Fireworks

I hope you all had a safe & happy 4th of July!

Here are a few photos from my home town in Lockport, NY.  These are from my laptop, so I have no idea how the color will look…

lOVE & BLESSINGS,

Where’d the time go?

Good grief, 2009 is flying by

I’m in NY with Ryley visiting my family. Today was my mom’s 70th birthday, and since I’m home, she was able to have all 3 of her kids together. Being a photographer, do you think I got a photo of all three of us with her??? NOPE!   I’ve taken over 1,000 pictures since I got here, but I dropped the ball today. So now it’s my mission to get the 4 of us back together again for that photo before I head back to Florida.

I’ll try to write again soon and share some of the shots I’ve gotten so far.

Love & Blessings! 

please PRAY!

My friend Tracey who lives in Gloucester, VA sent me this message request for prayer, and I just had to share. If you are a parent, have family with young children, or know anyone with small children you have to read this! Stories like these are becoming more and more frequent, so we need to keep building awareness and also pray for those who have experienced this horrific tragedy!

PLEASE read the message below.  I’ve joined a group on Facebook – We Love
Katie – Katie is 15 and the daughter of Kristi Milby Vann and David Vann
(Helen Vann’s son).  Since Jan. Katie has been in a wheelchair and is now in
Boston for evaluation to see if she qualifies for treatment for a very rare
disease known as RSD or Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (chronic, painful and
progressive neurological condition that affects the skin, muscles, joints,
and bones.  Her injury is a direct result of a broken ankle she suffered in
Jan. 2008.  Through all their visits to CHKD, they are hearing and sharing
so many other stories of people in need of prayer.  This family is in
NEED!!!!!  PLEASE PRAY FOR THEM AS WELL AS FOR KATIE AND THE VANN FAMILY!
Thanks,
Tracey

Butch Holland sent a message to the members of We Love Katie.

——————–
Subject: We were sent this and just feel led to ask for your prayers for
this family

Since we already have a huge prayer chain, we would like to ask for your
prayers for a family in Farmville, as they are going through an unthinkable
tragedy.

The Williams pastor a small church in Farmville, and they have three
children and 6 grandchildren.  On Saturday, Mr. and Mrs. Williams were
keeping all of their grandchildren for the day and were outside playing at
the church.  Mrs. Williams got in her car to go get lunch at McDonald’s, and
as she pulled out onto the street, she didn’t realize that her nearly- three
year old grandson Addison had run out to the car.  Pastor Williams had tried
to catch him, but wasn’t quick enough.  Little Addison was struck and killed
under the back tire of Mrs. Williams’ SUV.  Not knowing what had happened,
Mrs. Williams continued on to McDonald’s, while Pastor Williams frantically
called for emergency services while trying to keep the other five
grandchildren (ages 4-9) from being so traumatized.

I attended the visitation/wake for the family last night, and I can say with
certainty that I have never in my life seen such heart-breaking grief.
Pastor Williams and his wife are absolutely broken and defeated.  They both
blame themselves.  The other grandchildren are having nightmares and the
oldest one is angry at God for “allowing this to happen.”

The funeral for Addison is today around 2.  Please pray that divine peace
that can only come from Christ be poured out onto this family.  They are an
important part of the Farmville community through both their church and
their business.  (Ironically, Rex Williams owns the main towing business in
Farmville and is the one who cleans up wrecks.)

Thank you for praying for this family.  I simply cannot imagine what they
are going through right now.  Please feel free to pass this along to any
other prayer warriors you know.

Happy Mom’s Day!

I’ve been up since 3:00 am – just enjoying the peace & quiet, and working on photos of course. I hope everyone had a Happy Mother’s Day!

I spent a lot of time playing with Ryley this weekend. She’s so much fun!

Ryley’s 2 years and 8.5 months old – that’s all really!

Jerry was very sick all weekend, but he managed to muster enough energy for a 5 minute photo session in our front yard.   A little bit of trivia – Jerry & I met 7 years ago on Mother’s Day weekend

Have a great week!

