a little inspiration in the form of a blog award

Jay (you know the mocha beanie mummy and the ever fabulous @cosmicgirlie)has given me some direction today. Instead of relying on words, she's allowed me to focus on photography and my pictures. Which I think is pretty darn sweet of her.

She's put her own little twist on the ever-popular sunshine/creative blogger award:

The rules?

1. You must thank the person who has given you the award. (THANKS JAY!)
2. Copy the logo and paste on your blog. (see above)
3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award. (click Jay's name anywhere in this post)
4. Name 7 things post 7 pictures that are interesting about yourself. (here's where Jay took a little creative license and switched up the game)
5. Nominate 7 other creative bloggers. (see below)
6. Post links to the 7 other bloggers you nominate. (just click below)
7. Let the nominated bloggers know they've been tagged.

So let the photo sharing begin. Here's seven interesting photos either of me or taken by me that I love to look at.

#1 - This is my sister-in-law LeAnna, whom we affectionately call Fanny. This was on her wedding day back in June of 2007. I always have a knack for catching Fanny at the "perfect" bad moments. This is the one and only photo from her wedding day where she looked like a bridezilla. She was one of the most serene and most beautiful brides I've ever seen, and her wedding was technically the first I ever got to take pictures at from a more "professional" point of view.

#2 - This picture was also taken back in 2007, about a month before I had Sidney. We were on the front porch of my Mom's house at my baby-shower when Dobby decided to snap our picture. And it's one of my absolute favorites of me and my best friends in the world. These gals are graduating this month, Dobby with a Master's and Cassie with a Bachelor's (both in Education) and I am so incredibly proud of them and honored to call them my friends.

#3 - This amazing gal is, of course, Sidney Morgan on her birthday September 5th. She came out looking like my identical twin at birth, just as I had tried to tell everyone for the past three months of my pregnancy. From the first time we saw her face on the 4D ultrasound, I knew she was the spitting image of no one but me. Of course, now she looks like her father's twin but that's okay. I'll always have these infant pictures showing how for a small period of time, she looked just like me.

#4 - This is Sidney and Pocahontas, summer 2008, out in Williamsburg, VA. We were visiting my Dad and step-mom and they took us around to lots of old, colonial parts of the city. I love this photo, even though I can't pinpoint why exactly. Maybe it's the fact that Sidney seems so tiny next to such a statuesque figure. Maybe it's the way she's delicately touching Pocahontas with an underlying sense of recognition. Whatever it is, I really love this picture.

#5 - Dobby and Dustin let me take their photos last summer and it was pretty amazing, I have to say. I have a lot of favorites from our photo-shoot but this one is definitely my number one. I love everything about this photo: the colors, the sweetness, the way it's not perfectly centered, the smooshed faces. My photography is never picture-perfect by a lot of typical standards, but I think it's the imperfections that make my photos special. And this photo to me is nothing if not special (just like those two crazy kids)!

#6 - I tweaked and edited this photo with Poladroid, but I can't find the original so this will do nicely. I snapped this sign at a local Wal-Mart and spent the rest of the day cracking up about it. It was just a funny moment, a silly sign, and a photo I took with the camera on my phone. But I love this picture. So very freaking much.

#7 - I took this photo in the woods right in front of our house, and I have to say, this photo gives me such peace. Such inspiration. I can hear the noises and feel the sunshine on my hands. It was just a simple click, a situation where I happened to look up and decide the sun was just as worthy to shoot as the trees and creek and wildlife surrounding me.


So there you have it. Seven of the thousands of photos I've taken over my lifetime. It wasn't easy to pick, so I just went with my gut reaction. And now for those of you I want to tag.

Brandy at You Don't Know
Samantha at Apple Juce & Milk
Megan at Infertile Myrtle
Jessica at The Doe or the Deer
Janelle at Days of Five Lives
Heather at Bitchcakes
Charon at Surrounded-by-Boys     

Good luck, gals.