Just wanted to let everyone know, the e-mail responses might be a bit slow over the next two weeks, I’m in the process of buying a home & we’ll be moving next weekend.  I will do my best to get back to everyone that writes, but I will be without a computer for 1-2 days & quite busy for the rest of the two weeks.  If your in need of some immediate assistance please give me a call at 563-209-5827 &  if you can’t get through, please leave a message, I will get back to you as soon as possible .  Thank you so much for patience during this time!

I had to post some more pictures from our e-session last weekend. Jackie & John are such a cute couple, and they are so genuinely in love, that makes my job super easy. That’s what I love so much about weddings & engagement pictures, I love to see couples so in love & happy. These two met at a youth group when they were teenagers and became friends and eventually fell in love.    On their wedding website they have this adorable picture of the two of them at a game, covered in face paint, and it feels like they have a really good time together. I have to say that I feel a special kind of connection with their story as Cory & I fell in love after being friends for years.  One of the reason’s I love Cory so much, is that we have so much fun together, we can have a great time even sitting at home on the couch being goofs.

I hope we keep having the gorgeous weather like we had last weekend, it was fabulous. Great weather for an pictures on a boat. I have to say, I haven’t been on a boat in years (I think I was 10 last time), so it was a bit difficult for me, I’m a little clusty anyways, I think I fell over at least 4-5 times, so I’m glad we managed some good pictures.

Hope you all have a great week. Enjoy some more adorable pictures.

Cory took the shot above, I love it.

I rented a fish eye lens for the weekend, I love it, but I think I might have gone a bit overboard with it.

What a gorgeous day! It was perfect for Jackie & John’s Engagement session, we had a great mix of clouds & sun. It doesn’t hurt to have a gorgeous couple like these two to work with either. They found this gorgeous location on Arsenal Island and we got to go out on there boat. I can’t wait for there wedding in October! I’ll have a bigger description and more photos to post in a few days, but for now here’s a sneak peak!

I rented a fisheye lens for the weekend, I don’t think I’m going to be able to part with it on Monday.

Aren’t they just the cutest.

I’ve been meaning to post these for a few weeks, but I’ve been so busy!  A friend of mine from college, Lindsey, occasionally model’s for me & for a photography group I’m in.  She’s done it so many times she even has her own gallery on my website! So we had to do some more pictures when she bought this kick-ass costume.  We hooked up with my friend & fabulous photographer Teresa from Wiz of Oz Photography at her studio for this shoot.  This one was a bit of a challenge for me, I don’t usually shoot in a studio setting and it always feels a bit limiting too me. I definitely prefer working on location, but it was fun doing something a little bit outside of my comfort zone.  The shot above took about 10 takes,  (thanks for being so patient Lindsey!).   Thanks again to both Lindsey & Teresa!

I had such an awesome Mother’s Day!  I hope the rest of you mothers did too! Friday Cory got me flowers at work, and Anakin’s school invited all the mother’s in for a special snack served by all the kids. It was so cute, Anakin did such a good job & he made the cutest little flower pot! Crystal got me a super cute heart necklace.  On Sunday I went to visit with my mother. I’m truly blessed to have such a wonderful, caring mother! After visiting I got to go take pictures of a gorgeously glowing Mother-to-be, Cari, and her husband, Kyle, at the QC Botanical Center. What a cute, sweet couple.  I can’t wait for cute baby pictures!  We got so lucky, at one point a cute little bunny rabbit let Cari get up close to him for a picture.

After the photoshoot, Cory & I took the kids out for dinner and a walk afterwords, what a beautiful day!

Cari has got some gorgeous eyes, I think she looks adorable in this picture!

I can’t believe we got the bunny to stay close for this picture!

Such a sweet couple!

Probably my favorite picture from the shoot so far!

I was hoping to get these posted by  Monday because I think Lynsey’s session turned out really great, but I’ve been pretty sick since Sunday night. Actually the whole family has sort of passed it around. Anakin was sick Friday after school & had to miss out on the Juvenile Diabetes Walk on Saturday, and by Sunday night Crystal & I were both feeling awful. Anakin got over it by Monday, and Crystal & I are starting to feel better.  So that was no fun.

Ok, back to the shoot, I met up Lynsey & her boyfriend Eric on Sunday for pictures at one of my favorite spots.  While we were shooting a dog was running around without a leash,  he was really cute, I’m not sure what kind of dog he was (I’m more of a cat person), but Eric went to check on the situation, and when the owners caught him, they were beating the dog! He asked them to stop & the woman looked at him & started whipping the dog.  How awful was that, poor dog.  So he saved the day by calling the police, and a little while later we saw the police come & take care of things thankfully, and hopefully the dog will be placed with better owners.  I get really upset about animal abuse.

On a brighter note, I think we had an awesome senior portrait shoot, Lynsey is really sweet & so pretty. She has tried so many different things in her life. I think that’s an admirable trait.

This picture makes me feel like “summer”

Doesn’t Lynsey have some gorgeous eyes going on?

This image above & the one at the top of the post were the result of over 30 seperate images combined for some wild lighting effects. The light is a bit more subtle in this picture than in the one at the top of the post.  Thanks for letting me experiment Lynsey!