Love & Blessings,  

The Motions

Hey Everyone,

It’s been a reeeeeeeally long time since I’ve written on this blog. We’re already over halfway through April… life just whizzes by in one big blur sometimes. Lately, I’ve been feeling like I’m just going through the motions… just trying to get through another day.  

At the end of each day, I usually feel a defeated emptiness, because yet another day went by that I didn’t sit down with the Lord. Just me & Him. Not even a measly 5 minutes.  I give my time to everyone and everything else. Even though I want to, I never MAKE time to spend that 1:1 time with Jesus. He’s in my heart, but I constantly fall short of spending time in His word.  I’m really good at beating myself up over it too, huh?

Then a couple days ago I heard a song on the radio that was exactly how I was feeling! I love it when that happens  I’m hoping this song will help me break out of that rut…

Check out the video!  Here’s the link: The Motions by Matthew West

 

Feel free to ask my how I’m doing on that … it’s always good to have an accountability partner!

Love & Blessings, 

Family, Birthdays & Orlando

Just a quick post.

On Monday March 9th, it was my brother Brandon’s b-day. On Tuesday March 10th, it was my husband Jerry’s b-day AND my sister Jacki had her second baby that morning! I only have cell phone photos of her though. Sara Ann Tothill was born at 6:38am on  3/10/09 weighing 6 lbs 10 oz.  She is PRECIOUS!    Both mine &  Jacki’s middle names are Ann

Jacki went into labor the night of the 9th, and I was so excited text messaging everyone I could think of, that I must have forgotten to turn my alarm to ‘on’ when I set it.  Either that or I slept through it (again).  Luckily, my friend Debbie called me at 7:35 am (I have to leave for work at 7:30 to make it on time).  It was one of those delirious, crackly voiced  “What time is it???…Deep Gasp…. HOLY CRAP  I’m LATE!” moments.  As I was FLyING around the house to get out the door, my phone buzzed.  There was a pix message of sweet little Sara Ann, just born, laying in just her diaper….and that’s how I found out she had arrived safely. It was such a relief, since it had been a long pregnancy & Jacki was sick a lot.  A flood of gratitude rushed over me and I cried like a baby … THANKING  THE  LORD as I rushed out of the house.  The only photos I have are on my cell phone, so I can’t share    just yet.

I just put new photos on Facebook from this past weekend. My brother Brandon, his wife, niece & in-laws were vacationing in Orlando last week. They spent Brandon’s birthday at Disney and the rest of the week visiting all the parks.  Jerry, Ryley, and I went down on Friday, hung out, had dinner at the Polynesian Resort, spent the night, had breakfast with some Disney characters, then we took Brandon & Ashley to the airport.

At breakfast, Ryley was very excited to get to meet Mickey. Unfortunately, Stitch came to our table first. . . . . .

Stitch trying to greet Ryley

Ryley let out a blood curdling scream when Stitch tried to say Hi to her (which I DIDN’T get any photos of, because she needed comforting). Ryley flew out of her chair so fast that she left her shoe behind!  She had never seen him before, was terrified of him, and cried hysterically.

Lilo came over and fussed at Stitch for scaring Ryley.   

Then, Mickey came over and covered his ears trying to make Ryley laugh.  She wasn’t having any part of him either though.  This was the best we could do for a photo of Ryley with Mickey….

Notice she only has on ONE shoe??!!! I can relate…I’m that way with spiders

On Sunday, I took Ryley to Blockbuster, found Lilo & Stitch, and she rented it.  Now Ryley LOVES these photos  and loves to tell the story.

To see more fun photos from our trip, click on this link  to my Facebook page.

Gotta get to bed. . . . . HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!!!

love & blessings,    xoxo

horsin’ around

 This weekend, I spent some mother & daughter time with Ryley on a ranch.  A little known fact about me – I LOVE HORSES!!!  Ryley likes them too, but has never been around that many horses at one time.

