Desert Warriors {1916th Support Battalion Change of Command Ceremony}

I love all the tradition and pride that is part of a Change of Command Ceremony, and it was truly an honor to capture this moment for LTC Bill Davis and his family...

As they celebrated his Command of the 1916th Support Battalion here at Fort Irwin, it was so touching to see the pride on his family's face. {I caught Zach's tears while his Dad was thanking his family during his farewell speech}

For those of you who haven't been to a Change of Command, the passing of the Guidon {below} symbolizes the transition. Here the CSM of the Battalion passed the Guidon to the out-going Commander, LTC. Davis, who then passes it to the Brigade Commander, COL Gaffney. COL Gaffney then passes the Guidon to the new Battalion Commander, LTC Kalamaris.

Congratulations on all your success here at Fort Irwin! Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of this special day...I've loved getting to know your family over the past two years, and will miss seeing you all around post. Please keep in touch!! Enjoy your new adventures, and safe travels as you head to D.C.

Welcome to Fort Irwin, LTC Kalamaris!

The Santos Family

Saturday afternoon I got to "chill out" {nothing like an airconditioned studio on a 100+ day!} with the Santos family...and that meant not only getting to play with their adorable Maya again, but also get some snuggles in with her new baby brother, Jackson! {I gotta say, Fort Irwin just has the cutest kids...everyone complains about the water here, but there must be something good in it! hehehe}

I'm so glad I got the chance to work with you all again before you head off to "greener pastures!" Congratulations again on your little man...he's a keeper! hehehe

I'll be finishing up your gallery soon ... and {oh my goodness! so behind on this...sorry!} will be posting pics from the past couple weeks' sessions onto my Facebook page for you all to tag. Time is just a-runnin' away from me this week ! Ack!

Belly Laughs {Trisha & Kyle with little Jack}

OK-I'm having waaay too much fun....this can't really be a Monday, can it? {not complaining one bit!}

Saturday morning was a blast! I love maternity sessions....and Trisha & Kyle are such a cool couple, so that just made it even more delicious of a session for me. Trisha and I started chatting about their session a while back, and as soon as she mentioned that her hubby had painted a tree mural for baby Jack's nursery {and her love of "The Tree of Life"} I knew we had their theme!

We headed out to Rainbow Basin early Saturday AM to incorporate some Joshua Trees into their portraits to represent the Tree of Life. {I purchased some textures to use with their session in mind...and I've been having waaaay too much fun playing around with them. Somebody's gonna have to stop me or else I'll never finish proofing and getting designs done before I leave on Thursday! hehehe}

{The textured ones above are all done with one called "Field of Gold" ... I love the vintage feel!}

When I was first talking to Trisha, she described her & Kyle as "Crunchy" {I love it!} so I thought these textures would fit their personalities :-)

We also hit the studio...I just love Trisha's belly laugh in this one above!! Kyle was talking to Jack....I think this was when he told Jack to "get a job!"

{for this one I did a black & white overlay, then played around with the opacity}

Keeping with the tree theme, I bought washable paint for Kyle to recreate the nursery mural on Trisha's belly...and Trisha had her necklace...

Oh my gosh, you two - I cannot thank you enough for being so fun to work with! {and for getting up so early!!} I cannot wait to meet baby Jack and work with you guys again...sooooo hope you love your sneak peek!!! I have to head to the COG's farewell in a little bit, and I so don't want to pull myself away from the computer to finish proofing your session!!

I have to also thank my new friend, Jeanette! We struck up a friendship while planning her family session, and she's a fellow "clickaholic" {why do I prefer that term over "photog?"}. She came along with us for the session to watch. It was fun having someone to "talk shop" with on the ride out to Rainbow Basin!! {And I so hope it really does work out for us to link up for some conferences!!}