Jacob Fisher Cayton

We've had a busy week with the arrival of our third child Jacob Fisher Cayton. Jacob was born on 3/3/10 at 8:43 p.m. Mom and baby are both doing great. I photographed Jacob in the same bassonet as I did with Harper. Click here to see Harper's photograph to compare. At nine pounds, Jacob's a big baby:) Jacob is a family name on both sides. Here's a biographical passage I found about my Great, Great, Great, Great, Great Grandfather Jacob Ungeheuer, a German immigrant, Civil War veteran and successful farmer from Linn County, Kansas: "The life of Mr. Ungeheuer affords a striking example of what is in the power of every energetic ambitious man to accomplish for himself. Beginning with no moneyed capital, in a country whose language and people were strange to him, he continued steadfastly and patiently at his work, and in due time was rewarded with prosperity..." Fisher is also a family name. Here's a picture of his namesake Lee Fisher, my Godfather, during a visit with Abby when she was small.

Christmas photographed with an iPhone

We just returned from Christmas vacation and went back to work. But I wanted to share a few vacation photographs from our trip. Whenever we're visiting family I bring my camera. Even more important though, I have to use it when the moment arises! I didn't want to be lugging my camera around on this trip. So I used my iPhone instead. Two of these images were made with my iPhone. Can you guess which ones? The first picture is a photograph of Grandma and Grandpa Cayton and Aunt Cathryn after a sleigh ride in the winterland town of Leavenworth, Washington on Christmas Eve. The second is a photograph of Abby in her ballerina outfit that Aunt Cathryn gave her for Christmas. Abby is infatuated with the Nutcracker Ballet and as soon as she put it on she wanted to be Claire for Christmas. (Guess this means we need to enroll her in ballet...) Below is a photograph of Harper sharing a secret with his grandfather. We had a great time and we hope to see Grandma and Grandpa when the baby arrives in February. — Sean

Halloween 2009

For the third year in a row, we photographed the neighborhood kids as they went door-to-door. Costumes this year were fantastic. This little oompa loompa (left) was a dead ringer for the real thing. We are delivering hi-resolution images by e-mail to everyone who was photographed. If you forgot how to access the pictures, please e-mail me or call our office. Click here to see a brief slide show of our neighborhood's trick-or-treaters. Thanks to everyone who participated, it was great fun! — Sean

How to photograph your children

On Halloween night Abby brought her glow in the dark wand and halo to bed with her. After we turned out the lights, I caught this moment. Parents should make a habit of photographing their children. They are the ones in the best position to do it! I'm planning a class that shows parents how to make incredible pictures of their child. If you have an interest, please send me a note and I will make sure you receive advance notice of the class. — Sean

Story time with Pooh Bear

I found this scene in Abby's room before dinner and photographed it with my iPhone. Pooh Bear was reading Three Little Pigs and everyone had a snack:)— Sean

A Dog's Life

"Art depends on there being affection in its creators life, and an artist must find ways, like everyone else, to nourish it. A photographer down on his or her knees picturing a dog has found pleasure enough to make many things possible." — Robert Adams, Why People Photograph

Nearly nine years ago to the day we picked him up at the pound, we lost our friend and companion. There were many things to love about Boris, but above all was his devotion to our family and his enthusiasm for life. To paraphrase Adams, if you proposed a walk to Boris his response was, "Absolutely Yes!" Click here to see a slide show of our dog's life. We will always remember him and we will miss him. — Sean

Harper's First Haircut

Three years ago we photographed Abby's first haircut at Blades Salon in Manitou Springs. See pictures from Abby's first haircut here. This year it was Harper's turn. Stylist Melanie Le Doux offers parents with small children a great deal on a haircut. (Blades also does a great job styling for brides too.) I thought I would come along with my camera again and capture this coming-of-age ritual. Harper's no longer a baby. He's turning into a child with childlike whims and desires and of course a growing head of strawberry blond hair...:) — Sean

