Storm of September 2008

The remnants of Hurricane Ike came through Ohio on Sunday afternoon and did a lot of damage. The winds were up to 95 mph (about 150 kmh) and blew down a lot of trees, ripped roofs off houses, and cut power to most of Franklin County, which includes Columbus and the surrounding suburbs. Many people are still without power. We were fortunate that our power came back at about 4:30 early Monday morning.

So, on Monday afternoon we took a walk through our neighborhood and looked at some of the damage. I had to bring the camera, of course.

Lots of branches were blown off the trees.Some yards lost entire trees.Some of the branches that blew down were more like half of the tree.This is what's left of a huge silver maple that was by the playground in our neighborhood. People who live in the houses there said the sound of it coming down was like nothing they had ever heard.The park bench didn't fare so well, either.Here's another view of the tree.The tree in this next image almost fell on some of our neighbors as they were walking in the park. Yep, the top half of the tree is on the ground.Another tree that didn't come all the way down. We weren't sure if it was going to stay there while we walked past.It was a scary day and thankfully we weren't hurt. We were pretty lucky to have power and not have any damage.

Cristina's Senior Portraits

Cristina's senior portraits turned out so well. She was another referral from Corinne, who's been our most active Senior Ambassador.

I love the way her eyes look in this one.

She's so  relaxed in front of the camera.Another one that shows off her eyes.And the same one in black and white.This is one of my favorites from this session.

Be sure to check out her slideshow and leave a comment, if you'd like.

Emmett is Two

Emmett was one of our "Baby's First Year" kids. It's been a year since his last session so these are his two-year-old portraits (funny how that works).It took him a bit to warm up, but once we brought out the toys he was happy.The Lego trucks were a big hit.Be sure to check out his slideshow for some more images.

Corinne

You probably remember that Corinne is a dancer. One thing we offer our Senior Ambassadors is a few extra sessions throughout the year. Corinne took us up on that offer and came in for a session that featured dance. Well, not this first image, but the rest of them do.This was a fun one.I love it when I can see movement in the portraits.Then we went out in the rain for some jumps and rainy-day images.Check out the slideshow and leave a comment below.

Emma's 9-Month Portraits

I met Emma's parents over at Scioto Park the other day for her nine-month portraits. She is amazingly cute.
She wasn't very smiley, which was odd for her. We found out that evening that she had been cutting a tooth and was probably in a bit of pain. Poor girl. I was able to get several smiling pictures, though, which is always a good thing.
This next one is one of my favorites. She wasn't too keen on feeling the sand and rocks on her feet, but it was novel enough that she didn't mind too much. The river is really low right now. There hasn't been a whole lot of rain this Summer and it shows.
Don't forget to see her slideshow.

The Schultz Family

Remember Ellia Schultz? She's the little girl with Treacher-Collins Syndrome that we've been following for about a year, now. Every so often I do some new portraits to show the progress with her many surgeries.

A week (or so) ago I had the opportunity to take some family portraits.
This next one really seems to catch her personality.
Of course, her brother and sister were photographed, too.This next one shows what he's like. He was always trying to pick things up and play.
I love the way the wind caught her hair and the sparkle in her eyes.
She loves to swing.
Don't forget to see the slideshow. Leave a comment below, too.