Blizzard...

For the past several days West Michigan has been dumped on by over 12 inches of snow. This of course, has meant weather photo hunting for me, which has included being stuck in four ditches, falling through one snow drift and one very crispy notebook with the names of subjects completley running together.


Ashley Wilson, 17, of Grand Rapids braves the blustery weather to Christmas shop at Family Dollar down the street from her house on Friday afternoon.


"I hate the snow," said Dominic Magoon of Grand Rapids while clearing his driveway Monday morning. Magoon went out a bought the new snow blower over the weekend after the city was dumped on for the second time.


Ryan Conners, 17, of Rockford catches some air snow boarding at Cannonsburg Ski Area Thursday in Rockford. Conners said he was hoping for snow over night to have school off the next day.



The side mirror of a snow covered car peaks through a drift Monday morning on Wealthy Street.



Mark Chamberlin of East Grand Rapids rakes snow off his roof Sunday afternoon after Grand Rapids was hit with more snowfall overnight.

Surprise! Will You Marry Me?

Hollyn, our photo intern, got engaged today :) She thought she was shooting an assignment about some Christmas Box story, little did she know it was a set up, with her boyfriend hiding in the box to jump out at her. She thought I was coming along to do multimedia gathering, but of course I was just there to photograph her. Our editor spoke with her boyfriend before hand and he decided to do a column on it, so the bottom photo will be running in the paper!

A New Friend

Frosty Window.

Welcome Home

These are the days when I love my job. So awesome, so rewarding. Most of the Michigan National Guardsmen returning home on Friday had been gone for about a year overseas. The girl in the red coat was eight months pregnant and her husband made it home just in time to see the baby born. The little socks in the detail photo belonged to a child who had not yet met her daddy.

Making the House Festive

When the holidays bring dinner parties and Christmas dishes to our home, the reality of being a housewife hits me. It is true. I have a house, and I am a wife. And I throw dinner parties now. I am not sure how I feel about this. Despite the fact that I have a job(s) and do not have any children yet, the title makes me feel a bit...matronly. I found myself actually having fun decorating the dinning room table and arranging poinsettias on the mantle. I had a little help from the kitties :)

Magical.

Shot with freezing fingers at the Magical Christmas Parade in Zeeland on Monday night.

Black Friday

It never ceases to amaze me what people will do for a good deal on a plasma t.v....of course I may have stayed awake all night for one myself this year ;)

Family Traditions

Demolition.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

And so it begins...I am actually quite happy about the return of Santa parades, snow and lights. Christmas time makes for some of the best features, both graphically and moment-wise. I can't wait for the first mall trip to photograph kids on Santa's lap :)

Front Porch

My next door neighbors Matthew, Julia, and Bethy (Elizabeth), are consistently excited to see Chris and I whenever we are both outside. We have received leaf raking assistance from all three, been told countless stories about what books they are reading and have been asked repeatedly when they are coming over to our house for dinner. Matthew, who is seven, is in remission from adrenoleukodystrophy (the disease from "Lorenzo's Oil"). He was diagnosed two years ago with it and has had treatment at the mayo clinic in Minnesota where, as he tells us, he got to stay and the Ronald McDonald House.

Leaf Puddle...

...in the Grand Rapids Press parking lot.

Susan & Jeremy

Here's a little bit of what I've been working on lately, this is Jeremy and Susan's beautiful late October wedding.

Levi.

So I've found a little side niche of children portraits, mainly through families at my church and it's so much fun. Levi is one of the most independent, energetic toddlers I have ever seen. We took these at Garfield Park about a month ago :)

Now that it's Over...Shutting Down the GR Obama Headquarters

Still slightly delirious from the activities of last night, I went over to the Obama Headquarters in Eastown to see if there were any feature photos to be made. People were actually quite bitter-sweet about their campaigning coming to an end. Although Obama won the election...which was the goal...many of these volunteers don't know what to do with themselves now. Anyhow, the light was pretty so I had fun :)