I’m loving those shades with her dress!

Back in March I had the pleasure of assisting the wonderful Teresa Ousely of Wiz of Oz Photography with a beautiful wedding at Tanglewood Hills in Bettendorf.
We had a blast, Teresa is so much fun to work with, I’ll be helping her out with a few more weddings this summer.  The adorable little flower girl above was probably our biggest challenge of the day.  So adorable & so camera shy. Teresa and I both wanted some pictures of the little cutie, but she made a game of hiding from us, but we managed to get a few cute pictures of her. The one above was my favorite. 

One of the things I love about shooting with other photographers is that I can try out things that I’d like to do at my weddings, without the pressure to “get the shot.”  For this one I wanted to play with some off camera lighting during the reception, and I loved the results, so I’m going to be doing a lot more of it.

I’ve picked up quite a few lighting tricks this winter that I’m dying to try out, so look forward to some off the wall images!

We had so much fun playing “hide & seek” with these two.

The brides daughter was so cute!

We were so worried we’d have rain today for baby L’s 6 month pictures , but we were really fortunate and the rain held off.  I was really looking forward to this shoot, baby L’s last few shoots were all indoors (here, here and here) , and I’ve been waiting for the weather to improve so we could finally get some outdoors shots.

I’m so happy it worked out and I got to take some more pictures of this happy little cutie! We went back to Vandeveer Park where we took his beautiful mom’s maternity pictures. I think I have to give bonus points to his mom & big sister for being the best cheering squad I’ve ever seen, it really paid off though, they got some huge smiles out of him. That top one is my favorite so far, so cute!

Oh & a big thanks to mom & sister, I lost something in the park during the shoot & they both came out to help me look.  I can’t wait to see them again for his 9 month pictures.

No babies were harmed in the making of these photos! Mom was hiding behind the wall holding him the whole time.
Couldn’t decide between the Cross Processed version and the Black & white for this one, so I posted them both.

He’s got such gorgeous blue eyes!

Don’t you just love that smile!

I meant to post this awhile ago, but I’ve been behind (starting to notice a theme with these posts?).  A few months ago I had the chance to 2nd shoot a wedding for the awesome photographer,  Sarah McGee. She is so much fun to work with! The wedding was way back in February, the ceremony was held at the Trinity Cathedral and the reception was at The Outing Club, both in davenport. You can check out Sarah’s gorgeous pictures from the day here. What a beautiful wedding. These were a few of my favorites.

I love when there is this kind of gorgeous detailing on the dress.

Sarah set up this shot, I just managed to grab it from a different angle. Trinity Cathedral is such a beautiful church!

I used an extra Pocket Wizard to borrow Sarah’s lighting set up for this, I’m not too happy with the background, but I love the movement in the dress.

April is Autism Awareness month. Autism  that has struck us pretty close to home, our son Anakin was diagnosed with it when he was two.  It’s been a struggle and a blessing. He’s 7 and still non-verbal, but he’s learning new signs all the time.  He has some wonderful teachers who work very closely with him and whom I feel genuinely care about him.  As hard as it has been watching Anakin struggle with communicating, he is a bright little boy with an infectious laugh & a wonderful sense of humor.  I love seeing how my daughter acts with him, she’s so caring and loving. I think our family is stronger because of everything we’ve gone through.

If you’ve never met any one with Autism, odds are that you will soon, about 1 in 150 American children are diagnosed with it every year.

“Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person’s ability to communicate and interact with others. Autism is defined by a certain set of behaviors and is a “spectrum disorder” that affects individuals differently and to varying degrees. There is no known single cause for autism, but increased awareness and funding can help families today.” (From the Autism Society of America Website)

“Here are some signs to look for in the children in your life:

• Lack of or delay in spoken language Repetitive use of language and/or motor mannerisms
• (e.g., hand-flapping, twirling objects)
• Little or no eye contact
• Lack of interest in peer relationships
• Lack of spontaneous or make-believe play
• Persistent fixation on parts of objects “

(From the Autism Society of America Website)

More information on autism

To help the cause for every wedding package booked in April I’m donating $150 to the Autism Society of America.

I’m also giving away 5 free portrait sessions to Quad-City area children with autism. The winners will receive a 1 hour portrait session in a location (in the Quad-City area) the child is comfortable in, a disk with High resolution digital files from the session and a free 8×10. To enter just send an e-mail to tiffanie@tiffanieimages.com with the following.

• Name
• Phone Number
• E-mail address
• Age of the child

A drawing will be held May 14th to select the winners. If you have any questions e-mail them to Tiffanie@tiffanieimages.com.

If you would like to make a personal donation to the ASA you can do so here.

These are some other helpful links if you want to learn more about Autism or know someone with autism and are looking for help.

http://www.autism-society.org/
http://www.autismspeaks.org/
http://www.autismlink.com/
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm

Quad-cities Support groups
http://www.autismqc.org/calendar.htm
http://www.qcautismcenter.org/page/page/2959054.htm
QC yahoo group - http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/quadcityautism/
Iowa Services - http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/16
Illinois Services - http://www.autismlink.com/locations/view/14

Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet information
Recipes, menu planning & info - http://gfcf-diet.tacanow.org/
http://www.gfcfdiet.com/