“You must be Madie’s Mom”….I hear it all the time. Poor child, not quite 8 years old already she’s sick of hearing it.

“You look just like your mom” people will stop to tell her “I know, I know, I know” she’ll respond as she rolls her eyes and spontaneously grabs ahold of my hand, “people tell us that all the time”.

Once in the OK City Incredible Pizza (if you haven’t been D described it perfectly….it’s ChuckECheese on crack), there were literally hundreds of people there and a total stranger approached me.
“That little girl over there in red, she is yours isn’t she?” she asked,
“Yeah” I said with a bit of worry in my voice,
“I knew it” she responded as she winked at me and turned to walk away “she’s a spitting image of you, I look like my mom too” then she said
“That’s Gods way of keeping track of us ya know.”

I wanted to hug her.

This weekend I took Madie to run errands and asked her what she wanted to do when we got home.

“I want a picture of us mom” she said “People are always saying we look alike. Hello…we know it already!” (did I Mention she’s 7?!?!) I want a picture of us together so I can just see if once-and-for-all what all of the fuss is about.” So we did just that….

Then in true Madelyn fashion she decided to take a picture of me and then I’d take a picture of her, we downloaded them onto the computer and she….my 7 year old daughter started creating. She came up with an idea to put her photo ontop of mine so our 2 faces were 1. Yes, it was her idea…& yes, I obviously edit too much at home. I did the photshop playing, but here it is…..my photo with Madie’s photo ontop of it 50% opaque.

Literally half me, half Madie.

We finished our “creation” and she hopped off of my lap, ran into the backyard to practice her handstands. I sat here at the computer staring at the photo. It was as disturbing as it was beautiful to me.

My girl. She is this amazing kid. She is intelligent beyond her parents & lacks common sense at every turn.
She is sensitive and kind and a born babysitter, yet she can smack her little brother over a Cheeto in an instant.
She is kind & wild, intuitive & clueless, sensitive & independent.
Her hair is beautiful, her eyes are amazing and she seems to have a constant case of morning breath.
She is my life and my soul and because of her I usually need a glass of wine nightly.
I love her for who she is, she has taught me that.

She is my girl.

One day I know it’ll happen, she’ll grow up, move away, and when people tell her she looks like her mom she’ll probably still roll her eyes and say “yeah, I know”, but the instinct to grab ahold of my hand will be gone.
I wonder who she will grow up to be.
I wonder how she will resemble me and how she will grow independently from me.

Yep… gonna keep this photo….just incase God needs it to keep track of us one day.

~M

I got a call from my friend Gilbert….”Micki” he said “I need some help, I need something special for my bride, can ya help me out?”

“Anything you need” I said…..

You see, my parents live in New Mexico and Matt’s parents live in Colorado so we literally have made our friends our family here in WF. Gilbert (“Berto”) wanted a FUN shoot, I got off ONE set of posed shots and he said “ok – that’s it” and the entire rest of the shoot was he and the kids swinging, playing, laughing, just hanging out.

Berto gave the DVD to Sherri for their 10 year anniversary and word has it that it made her cry.

I love my job.

To my friends Sherri & Gilbert…Happy 10 Year Anniversary. God Bless you and your family.

Thank you for your friendship & for literally, becoming my family.

I love all of ya.
~M

It was about 6 months ago that I realized I needed help. Too much work & too little time. This gal Kelly had e-mailed me a few months prior and had expressed interest in photography & in working. D and I met her for lunch and I immediately loved her spunk, her creative style and her fun attitude. She ate cheesecake (always a good sign) and we all just talked about kids, work and life. I knew I liked her.

I got home 2 hours after our lunch to an e-mail from Kelly thanking me for lunch and telling me about a mistake on my blog.

Hired.

She sounded like she was a hard worker, she is.
She sounded like a good person, she is.
She sounded fun, she is.
She was a stranger but it didn’t feel like that, it felt like a friend….she is.

