I loved all of little Emma’s hair…it was perfect for all the bows Kristin had been stock-piling. We decided that yellow was her best color, which automatically means that she’s going to be a gorgeous little girl. Who can pull off yellow??? Only the gorge.

Kristin and Kevin, thanks so much for letting me photograph yet another milestone for you. I look forward to watching Emma grow through my lens for years to come!

Anyway, nothing like taking what could have been a quiet, relaxing weekend and turning it into…a website redesign. Ha! It was worth it, and I still took the time to get some pictures of my adorable little ones.  We  My husband carved the pumpkins (after I did all the gut scooping for him- he hates that) and Reagan, Breckin and I worked on getting the seeds cleaned and roasted.

They have some pretty awesome costumes… Reagan chose Supergirl (even over all the other princess costumes) and Breckin wouldn’t rest until his “Super Tigger” (not to be outdone by Reagan, I’m sure) was in our cart at the JBF Sale a few weeks back.

They turned out pretty adorable, but I’ll let you see for yourself!

But, despite what she thinks, life in the Lamb house doesn’t revolve around Reagan. Breckin brings a light to my life that I never thought would be there. In fact, knowing him has shown me men in a whole new light. Deep down, I was pretty terrified when I found out I was having a boy. I struggled with a lot of male students when I was teaching…and I never understood why. But Breckin makes me see the tender nature of a boy’s heart that he keeps so hidden from the world. While I know the world will harden him, I hope that he keeps his sweet, thoughtful (he picks me flowers almost every day), tender nature as he grows into an adult. He will make a girl very happy someday.

Jasmine Star photographed her favorite subject, so I thought it would be appropriate to photograph mine.

This family really loves each other. Their 3 daughters were so well behaved, I nearly forgot that I was in the presence of 2 teenagers and a pre-teen.  Truly, everything was please, thank you, and I think I even heard a few ma’ams.  So sweet.  After teaching high school for 6 years, polite teens are something I have really come to appreciate!

I love these “out-takes” of the family just being goofy together. They really enjoy one another, and they were so much fun to photograph!

Thanks so much, B fam! You guys are great!

A couple of weeks ago I was thrilled to have a Girls Weekend in Durango, Colorado.  While I was there, I offered a mini-session, and I was SO excited when my beautiful friend Emily took advantage of the offer.  I’ve known Emily for many many years, and she has an incredibly adorable family!  Her hubby was out of town on a fishing trip, so it was just her and her little guys.  And boy oh boy, do these two make ADORABLE boys.  (I’m sure that if they had a daughter that she’d be adorable too!)

The 9th Street Bridge area in Durango is one of my favorite places I’ve ever been to on the planet.  When I was in college, I spent many hours there on the rocks watching the river go by and pretending to study.  :)

When I see this picture I can hear the boys laughing in my mind.

Emily! It was so much fun to see you.  Thanks for giving me the chance to do what I do in one of my favorite places on Earth!

After several facebook chat conversations, I shared an idea that had kind of been forming in the back of my mind.  A commercial for Lamb Photography Company.  I don’t really do much advertising, but my “about me” page just didn’t quite measure up to what I wanted people who didn’t know me to see about me.  So, Kyle came along on this past weekend’s engagement shoot in Denver and did another amazing job.

So, thanks to Kyle Koziol of Kozi Visuals, I give you the Lamb Photography Company commercial.  That’s right, a commercial. For me. I feel VERY proud.  And, I think you can probably guess who I’d recommend if you were looking for an amazing videographer for your wedding or event.  Click on the link below to watch it!

The Commercial!

Huge thanks to Anna and Tim, who you’ll see more of when I blog their engagement shoot.  And of course, to Kyle for being so inspirational, and helping me keep my cool.  I really spend all my time behind the camera, so this whole idea was kind of unnerving for me.  During the part where I was shooting Anna and Tim, I didn’t even know he was there.  See? I told you he was quality.  :)

FIRST!

I’m heading southwest to Durango for the weekend of April 29th and will be offering 5 Mini Sessions on a first-come, first-served basis!  The Mini-Sessions are $75.  All the details are below!  I would say book now for the best spot, but they’re all good spots.  Come on, it’s Durango!  But you should hurry…this is an awesome deal, and with only 5 spots, they’re sure to go fast!

