To be honest, I have never written a blog...EVER!  I have friends who have written blogs and I have blogs that I keep up with regularly.  But, I have never written a blog....EVER! Thus, I thought it appropriate to title my first blog "Just Be".  My husband is always reminding me to enjoy the moment that I am in...and this summer he used two simple words that really stuck with me and actually describes much of my photography style..."Just Be".  When I have had family portraits or portraits of my children taken in the past, I unnecessarily stressed myself out trying to have them in the perfect outfits with the perfect hair and smiles.  I have learned that sometimes the best pictures are those that show people "just being". 

Take this little gem for instance...we were in Maine this summer and I was taking pictures of my two kids and three of their cousins.  This little guy is my nephew and he is three.  The older kids were trying to get him to sit on the roof of the truck with them but he wasn't interested.  So, instead of forcing the issue, I took this photo and it has become one of my favorites!  They are just being themselves and despite the fact that you can't see all of their faces, you can tell a little something about each one of their personalities.

And then there is this one...

Again, another one of my favorites.  About 20 minutes into the photos my nephew totally lost interest and started playing with this old tricycle in front of my in-laws' barn.  I couldn't have planned it any better!