Baby A {2 weeks new}

This little guy came to me for his mommy's work marketing materials. I think he's absolutely tiny modeling material. ;) Normally I don't upload commercial sessions but this way his mommy gets to see how handsome he is too.........

Tiny Little Markus {11 days new}

Tiny,
Smooshy,
And oh so very sweet......
♥ ♥ ♥

The 24 Hour Blur...

Wow! I'm exhausted and out of shape! The past 48 hours have been an insane blur...

Let's start with Tuesday... My husband needed to leave the house by 6am to catch a bus to the airport. He needed to report to Las Vegas, NV for work and the alarm didn't go off. Either it didn't go off or we slept right through it, we aren't exactly sure. I was to leave the house by 6:30am for a shoot. I was awoken by a shake at 6:30am... Yup it was one of those days! First day of school for 4 out of 5 kids, we both had to leave early for work and we were already way off schedule. The morning went a little like insanity. Everyone rushing from place to place and worried about being late. We all made it where we needed to be but yikes what a morning!

Thanks goodness for a shoot with Colorado Access to calm my nerves! ;) Have you heard of Colorado Access? Me either until a few months ago. Colorado Access runs our Medicaid, CHP and other state governed health programs and the people who work there are pretty cool. They are in the middle of a branding re-do that I'm lucky enough to be a part of it. If you haven't heard of them before today, don't worry, you will. One of their goals is to become a larger presence within the state and that can only be a great thing!

After the new logo launch it was off to my brother in-laws' house and I promptly had a flat tire on the way. Good thing I had a spare and heels. When you stop to change the tire in heels and a pencil skirt, guys offer to do it for you and refuse payment!

I did eventually make it to the airport and Las Vegas to meet up with the husband. Before we met up though, I had an awesome photo session with a model named Avery. We tooled around the Palace Station Hotel and Casino where I was staying for some pretty fun shots...

Before we knew it the sun had set, Dave made it to the hotel and it was time to head to the strip just over a mile away. A cheesy selfie of the two of us...

And you can't be tourist in Vegas without at least one skyline picture right?

But I'm a photographer so I took three.........

&

Following my mini walk about (I say mini because we pretty much stayed right around Caesar's Palace) it was time to go see Absinthe courtesy of the lawyer running depositions with Dave. A little bit bawdy, a whole lot of funny and a bit Moulin Rouge meets Cirq De Soliel and totally awesome!

Now Dave and I aren't big gamblers. We have five kids who are a little expensive so instead of gambling the night away, we walked the night away along the Vegas Strip...

We wandered all over the place and got lost in the Venetian only to return to the strip several hours later and in front of the Palazzo. We still don't know how that happened but we had the best time and laughed non-stop...

Finally not long before the sun came up, we were worn out and it was time to take a cab back to our hotel where the views from our room were amazing...

The plan was to sleep on the plane home but we networked instead with a gal running a clothing boutique! 

Sleep is over rated anyway but tonight we're going to bed early!

Tim & Liz {Wedding}

Dave and I photographed Tim & Liz's wedding at Lake Dillon in Dillon, CO yesterday and we couldn't have asked for a better time. I'm not going to get all wordy on you, instead I'll just show you how the day went....

Tim and Liz from Tina Francisco on Vimeo.

I'm pretty sure he's the peanut butter to her jelly or she's the cookies to his milk. You get the idea...

There is no doubt in our minds that they are madly and foreverly in love. In fact Dave and I talked it about on the way back to Denver, those two - those two have what we have. A forever and everlasting, all consuming, down to the toes kind of love. The love filled with passion and comfort all in one.....

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colorado

  I love animals. Almost all kinds of animals and when I was little, I was going to grow up to be a veterinarian. At least that was the plan before I realized how much blood and needles were involved in being one so now I'm just an animal lover who grew up to be a photographer.

  Zoos on the other hand, I have a love/hate relationship with. I love knowing I can show my children real live exotic animals in a semi up-close and personal way but I've always wondered if the animals were sad to be "stuck in a cage". They were meant to roam the Earth, free and wild. Frolicking in meadows, woods and flat lands; not stuck behind glass or wire. It has been with the wonder of a child and the sadness of an adult that I have visited zoos my whole life and now I'm sharing those experiences with my children.

