My next 30 years

I was hoping to do this yesterday on my actual birthday but time didn't allow for that :-( So here are my self-portraits at 30 years and 1 day. LOL. I want to be able to look back on these images 30 years from now and see that my wrinkles and gray hairs weren't nearly as bad as I thought they were. (I still think they're pretty bad but I'm learning to live with them ... it's all in the perspective I suppose)

I am almost *always* behind the camera ... so it was important to me to do this. It's actually kind of uncomfortable for me to take portraits of myself!! But fortunately this process was made very easy with the use of a borrowed remote and 70-200mm 2.8L - I shot most of these with that amazing lens. I also used my 100mm macro (still love that one too!) for the closer shots.

Grandma's Surprise

We hosted a Surprise 90th Birthday party for Grandma today. Yes, that's right, I said 90th! It's truly amazing how active she still is and we feel so blessed to have her in our lives. She is the sweetest person - always willing to give of herself to others and she loves her God. Happy Birthday Grandma!

For My Mom

PHEW, I finally was able to snap a few of Angel in her Christmas dress today (yes, that's right - I DID say Christmas dress). Fortunately I think the results are stunning, but wow what a lot of work it was to get these. Why is it so amazingly difficult to take portraits of my OWN kids??

I can't believe how grown-up she is. Where in the world has the past almost-5 years gone? (Sidebar - these 2 images are *slightly* out of focus, but just waaay to perfect otherwise not to post)

She's wearing the locket that was mine as a child and was actually my Mom's as a child also. Cool, huh? And PS - she's sitting in a chair that was also mine.

And speaking of my Mom, I need to give her complete credit. Yes, she made this absolutely gorgeous red velvet dress for Angel. She put tons of love and time into it, and it certainly shows. I can't get over how stunning it is. She may have outdone the Jasmine costume this time!

Ok, I was attempting to get a standing full-body image so that you could appreciate the beauty of this masterpiece ... but Angel started to get a little silly. LOL. Still cute anyway though :-)

So, this post is for my Mom. THANK YOU for all that you do. But specifically, thank you for loving my kids so much that you go out of your way to create such beautiful things for them. You rock, love you :-)

My settings - 1/60th, f/4, ISO640. I used the window light in the living room and supplemented with 2 of my softboxes.