I’m a portrait photographer, so shooting sports is out of my element.  However, there was no way my husband was going to compete in this crazy physical challenge last weekend in VT without me:

a) cheering him on like a madwoman

b) taking loads of photos (even at the expense of lugging 10 lbs of gear up, down and all around Mt Snow!)

And I’m so happy I did because it was A BLAST!  Picture your worst (yet strangely appealing) nightmare, and there you have it – the Tough Mudder.

The following photos tell the story of my husband, three of his closest friends, and thousands of other men and women who banded together through extreme conditions in the name of physical/mental challenge and teamwork.  Here’s little glimpse into why they call it “probably the toughest event on the planet.”

The morning of the race, my husband randomly found my daughter’s polka dot headband in his suitcase.  He wore it for good luck.

The following was captured immediately following a dive under ice cold water. (as in, they dumped a truck load of actual ice into it)

The cheerleaders!

Those wire you see hanging down?  They are live.  And there is no escaping them.

They call it the Mudder for a reason…

A picture tells a thousand words.

One last run through some live wires and they made it.  I am so proud of my guys!!!  If you can conquer 12 miles of grueling obstacles up and down (and up and down…) a steep ski mountain, you can conquer anything you put your mind to.

We had such a mild winter and a downright HOT early spring, so it was no surprise that my out of town clients planned for a warm April session.  Erika makes adorable handmade children’s clothing and sewed 2 spring sundresses special for the occasion.  I warned her, after seeing the forecast, that it was going to be chilly, but chilly in North Carolina (where they live) has nothing on chilly in New England!

The girls were troopers, though.

This is 6 year old, Kaela

And her little sister, Shayna.

I went to high school with their mother and we recently reconnected through the powers of Facebook.  I was honored when they chose me to photograph their family while in town visiting relatives.

By this point it was positively freezing, so we lightened the mood with a good tickle-fest.  It turned out to be my favorite image of the day.

I loved goofing around with Shayna and her parents later told me that this image captured her personality perfectly.

Kaela reminded me of a little Shirley Temple.  She was a natural actress, striking up with her own poses.

Everyone loves a good smile, myself included.  But there is something so incredibly beautiful about a soulful gaze.  I adore this image.

Erika and Michael hadn’t had a professional photo taken of the two of them since their wedding (I know that feeling!), so I am thrilled that this one will be a part of their new wall gallery.

Thank you for sharing your lovely family with me.  Next time I’ll bring the hot cocoa!

Allow me to introduce the adorable Ryan – 8 days young

I had the pleasure of photographing his beautiful mother’s maternity portraits, and couldn’t wait to meet the bundle!  He did not disappoint.  Like always, I left this newborn session wanting 10 more of my own.  How can you not when you see this?

Proud big brothers, Brennan and Christien, were full of wonder

and had such a warm, loving touch with their new baby brother.  They even got some smiles!

There are very few things more beautiful than a mother’s love.

Thank you again, Brandi, for sharing your beautiful family with me.  I cannot wait for Ryan’s 6 month shoot .  It will be tons of fun to see how he has changed in such a short time.  He is already a heart breaker.  Just like your other boys!

I think 10 years of full memory cards could pass by and this would still be my favorite image of all time.

The most common question I get is whether or not my son is “photoshopped” to be up this high in the sky.  Nope.  It’s all real.  My husband is just crazy.

But judging from the look on his face, I don’t think Max minds one bit.

I couldn’t resist posting when I saw that this week’s I Heart Faces challenge was the theme “happiness.”  Plain and simple – you can’t get any happier than this.

And it looks like others agree.
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