Shhh.... don't tell Daddy

This gorgeous mom had me meet her at the end of the earth where Dad owns a lumber and trussing company on tons of desert acreage. I simply love how everything turned out. She is going to surprise him and have the images hanging in his office before Father's day. Smart lady!!

For our Dad, I am planning on shoot "A Day with Dad". I'm going to take pics of him in his 6th grade class where he teaches and shoot documentary style, then grab some shots of him playing catch with our boys in the street where we live, and hanging with the girls... all the things that make up his world as a Dad... then put into a digital book for him for Father's Day. I'm sure he will tear up, which means I've done my job right as a gift giver... well, maybe he won't without the surprise factor.

If you would have seen this location, you might have been slightly disappointed, but it was the perfect location to amp the creative juices and make something out of nothing. Obviously Mom had a vision too, or we would not have driven all the way out there. I wish I had taken a picture of the entire yard, just so you could see how desolate everything looked. Picture a few miles of desert, with a bunch of junk spread into one area, a couple large metal bars, and some factory type equipment. And tumbleweeds. Not ideal.

Here is one tip I use in situations like this to make something amazing... (which I think this next image is pretty sweet), I look for shapes in the environment. We were driving down the dirt and I saw a stack of these things, have no idea what they are and I thought, "circles-yes!" So we screeched to a hault, unloaded the kiddos and they were more than thrilled to 1. be allowed to play on something otherwise labeled dangerous and 2. get dirty! Here is what we captured!


Old trucks always are amazing for a great shot, and some color pop!



Behind this darling girl pictured below is a stack of treated wood. Sentimental for Dad, fantastic backdrop for me - squares!! Patterns please the brain, so that's why this becomes so much more interesting! We did tons of shots here.

Luckily, there was a gorgeous field of wheat across from the lumber yard, and the kids were crazy excited to play in here, and so was I... candy for my camera!!