Second!

I would absolutely LOVE to shoot your wedding in Durango, Colorado.  I will be offering local prices (that means NO TRAVEL FEE, and a savings of $300) for any couple who books their 2011 wedding in Durango!

To cash in on either of these awesome deals, just email amanda@lamb-photo.com, or call 719.648.2152!

I really had tried to have this post written and ready to go by some time very early this morning.  But, when I sat down to write it yesterday afternoon while the kids were sleeping, I realized that I just didn’t like the pictures I had of Reagan.  I wanted to show you all how truly wonderful she is, and the pictures I had just weren’t cutting it.  I had just commissioned a friend of mine to make some headpieces for me to have on hand for brides, and Reagan was SO excited about them.  I was pondering the fact that I didn’t like the pictures I had when Reagan informed me that she was too excited about her birthday to take a nap.  Normally this totally wouldn’t fly in our house.  But, I took advantage of the opportunity.  It was a fairly overcast day, so I wanted to make sure I dressed her in bright colors.  As an extra incentive for her, I told her she could wear one of my new pretty flowers if she’d let me take some pictures of her for her birthday.  She was SO happy to oblige…and who could blame  her?  The pieces came out WONDERFULLY!  If you’re reading this, Susanne…thanks a bunch!  You did awesome!!

I can’t imagine my life without either of my kids.  I have learned so much from both of them.  But I know in my heart that the bond I have with Reagan will long outlive me.  To say that we are close is an understatement.  I know now why people feel they will live on forever through their children.  And what a wonderful way to live on.  Reagan, Happy 4th Birthday!  I love you muffin!

I decided it was time to show my images a little differently on here…what do you think?

Have a happy weekend!

I figured that since it’s been a few weeks, and I’ve made the announcement just about everywhere else in my “virtual life”, (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) that it was time to go ahead and spill the beans here on the blog.  I guess I waited because…I knew I’d have to put a little more of my heart into this entry.  Not that it’s hard for me to do that…I’ve learned that whether I like it or not I’m more or less an open book.  But, I knew this would be an emotional post for me.  So…here goes.

As anyone who knows me knows, I’ve been a high school social studies teacher for the last 6 years.  When I was in high school, I knew I wanted to pursue photography as a profession in some way, shape or form.  But, I had my heart set on going to Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado.  They didn’t have a photography major, and truly only had about 3 photography classes.  So, I resigned myself to taking what I could, and keeping my photography as a hobby.  I started coaching track during my 3rd year of college, and absolutely fell in love with working with high schoolers, as crazy as it may sound.  So, I decided I’d give teaching a whirl.  I loved it.  When I started hearing from my students that they couldn’t afford to get senior pictures done, I said, shoot…I love photography and happened to have a camera, so I started doing senior pictures for some of my kids.  Lamb Photography Company was born.

The year after that, my first child was born.  I still loved teaching, but the idea of dedicating myself to my photography, being my own boss, and consequently getting to spend more time with my daughter was becoming more and more appealing, and also more and more realistic.  I decided that I would love to be lucky enough to capture people on their wedding days, and (huge) thanks to Dawn Sparks, my own amazing wedding photographer, I was able to try it out and see if I would really love it.  I did.  One more child (a son), LOTS of hard work and learning, and about 3 years later, (now) I just couldn’t do it anymore.  I was barely seeing my kids and my husband, and despite the new move of teaching for an online school and being able to design my own schedule, it still felt like I was working from the time I woke up until the time I went to sleep.  It was what I had to do to get everything done.

In January, I was fortunate enough to get to go to Jessica Claire‘s JC/OC workshop (I’m hoping to post from this sometime next week).  It was awesome to get to hear some of the things that a seasoned pro does, and pretty amazing to walk away from it feeling like I was doing a lot of the right things…but I felt so disappointed that I couldn’t do all those right things to their full potential because I simply didn’t have the time.  My husband and I had what maybe should have been a longer talk, although I don’t know that it would have mattered because we’d have come to the same conclusion…and decided that I would go ahead and quit my teaching job.  I was sad to be leaving my students that I’d come to know over the last 6 months, but felt in my heart that it was absolutely the right decision.  And…here I am, about 2 weeks later without a doubt in my mind that I made the right decision.  I couldn’t be more excited!