 

We went to photograph our friend Ashley, the daughter of Ryley’s child care provider Stephanie. Ashley spends most of her free time at this ranch. I’ve been wanting to see her ride for ages, so I finally made time this weekend. Her horse’s name is Bucky, she’s been riding him for a long time, and he LOVES her. He follows Ashley without her having to hold the reigns!

( I fogot the black line around my white borders)

ISN”T  THAT  AWESOME!!?? 

 

 

  

   

  

  

 

 

 

  

 

This one looks cool full size. Your eyes get drawn into this rugged all the movement with the hooves and dirt flying, then you notice at the top that the riders are wearing  ‘pink’  t-shirts! 

  

 

  

 

 

 

Ryley’s first experience with stinging nettles (sp?)… at first I thought she got stung by a bee!  Poor little thing.     Miss Stephanie to the rescue

 

 

Didn’t take long to forget about the sting!

  

  

   

 

Ryley loves Ashley

  

 

 

You don’t see this every day…

 

   

  

 

 

 

They say you’re not supposed to mix b&w  with  sepia,  but I like to…    looks MUCH better full size

 

 

 

Ashley has beautiful eye color!

 

Ended the trip with a shot of this cute little fella who was wishing he was a little taller

 

  

Well, how’s that for catching up on posting photos???    Have a great week!

Love & Blessings,xoxo

PS ~ IF YOU ARE AN EMAIL SUBSCRIBER, THIS  IS ONE OF THE NEW LOOKS I’M PLAYING WITH… Click on the link for my BLOG to see it on the web…

 

 

 

 

This is what it looked like before I changed it…

 

 

 

 

 Dark version…

{NEW LOOK!}

Hey Everyone!

Well, I decided since I spent my entire birthday IN BED SICK, it never happened, so I’m not a year older .  I had the nasty stomach virus that Ryley had (nice bday gift), but she was able to function during the day. I felt so bad, that at one point I was on the toilet, and next thing I knew I was laying bare bummed on the bathroom floor! I had passed out, smashed my face on the floor, and my forehead on a little stand we have in there… go ahead, laugh! It’s funny now that I feel better.

So with my renewed energy, I  freshened up my banner. It all started when I began to create a new logo for myself. I’ve got several versions of it, so I’ll be changing it a few times within the next couple weeks. Please comment and let me know what you think

Here’s a couple photos of Ryley with her Valentines gifts: clip on earrings and a monkey.

I have a senior portrait session in the morning that I’m really excited about. Tyler is the third and final high school senior that I’ve photographed in  his family. He may be the last to graduate, but he’ll probably also have the best photos too!  I’ve gotten better

Love & Blessings,

Science Spectacular, Ryley, & Facebook

Hi All, can you believe it’s nearing the end of January already!?!? I haven’t been good about blogging this month, because my clients have been keeping me pretty busy. Here’s an update:

 

I got my Hanson Fong Canon 5D back from being serviced by Canon (THANKS Hanson & Michael!), so I’ve been playing with it a bunch. On Friday, I took it to work for our Science Day and used it every chance I got. Channel 47 meteorologist Mike Buresh came out to our school again, I sent  him some photos, and he has 2 of them posted on his blog.  Click on the link to his blog and scroll down a bit to see the photos/snapshots…. or look below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then after school, I photographed Ryley playing in a bunch of leaves (something you don’t see often in Florida).

 

 

 

 

Believe it or not, she’s only 2 1/2 years old!

 

TOOOOOOO   CUTE!

 

………………………………………………………………..

News Flash!                 I’m on FACEBOOK

Problem is, I don’t know how to tell YOU to get there. For now, just go to Facebook and search my name.  I created my account before work this morning, and when I got home from my PPSNF meeting this evening, there were about 55 emails from friends already! 

I just added h.a.e photography to Facebook as well, so try searching that too!

