Highlights from some recent sessions ...

August, September, and October were pretty busy months.  I was hopping!  Between photo sessions, being a wife and mom and all that those titles entail, raising a boatload of Monarch butterflies, volunteering at my church, being PTO Treasurer (still), etc. etc., I didn't take much time to blog.  So now I thought I would share an image or two from the sessions that were keeping me up late into the night editing until my eyeballs bled.  (Not really, but sometimes it felt like it.)  :)

(I shared some peeks back in September if you want to check them out also.  This post includes the ones that happened after those.) 

There was Zac ...

And Evan ...

And Paige ...

My lovely sister-in-law and my nieces ...

The whole B family ...

which even included a couple dogs ...

A baby bump ...

And an adorable big sister ...

My friend, Jen, and her two kids ... 

A 35th wedding anniversary celebration ...

And last, but not least, a family that I have had the pleasure of photographing a couple times before ...

Things are slowing down now that the colder weather is upon us.  Though I am hoping to do some snow sessions again this year.  They were a blast last year!

As this year winds down I can't help but feel truly blessed by all of the great folks who entrusted me to capture their memories for them.  Some were friends or family but many were people I didn't know who were referred to me, which is really a great compliment.  

I plan to spend my "slow" season doing some DSLR teaching, editing my personal pictures, and learning more about Lightroom and Photoshop.  And just spending time with my family who has been so (mostly) patient with me during this time of growth.  Oh, and finally updating this ol' blog.


In case you are interested, here are a couple other places you can find me:
My website:  Kimberly Vensel Photography
My Facebook page:  Kimberly Vensel Photography

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Monarch Blessings ~ 2014

On July 4 I found the first of what would turn out to be many Monarch eggs of 2014.  

The little beauty hatched on July 7 and we had been in a whirlwind of activity ever since.

She became this gorgeous butterfly that eclosed on July 30.

Yesterday, November 4, exactly 4 months after finding that first egg, I released my last 3 butterflies.  
Yes, in November.  
In Pennsylvania.  
That's really not supposed to happen.  The Monarchs should have been long gone on their migration to Mexico by then.  But I found 18 baby caterpillars late in September, 17 of which made it to be butterflies.  

I found them in a patch of milkweed that is along a state highway.  A patch that gets mowed down several times a year.  And even though I called the department in charge of mowing and asked them not to mow, I still knew I had to bring them home and give them a chance.  I'm glad I did because that area was mowed again a couple weeks ago.

I can't possibly show off all 172 Monarch butterflies that we raised this year.  Or the gazillion photos I took of every stage.  :)  Although I may make a collage or something.  We'll see.  There were only 3 that I didn't get a photo of.  They were too anxious to fly away.  

But I will share the last three butterflies.

This pretty lady eclosed last Wednesday, October 29.

I placed her on this flower in my neighbor's field and left her there.  However when I woke up Thursday morning, I felt compelled to go check to see if she had flown away.  She hadn't.  It was too cold.  She was in this exact same spot.  So I brought her back inside and fed her.  

She joined me that day on a trip to a local elementary school where I was talking to a classroom of first graders about Monarchs.  They didn't know I was bringing a butterfly with me.  I hadn't known either.  Actually I was a "mystery" guest.  They knew someone was coming but they didn't know who I was or why I was there.  That was fun!

My last two butterflies eclosed on Saturday, November 1.  

November.  

Monarchs.

Crazy.

It has been way too cold to release them so the three last Monarchs have been staying with us.  I took them out several times a day to feed them and let them fly around if they wanted to.  Finally, yesterday the temperature was warm enough for their release.

This guy was getting anxious to leave so I photographed him inside on some wildflowers that Nick was nice enough to pick for me.

He was the first to take off yesterday morning.

The female pictured above was second.

This guy was a little more attached to me.

Or maybe he was just a bit more timid.  I'm going with the first option.  :)

He was hesitant to leave.  He ended up hanging around until noon or so.  I had left to run some errands and came home to find him still here.  I kept coaxing him but he just wasn't going.  Finally I left him outside so I could go vote and when I returned he was gone.

Godspeed little ones.

Praying for strong, warm winds to help carry them to Mexico where they will spend the winter.

Hoping to raise their great grandbabies next summer!

Now the prep work for next year begins.  Planting LOTS of milkweed seeds.  Prepping flower beds for nectar flowers.  I want our garden to be swarming with butterflies next year.

I can't wait!

Supporting these fine folks ...

       

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This and That

My days have been filled with shooting, editing, and butterfly rearing lately.  God has really blessed me in those areas which has left little time for blogging.  But I thought I'd pop in for a moment to share a few pics.  Okay, maybe more than a few.  :)

August consisted of:

A lot of this ...

And this ...

And this ...

And lots of this ...

And let's not forget my lovely assistant on several occasions ...

But August wasn't ALL work.  We did squeeze some family fun in too.

We spent a day at Idlewild.  Nick is missing from this pic because he refuses to ride the Loggin' Toboggin.  :)

We visited our local farm show and the kids rode some more.

The kids and I visited a new-to-us state park.  We hiked and swam and explored.  It was a great day!

Keira and I finally donated our hair.  We each got 10 inches chopped off!

The kids went back to school on August 27.  I will share their back-to-school photos another time.  You're welcome.  :)

Then September came.  Which brought with it this beautiful baby girl ...



And these lovely teens ...


And most recently, this polite young man ...


I have four more sessions scheduled this month.  On top of planning a 16th birthday party, helping with children's ministries, and PTO.  And let's not forget homework with the kids, the never-ending piles of laundry, keeping the house somewhat presentable, trying to spend at least 5 minutes here and there with my sweet husband, and making dinner most nights.  Why is it my kids think they need to eat supper every. single. day?!  

I think maybe I'll sleep next year.  :)

Despite all that, we are trying to squeeze in at least a little fun this month.

Alex was excited to be old enough for the Young Eagles plane rides this year.  He looks so small in that plane!


The kids have next Friday off of school, so we are hoping for nice weather so we can do some more hiking/exploring at a nearby park.

We also had more of this ...

Let me know if you see her (or any of the others I have tagged - TLA 175 - 183 so far).


My last caterpillar got into its J form yesterday ...

And went into chrysalis today - shortly after this handsome male emerged from his chrysalis.


I'm sad to see this year end, but it has been a remarkable year!  If the last four make it to adulthood, I will have raised 156 Monarchs this year!  WOW!  156 miracles happened right here in my office over the past 3 months!  Praise God!  Planning for an even better year next year, God willing!

Lastly, Keira is taking a photography/graphics art class this year as an elective (which makes this mama very happy) and needed to create a collage.  She chose to do a butterfly collage.


Isn't it spectacular?!  All of the photos are mine except for the white dots around the edges.  Apparently I don't have any photos of white butterflies.  :)  The only requirement for the project was that she included at least one photo of herself.

The template was cut out using the Silhouette machine - each wing section is about 10 inches.  She cut each photo out and placed it all on a black foam board.  Once it was all stuck down, she cut around it with an exacto knife.  Needless to say her teacher was impressed.  :)

Well, I need to get back to editing.  I hope to blog more about each session and my Monarch journey this summer soon.  Hope you are having a great day!

Linking with Kim today ...

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