  A few years ago my mother in-law came for a visit from NY, NY. On one of our outings with her we visited The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and I was hooked. A zoo that only takes in rescued animals! From people who thought they would make great pets or circus animals that had been mistreated, they found a home there. The animals are ALIVE there! They "stalk" their dinners, they receive carrots by hand from zoo keepers, they sit in their care takers laps and look genuinely happy! My mother in-law now buys us a family pass each year for Christmas and she regularly sends $2 bills for feeding the giraffes and the kids love every second of it. Me - well I don't feel guilty taking my children there. We drop our tokens into the slot choosing which animal we'd most like to help that visit, the kids feel like they really ARE helping to save the rain-forest and they've taken a huge interest in recycling anything and everything possible. They've petted a baby wallaby and could never imagine owning a coat made from their soft fur. They laugh at the hippo and they're enthralled with the lemur who yells because no one will let him "go for a ride" on their shoulder. And me - me I'm just glad the lion who was starved and then was attacked by a circus cage mate, survived and found a haven that feeds her meat on a stick for fun (fingers are apparently too dangerous).

 Faith couldn't find this guy at first. ;)

 I know a few women who would kill to have eyelashes this thick!

 Feeding the giraffes is really cool and the kids get a kick out of it too!

 He was posing pretty for me

 Macey's little friend came with us and she wasn't so sure about turning her back on the giraffes! We had just watched one try to steal a gal's hat...

 The African Grey Parrot paints for fun and he talks but very quietly...

 Thanks to Meerkat Manor - my kids love the meerkats and we need a new picture every time we go. ;)

 The classic newborn pose modeled perfectly....

 This guy's trunk was ALL OVER! He just been hand fed carrots by a zoo keeper and he wanted a few more!

 My mom used to hand raise cockatiel babies when I was a kid and they have an atrium where they fly around loose (along with parakeets) and they eat spray millet on a stick from your hands. They're super cool birds but I don't recommend checking them out before they have feathers. Any naked newborn bird is ugly but these are what nightmares are made of! It's good thing they grow up to be so pretty.

 I might be a girl with a thing for lizards. I once had an iguana named George and my little brother had his brother named Fred. We pretended they had conversations on our way to Kearney, NE when I was in college. His was coming to visit and mine was coming home....

 She was seriously eyeballing Faith! I'm convinced if that fence wasn't there, she'd have had her for a snack!

I really wasn't kidding! She really wanted Faith ala-mode minus the ice cream!

Faith (understandably) got a little freaked out when she realized this gorgeous mountain lion was following her every move and she chose to hide behind me..

 This little guy is sitting in the zoo keepers lap checking out a Nikon camera! (Canons are better little dude)

 This little guy is vocal and not so quiet! He was a circus rescue and really LOVES people. If you don't acknowledge him - he yells. I overheard a zoo keeper say more than anything he just wants to walk around on her shoulder.

 The human qualities in these amazing creatures is indescribable.

 The first time we went by, she was snoozing...

Then it was snack time!

 Orangutans might just be my favorite animal. Silly, playful, human like hands and gloriously vibrant orange hair. Even he knows there's nothing like a mother's hand.

  I'm not a fan of ALL zoos but this zoo, it's very different and believes in rescuing animals, not caging them up for entertainment purposes. We're just lucky enough to be allowed to visit and help finance their care...

You Will Be Forever Missed....

  I've been mostly MIA for the past two weeks. We had to say good-bye to my Grandpa. My only Grandpa really. I grew up with a Great-Grandfather in MN and another in Boulder. Sadly they both passed when I was entering my teens so really Grandpa was it in the grandfather department and he wore that role wonderfully.

  Long story short, he was amazing and the kind of man I want my boys to grow up to be. Hard-working, honest, trust worthy, family man, caring and loving. We're all going to miss him  He really was wonderful and I really am going to miss him like crazy but we'll all be okay. We'll all be pitching in to help Grandma and that's where I'll be spending my Mondays from now on. She's wonderful and I'm looking forward to spending time with her and helping with anything she might need, even if it's just watching "her shows".