Love & blessings,

Happy Birthday Dad & Blessings to Meg

Hey Everyone and Happy Birthday Dad!

My Dad, Fred Preisch:

 

 

This is my friend Meg Young. She left yesterday for a missions trip to Africa! Her mom hired me to create a family portrait just before Christmas, so she could have it done before Meg left. After the family went inside, Meg and I created a bunch of portraits of her to surprise her Mom & Dad.  This is one of their favorites. She won’t be back until December of this year, so the portraits were a very nice surprise.

Inspired by the Lord, Meg has recently created a new non-profit ministry for abandoned babies & children in Africa. Check out Meg’s blog for They Are Not Forgotten Ministries, Inc. !  You’ll love her banner at the top of her blog. Since it’s brand new, it’ll be fun to read all her posts of her experiences in Africa and watch her ministry grow. Please keep her  and this awesome new ministry in your prayers. Add one in for her family too please. I know they’ll miss her tremendously.

You can subscribe to her blog while you’re there, or just click on the link to it on the right side of my blog.

Love & Blessings,

 

Another Great Hartz Awareness Site!!!

The 2 most frequently read posts on my blog are #1  ”Hide Tide Heals – What a hoot!” and #2 “URGENT-Do not use Hartz products!”  It’s nice to know that the information about Hartz is getting around, my cat Iggy didn’t die in vain, and that other Hartz awareness sites are linking to by blog to help spread the word. Having Iggy die an excruciating death as a result of using Hartz was the worst thing that happened to me in 2008. 

Today I found HartzSyndrome.org. Please check out this site. It stresses that Sergeant’s flea & tick products are also linked to pet harm &/or death.  

There’s also an informative article about Pets & Pesticides at this link to the Center for Public Integrity. Info from this article:

“…pyrethroid-based flea and tick treatments — from Hartz, Sergeant’s, Farnam, and Bayer — are approved for sale by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and they are readily available at grocery stores, specialty pet retailers, and hardware stores. But they are also linked to thousands of reported pet poisonings, and they have stirred the ire of pet owners, the concern of veterinarians, and the attention of regulatory agencies.”

On  a happier note….. Have a Safe and Fabulously HAPPY    NEW YEAR!!!

Love & Blessings,

                                       Ignaps (”Iggy”) …. RIP

CERTIFIED!

Our annual Professional Photographers Society of North Florida Christmas Party was the other night … a night full of surprises.  First, I was given this beautiful basket full of home-made chocolate goodies made by several of the women from our guild.  Deeeeeee licious ! ! !

 

Next, I was awarded the Jim and Adrienne Abrisch Scholarship, which is a paid Florida School tuition for May 31st-June 4, 2009 at Daytona Beach Community College. Since only new members are eligible to apply, it was a one time opportunity for me.  Applicants had to submit a written application answering multiple questions, such as what photography means to you. I couldn’t believe my ears when part of MY essay  was read by our president just before announcing the winner of the scholarship! The scholarship program was begun in honor of Professional Photographers Society of North Florida members Jim and Adrienne Abrisch after they were killed in a plane crash on December 12, 2001.  They were dear people who were greatly loved and respected.

Chris from Desktop Darkroom was on hand to photograph us again this year and did a fabulous job.  He took this photo of me and Mike Permenter.  Mike had a large influence in my next surprise.

 

 

When I got home and opened my mail, I found out that I passed the image submission phase of my certification process! In August I passed the written exam. Then I had to submit 20 images to a panel of Certified Professional Photographer judges.  Thanks to Mike, I passed BOTH the exam and the image submission on my first try. Mike is not only an awesome photographer, he is also our local PhotoShop guru. He helped me study for the exam, critiques my work, and gives me advice whenever I need it.   I have to thank Rick Ferro also, who gave me some valuable constructive criticism on several portraits I was considering to submit.

