There is nothing sweeter than Pudg's "puppy dog eyes"

She is the clingiest, snuffliest, lovable, pain-in-the-but dog i ever did know.

And i love her dearly.

But enough about her.

(this post is really about me trying out new equipment)

This time of the year is always amazing to me.

Things growing out of the ground with no encouragement from me.

Year after year.  It's a miracle.  Things i put in the ground, GROW!

A few years ago i added A LOT of new flower bed around here.

I'm not a green thumb but i do like flowers.

And things i have planted are growing so beautifully!

I have Peonies, Meadow Tea, Collantro,(don't know how to spell that)

Poppies, Strawberries,Mexican Daisies and a bunch of other things that i don't know what they are.

Most everything has been given to me....

And now i'm starting to give perennials to other people.

I think of my grandmother's whenever i see my potted plants.

When people would say they feel like working in the dirt is therapeutic for them

i would always giggle a little.  Like, Yeah right!

But it is true for me. Relaxing. Calming. Like nothing can get to me when my hands are in the dirt.

i love it so much.

The moral of my story is "just because you don't know anything about flowers does not mean you can't grow them!"

This weekend is predicted to be gorgeous...

And i have some yummy new equipment i need to pick up 

and install into my office...eeee! i am excited!

AND i have the entire weekend labor free.

It is rare that i have a whole weekend to organize, spend time with friends,

clean, walk the dog, relax in the sun, etc. etc.

and it is much needed from time to time for this crazy soul of mine.

i know it is Mother's Day - i love my mother.

we are not celebrating till next Sunday.

I'm planning. 

I like planning Mother's Day. It is one of those Special Days

I love to Celebrate!  

My mom deserves every minute of it.

-Diane

One of the most fun things for me

about photography is working with others

who love to do what i do just as much or more

To take exact same pictures and see

what and how other people "develop" them

How we all use our lighting and backgrounds

and editing etc etc.

There is so much that goes into photography

that by the time i see the end result

i am always amazed. always.

Especially if i am shooting with someone else.

To see how alike and how differently we create our artwork.

Kayla is one of the people i love doing photography things with.

She is a blast no matter what BUT

she ( Beaute Photography) and i and Thelma (Musser Photograhy)

traveled to Long Island (was that last spring?)

to take in one of the world's best

photography workshops.

And she is a part of my network of people

that i have surrounded myself with

to help me figure things out.

To ask questions, To bounce ideas off of.

I was delighted to shoot her engagement pictures.

And also to get to know her future husband a little better.

Mike is one of those guys - you can tell

He knows how to do a little bit of everything.

He is a volunteer first responder -

He did an excellent job at nailing up the props

and he will be that rock in her life, forever.

Kayla gave me the freedom to do whatever i wanted

with her pictures. She will be editing them and all that herself.

But i wanted to brag on her a little.

She won't do that for herself on her own blog.

God bless both of you- Mike and Kayla

as you start your beautiful journey together.

I'm so proud of you - Kayla

To see you become this beautiful woman of strength

and determination.

You are very talented - And apparently so is Mike :)

He helps her out at weddings -and she told me

that at the last few weddings -the best pictures were his!

Enjoy !

don't you just love the little cake?

i wasn't actually really caring about them at this point :)

i just wanted some good shots of that little cake.

the perfect picnic set up.

And then it poured down rain :)

Kayla had such a great mix of tried and natural.

all props were hers but for the pepsi cooler.

that was from my friend coleen.

Aren't they so adorable?

i think so!

Thanks to pudg for barking and keeping your little head poking out of the sunroof.

You make each day just a little crazier. 

And just after today you will owe me 45 dollars for chewing

up a roll of stamps.

What would i do without you?

Have a great week!  Di- for Di Images

Jaeden & Lucas

The Cutest Brothers Ever!

The thing about Jaeden and Lucas is that they have a mommy named Nadia.

I babysit a little girl named Nadia and i think it's the cutest most pretty name ever.

Not to mention that little Nadia is the most darling child alive.

O you have to meet her to believe me.

She is so cool.

I don't know what the name means but i'm sure it's something special.

I just love it so much. Nadia. I could say it all day long! :)

But back to Jaeden and Lucas.

One of the cutest things about these boys is their age difference.

They relate in a whole different manner than two siblings who are only a year or

so apart in age. Especially big brother. He was so gentle and kind.