Fall portraits of Abby and Harper

Last week we took Abby and Harper on a walk to check out the fall colors that are turning here in Colorado Springs. I brought my camera to take some portraits of the kids. A nice fall afternoon is a great time to photograph children. They are discoverers and a change in the leaves leaves plenty to discover:) I try to do these mini-portrait sessions with my kids at least once every couple of months. Anyone with children can practice this same type of portrait photography on their own. The recipe for success? Let your kids be themselves. Our walk went around the block and by the time we got back, I had several nice frames. These I like the best. They show their personalities and their expressions are priceless. Today happens to be a perfect day to take a walk with your kids and don't forget to bring your camera. Happy shooting! — Sean

Another summertime portrait of Abby and Harper

I'm editing a wedding from a couple of weeks ago and I found this image in the take of Abby and Harper eating ice cream. The picture was made by our friend Mark Adams. Mark is a great photographer who traveled from Atlanta to visit us and he helped me photograph a wedding. Thanks Mark for a great picture! — Sean

Abby and Harper at play

Here's a picture of Abby and Harper playing together. It caught my attention after I saw it on my sister-in-law's iPhone. Sometimes the best edit happens when someone else looks at your photographs...— Sean

Our Little Surfer!

Our little surfer is expected to ride in on his or her wave in late February! The Cayton clan is growing:) — Sean

Leave your photo gear at home and take your iPhone instead...

I just got back from a family vacation to New Hampshire. And you know what? I didn’t take my camera bag with me on the trip. What a breath of fresh air. That’s right. I left my camera at home and took my camera phone instead. Specifically, the iPhone 3GS... Click here to read my article at Blackstar Rising on how to use your iPhone as a camera.

Summertime Portraits of Abby and Harper

Well, it's finally gotten hot here and Abby and Harper spent this evening at the pool. (The little plastic one in our backyard) I busted out the camera and made these portraits with a lens I haven't used in a long time. Glad I found it again. I think I will have to return it to the bag for some of our upcoming weddings... — Sean

Abby and Cooper together again

A little more than a year ago our good friends Dan and Shelly and their son Cooper made the move to Wisconsin (Abby calls it Misconsin). Cooper was Abby's best friend and they were nearly inseparable. Since he's been gone we have had the pleasure of entertaining an imaginary Cooper. He joined us for bedtime stories, backyard romps and road trips and just about every breakfast, lunch and dinner. Last week the imaginary Cooper became the real Cooper again when our friends spent some of their vacation with us. It was a super treat and I'm so thankful these two best friends got to spend some quality time together. I can honestly say it's better having the real Cooper here than the imaginary one. Hopefully we will see him again next year!—Sean

Rain on the peonies

The rain has been non-stop, the gardens are in full bloom and I'm hoping for a little sunshine soon! — Sean

A cup of mud a day keeps the doctor at bay

Our little rascal has managed a visit to the doctor once a week for the past three weeks, so we're trying something different. We're letting him play in our muddy raised beds with his plastic tea cup. Maybe, just maybe, this is the magic cure all we've been looking for and we will finally get rid of the sleepless nights and what is now a routine Monday morning visit to his pediatrician. We're not abandoning our antibiotics at this point, just adding some earthy holistics to the mix... Our fingers crossed:)— Sean

Abby's Tutu

Abby's Aunt Viney sent her a yellow tutu for her birthday. What little girl doesn't love a tutu? We tried it on and it fit perfectly. Here's a picture of her showing it off and of Boris wondering what the big fuss is about. —Cathy

Abby's b-day week

Abby's birthday was more like a week of birthday events starting with a birthday walk at the Giving Tree Montessori, pictured below. She
walked around a candle four times for each year she is old. A teacher walked with her holding a board with four pictures from her first four years. Mom narrated as Abby walked and told the class about some of the things Abby's done including grow pigtails and visit grandmothers. On Sunday we celebrated at the park with neighborhood friends and enjoyed a cake decorated with blue and green frosting. We also played Red light, Green light and Red Rover before she opened a gaggle of birthday presents. — Sean

Abby sings a gospel

Here's a fun video of Abby from yesterday. You've got to watch the whole thing to really appreciate. It's only a couple minutes. We're celebrating Abby's fourth birthday today at the Giving Tree Montessori and on Sunday morning she has her birthday party at the park. Come and join us! — Sean

We're getting closer...

