hmmm... I think the novelty has worn off....

Both girls appear to be annoyed with the photography... this does not bode well for me...

the boys are back in town

Niko and Aiden are my nephews, and I don't get to photograph them as often as I'd like. They came over to my house the other day, and I took that opportunity to practice.

Niko spent the whole time I was shooting in our recliner, and chewing on the Wonderpets flag. He did stop watching tv, though, to turn to me and say "Cheese!"

Aiden barely looked at me once! He was far far too busy for that. But I could tell he knew I was there (and that there was a camera pointed at him)

And like always, Olivia was oblivious to the whole deal

Beautiful Brown Balloons

Time for another Holly custom. I've got a couple blogs today, so I figured start with her ;)

Alright, so this pony comes with a story. It's a long one, so I'll try to abbreviate. Most of my friends agree that I *love* brown balloons. And by love, I mean loathe. Actually, after all these years, I kind of enjoy them... but at the time this all started... well....

It all started at the second annual My Little Pony Convention (Yes, there's conventions. Yes I have gone to them. I actually was on the convention staff for 4 years. I have no shame here.) So I'm friends with Holly, who at the time was on the staff of the convention, and she invites me along to help with setup. There were two people blowing up balloons, and two people hanging them, and myself running in between the sets of people handing off balloons. Somewhere in the process, someone inflated a brown balloon.

Now if you know me, you know that once I get started ranting, I'm off and ranting. So I start ranting about the brown balloons. I mean really, what is the purpose of a brown balloon? When I buy myself an assorted package of rainbow colored balloons, should I really be finding brown in there? Am I graduating from some high school with brown as one of my school colors? Or at a clowns funeral? Because if not, I can't find a reason for brown to be appropriate. I rant like that for the entire time we're setting up. My friend Slugs husband (yes her name is slug) who was also helping out, found me amusing, and during the actual convention rounded up all the brown balloons, and (unknown to me) hung them all at my stall. And managed to photograph me with them.

Told you it was a long story... but it was a set-up for the pony. Holly is best known for her zebras. I wouldn't be shocked if she's made over a hundred of them. And I had longed for one for years. Holly, ever the jokester, made me this beauty.

I love her and all of her brown glory. She sheens a pretty reddish brown outside. I just love her and her brown goodness!

another Holly classic

This one my first! She's going to be so mad when she see's this custom (mostly because I'm sure she's forgotten about it... plus she's improved her craft significantly since making it.) But who cares what she thinks! I mean this project is just about me cheering her up! Oh wait...

Lily Hopper

Like I said, she's my first Holly custom... but she's also the first custom I ever owned that I didn't make myself. I got her by swapping customs with Holly before I ever knew her (if she really wanted to be evil, Holly could post mine... I remember what I made, and I'm positive it hasn't aged well) When I got Lily Hopper in the mail, I just remember being stunned by the small brushwork... this teeny tiny painting on a pony. I'd never seen brushwork so smooth before (even though she's even better at it now.) I loved her and love her, even if the red in her paint is bleeding over time (the poor thing)

**told you you'd hate me Holly LOL!!**

Olivia... the dominant model this weekend

I tried practicing portraits today, since its been a while since I've truly focused on that. Not working in my favor - the high noon sun. Just happened to work that way with our schedules... not the best conditions to work in. But Olivia was a trooper.

Until she let me know subtly that she was done.

a bit of a drama queen

After Olivia got up from her nap, I decided to try to put her hair into a ponytail. Oh the fits and the anger! She sobbed and wanted a hug for like 5 minutes, and then got distracted by the television. I took that moment to take my day 68 photo...

Of course, eventually whatever was holding their attention on the television ended, and the gig was up...

...and the theatrics started all over again.

At least her hair was cute.

a couple random ones of Olivia

Olivia's got some mean hair going on lately (mostly because she won't let us do anything with it) and the wind blowing just accentuated it!


And I finally was able to capture Olivia drawing Claire. She actually drew her like six different times, but this is the only one I managed to capture (it's just a snappie... but I couldn't resist - out of everything she could draw, she draws her sister!)