  I wish Grandpa would be with us; through losing him though, I gained a huge amount of love for humanity. You see, my dad lives in Hawaii. Maui, the Big Island. It's kind of a tropical paradise, unless you are unexpectedly call home for the unimaginable then it's not quite such an oasis. It really is an island, thousands of miles away. Unfortunately Grandpa's passing was in between pay periods for everyone (not that there is ever a convenient time but if there was, this wasn't it) and getting Dad home for an affordable price just didn't seem possible. I decided to take a Leap of "Faith" and post the following on Facebook:

My dad lives in Maui and sadly my grandfather (his dad) passed away unexpectedly on Sunday. Getting my dad here in time for the funeral Monday will be $1000-1300. I'm hoping my wonderful connections in Facebook Land will have frequent flyer miles they would be willing donate to get my dad home in time. I now it's a long shot but I have a daughter named Faith for a reason..... 

  And I do have a daughter named Faith for a reason. My mom passed away December 10, 2004 when I was just 16 weeks pregnant with Faith. At the time we didn't know what we having but on January 16, 2005 we had an ultrasound and found out we were having a girl. It also happened to be my mom's 45th birthday that day. I purposely scheduled it on her birthday. She had been with me to every other important doctor's appointment with the other children and I couldn't imagine her heart would have been anywhere else that day, at least for that hour anyway. I was keeping faith in how I dealt with my mom's passing and it took a great amount of faith. When it came time to name our baby girl, it just HAD to be Faith. And here I was, another death and needing faith more than ever.

  Riding on that thought, I started messaging what were all scams for frequent flier miles on Craigslist and in the middle of dealing with finding nothing but scam after scam, I received a message in a photography forum. Another photographer who lives in Alaska was willing to donate miles and then my phone rang. My best-friend of over 20 years used to ski; as in went to the Para-Olympics several times, used to ski and she has wonderful friends she's made skiing over the years. Well, one of her skiing buddies saw my post and wanted to donate miles! Between Jennifer at Little Moments Photography all the way in Juneau, Alaska and a gentleman I had never heard of Chris, who is training in Honduras; my dad's flight was covered!

  Through our family's time of sadness, there was a showing of humanity that was amazing. I can never thank these two enough for what they did for my entire family but you better believe I will never forget. Neither of these two individuals want anything in return. Really, I'm not sure they even want a public recognition but they deserve it anyway. Jennifer is just one of those genuine people with a heart of gold and I NEED to get to Alaska at some point. I want to meet her in person even more so now! Hannah's friend Chris, he would just like me to pass along the favor someday.... he also has a daughter named, Faith.........

  Our family losing our patriarch of the family can never be changed nor can the changes that will come from losing someone so adored but finding people like this in the world, helps cushion the blow...

We love you Grandpa!

Ethan {Class of 2014}

This guy was a riot! It has been two very long weeks around here. Ethan's session was smack dab in the middle of it all and it was wonderful to relax and laugh with him, his mom and his bff Todd (who hung shirts from his shirt and shall ever be known as "The Coat Rack" at least until he hires me for his senior pictures then Ethan can be "The Coat Rack"). I enjoyed every second of this session! Have an amazingly awesome senior year Ethan!!!!

I Love the Ungerman Family!!!

Sigh.......... The Ungerman family is truly a great bunch! We've had many sessions (and a wedding) over the years and each one I fall just a little more in love with these guys. Four kids SHOULD be chaos, especially when you have ages from 2 to 14 but it never is with this family! The children are all happy at all times and their parents couldn't be more adorable. Yes I really am in love with shooting this family (in a totally non-creepy kind of way, of course!)

Happy Birthday Beautiful Lady!

