Hands of Love

By far, these are my favorite photographs to date! As an artist, I love photographs that embark emotion and feeling for people and for me, these do all and then some! A loving moment between mother and son...and a funny one too???!?! Mark cracks up! He thinks it is so funny to 'hug' Mommy's hands! Mark loves to 'cuddle' with my hands and I am so happy I had my camera to capture this moment between us! I think these are such powerful pictures!

Here he is resting on my left hand, putting his hands on top of mine!'Ralphie' cracking up.... Say cheese handsome one! His chin is super ticklish!

Loving that Mommy is letting him 'cuddle' with him! He is soooo happy here!
Resting on my left palm- so relaxed and content! Resting on my hand.....while the other one takes the pictures....that yoga is helping my balance and coordination-ha!

Haircuts

Here we go...... This face is just darling to me! Hairdryer, but he keeped saying 'datum'- well, Mommy knew he was trying to say 'vacuum'...Hey, they sound alike, right!?!?!? And I love his face here! PO'd at Daddy for making him sit there. He did so good, other than the faces, he sat there and let Mrs. Gayle cut away!

So cute again- that face! And yes, that would be me in the background with my second child!

Checking things out!

And here, the both of us, with his new haircut and spaghetti sauce all over his face ;-)

Jennifer as Jim Carey in 'Pet Detective'......

So...you might wonder why my title reads...'Pet Detective'? If you saw the movie and you saw me today, you would get it. I literally roll my down window, stick my head and hands out the window, snap and go. My heart is pounding, and I think I am doing something wrong, even though I am on public roads. I am starting to really enjoy landscape photography and think of my pictures as more of art versus photos. I cannot wait to explore this further.

This poor, abandoned farm is up for sale and it is empty. The Farm is in need of some TLC and I hope to see it back to its glory days soon! If my husband was up for another challenge of building a home or remodeling, I would say- Lets buy it!

Snapshots in a Flash!

So....as a photographer and a Mom to a toddler, I have learned to take pictures fast and today was no exception. On the way to go sledding with friend's, I literally rolled down my window at a stop sign and took some of these 'sites' I drive by almost everyday. It still is insane to me that I live in a family community with a golf course and club with swim and tennis and then right behind me are silos with cows and horses and real farmer's with their soybeans and cool farm equipment that I salivate over. Man, how life has changed (for the better) in the last 3 years or so. I thought I would share some photos from our day......

This is the steeple on top of one of my favorite churches...... The 'Barn Church' built by the Amish in the 1800's.......about 3 miles from me
Across the street- this lonely beauty!
Mr. Carter enjoying the snow (Mark's buddy)

And poor Mark- he was not having it today!

Mark and his Cars......

Mark LOVES his cars. He shakes them up and then sends them all over the place. I took these today inside and I think they turned out really good. I am practicing my indoor photography, and I am seeing much improvement. :-)

I will add some more of Mark and his cars, etc...but he is up now from nap and I must go. Check back later!

And here are 2 I thought were cute of Mark in the tub later that evening after a hard day at 2 Kids Club's, playing with friend's and of course....his cars......

Above: Amazed by the suds and so cute down below. His eyelashes are the longest I have seen in a while! Lucky little man!

.....and the 'Contest' Winner......

....is Jill Clements and her 9 year old son, Luke of Columbus, Ohio

She emailed me first- within a couple of minutes!

Jill, I look forward to meeting you and Luke. Please email me all your contact information and I will be in touch. (Thanks for doing this already)

For those of you that emailed me after Jill...thank you! It means a great deal to me that so many people take the time to read my blog- many of which I have never met.

I hope everyone has a fabulous 2009........and congratulations Jill! :-)

Little 'Ralphie' in the snow for the first time in '09....

Looking at his gloves going- what is this stuff? Going vintage here~
Love this expression....he is probably thinking..."what is falling all over me, and it doesn't taste like my cookies?".... Going vintage here...... The best seat in the house....being pulled by Daddy in the backyard.
And did I mention that we probably will have close to a foot of the most beautiful snow I have ever seen today???? It is so pretty!

Happy New Year!

After taking a little break from the 'photography world', I broke out THE (ha) camera yesterday and started clicking away. My husband's first reaction was..."oh no, here goes crazy woman with the camera again". No, really- he is happy I have found something I really enjoy doing...he just likes to make fun of me every opportunity he can.

It is amazing how much I miss my camera once I haven't taken any pictures with it for a while. I had my point and shoot with me and decided that was not working for me and although, for convenience it is great- for pictures- not so great!

I am eager to start working again- with creative session starting in the Spring as well as on different project's I have had in the works for quite some time. I need to get together my information and pictures for The Village Voice Magazine- which my business will be featured in this Spring, as well as build my portfolio for my boutique shops in the area. My website (http://www.jenniferleaphotography.net/) is temporarily down, for I am updating the information and adding to it. It is very time consuming and is taking longer than expected. I plan to have it back up in March. And again, network, network and network! I have a couple of families on the 'book's for this year. You may book with me now if you want to reserve a specific date you know you want.

I also want to say thank you to all my clients, family and friends who have spread the word of my photography business. Your kindness and compliments mean a lot and I hope to work with you and your children for a long time. This truly is my passion and I love my 'job'. I thank God everyday for my life, family, good health and friends!!!

On a more personal note....we are eager to add to our family and hope to be pregnant sometime between Feb and May...so keep your fingers crossed. I hear it takes no time or some time...I am praying for the 1 to 3 months timing.

Mark is getting so big- he is 20 months now~ wow! He is over the 100% for height (go figure), 80% for weight and 95% for his head. Hopefully that all adds up to be a smart, professional football player~hehe! Every day he does something to make me laugh and cry (in a good way). Children are such a gift! His latest is putting on our shoes and walking around proud and dancing with hats! Mark is in love with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland and her song "Stay"! He gets in this trance when he sees it on the computer/TV and hears the song in the car. He loves to give kisses and hugs too and LOVES pizza, salad and cookies (everything I ate pregnant). He is talking up a storm- some is understandable now too-ha!

I hope 2009 brings you all much happiness in your life!

Above: My first click of 2009 and below: Mark in a gown- a HOSPITAL GOWN-ha! We had to take him to the hospital to get an IV in December. He had gotten the dreadful stomach virus and was dehydrated. Mark sick as a dog, was still so sweet and cute-just a little pale- like us all in the Winter :-)

....And to the first person that replies to this, you will receive a complimentary creative session and all your images on a disc at no charge. The 30 minute creative session will be in the Spring and will be at High Banks in Columbus or Scioto Park in Dublin. This will be limited to your children only and they must be able to walk w/o assistance. Please email me at jenniferleaphotography@live.com fast. This is reserved for the first person to email me. Fun, fun!