  He had a kind of deep respect for his baby brother.  Like he

knew what it was like to be little and he understood.

Jaeden was so easy to take pictures of.

He posed on ahead for us waiting for the cameras to come around.

Lucas on the other hand was a bit trickier.

Usually a friendly, calm little guy - he became very skeptical

of the whole process.  But despite being in the spotlight

he gave us some beautiful smiles that went straight to his blue blue eyes.

We pulled out all the tricks with sticks and cheerios and daddy throwing him in the air to

make him giggle etc - he responded well to each one :) like

he knew the game and he was willing to play but we had to work for it!

These two boys did such a great job!

I've told you before that children are unpredictable.

And i stand by that - It is the one factor that makes children

so fun and challenging. To get that great smile!

All the cheerios and jumping down are well worth it in the end.

Are they not over the top cuteness?

To all the Mommies out there. Don't give up on getting precious images of your children.

It can be done and it is so much fun-

Thank you Jaeden and Lucas (and Nadia and Ivan) for

spending time with me and Silla to take your photos.

We loved it!

silla and diane for Di Images.

it's me again.

one of the greatest gifts i have been given this year is being able to teach.

i have learned so much from so many great people.

about photography. workshops.  hands on. conversations.

techi or just otherwise shooting the breeze about taking pictures.

 i was a school teacher for 13 years which

was a childhood dream of mine and

i love teaching so i always hoped that one day

i could teach what i have been taught about photography.

to be confident enough to invite people to learn with me

to shoot beside me

and to be able to talk about what i know while shooting

kathleen is a now a dear photographer friend of mine

who asked me to go over a few (everything i know) things with her :)

last weekend i (with the help of 3 amazing friends)

(why do we always name people amazing when they help us out?) :)

painted my bedroom.

it was an awful shade of cream for years which i did not like

and only recently decided i would paint it charcoal gray

deep space is really the name of the paint

and orange has been the accent color in my room this whole time

i bought pieces of furniture at the farmersville auction

and either painted them orange or left them bare.

everything you see was already there.

the deep space walls only make the colors pop and blend

in gorgeous ways that i could only imagine would happen

it's perfect.

and the timing was impeccable.

we (kathleen and i) used the  new look to talk and practice our indoor shooting skills

using a mounted flash.

i am having such a hard time getting buckled down and working today

i have meatloaf and potatoes cooking.

i want to continue the organizing session that my roommate and i started

this morning before going to work.

and i still have some winter things i want to do before

spring really sets in

i guess in reality we haven't really had winter

so it has been harder to get those little winter projects done

but in the end procrastination just really ticks me off.

so i won't do that.

:) my oven timer is beeping which makes the pudg nervous and jittery.

have a great week!

-Di

Isabella Kate

what a pretty name. for such a pretty little lady.

a name fit for a princess. i think.

there are thousands of ways to advertise. to get your name out. to bring

in more clients. last spring i took a workshop with doug gordon.

if you love photography and you love people.

every single part of people. you would love him and his workshop.

he speaks at wppi each year and has won multiple awards.

i've spoken about him before.

he says the best advertisement is word of mouth

and your product.

i don't concentrate on advertisement a whole lot.

but there is not a day that goes by when i am out and about

that i don't see someone and think,

"i would love to photograph that person."

it takes so much self control to not go up to them

and ask to be able to take their picture.

just for fun. just because i think they are pretty or cute or adorable.

just because for me it would be fun.

Sometimes - i do ask.

this is what happened with isabella.

i wanted to show the attic space in a different way.

with a toddler. with a child that could get around.

because until you do it - you don't know.

i thought she would be an excellent subject.

and she totally was.

i couldn't have been more pleased - and going by her expressions, neither could she.

she had so much fun.

her mommy had excellent ideas for props and such.

there was party hats and pearls and tutus and smiles.

we even had balloons left over from another attic shoot.

and there were fur coats and little white teeth

and pretty eyes and tiny hands

and cake. there was a cake. with a candle.

and she smashed it so well.

with big smiles and yummy smacks.

our very last image. she was a little tired of all the "icing" that got on her.

and she wanted to be clean. isn't she darling?

thank you isabella for coming to visit the attic.

and helping me show it off-

i loved spending time with you taking your pictures.

happy 1st birthday!