Ian - 1 Month Old

Ian is the newborn son of Tasha and Bryce -- former wedding clients of mine. I love being able to go back and continue capturing the legacy of a family by photographing their children! I had so much fun hanging out with Tasha and Bryce and taking pictures of their beautiful new baby boy! Ian was just a little past a month old when I took these pictures of him. :)

Ava - 1 Year Old

I had the honor of photographing little Ava right after she turned 1 year old. Ava is my cousin Molly's daughter -- we had a lot of fun playing and taking pictures one Saturday morning a few weeks ago. Here are some of the images...

Kristi and TJ's wedding

Kristi and TJ were married Friday, August 10th in the Grand Pavillion of the St. Louis Airport Marriott. Kristi was stunning in her wedding gown and she seemed as calm, cool and collected as any bride I've ever photographed.

It was definitely a HOT day in St. Louis but the groomsmen -- most of whom are / were military -- just rolled with it! During the reception Kristi's parents honored TJ and all of the men and women who serve our country...it was a very touching tribute. I had a LOT of fun hanging out with them all day. Here are just a few pictures...and the slideshow.

Here are all the men and women who have served and/or are currently serving our country. \o/

Kristi's younger sister Heather was the maid of honor -- she was "ON THE JOB" all day long!

The "men in black" (and pink) knew how to have a GREAT time!

Wherever TJ was...there was fun to be had and lots of pictures to be taken! :)

Kristi sent me the nicest e-mail after her picture gallery was published...

"They are more amazing than I could have imagined! I honestly don't even remember you taking half of them, and they turned out gorgeous! Thank you SO MUCH! My mother and I have been looking at them for 3 hours, and we're still not done!

Hahaha...my day at work tomorrow has been sabotaged...my wedding photographer took too many amazing photos to look at in a short period of time and I have now been up for nearly 4 hours oohhing and ahhing over them! :)

If it wasn't 2 AM I'd continuing bragging on your work but I guess I better take a break and get some sleep! Thanks again!

You're the best!

Kristi"

Blog tag!

I'm supposed to tell 8 things about myself that not many people would know. (Hmmm...) And then I'll tag some other blogs.

1. Country singer Kenny Rogers once played the part of "Daniel Watkins, Photographer" on an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (scroll down to read that blog post!).

2. My children Katia and Jonah are just 10 months and 4 days apart in age. But they don't own the family record...my brother Tim is just 10 months and 1 day older than me. Watkins men like to swing at the first pitch.

3. I got the first MBA w/ an E-Commerce emphasis ever conferred at Saint Louis University.

4. My current favorite sweet tooth indulgence is low-fat key-lime yogurt mixed with a dollop or two of lite cool-whip cream. I like to dip either pretzels or strawberry in my "key-lime whip." (My sweet tooth is very inventive...and it gets me into trouble!)

5. My paternal grandmother's maiden name was Mudd. She was distantly related to Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, the physician who was accused of conspiracy in the assassination of President Lincoln. The assassin, John Wilkes Booth, jumped from the balcony at the Ford's Theater after shooting Lincoln...Booth broke his leg in the process. Dr. Mudd was the doctor who treated Booth for his broken leg (not knowing that he had broken the leg in the process of assassinating the President). Dr. Mudd was sent to prison for a few years, but eventually was pardoned by President Andrew Jackson. I had a seventh-grade social studies teacher who used to frequent use the phrase "your name would be mud" and I would laugh and think to myself...it could have been! My name appears in the 2nd edition of the book "The Mudd Family of the United States."

6. I bought my first digital camera -- a Kodak DC260, a 1 mega-pixel point and shoot with an 8 MB compact flash card -- in August of 1998. I over-paid for it. LOL

7. All three of our kids were premature (my wife claims her pregnancy efficiency). Our son Dominic (named after hockey goalie Dominik Hasek) was 3 weeks premature, our daughter Katia (named after Russian pairs figure skater Katia Gordeeva) was 9 weeks premature, and our son Jonah (named for the little boy in the movie Sleepless in Seattle) was 5 weeks premature.

8. I'm in the midst of a "tour of Catholic churches" in the St. Louis archdiocese. I've been to Mass and / or photographed weddings at 112 of the 195 Catholic churches in St. Louis. Ad majorem Dei glorium. :)

Now...I'd like to tag the following photographers...

Sofie Louca
Mike Wise
Michael J. McCrystal
Catherine & Mike Warren
JaNae Yagi
Carrie Boarman
One Blank Canvas
Chelsea Hudson
Adam (and Lynn!) Squier
Michelle Robinson
Jen and Chris Stewart
Charlotte Dameron
Michelle Guzman
Auey Santos
Kacy Photo
Coralee Penner
Nick Haskins
Sarah Tolson
Tim Miller
Jenni McCullough
Kerri Banyas
Ana Frias
Greg Coates
Ginger Moseley
Phil Pereira

I think I was only supposed to tag 8 other photographers -- but 25 seems like a much cooler number anyway. What can I say? I "go the distance!" (Just like I do when I'm shooting a wedding!)

Is it me? Or Kenny Rogers pretending to be me?

Five years after my first professional photography job (with Sothern Studio in Springfield, MO), world famous country singer Kenny Rogers appeared in the TV series "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman." Kenny played the part of civil war photographer DANIEL WATKINS in the episode titled "Portraits" (episode 16, season 1, 1993).

Not many people know this, but Kenny Rogers is also an accomplished photographer. You can learn more about and see some of Kenny's photography on his web-site.