Maisy and Leah are sisters and the awesome, lovable pooches of my cousin.  I’ll take more photos of them this Thanksgiving weekend as we all camp in the Mojave Preserve!  Bring it Turkey Meatloaf!!

Here’s my friend Maddox, back on the blog for her 9 month portrait session.  I have this little munchkin trained, I swear each time I put my camera to my eye she looked straight at me grinned!!! Too cute!  Can’t wait to see her again in February for her one year session.  I’m excited to see what antics another three months brings.

See how Maddox hams it up for my camera?!

Even Grandma & Grandpa joined in the fun!

Still cracks me up!

One set of parents, three daughters, one son-in-law, one uncle and 5 dogs.  And I got everyONE looking at the camera!  I had been waiting to meet Winnie the doodle for months, as I had photographed her ‘mom’ and ‘dad’s’ wedding in Phoenix in 2008.  Former Chicagoans, they aptly named their pooch Winfrey and she is known Winnie for short.  I was in AZ for a day for portraits and the Thomas family had me photograph their whole group plus furry friends. I was in heaven for the entire shoot!

Introducing Maddox to the Metimages blog!  This gorgeous little girl stole my heart when I paid a social visit in March, just a few weeks after she was born.  I’ve been working with her mom photographically since October 2009, followed by Mom & Dad’s wedding in April 2010 and now I am delighted to be capturing Maddox’s milestones every three months.  Stay tuned for more visits with Maddox on the blog!

Love her little cowlick on the back of her head.

Maddox, Mom & Grandma!

Maddox has this cute little arm move, where she tucks her arm behind her head, like she is relaxed and lounging around!

Last Wednesday in Phoenix dawned bright and early and warm.  I met up with the Klem family for a portrait session with the entire clan.  Barb & Steve rented a lovely house for a couple months and during the final week their two children, spouses and three grandchildren made themselves at home.  The grandkids were such troopers during the group photos and individual family photos and they were rewarded with pool time afterwards.  I couldn’t help but stay and hang out on the deck while photographing their antics and splashing.

There are times, as a professional photographer, when I find myself humbled. And awed.  Usually it has to do with viewing inspiring images that placed in competitions.  The winning images from the Winter 2010 International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers contest were announced this week and I must say I am very moved, motivated, honored and of course humbled by the winning images.

I feel the winter competition is one of the most competitive and intense since hundreds of photographers have an entire year’s worth of images to pull from and submit.  I don’t envy the judges that have to go through thousands of images and judge them on content and quality.

Please take the time to have a look and get a sense of the visual experience of the best of the best in wedding photography around the world. ISPWP Winter 2010 Contest.

I received the email notification that the entries had been judged and the link to the winning images was online. I held my breathe as I scrolled through the winning images in each category – pausing to take in the beauty of each one.  Finally I uttered a simple sigh of relief as I came across one of my images that placed.

ISPWP Winter 2010 The Wedding Dress Category – 20th Place

Here are some of my images that have placed in previous ISPWP Competitions:

Summer 2010 ISPWP Contest

Spring 2010 ISPWP Contest

Winter 2009 ISPWP Contest

Summer 2009 ISPWP Contest

Spring 2009 ISPWP Contest

The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers is a unique organization in that they have strict criteria for the membership – you have be a professional photographer with experience, talent and professionalism and have a peer review before being granted acceptance.

G became an Ironman(woman) as of November 21, 2010 at 10:27 pm. What better way to celebrate such an accomplishment than by having an Intimate Moments session?!  I was delighted with her stories of her interactions with other IM participants throughout the raceday. Seriously, each time she told me a story my jaw dropped and I got the chills. Talk about sense of camaraderie and being there for your fellow participants. She is truly a beautiful woman both inside and out.  Now here’s some of the outside!

Meet James, he is seven months old and an absolutely delightful subject.  I have previously photographed his cousins in Illinois and his mom to this day still oohs and ahhs over their six-month portraits and was super excited to book me for her own son as he hit that milestone. It took us a couple weeks to work out matching schedules and I hoofed it from Yuma to Tucson to spend a little time with James.

Smitten with mommy!

Whole family!

Proud Dad!

Thanks for having me out, see you all again next year!

I have been photographing AJ and Adam for the past three years and I was delighted to be invited to photographed their extended family in Arizona right before Thanksgiving.  The entire crew of 12 met up with me at the Scottsdale Civic Center. It was a fantastic location and about 6 other photographers and families had the same idea that afternoon. Thankfully we were able to spread out and I only had to engage in a small rumble to get a desired spot. I kid, I kid, no punches or offensive comments were made.

The grandparents and the ones responsible for the entire bunch!

Their offspring.

The grandkids – aren’t they cute!?

The entire group of 12!!!

Just a few more of the fun and shenanigans of the rest of our session.

Happy Holidays to your entire family!

Many of you follow Metropolitan Imageworks and Victor, Mater and I on Facebook. We all have accounts so be sure to find us and Like/Friend us.  You might already know of the exciting times and happenings going on right now, but if you don’t, please take a seat and read what I have to share.

We’re going mobile and hitting the road in an RV to live, work and travel. How’s that for a doozie!? EVERYTHING is status quo for Metropolitan Imageworks – Chicago will be the major base and I am available for weddings and portraits and commercial work. It will be seamless. Just like the past winters we spent in Arizona, I will make plans to travel back every so often to work with my Milestones portrait clients and anyone else who needs to book me during those months. I also have awesome associate photographers available to shoot when I am not available (or for a different price point for weddings, hint hint inquire via email for more details.)

The next part of the update is we will be back in Arizona again this winter! So Arizona clients, please pass on the word I will be around from November through March and available for weddings, portraits, commercial work, IM Marathons and photography tutoring sessions. Victor starts a gig at an RV resort in Hope, AZ west of Phoenix October 1st and I will join him in November after my last Midwest wedding.

We have another blog, Roadsteader, where you can follow along on the RV adventure from the comfort of your brick and mortar homes and offices and laugh along with us as we learn the day to day of living in an RV and our antics of course, because humor is a big part of our day to day as it is.

I am also working on a calendar for the blogs, so you can anticipate where we will be and when we will be in certain areas.

I have a shooting gig in Telluride on August 1st and we plan to be in Denver for a while afterwards so I am putting out the call now for any interest in the Denver area for your photography, web, graphic and multi-media needs. Send me an email and let’s get it scheduled!

Without further ado, I am spending the next few days getting caught up on blog teasers and getting back into my blogging groove!

Honk if you see us on the road!!!