I have seriously neglected my blogsite for a REALLY long time! I’ve had so much to do, there was no time for posting. Maybe I will eventually get caught up enough to post some of the things I’ve been working on. In the meantime, there is something really important that I would like to share.

I took Ethan to the beach in Waveland, MS so that he could see it before our beautiful coast is affected by the oil spill. Unlike Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida, so far most of Mississippi has been spared. As time passes and the oil slick grows in size and in density, we will eventually have oil on our coast, destroying our beaches and wildlife. I hope we are lucky, that the spill affects us minimally, and that our ecosystem recovers quickly. I wish I could say the same for the rest of the Gulf, but the future seems very bleak and uncertain.

I wanted Ethan to see the beach, although he probably won’t remember it. Here are some pictures of our day.

I encourage everyone to get out and see the beaches. I only live 30 miles from the Waveland beaches, and I can’t remember the last time I visited our own beaches. It is easy to take for granted the things in your own backyard.

What is PCS you ask? Every photographer with children knows PCS and must deal with this illness from time to time. For the non-photographer, PCS stands for Photographer’s Child Syndrome. The condition usually makes it first appearance around the age of 2, give or take a few months. The condition primarily shows its signs when the mother or father photographer attempts to photograph their child. Symptoms begin with a lack of eye contact, or limited eye contract present only with narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow. As the disease progresses, the child becomes more agitated and vocal about their resistance to having their picture taken. They run from the camera, yelling vulgarities such as “nnoooooo mommmmyyyyy! no camera! no pictures!”. At its worst, the disease is characterized by full on tantrums, plenty of alligator tears, and occasional violence against camera equipment. The only real cure for the disease is to stop taking the child’s picture and allow them ample time to recover. For some lucky photographers, the condition only lasts a few months. For others, it can last years. PCS is generally found in children under the age of 4, but can also make a reappearance in the teenage years.

Ethan’s PCS first appeared just a few months before his second birthday. At first it was minor and manageable. He didn’t really want to look at the camera every day, but as long as I gave him a few days of rest, he would cooperate to a degree. As the months went by, his condition worsened. It reached its peak in December. The following photos are not for the faint of heart and display a pretty good representation of a child in the throws of a PCS induced tantrum.

Do you see the intense look of pleading and desperation in his eyes? This session ended a few seconds later with Ethan attempted to violently knock the camera from my hands. I’m glad this phase has passed. We have put Ethan through an intense course of rest from the camera, and he has made some improvements. Generally he still refuses to look and he will make verbal protests “noooooo peek-shure! no mommy cam-rah!”. Sometimes he will even cover his face or attempt to push the camera away. But I do have lucky days where he willingly cooperates. Mornings are generally best. I’ll take any cooperation, even if I only get a look like this:

We spent an entire day at Playa Flamenco, an outstanding beach on the island of Culebra. Culebra is one of Puerto Rico’s minor outlying islands, located off the Northeast coast of the main island. Geographically, it is part of the island chain known as the Virgin Islands, but politically, it is part of Puerto Rico. Playa Flamenco is rated by beachgoers to be the 2nd most beautiful beach in the world. I don’t dispute that at all. I just wonder which beach could possibly be more beautiful and perfect than Playa Flamenco. Next time we visit Puerto Rico, we’ll spend an entire week on Culebra instead of just a day. You have to take a 90 minute ferry ride to get to Culebra, but don’t let that stop you. Playa Flamenco is nearly deserted compared to the beaches on the main island, and 10 times as gorgeous.

Ethan agrees with the critics – this is definitely the best beach he’s ever been to!

Again, another not so sneak peek! My youngest sister Allie came in town for Ethan’s birthday last month. It was her birthday month as well. My gift to Allie was a photography session with Ethan to capture images for an awesome wall display for her new apartment. Although I’ve already released her gallery and designed her wall display, I wanted to come back to the blog and share a few of my favorites from her session.

I apologize for the humongous share, but I just can’t help it! These are two of my favorite people and this was honestly one of my favorite photo sessions. The color and emotion were amazing!

In case you missed the earlier announcement, I have been out of town this month. I will resume sessions starting mid September. I am just dropping in here on the blog to share some highlights of my trip to Memphis. Enjoy!