 

Thanks for reading and sharing my excitement!  I probably wouldn’t have been able to attend Florida School if I hadn’t won the scholarship. You have no idea how grateful I am to have won. I thank  God for these blessings!

Don’t forget…. JESUS is the reason for this season!!!  Let Him shine through you during this crazy, busy holiday season.  Much easier said than done, I know, but really…. we’re too blessed to be stressed, right!?  

 

Lots of Love & Blessings,

Pix from Thanksgiving

How many times do you have to do something before it’s considered a tradition? I think I’ve started one for our family by photographically documenting Ryley’s growth from Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving….

 

Our 3rd annual photo by the bird

She’s getting big. Time goes by so fast!

We always start our day in our PJs…I always thought jeans were my favorite thing to wear until Jerry pointed out that I always go for my pajamas. In public, definitely jeans or khakis though. 

Some sticker fun in the morning. They fascinate her right now…

 

 

Then outside (in PJs) for some fresh air and sunshine.

 

 

Our Senegal parrot ‘Snuggles’ caught some rays too.

 

The raccoon path. They visit our yard every night, and over the past year have worn a path in the grass!!!

 

 

Some gardening…

 

 

 

One  of Ryley’s new vocabulary words is “RELAX”

 

Finally, grabbing some bubbles from doing the dishes…

 

My images probably look a bit different in this post because I processed them on my laptop. The color is different.

I hope you all had a safe & happy Thanksgiving, and that you slowed down long enough to remember to count your blessings.

Love & Blessings,

Marriage, and the Slow Fade

Sunday was our 6 year anniversary…

We started the day by going to church where Ryley learned that Jesus lives in her heart. Since we conceived Ryley on our 3rd anniversary, we decided to celebrate her this year and took her to Chuck E Cheeses for the first time. We had a ton of fun….

 

 

 the Thinker…

 

 

 

 

 Haven’t you always wanted to do that?

 

 

Ryley talked about Chuck E “Cheeses” all the way home. When we were getting her ready for bed and talking about her day, I asked her to tell her daddy who lives in her heart. She said “Chuck E CHEESES!!!”… turns out ‘Cheeses’ sounds an awful lot like ‘Jesus’ when coming out of the mouth of a toddler. Isn’t that a good one!?

Being a parent is an amazing experience!

Since I’m on the topic of anniversaries/marriage, I want to encourage everyone to see the movie FIREPROOF. It’s an awesome movie about love & marriage, and how easily we fall into the destructive cycles that all too often lead to divorce. Please take a few minutes to watch this short video about the inspiration behind the song Slow Fade from Fireproof. You will be glad you did! Then watch and listen to the music video SLOW FADE by Casting Crowns (click on the underlined words above to their links).

Jerry and I are about half way through a marriage class at our church with several other couples using the video series Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs and his wife Sarah.  It is by far the BEST information available on marriage and the needs of men & women. He explains in a humorous way how God designed us to be DIFFERENT. It is absolutely amazing and eye opening.  It’s SO GOOD that I want to stand on a mountain top and tell the world about it. When you hear it, it makes SO MUCH SENSE. AND it’s the way God made us to be, so you don’t feel like such a lousy person/spouse after you realize why the differences lead to conflict.

The divorce rate is so high because it’s so easy for husbands and wives to get trapped in the “Crazy Cycle” of miscommunication, misunderstanding, hurt, anger, and bitterness. This is information that our sons and daughters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, friends, etc. etc. need to know so they don’t go through all the pain and heartache that we’ve experienced in our own relationships.  You can see all kinds of stuff for FREE just by going to the website (www.loveandrespect.com)… like this little snippet on the “Crazy Cycle” or check out these FREE video segments… like the one called “Pink & Blue”. 

You can get the entire Love and Respsect video series through download for only $40, and I promise, it’s worth it!!! Click here. OR you can purchase each segment separately for $10. So if you’re skeptical, you can just watch the 1st segment to see if you like it. 

