Here are some images from the show...

(pictures taken with permission from Cairn's School of Music and Performing Arts)

Cairn University:: Student Teachers

In 2004, I graduated from college thinking I was going to be an English teacher. Little did I know that about a year following graduation I'd be working at my alma mater, in the department from which I graduated. Fast forward nine years and I am again working in the School of Education....nothing like coming full circle. My journey has been a whirlwind and there were some transitions along the way, but I am enjoying my job at Cairn University and working alongside the students in the School of Education.

Each semester we publish a prospective teacher brochure, and we include 'biographies' on the students who will graduate with their teaching certificates. It's a resource provided to hundreds of local schools, in hopes that they might be interested in hiring some of our students. Included with each of the bios is a picture of each of the student teachers. It made sense I'd take the pictures, and I had 15 minutes to introduce the brochure, have the students fill out their forms, and take their pictures. Did I mention there were approx. 20 of them? I was so pleased with how they turned out, and asked if I could share their photos with you.

May I introduce to you the next batch of future educators of America?!?

Dani:: Long Valley, NJ child session

I've mentioned my best friend from high school before - when I took some pics of her daughter Dani last year. Dani's 2nd birthday was yesterday! She is one of the cutest, most sweet little girls. I've not really spent time with her in awhile, so I wanted to make sure when I got to Jess and Scott's, I didn't just pull out the camera and begin shooting. I asked Dani to show me her stuffed animals - all lined up atop the couch in the living room - and once she attempted to sit next to me, I realized she had already 'invited me in'. We were good to go!

We took pictures while Jess, Scott, and I talked and caught up. Then between an outfit change, we got some cute pics of her coloring in her 'undies' :-) Jess is having a mermaid-themed bday party for her this weekend, so the pics we were coloring were of Ariel and Sebastian from "The Little Mermaid."

After eating some lunch, we took some more pictures and even got an opportunity to head onto their front steps for a few; the weather was nice enough, even though there were remnants of snow on the ground.

I'm so grateful for the friendship Jess and I share. And it's so incredible to watch Jess and Scott parent this little beauty. The last time I visited she sang "You Are My Sunshine"; I actually started tearing up listening to her sing with such a sweet little voice.

Happy birthday, sweet girl!! I'll write up a more full post - with a LOT more pictures - in the coming weeks!

Nyla:: Long Valley, NJ kid session

I got an excited phone call from Nyla's mom - Tika - about doing a photo session with her daughter. They are from my hometown in NJ, and I happened to be heading home for the weekend. We were able to meet up in the center of town, on a fairly cold day, to take these pictures of Nyla. We had discussed that Nyla had never really taken photos like these, and she wasn't quite sure what to do with her facial expressions and was a tad nervous. I'd be nervous if someone pulled out a lens on me and told me to smile in the freezing cold with no jacket too! :-)

But after only a few minutes, Nyla 'warmed' up to the camera and we shared a lot of laughs throughout the session. Since we wanted to go a few places around town, we drove separate cars, and Nyla would do an outfit change when we got to our next location. Mom Tika and sister Heavenly helped from behind to get Nyla smiling, did her hair, and held her coat. It was quite funny.

Sassy...

Don't you just love these little glasses?

Such beauty....

Of course, you gotta have a little fun with the hair toss!

We truly had a fun time together. At the end, I thought it'd be really special to get all three of them in a picture together. I think this picture shows the love they have for each other.