Kelly’s mom & dad visited from Ohio and her brother from LA for the Easter weekend…they are what we in Kansas call “good stalk”.

Here are a few of their photos!

The whole gang!

Kel & her brother are still real close so it was fun to shoot them. I always find it kinda hard to shoot grown siblings and NOT make it look like an engagement shoot but they pulled it off. Then I got to take a few head-shots of just Michael.

Thanks gang for a fun day!
~M

Meet a BLESSED family. When you call Dianne and ask “how are ya?” her typical response is “Blessed.” Isn’t that a GREAT response? And the thing is blessed. She is…and she knows it.

Thank You again for trusting me with your family photo Dianne!

God Bless!
~M

No…. I’m not MIA…. I’m here… I’m just going in 1000 different directions!

In a nutshell…. I’m behind on blogging, I know, I’ll get there.

I’m behind on my 365 days of photos, I know, I’m trying…

I’m ALMOST 100% done with getting the studio ready for OPEN HOUSE NEXT WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2nd. 9am-9pm. More on that later.

I have 2 weddings to edit & post. Got I don’t know how many pix to edit and post…

But I’ll be honest – I took some time off during Spring Break to spend w/my kids…so THAT is my blog today.

Thanks in advance for your patience, my goal is to catch up this week and be back to “normal” by the Open House….yeah….just in time for the bluebonnets to bloom and life to get ca-ra-zy again! (Confession: I love my life and ca-ra-zy is actually normal for me)

~M

PS – yeah, Madie looks exactly like me, we did a fun “face thing” shoot that was HER idea I’ll post once I get caught up and see….even the photographers kid does “that” smile at age 5. I call it the kindergarten-grin cause the ALL do it.

Third time is a charm! The rain early this week had us postponing Laikens shoot, then the soggy ground the following day had us rescheduling it again, Good Friday (ie: no daycare for Micki) had us rescheduling it yet again……huh….guess that’s actually 4th time isn’t it? Well….then Fourth time it is and it was worth it.

Thank you Laiken for trusting me to portray your personality, spunk and that hair!

~M

Don’t worry mom….I got some “look into the camera and smile” pix too.

Thanks guys for a great day and for trusting me with your photos….more to come soon! Here are a few of my favorite ones at first glance!
~M

I’m updating my “about me” section on my website…..mine is boring & I’m ready for something new and different.

So I’ve been reading other photographers “about me” sections and I found one I love….it’s what OTHERS say about her, so in an effort to be inspired but not imitate I’m asking you to play a game.

In one word – describe me, my work, my style, anything….what’s the first thing that comes to mind blog-stalkers….ONE WORD

E-mail me your “one word” to Micki@mbenoitphotography.com and I’ll include it in my new “about me” section.

Thanks!
Micki

PS – sorry my comments are turned off – too much spam….

Hey gang – Just a few thoughts here…I’m starting to get lots of calls about two things….Bluebonnets and Easter Bunnies.

I do LOTS of bluebonnet photos in the spring, I have an ongoing list that I can put you on and then the first bloom I see I pick up the phone and I call you. Bluebonnet shoots are easy and fun and I love, love, love them. THINK BLUEBONNETS

As for the Bunnies? Yeah…..Not so much…

Here is the thing – to be blunt… Bunnies freak me out. They are, in my humble opinion, one of Gods greatest contradictions. They are cute and fuzzy and people tell me that their fur is soft……but those TEETH? And the red EYES? Yikes – gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about them! I can’t explain it, we all have our quirks and that is one of mine.

So – if you want bluebonnet photos give me a ring!

If you want pictures with the bunnies – I’ll be happy to do that too…..IF you bring your own bunny, don’t ask me to help pose or touch them….or come near them…. or help find them if they hop away…. come to think of it – there are LOTS of great photographers in the area who I’m sure will take fabulous photos of you with the bunnies.

I’ll call you when the Bluebonnets bloom.

~M