Abby's birthday is just around the corner and we received her first gift - a dress and markers from Great Grandmother Nancy — Sean

Snow Day

Harper's not sure he likes being outside. — Sean

Abby's masterpiece

Abby's becoming an avid drawer. On the etch-a-sketch, I found this little gem. Each one she does is unique. — Sean

Happy Kid II

Happy Kid

Harper enjoys his bath time. I'm so lucky to have such happy kids. — Sean

Portrait of Abby

Since my mother passed away two weeks ago I stopped taking pictures. I don't feel the need to pick up a camera. This morning I was catching up on work, photographing all of the albums that have arrived in the last two weeks. Abby was watching. She stopped me and asked me to take her picture. I can see my mother in her and I'm so grateful to have that connection — a beautiful and precious reminder. — Sean

Mammo 1941-2009

Early this morning, a little more than a year after this photograph was made, my mother passed away. For the last three years, she battled against lung cancer. She outlived her prognosis (by a long shot) and she thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren. We will all miss her very much . — Sean

We're back!

We're back online! It took a bit longer than we expected, but we finally made the switch. Along with our switch to a new ISP, is a new client login area. If you have trouble accessing your event, please call or e-mail. We've got a lot of stuff to post here too, so stay tuned! — Sean

Pardon our mess

Here's a shot of Harper and his friendly foot during Christmas dinner. You may recall from this post that his left foot enjoys a seat at the table:) This post is also meant to let everyone know that we are moving to a new ISP and our blog and main site may be down for a couple of days as we point the internet to our new home. We will update the blog again as soon as we've successfully made the switch! — Sean

Hairdo

Last night at bedtime Abby grabbed her comb and started brushing her hair by herself. Then she told me,"Daddy, I want to make my hair beautiful." She can't be growing up already can she? — Sean

Mommy's Back!

Peek-a-boo

Harper's had a long couple of days. Mom is away at a photo workshop and it's the first time she's been gone more than a day. Even though he looks a little tired (he just got up from his nap) we've had a great time together. - Sean

Behold! Harper Walks

Here's a first look at Harper walking from last night. Enjoy! — Sean

Harper in the window

I caught this picture of Harper last night. He wanted to help Daddy with the holiday lights. Too cute. — Sean

On walking watch

We're on watch here this week to see when Harper gets up enough gumption to take his first steps. Sure, he's walked a little. But he's not quite at the point where he thinks of walking before crawling. This week could be the week that changes. We're watching closely, monitoring his progress carefully and will definitely keep you updated. Stay tuned! — Sean

Crescent Moon in November

It's 4:30 in the morning and Harper has decided it's time to wake up. Outside the window I can see this crescent moon, so I grabbed my tripod, camera and Harper and we made this picture. — Sean

Sick day, pajama party

Abby came home from Montessori yesterday with a cold, so we called it a sick day today and had a little pajama party this morning. Shedoesn't look sick, does she? Meanwhile Harper is ready to walk. I'm always surprised by his ability to get into everything. He's learned how to stand on his tippy toes to great effect. My bet? He's walking by Thanksgiving... – Sean

Halloween 2008

We photographed a few dozen families and children in their Halloween best on Friday night. It's turning out to be a quite a tradition. Our good friends Jennifer and Mike with their daughter Vivian made the first appearance of the evening just like last year:) We had a great time. Click here to see a brief slide show from the night. We are e-mailing digital files this year to the folks who were photographed. Click here to view all of the photographs. If you don't remember the password to view the pictures, e-mail or call! — Sean