Welcome

I'm so happy that you are here! I am a portrait photographer from Newton, Iowa. My life is so rich because of my clients, their stories and how much I adore them. I'd like to use this blog to share them with you!

So come, take a look at what happens in my eyes and their lives in 1/125th of a second.

I wish….

October 11, 2008 – 2:53 am

 I hear this alot.  A parent of older children, seniors etc walks in and sees framed newborn images all over my living room waiting to be picked up.   I see them look, a longing in their eyes and then they say “I wish”. 

I know what is coming next, I have heard it so many many times.  I wish for me too.  I wish I had been doing photographing when my boys were little.  I wish I had been photographing when Lauren and Zachary were little.  I wish I had been photographing when Grant and Kara were little.  I wish I had been photographing when Adam and Olivia were little. 

Uggg you get the ‘picture’.  It is so hard to go back and look at the pictures from when my boys were little that I have all stuffed in a box.  Pictures where feet were covered up.  Pictures where I spent more time looking for the outfit than focusing on the baby.   My deep regret makes me run in the opposite direction and do for others what I wish I had.  What I long for. 

What I wish for.

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I made myself cry….

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  1. Denise Brown posted the following on October 11, 2008 at 7:19 am.

    Amy ~ BEAUTIFUL session…no…visit…reunion! I can see the love you have for all your clients. I too have wishes…and WAY too many regrets, but,..we just move forward. I’m so happy for the “LUCKY” ones that have YOU making their memories stay ALIVE!

Spencer & Carter

October 9, 2008 – 11:57 pm

I always love to reconnect with a friend.  Spencer and Carter’s mommy and I both worked in the same department at Maytag and both have the same very cool first name : ) 

Spencer is a spit fire - a very good thing in my opinion! and Carter is a fighter!  Carter was born with spina bifida.  Thankfully, the spot of his opening was very low so long term his future is very bright!   I saw him today and he was sitting in his car seat rather than laying which was a huge step for sweet Carter.     I was reading in Wikipedia and there is a section of famous people with spina bifida.  The Jack and Diane diddy guy, John Mellencamp.  I never knew!

One side issue was that Carter was born with club feet.  He is casted every week at the Univeristy of Iowa using  the internationally know Ponseti method.   Dr. Ponseti is 94  year old doctor and still working at the U of Iowa.  He was there when my mom was a physical therapy student and she was amazed with him then.    Carter is one of 150 children going through this right now at the U and was selected for a symposium last week.   I am just amazed.

Anyway….  Carter got new casts the day he came to see me.  These aren’t fiberglass kind, they were plaster.  The plaster was still wet.  It was just one of the most meaningful sessions I’ve ever had. 

Here is Spencer with amazing eyes and Carter.  I love how the light hits the casts and that  sweet little dimple in his elbow.

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A prayer for continued healing for Carter!

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Alive & Well

October 8, 2008 – 2:28 pm

For the past 5 years I’ve been photographing and designing cd projects for my friend david.  He lives in Virginia so when we get together we shoot and hope we can pair it with something that he may have come out in the future. 

I have plenty of live shots of him but not in the venue that this was recorded.  So the some of the images were shot when he was in Des Moines in April and some of the shots were very carefully done.  OK, I played the dvd and took pics of my tv screen.  How ‘professional’ is that?  I really wanted the grainy dark look so they actually are perfect and I really wanted to tie in something from that day in the artwork. 

The event was in honor of Zachary Brown whose mommy is so very sweet and gives me blog comment love.   Big hug Denise!   Someday we will meet and I will photograph your beautiful self!!! 

This is a cd and dvd combo, you can see it and hear it and can buy it at the link below….

http://cdbaby.com/cd/dmbaileylive2

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By admin | Posted in My little eye | 1 comments         Add a Comment
  1. Denise Brown posted the following on October 9, 2008 at 12:10 am.

    Amy you did an AWESOME job!!! Alive and Well is BEAUTIFUL!! I too, love the grainy, dark look. I was thrilled you incorporated a couple shots of that wonderful evening! I personally think it’s VERY professional :-)

    Yes, we WILL meet one day - I just know it! And I look forward to that!

    Tonight Alive and Well is sleeping in Durham, NC. Tomorrow, I will deliver 500 “Bags Full of Hope” to the Brain Tumor Center at Duke for each newly diagnosed brain tumor patient. There were a lot of tears assembling these, “Bags Full of Hope” Knowing that each person receiving one will have been given that diagnosis!

    Sending you bunches, and bunches, of LOVE…this time from Durham, NC :-)

    Denise

Why I love seniors….

October 7, 2008 – 12:52 am

This will be the first of several posts on why I love my seniors……

 1.  Talks on the couch

I love my living room furniture.  It is big, comfortable and squishy.  My Emily picked it out for me at Store for Homes in Newton - big plug for some of my favorite people!   I saw a picture and said sure.  I’m easy.   What I easily agreed to was a place.  A place where many a conversation would evolve.  A place where legs would criss cross in comfortable fashion emptying one’s soul to me.  The art of photographing someone can be very special as can be the friendships that result.    I treasure them all.

2.  Talks at the front door

What didn’t get talked through on the couch moves to the front door.  The door Bret and I found out in the back shed when we moved into our house 16 years ago.  The door covered with many layers of white paint that we scraped and scraped with knives to get the chips out of the egg crate design.     I have stood by that door for hours finishing up any last bit of talk.

 3.  Hugs on the front porch

 There is nothing better than making someone feel beautiful.   I’m a hugger and love it when someone gives me the big squeeze in response to the pictures and the friendships we have created. 

More reasons to come……

I’ll start posting 2009 seniors soon but for now a quick one….

Miss C, who along with her momma, made sure I took time out with my boys and to go to the fair, who have checked on my over and over to make sure I was ok, and while going through their own pain,  just plain loved me up. 

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A vent…..

October 6, 2008 – 10:53 pm

I know this is supposed to be my photography blog but something is on my mind today and I’m going to talk about it.

My boys watch nature shows, races, football games, baseball games etc, good tv really.    I work right beside them when they are watching.  I may be watching a little bit but I’m certainly listening. 

Do you know how if  you hear the same song over and over again you find yourself singing it in your mind?  Well, you’ll be thrilled to know the latest song in my mind and certainly not because I want it there!    Not really a song,  but a commercial.  Not just one commercial but two different companies offering the same type of drug for men.  I am so tired of hearing those commercials.  So tired of my boys watching decent tv and having to listen to those commercials.  So tired and trying to talk to them really loudly during those commercials to try to distract them so they won’t ask questions that they really don’t need to be thinking about at their young ages.  So tired of hearing them in my head. 

So I guess it is exactly what those companies want.   We all know what they offer and what it fixes.    I’m just so tired of my boys being exposed to the words, the images and that darned music.

And because I can’t just vent and not post a picture…..

I just wish our kids (me too) didn’t have to hear the trash at such a young age.   Like this adorable baby girl, keep her precious, young and innocent.  Gotta love her, squeeze her, kiss her.  She is yummy!

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