Friday, February 27, 2009

Stephanie and Greg

I first met Stephanie as a bridesmaid in Charley and John's 2005 wedding and was absolutely thrilled when she called me to shoot her own wedding which took place last Saturday. Charley has sent me oodles of her fabulous friends and I loved Stephanie and Greg immediately. I especially loved that their wedding was going to be so unique, from Stephanie's amazing gown to their choice of location at The Sherrie Gallerie in the Short North. Since the catering was done by Rigsby's next door, we were able to spend some time making some great portraits in the restaurant. Luckily, it was early enough that the restaurant wasn't crowded. The images we got there were just gorgeous, as was everything Stephanie and Greg put into their wedding.

The evidence:

The weather was a little less than cooperative.




See what I mean about the dress? Wow.







If you can get to The Sherrie Gallerie for this particular exhibit, you should. These portraits are constructed of different shades of crayons. Yes, crayons. Crayons with the points out. The vision you'd have to have to create these is stunning to me and the pieces were just amazing.

This has to be one of my favorite kid shots of all time. Ever.




Stephanie and Charley.

Stephanie and John, and Charley and Greg.







Congratulations, Stephanie and Greg, and thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your day!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Emily and Don

Last Saturday, Tracie and I had the pleasure of photographing Emily and Don's wedding at Immaculate Conception and the Greek Orthodox Hall. To say that Emily and Don and their friends and family are a fun group is a major understatement. We had so much fun with them, it was just a laugh riot the whole time. The weather even cooperated enough that we could actually shoot outside.

So, without further delay, it's on to the show!

Waiting for things to get rolling.



Ouch.

I love the little girl smiling on the flower girl and ring bearer!



Emily and Don's parents bringing the gifts.



The rose petals looked beautiful against all the white.

Beautiful details. Emily's gown was gorgeous, as were her ring and flowers.

I love this shot!

This is just too hilarious!

Cracking up in the State House rotunda.







I love this shot! OK, I love them all, what can I say?!

Emily's brother-in-law came out for his dance with Emily dressed in this chicken suit, definitely a surprise to Emily. Tracie got this great shot. I love how the fur of the suit looks.

I love the defiant look on her face and her little arms crossed. Too funny!

A tender moment between Emily's aunt and uncle.

I love the way Don is looking at Emily here.

Funky, funky.



Congratulations, Emily and Don!!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Howie

Not everyone is a friend on Facebook but there are probably a lot of you who read my blog, so I thought I would post here about my dear sweet Howie boy. A lot of you who've been to the house have probably met Howie. He might've dug around in your purse or rolled around in your lap or sat next to you on the couch. Howie is a great cat, without a doubt the best cat I've ever had. Here's a picture of him sitting in the rain:



Howie is a Maine Coon and, as such, is genetically predisposed to developing heart problems, specifically hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ("HCM"), which is a thickening of the heart walls. If you're interested in learning about this disease, click here.

On Saturday, February 7, after shooting a fabulous wedding all day, I came home to find Howie in total distress. I rushed him to the emergency vet where it was initially thought that he'd ingested some sort of toxin. They kept him overnight for observation and to receive fluids, with the idea that I would come the next evening to take him home and all would be great. When I called to make arrangements to get him, the doctor said he'd suffered another "episode" about 15 minutes prior and that an EKG showed an arrhythmia in his heart. It turns out the episode then - and on Saturday - were actually little kitty heart attacks.

Yesterday morning, I transferred Howie from the emergency vet to the cardiology department at the OSU Vet Hospital where he's been in the intensive care unit receiving anticoagulants via IV to keep clots from forming in the afflicted heart chamber that because of the disease is unable to fully pump out all of its blood.

As of this morning, his condition is improving. His temperature and other vital signs are at or very close to normal and it's thought that I will be able to bring him home in the next couple of days. HCM is very very serious and there is no real cure, so treatment will consist of twice-daily injections and probably some pills, most likely for the duration of his significantly shortened life expectancy. Cats with advanced HCM, especially with secondary conditions such as the arrhythmia, are expected to live anywhere from a couple of months to under a year, with sudden death a real possibility at any moment. My hope is that we can work to help Howie enjoy the rest of the time he has in comfort and happiness, although his days of prowling the neighborhood might be over, absent a leash. I tried Howie on a leash once and it did not go well, so we'll see!

I'm encouraged by the news from the vet this morning and appreciate all the words of support I've received from family and friends and my client friends. Thank you to everyone for that, it means a great deal to me, and I will be sure to keep everyone posted on Howie's progress.

So, everyone, go give your kitties a nice big hug and a smooch, and keep a close eye on their little kitty hearts. One thing I learned from the various vets I've spoken to over the last few days is that cats are very very adept at hiding any kind of illness, usually to the point of it being too late, so keep an eye on your furry loved ones.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Kristen and Drew

On the last Friday in January, and a frigid one at that, I met Kristen and Drew at COSI for their engagement session. What a great fun time we had! They are so much fun together and we just had a blast. I know the wedding is going to be equally as fun, even without the high-wire balancing unicycle over the lobby!

Here are a few of my many favorites from our session: