Meet Alex.

Alex is a kinetic little boy of the tender age of 3. He was very difficult to photograph, for the mere fact that he move so quickly and so much. But every now and then I caught a moment of fun or goofiness that made running around with him worth all the while.

On a technical note, one of the things that helped was keeping the camera on either aperture-priority or shutter-priority, so as I moved through the dappled light in his backyard quickly I didn't have to worry so much about exposure. Usually with portraiture I control everything manually, but there are times (especially when photographing weddings or kids) when it's helpful to have the camera think for you, as long as you're being smart about when you let it do so.

My nephew, David-Benjamin, is adventurous and kinetic, much like the young Alex I photographed awhile ago. He's not much of a ham for the camera, preferring instead to put on theatrical displays of face-making or some outrageous gesture to gain laughs.

While on vacation in South Carolina, I caught two moments that I think capture his energetic and daring spirit.

Fearlessly climbing over slippery rocks is one of his specialties, as you can see above.

I especially enjoy this second shot of him leaping out from underneath the waterfall. He looks so fish-like, and at ease with his environment. It's as though he was made for the water, and that the photograph captures the breath before he's reunited with his true element.

Unlike his brother, David-Benjamin, Isaac is a willing camera ham. The instant you point your lens at him, he smiles broadly and happily, saying, "Cheeeeeeeese!" in a long, drawn out, genuinely pleased fashion.

Isaac is also one of the most flexible and foldable little boys I've seen, fearless and innocent, climbing atop slippery rocks to perch himself precariously. He's happy to explore.

And of course, who can ignore that winning smile?

Continuing with the theme of brotherhood, I thought I'd include a few shots from a portrait I took of David-Benjamin, Isaac, and their youngest brother, Fintan. We had taken the three boys to the playground to help them work off some steam. I figured that during that time we could assemble them briefly somewhere and take a nice smiling photo for their mother--a nice surprise, right?

What I didn't anticipate, however, was how difficult it would be to get these guys to stop goofing around with each other and joking. After a few minutes, I gave up, and started encouraging them to make faces. "Okay, now give me a different face!" I'd say.

The end result, while certainly not what I had planned, worked well to keep them in a happy mood, while giving me some endearing results. They were released "back into the wild" and continued their playground mischief shortly thereafter.

Hannah, my niece, is quite a swimmer. Nothing could make her happier than to spend her days at the beach or the pool, splashing away in the water to her heart's content. Here she is at a pool we happened to stop at, enjoying the setting sun and refreshing water.

She's athletic and confident, always ready to play, and definitely holds her own in a family full of boy-cousins and brothers. When I took this shot, they were in the middle of playing some game involving a ball and a bucket they had found outside one of our cabins in South Carolina.

On December 7th, 2007, I became a mother!

This is an exciting new role for me, and as many mothers do, I have fallen completely in love with my daughter, Ruth. She's such a joy to be with and behold, in spite of all the work and change.

It's a challenge, too, to photograph her changing moods and growth. It's like they morph right before your very eyes!

Her father and I are proud parents, and we can't wait for the rest of this journey. I can't wait to photograph more babies!

Step One: Put yourself in the baby's line of vision.

Step Two: Start waving a camera in its face.

My poor children will be doomed to an endless assault of shutter-clicks throughout their lives. But oh, the memories I will have documented!

It's official: Ruthie has her first case of the sniffles. We think that Daddy may have given them to her. She gets very fussy/clingy and is sleeping quite a lot. We've used booger-sucker to save her nose from itself, which is actually kind of fun, if a little gross.

With this first cold, it's just dawned on me that no matter what I do, my little precious child will get sick and hurt. She'll probably catch the chicken pox, step on a tack and need a tetanus shot, and fall and bonk her head innumerable times. It's not what I want at all, of course--it's just the way the world is. I had kind of forgotten about that until--all of a sudden--I realized that it's my job to make sure she stays okay.

One day at a time...

Ruthie is doing much better. It took a few days, a frantic call to the doctor, some saline drops and a lot of booger-suction, but she's herself again. It's a relief to see her smile again, and a joy to notice that, hey, she's smiling a lot more!

I've been having strange dreams and paranoias lately; things about cars exploding and strange characters approaching me deleriously. It's all probably a result of Ruthie's illness, and the realization that I'm so much more powerless to protect her than I knew.

Moments that make my heart leap include the times when she discovers how delicious her fists are. She holds them near her face like two tiny ice cream cones. I know she's found them when I hear delighted squeaks and cooing noises from wherever she's situated. I know that her hands have deftly evaded her when the delighted squeak turns into a frustrated squawk.

She's got such an intense look about her. I hope she'll be an astute observer of human nature. Like her parents, she'll probably have an opinion on everything once she figures out how to express it.

As my niece, Hannah, gets older and older, her tastes continue to evolve. Just a year or so ago, her room was a flood of pink, princesses, and sparkles. When her birthday rolled around, she declared, "I'm not into that anymore," and with the help of her mom, redecorated her room.

She may not have a "princess bed" anymore, or any trace of pastel, but it still screams little-girl-magic to me. Our little Hannah is still growing up.

As many of you know, I'm a new mom.

It's strange to think that this person entered my life a mere 4 months ago (give or take a few days now). It's cliche to say it, but it's true: they grow up so fast.

Ruth's latest trick is not only to hold herself up on her tummy, but to fold herself in half (contortionist-style) and suck on her toes (photos of this feat are forthcoming).

I'm learning so much about her as each day passes, but more than that, I'm learning so much about myself. Parenthood seems as though it was built to tell us hard truths and give us beautiful moments. It tests our limits (and our tempers). It teaches us self-sacrifice.

And I hope I'm passing its tests.

At the Hilton in Linthicum, Maryland, Melanie and Brad tied the knot!

It was a short ceremony and an intimate reception of maybe 30 people. On record, the smallest wedding I've ever photographed, and for the shortest amount of time--only two hours.

An interesting sidenote: Melanie's dress is one of the first strapped dresses I've seen in recent years! She also mentioned that she bought the coverup separate from the dress. When photographing Melody's wedding just a few weeks ago, she too was noting how difficult it was to find something with sleeves, and had to get her long sleeves specially made. Could this be a new trend in bridal fashion?

Since I've been photographing smaller weddings lately, I've found that I really enjoy these smaller affairs. They tend to be low-key, but highly demanding and exciting for a photographer. With no down time, there's always something to photograph and do, and it's a neat challenge to remain unobtrusive when you're one out of thirty, versus one out of a hundred.

The new baby that one family member brought along, of course, barely noticed me.

I love photographing children.

They keep you on your toes by having another agenda.

And sometimes capturing people at just the right moment...

...can be the most fun thing in the world.

Little Zenaida got a baby brother recently. His name is Aiden.

She and mom are adjusting well to their new roles and new demands. Aiden is a beautiful pudgy boy, with his own very distinctive grunt, his hands in perpetual motion when awake. He downs a bottle eagerly.

When I visited them, Zenaida had just woken up from a nap, her hair tousled, but she was very eager to make friends.

Aiden is quite the darling; I'm sure that Zenaida will make a great older sister, and that he'll be a captive audience for her antics.