Project Jane ~ A Celebration of Hope, Love & Life.

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”  ~Aaron Siskind

I have thought about this post for over a year and now is the time………I am a pretty private person and don’t normally share too much about myself.   However, I would like to share my story and the reasoning for starting “Project Jane”.

It was the Wednesday night before finals of my Junior year in college when I received the call from my our neighbor, Kathy, (whom I call my second mom).  My mom was to suppose to substitute teach that day and never made it to the school that morning.  She had had a stroke while getting ready that morning.  My brother and I drove home from college that Friday morning due to having to attend the last classes before finals. Ok due to my brother having to attend….I skipped mine (nothing out of the norm for me ).  My mother ended up passing late Saturday evening due to another massive stroke.  She was only 54 and I was only 21.   We (father, two older brothers and I) were devastated.  She did it all (homemade meals every night, always had a dessert for us (I have a major sweet tooth), kept the house tidy, shuttled us to and attended every activity we were involved, and just a very giving/loving person in general.   She was the mom everyone wanted.

I think of her every day and am thankful for the time I had with her.  Thankful for every picture and  every memory of her.  However, what hurts me the most is that my children, my nieces and my nephew will never be able to meet their wonderful Grandmother.  This is why pictures are so very important.  They are so much more than a piece of paper with an image on it.   The photos of my mother bring back so many wonderful memories.   They help me remember her voice, her laugh, her smell and everything about her.  Those photos are the only way my children know their Grandma and how I am able share our memories.

With this being said, it is very hard for me to watch others going through hardships.  Within last year, I have known several families that have a loved one who is battling or has overcome the odds of cancer.  My automatic response to those stories is that I want to reach out to them and offer them a photography session at no charge, something that would document this time in their lives, whether it be to leave behind memories of those they loved or to commemorate a happy and joyful time.

 Help me share this gift with others.  Here is how you can play a part in giving back:

I challenge you to nominate a young family with a child or parent suffering from or overcoming an illness, who is deserving of such a celebration.  Nominee must reside in the Sheboygan area.  Take an active roll in those lives around you – Email : info@kirstinroethelphotography.com 

All Nominations will be considered.  Only a few nominations per year will be chosen for  Project Jane.  Each family will receive:

• complimentary session of the nominated person(s) and close immediate family
• on-line gallery of proofs
• all images on a CD

Applications:

Your application of nomination must include:

• your information

• name
• email address
• phone number
• detailed description as to why you feel this person or people deserve a session

• nominees information

• their name
• email address
• phone number

**Please have your nominations in by May 28th.   Email nominations to info@kirstinroethelphotography.com

Meet the my lovely Senior Rep Lydia.  She made my job easy peasy!

The best way to start a day is photographing newborns especially TWINS.   Oli and Jordy are such handsome little dudes.  I love it when their personalities come out.  Oli could have slept all day snuggled up to his brother, however, Jordy on the other hand was a bit feisty.   Jordy would have preferred to be tightly swaddled, eating and being held by either mom or dad.  However, I did finally win (or should I say Jordy gave in ) and was able capture many precious photos of the two.

Of course, I had to show Oli & Jordy’s Tiger pride for Mom and Dad (who are coaches) and for their team (the Howards Grove girl’s varsity basketball team).

Shout out to my bestie at Polka Dot Fox for the beautifully crocheted tiger hats.  You can find her on Facebook here.

Meet Oli and Jordy.

What a sweet little girl!  Zoe was just 5 days old.  She was so tiny; she made her entrance into the world just slightly over 5lbs.   She melted my heart.  I couldn’t get over her long skinny legs, her tiny little nose and those lips; she was perfect.   Her big brother was quite the ham and kept me laughing the entire session.   He was so proud and kept calling Zoe his baby.  It was so sweet.

It’s that time of year again!!!

Meet little Miss Brooklyn and her adorable siblings.   Once she was sleeping, she was a perfect model.  The slept like a rock and was putty in my hands.   Brooklyn’s older siblings were perfect too.  They played so nicely and patently awaited their turn.

ENJOY!

Little pumpkins they are and so posh.  I mean look at their adorable little outfits…. his little mock sweater with brown elbow patches along with little black plaid pants….her cute little pink floral skirts and a tiny black peacoat.   She did have the cutest matching hat (made by one of my bestest friends at Polka Dot Fox) but she was not too sure about it.  They should be little Gap models.

ENJOY!

I love, love, love the fall….. love the colors, love the smells, love the falling leaves and love being able to wear jeans & sweaters.   Needless to say this past weekend was perfect!    I normally prefer black & white images, however, these colors are to die for a long with Miss M’s hair.    She has such gorgeous, gorgeous red hair.  She also had perfect timing with planting a kiss on her big brother which he took very well.  :)

ENJOY!

Triple the cuteness.  Big sister did wonderfully with her 2 year photos, waited patiently for 2 hours to have her photos taken with her new twin sisters and then wanted more!  She was incredible!

Enjoy!

I cannot express how much I LOVE photographing newborns!!!       Any who……VERY quick sneak peek for Mom & Dad…… Do stay tuned for the true sneak peek.

ENJOY!