Ladies come to me for an Ooh La La (boudoir) session for all kinds of reasons:
1. It's a gift for him - wedding, V-day, Xmas or Bday
2. They just broke free from him and want to remember they're still desirable
3. Finally ready to date again and having some semi racy shots of themselves help in the online scene
4. They've worked hard to lose weight and are proud of themselves (as you should be ladies)
And Lastly..........
5. Just for them! They aren't giving them to a guy - heck they might not ever even SHOW a guy but they need or want to feel pretty. To see themselves in a way others see them but unless they live in a 360 degree mirrored world, they never get to see themselves look this way.

This pretty lady - her birthday is coming up and this was her present to herself! How awesome is that?!?! Out of all the "things" in the world she could have chosen, she chose to have ME shoot her Ooh La La session!

Happy Birthday to an amazing woman! May you have 100 more!!!!!!!!!

Hawg Back Saloon!!!

In case you didn't already know, I have several friends and clients who have MS (multiple sclerosis). Most have remitting relapsing, which is a fancy of way saying some days they are completely normal and other days - life gets put on hold. Robbing them of day to day activities by causing muscle spasms, seizures and other kinds of unpleasantness.

Then there's my friend Jackie, hers is different. She has secondary progressive MS which means instead of the occasional bad day, she has the occasional good day. At least that's the short version. I've known J since 6th grade - we go way back! We missed out on just over 10 years of each others lives but whenever we'd run into each other, we'd pick right back up where we left off. Then we ran in to each other at a get together at a local dive bar and suddenly my vibrant, life of the party friend was using arm crutches! I'm not a stranger to the arm crutches, my best friend uses them once in awhile thanks to CP. Seeing J with them, that was a surprise though! This is the girl who was my "flying partner" - we were the girls the rest of our spirit squad would toss around on the football field...

She was diagnosed with MS and it progressed. You see there's no cure for MS, just drugs that attempt to keep it from progressing. The meds didn't work on J... The National MS Society and countless doctors, nurses and patients are working on that but that takes money. LOTS of money!

J formed Team Hope and over the years the presence at the MS Walk (first Saturday in May - mark your calendars!) grew and grew. Team Hope is now the largest group at the walk each year and each year the bar raises to earn money. Money for a cure, money to slow the progression, money for medications, money for specialized equipment and anything else those with MS may need.

Recently J was a part of a new research medication and suddenly she was getting her life back! She still had MS and still had issues but the seizures came less and less. She was using a cane vs a walker for daily life and she was a different person. Not herself, but close. A NEW herself and life was good. Sadly the research came to a screeching halt within the past few weeks. We're not sure how long she'll be her new self but "one day at a time" is a good philosophy right now.

In J's world, a new self means looking for a new adrenaline rush, a new sport, a new activity. Which is awesome! Her new fun pastime? ROLLER DERBY! Now she's not the jammer or the blocker and really she's rarely on the rink itself, instead she's Babydoll. The Denver Roller Dolls (DRD for short) mascot and she loves every second of it. On a good day - you'll find her wearing skates and using her walker (and sometimes her wheelchair) visiting with fans and instilling confidence in young girls who want to grow up to become strong amazing women, just like J.

DRD has been wonderful to J and for J. You'll find girls going by the name of Granny, Gator and Thunda (just to name a few) by her side at the MS Walk, derby bouts and even throwing fundraisers for Team Hope. The Hawg Back Saloon  happens to be owned by Granny and they hosted a "Christmas in July" fundraiser for Team Hope this weekend! There were body painters, bands, booths and raffles - all in J's honor! It was awesome to be a part of it.........

There were friends to be found...

See that guy with the GIANT lens? That's Shutter Up - the official photog for DRD and he does an awesome job at it! We even got to shoot together for an impromptu Santa's Helper mini session (more on that in a second)

A whole lot of body painting going on...

And even Santa's Helper was on hand (body painting done by the so very talented Sofia Rose - if you ever need a body painter, she's your girl!). This was one night I was kicking myself for NOT bringing everything in my camera bag! When you're asked to do a quick session with the gal covered in body paint - you really want more than just a 24mm lens and your backup camera body! lol

*If you missed out on the fun time at Hawg Back Saloon but would still like to donate to Team Hope, just click on the Team Hope link up above*