So…why did I pick pictures of my kids to show you while I told this story?  A couple of reasons.  One, because they’re the cutest kids on the planet, obviously.  And two, because I took them yesterday in my backyard.  Something I probably wouldn’t have been able to have the time to do if I were still working.  I got to take pictures. Of my own kids.  And that is truly one of my favorite things.

It’s always amazing to watch a man become a father.  I saw it happen to my husband…  for 9 months, while I was trying to decide how to do what was best for me and my baby, he was anxious about the baby, and worried about me.  But then, the instant he held our daughter for the first time, I could see it all over his face…he had changed into a father.  It brought tears to my eyes then, and it still does when I think about it now.  Although, being that I only have older brothers, this is the first time I’ve been lucky enough to see that transition happen to any of the other men I love…or at least been old enough to appreciate the change.  But I noticed it the first time I saw Austin with his daughter…and each time I see him with her I notice it again.  It’s all over his face…That’s my daughter…and I’m SO proud! I love it.

Austin, Jill and Landry…You’re such a beautiful family!  Love you guys!

I went to high school with Nick, and was very excited when he asked me to photograph his family this year.  His daughters are absolutely gorgeous, and it amazes me how much his older one looks like him, and his younger one looks like his sweet wife!  What can I say…I’m fascinated by genes (and jeans, but that’s a different topic).

Thanks so much, Nick!  I had a great time with you and your ladies!

One of the coolest things about being a photographer is getting to see families grow and change.  About 2 years ago, I had the opportunity to photograph Ashley and Danny, who at the time had a newborn and a very boisterous 3 year old.  Well, now the girls are 2 and 5, and it’s so fun to see how much they’ve grown up!  Ashley and Danny are in the process of moving across the country, and consequently have to be apart most of the time so that Ashley can tie up loose ends and Danny can start his new job.  So Ashley called me to get some pictures of just her and the girls done to surprise Danny when he was home last month.  I had an awesome time with them, and these girls have so much spunk that there was never a dull moment!  Thanks so much, Ashley!

Happy birthday, Mr. Bean!  Your family loves you SO much.

If you’d like to tell Breckin happy birthday, leave a comment.  I’ll be sure to pass along the message!  :)

Also, don’t forget that the deadline for submitting your nomination for the 2010 Free Colorado Springs Wedding Photography is April 1st!  Get a reminder about the rules here.  My next post will have Shawnte’s BabyBump update!  Stay tuned!

After we took some pictures indoors, Avery was all too excited to head to the park.  She got all bundled up (but saved time for some loving on daddy), and the 4 of us headed out.  It was a little colder than we were prepared for, hence poor Avery’s watery eyes!  It looks like she might have been crying, but that was not even close to the case.  The cold didn’t bother her one bit, and she was ecstatic to be at the park!  Once she saw the slide, there was no keeping her from it!  She ran, with no fear, to the equipment and slid down the biggest slide she could find.

I had such a fun time photographing this little girl!  She is definitely one of my favorites.  Her parents are pretty cool too!  It doesn’t seem possible that she is almost a year and a half old, but then again, I think kids are their own sort of time warp.  Once they come along, life seems to move at least twice as fast!

Thanks again, Brooke and Scott!  I’m glad you love your pictures!  :)

Now that the really hard stuff is done for the blog-site, I’ll be busy working on Avery’s (a little late) 1 year portraits.  And, because it’s not really fair to introduce a shoot without photo documentation, here’s just a little teaser of this awesome little girl’s portrait session.  I feel so lucky to know my friend Brooke.  Avery and my daughter, Reagan, play together so well, and it’s so much fun to have another Mom friend.  I suppose I’ll have more time to tell you more about Avery in my next post, so I suppose I’ll save some gushing for then.  But seriously, as you can see, this is one sweet little girl!

Brooke, my friend whose maternity pictures I took, and I debated waiting one week to do her maternity pictures.  Then, we decided to go ahead and tough it out and get it done that Thursday.  It’s a good thing–she was in labor the following Tuesday!

Avery is so cute, and was just about a month old when these pictures were taken.  I was excited to have the opportunity to use my minimal studio equipment.  It doesn’t get taken out much, largely due to the beautiful state in which I live.