I am usually not the type of person that replies to urban myth forwards, the 'favorite things' emails that my friends proclaim that I'm the 'least likely to reply' on or anything else that ends with 'send this to 10 people for good luck.' It might be the small business owner in me, but when someone gives me rules or instructions my first instinct is to do the exact opposite.

What I will always do, though, is respond to an invitation and when Heather Owens 'tagged' me in my 20,000 post I checked out her blog and of course felt compelled to reply.

So here we go:

First, the rules…
1. Post these rules before you give the facts.
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) someone and list their name (linking to their page.)
4. Leave them a comment on their blog letting them know they’ve been tagged!

Fact one:

My first love as an artist was actually oil painting - I spend hours and hours as a child oil painting, studying artists, and trying to understand light. I tried oil painting again last year and found that my patience for capturing an image had transitioned from 6 weeks as a painter to about 1/200th of a second as a photographer.

Fact two:

I'm getting married in Feb. to the most wonderful man (hi John!) and am very excited about that day coming along. I do think that popular consensus is that because I'm a professional wedding photographer I have everything set just the way I want it. It's actually quite the opposite - I have a few ideas but really don't know what I want and am trusting other professionals to advise John and I. The planning part has been ridiculously easy, though, mainly because I just called people I really trust and hired them to do what they do best. I would recommend this to anyone who is planning a wedding!

Fact three:

My mother is Italian and my father is Jewish. When I was younger I used to find that hard to explain to people but now it's one of the things I love about myself.

Fact four:

I photographed my first wedding in 2001 at no charge to build a portfolio and got the wedding by advertising for free wedding photography in my local paper!

Fact five:

I'm one of these strange people who loves both left brained and right brained activities. For example, I love being creative as much as I love math. whacky.

Fact six:

There are going to be 27 photographers at our wedding in February (at last count!). Two of them are in the bridal party.

Fact seven:

I'm an only child, so that probably explains my love of being around lots of different families.

Fact eight:

John and I adopted a dog, Art, a few weeks ago. At first it was tough because shortly after we adopted him, we found out he's was severely Lyme positive with kidney failure and Anemic. For a few days he was in the doggie hospital and we weren't sure if he was going to make it, but he's such a strong little pup though and seems to be coming through well.

Here are some photos from his first bath, where he was treated with an "A" dog cookie from my wonderful friend and bridesmaid Jennifer.

thanks Aunt Jennifer!

It's been such a fun summer traveling around to different beaches on the East Coast and photographing families. Next year we'll be expanding our coverage and times

Here's a family of three who I had lots of fun with while running around in Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. What a fun session with a beautiful family.

I love it when little children perfectly fit their names - doesn't she look like the most perfect Annie?

It always helps when siblings assist one another in enjoying the photo session

i. love. baby feet.

This time of year I'm outside almost all of the time, so being in studio with Jack and Lilly was a great change of pace and so much fun!

Sometimes people shy away from studio because outside is a natural place for kids to play, but studio is really great for clean backgrounds and silly faces - a great studio shot really makes the expression on a child's face the subject of the photo.

Kind of like this:

and this:

oh yes, and these as well:

Some people say that living in New York City can make people a little rough around the edges. Having spent lots of time there myself, I can see how that observation could be accurate - but for Sara and Ryan it's anything but the truth. Photographing their day was like being part a loving, compassionate and respectful family. I was able to see how much they love their friends and family, and how much their friends and family love THEM just by how everyone treats one another. I have always said to people in my life 'love is a verb,' meaning the actions of love are more important than the actual words. Sara and Ryan are the epitome of that.

Their wedding was held at the Pen Ryn Mansion just north of Philadelphia. I met a lovely husband/wife NYC based video team called RockMelon, who were loads of fun - and what's a party without a band called the Flamin Caucasians?

and to end with a fun game, who does Sara's grandfather look like? (think: famous actor/producer)

thank you Sara and Ryan for including me in your day, I am looking forward to seeing you next time I'm in the city!

First starting with Katie who married Matt last October at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington:

And then meet all four of her neices and nephews, who I photographed last week. Having four little nieces and nephews is actually a small group considering that Katie comes from a family of five!

They are the sweetest, most beautiful children and of course couldn't come from a nicer family. I had so much fun getting to know each child and learning about what makes them smile:

and they play so nicely together too!

Thank you to all the Smiths and their extended families for bringing me into your lives - I can't wait to see how all the kids grow over time and if there are everr any new additions (no pressure, Katie!).

Thank you to all those who shared in the below post - it was so fun for me to learn more about who you are and why you enjoy reading my blog. It's my goal to continue to spend time here several times a week, talking about life with Art (both the dog and the concept).

I received a really interesting phone call last month for a portrait session. Gerard, who just graduated from medical school in NYC, wanted a Rockwell-esque triptych of his mother (also a doctor) placing a hospital doctor's coat on him as a symbol of multi-generational medical careers. Pretty neat!

Always being up for a challenge, I photographed the session last month and this was the result. Gerard actually ended up purchasing four gallery mounts to display in his office and they look so cool - I'm sure very different than your standard doctor's office prints.

On another note: attention all photographers! This Wed (tomorrow!) I will be available from 5-6 EST (3-4 MST) at the bludomain blog for a happy hour chat to learn more about me, my photography style, and the business. This is going to be a great time to ask any questions you always wanted to know the answer to so please join me for a fun chat!

Well it's only been a short time since I launched the new blog but since then it has received 20,000 hits as of last night! The power of the internet is so amazing to me - I am incredibly lucky that we live in a time where an artist can have a voice, sharing thoughts and imagery through such a powerful tool as a blog.

But my question is who are you? I would love to hear your comments and thoughts along the way so blog stalkers... speak up! I would enjoy sharing a glimpse into your lives and well. So feel free to post below where you are from and if you have a blog yourself, I'll definitely check it out.

And thank you to all those who have emailed asking how Art is doing. He's very happy, extremely social and seems to carry on well in the studio greeting everyone who comes his way. But like any shelter dog, Art does have a few quirks which we are working on so he had a brief stint in rehab yesterday when the trainer came for an hour. At first he didn't want to go (and said no, no, no), but relented eventually and is requesting some privacy during this difficult time.

Have a great weekend to all the blog readers!

Laura

Over Jenny and Corey's wedding day, I learned so much about who they are and the incredible paths that drew them together. Corey, an Iraq vet who at one time was paralyzed from injuries sustained overseas met Jenny while in rehabilitation. Jenny is brilliant as she is beautiful; and they share a balance and synergy apparent to everyone who attended their wedding at Glen Foerd Mansion in Bensalem, PA.

In lieu of favors, Jenny and Corey made a donation on behalf of every guest to the Wounded Warrier Disabled Sports Project, an organization providing year round sports programs for severely wounded service members from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflict and the Global War on Terrorism.