After editing all day, I’m a little slow on text. But the images will speak for themselves, as they show a beautiful young women about to graduate from high school. When I post pictures of “seniors”, my heart always pinches for the parents, as I know how they must feel, dreading their children to fly from the nest.. My son is 13, in 8th grade, and although at times we clash, I can’t imagine living without him. Abby, it was a pleasure to photograph you, I think you look absolutely fabulous, simply gorgeous!

She’s beautiful inside and out. She has a sincere smile, and through it you get a glimpse of her huge heart. She wants to be a missionary, she enjoys reading and is very familiar with her bilingual bible (in spanish). As a mother, I was particularly sensitive to the tenderness between Maddy and her mother. Catherine, I hope that in our short time together, I was able to capture your daughter in all her loveliness, and that you will cherish these images.

This dress… if I ever find it, I’m buying it! Dreamy, romantic, it fitted Madelyn like a glove, and it just begged to be photographed with a tilt-shift lens.

For the 4 years I’ve been blogging, I’ve often been tempted to share “personal thoughts”and every once in a while, I do.  My hesitation isn’t shyness, I’m just a little reserved, and maybe concerned that perhaps what goes on in my life is not interesting to those who stumble across my blog.  My blog is my portfolio, a testimony of my work and its progress through time, a place to decide if my style will fit your needs.  But then, you may also want a glimpse of who I am before you hire me to photograph your precious newborn, your children, your high school child before she leaves your home for college.  You may want to feel like we already know each other before I photograph your belly and say “now for this pose, you’ll want to be entirely naked”… (which would only happens if you request the nude poses)

On this presumption, I’ll try to commit to blogging more frequently under the “personal-news” tab.  If I limit myself to just 1, or 2 (ok, maybe 5 max) images, it may not be too ambitious of a task?

On the menu today: reading.  We are a family of fanatic readers.  Henry flies through encyclopedia size books, not your by-the-beach companion book.  He loves to learn new things, he’s engrossed by biographies (surely by now, he’s gone through all the influential characters through out world’s history), he reads scientific books, but also enjoys an occasional novel.  As for me, I devour novels mostly (French & English alike), historical fictions are my favorites.

Our son, Will, 13 years old was one of the top readers of his school last year and was interviewed by the dean on the school’s news.  With hardly anytime to think, he blurted out: “readers are leaders” when asked “why do you think reading is important?”  No launching into some heavy deep reflections on the benefits of reading from this teenage boy.

Magalie, 10, is also an ardent reader.  Like Will, she also loves to write little stories.  While his are elaborate and fantastic, hers are full of humor, and when she illustrates them, they become my most treasured possessions.

Olivia, 8, is finally catching up to our reading mania.  I have to admit, we couldn’t understand her lack of interest before, until Henry came up with a great motivation factor: the promise of having her ears pierced if she reaches a very ambitious AR goal (AR are points earned after you take a comprehension test on a book you’ve read).  She’s now hooked on reading, still excited to earn the prized pierced ears, but mainly enjoys her time with a good story.

I mostly read on my ipad now, totally LOVE it!  I carry a vast library in my purse, on the plane, it’s so practical and light.  I can hold it in bed with one hand, on my back, belly or side, or plop it on a pillow (without having all the pages turn at once), I can read it in the night without having to wear an explorer frontal head light, I can…keep on forever…it’s awesome!  And that’s not even mentioning the endless apps.

I hit the jackpot recently and found 3 amazing books in a row.  I consider it a success book, when I can’t put it done while reading it, and if I’m filled with mourning when I’m done.  It feels like grieving to leave the characters, the scenery, whatever the book gave me, and now is no longer there.  Here are the titles:

• The story of a beautiful girl, by Rachel Simon
• A young wife, by Pam Lewis
• This burns my heart, by Samuel Park

And this summer, I really enjoyed “Hotel on the corner of Bitter and Sweet”, by Jamie Ford.

And this is just one of the stacks I brought home from the book fair last week for Olivia…
Please if you have any suggestions, any recent good reads, do share with a comment. I need to add to my stack.
Arielle

If you haven’t had a chance to experience it in your love life, you get an other chance at it (everyone does, no exceptions!) when you have a baby. It’s love at first sight in its glory, it invades and swells up your heart in a magical instant. It’s definitely what happened to Hannah’s parents. I suspect that for her mother, Jessica, it wasn’t as sudden as for Andrew. When you feel the baby grow inside you for 9 months, the love starts growing too, but Hannah’s father was smitten with this little angel, the moment he laid his eyes on her. It is always a treat for me to spend time with new parents, to see this strong beautiful natural bond with their infant, and of course to hold a baby for a day…

Don’t be fooled, as peaceful as the little babes appear on my images, it is hard work to be a model!