God’s timing is perfect. I am a child of a bitter divorce and years of resentment between my parents. I know the scars this can leave in people. We need to help others not put our children and ourselves through that!

It’s no accident that I saw the movie Fireproof, found the video & inspiration for Slow Fade, AND am in this awesome marriage class all in the same time frame. PLEASE take some time and check out the links above!

I love you all,

Baby’s First!

Yesterday evening, I photographed the Perry family (Cathy Perry Ministries)for the first time since Isabella was born 5 months ago (see my Precious Perry post in my April archives). As I was setting up, I asked Cathy if Isabella was sitting up by herself yet. She said that she could a little bit, but usually flopped over. She wasn’t sitting up all by herself yet…. 

Well look what Isabella did for the FIRST time, DURING our session!!!!  We were so excited … especially me to be able to be right there, not only being a part of that special milestone, but also able to photograph it for Trey & Cathy!

I just had to post a couple of images this morning

to make their day

 Love & Blessings,

First time sitting up! h.a.e photography - copyright heidi ecklor

Jax Fair

Posting a couple pix from the fair this past weekend. More to come…

 

 

 

Ryley & “Aunt Lorrie” … Ryley had a great time with you!

Love & Blessings,  

Ryley’s First Camera!

They beat me to it! You’d think I’D be the one to give Ryley her first camera. Her Uncle Don and Aunt Bobbie sent her a toddler digital camera, and boy was she ever excited!

 

 

 

 

 

This is Ryley’s new “cheese” face… too funny

 

 

 

 

This weekend, I’ll be creating maternity portraits for my good friends Barry & Leslie Bransford.  Barry has some of my images on his website. Check out Cappella Homes at http://www.cappellahomes.com/homes.html and click on the “view more photos” link under the Baroody Residence. You’ll see my name listed under the photos I took of the interior of the house.  Look around his classy site while you’re there too!

Have a GREAT day!

Love & Blessings,

Scheduling Portrait Sessions…

We’re into the busy holiday season now…this year sure did fly by. My calendar is filling up quickly! I received several more calls this weekend of families wanting portraits for Christmas presents. Thought I’d mention that in case you’re thinking of doing the same, especially if you’re wanting environmental portraiture, because I don’t have many openings left ;)   

Here are a couple more of the family from my last post…

 

Hope you all are doing well, and not eating as much Halloween candy as I am!!  I would have been fine is it weren’t for the 50% off leftover chocolate at Walmart, and my co-worker bringing in all her extra. Mmmmm… that sounds good. I think I’ll get some. Other people’s always taste so much better!

Have a great week!

Love & Blessings,

Quick Hello

Thought I’d come out from under my mushroom and send out a quick post!  It’s been an extremely busy month (but lots of fun photog. assignments), so I haven’t had time for blogging.  One of my projects this months has been a portrait session for a gentleman retiring after 30 years of service with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.  Congratulations Mike!

This one’s going out on their Christmas cards:

 

Decided to get a little creative and see how it would look with his badge in the background…

 

Another was a family portrait session at the beach. Rock and Sharon will soon be celebrating 30 years of marriage! They do NOT look old enough for that to me! Their daughters got the family together for a fun portrait session at the beach. Here they are with their adorable grandkids.

Congratulations Rock & Sharon! May you be blessed with many more years together

 

Love & Blessings,

an awesome article about angie…

I forgot to include this article in The St. Augustine Record (or click here) that Angie had hanging on the wall in her exhibit (see previous blog entry).

The trip to Niagara Falls she refers to was with me. When Ryley was only 4 weeks old, Angie went with me to help me on the plane trip so my family could meet Ryley for the first time. She was a huge blessing, because I had no idea what I was doing!  I remember her taking that photograph while we were there! I thought that was pretty neat. Also, the little angel she refers to was my niece Makaila who is also the image on my blog banner & business card that you all are so familiar with. It’s fun when you get to see how your life can have an impact on someone else!! God is good  

Love & blessings,