Help Hurricane Victims

We’ve been pretty stunned by all of the death, destruction and chaos the hurricane has caused and wish we could be there in person to help out. For anyone who is concerned and wants to get involved, the American Red Cross needs donations. Please click on the graphic below if you would like to help out:

Our prayers are with everyone affected by this tragedy.

Add comment September 3rd, 2005

Updated Portfolios

We’ve just completed an update of our portfolios! In addition to all new photographs for Megan, we have converted all of the galleries over to Flash for greater ease of use and navigation. Peter will be buried in school work (he’s pursuing an MBA through June of 2006), and will not be booking any weddings for next year. Be sure to check out Megan’s baby portfolio too (there are some of our son in it!).

TAGS: Wedding | Photography | Portraits | Santa Barbara

Add comment August 20th, 2005

Caleb After 8 Days

We’ve had a ton of requests for more photographs of Caleb and we spent some time last night gathering a few of the images we’ve taken over the past few days. Caleb is 8 days old today and already looks like a different person! The photographs below are from the past week.

We also wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to comment here, by email, letters and phone—we really appreciate everyone’s support and kind words! We’ve been getting progressively more sleep as we learn more and more about this whole “parent” thing, and hope to be back to our regular responsive selves soon! Enjoy the new photographs!

Caleb rests on Peter’s shoulder.

Caleb sleeping in his crib.

Sound asleep!

Still sleeping! We’ve discovered that the pacifier helps…sometimes.

Caleb’s hand.

Peter holding Caleb.

We brought him into our yard for a few minutes to see if he liked the shade—he slept the whole time!

Caleb and Peter’s hands.

Caleb yawns large (somebody’s tired!).

Caleb and his daddy.

We had just given him a sponge bath—he liked being bundled up in the towel.

Nadine gives Caleb some kisses—she’s managing the new addition to our family quite well and is extremely gentle with Caleb.

Caleb checking out the world.
…

We will post new images soon! Thank you again for all of your support and kind words!

Add comment August 16th, 2005

Caleb Vincent Begley

Our son arrived a few days ahead of schedule at 9:00am on the nose, August 8, 2005. He’s healthy, happy and not too fussy (yet) and weighed in at 8 lbs. 4 oz. and is 21 inches long! We took 3 trips to the hospital between Sunday afternoon and early Monday morning, and Megan did an awesome job of dealing with the pain and delivering our son without any pain relief! We found out she was 8cm dilated on our last visit to the hospital so there wasn’t enough time to give her an epidural. She did a fantastic job despite the lack of pain relief and I am completely amazed (and have only increased my love, respect and admiration of her) at how well she managed everything. I have no doubt the entire experience was incredibly painful, exhausting and emotionally challenging.

Here are a few photographs we took between Sunday afternoon and late morning Monday…

Megan rests between contractions early Sunday morning.

Nadine sits with Megan through a contraction.

Yum, peanut butter sandwich…

Peter sneaks a photograph with Megan.

Nadine knows something is happening.

Our first hospital visit on Sunday afternoon.

Caleb’s heart-rate on the left, Megan’s contractions on the right. Unfortunately her contractions were still too far apart for her to be admitted. (On our second visit a few hours later, they were close enough, but she was only dilated 1cm! The third visit did the trick!)

Still in pain, but dressed to head back home! (I didn’t take any more photographs until Caleb was born about 18 hours later…)

Caleb in Megan’s arms a few minutes after delivery!

Caleb’s first bath.

Caleb holding Megan’s finger during his bath.

More bath time!

Caleb yawning or rooting — we didn’t know which at the time.

Sleeping in Megan’s arms.

Caleb opens his eyes for the camera.

Caleb and Peter have some bonding time.

Caleb in his crib with his huge footprint looming in the background.

Caleb sleeping soundly (not for long…)

Add comment August 9th, 2005

Caleb is Coming!

Megan is in the early stages of labor and we expect our son to arrive tonight or tomorrow! We’ll be offline for a few days but expect to reply to everyone’s messages as soon as we are home from the hospital and settled in. Please keep your fingers crossed for a smooth labor and delivery!

Add comment August 7th, 2005

Website Redesign

You may have noticed a new look on our site and we hope you like it! We have had a stark white design for some time now and wanted to spice things up a bit. Additionally, as you may already know, we are expecting a baby boy any day now, so the blue is somewhat a celebration for him as well! As always, we’d love to hear what you think and hope you find the new look both pleasant and fun.

Another new item of note is the creation of this blog. Check back often as we’ll post new photos, news and other fun stuff here on a regular basis!

Add comment July 30th, 2005

Giving Birth

One of the quotes that randomly appears at the base of each page caught my eye today. It read as follows:

So, I thought I might comment on this statement as for me, giving birth is right around the corner! Peter and I are expecting our baby boy Caleb to arrive on (or before please!) August 12. Pregnancy has been such an interesting time! It’s amazing all the things that your body goes through in preparation for giving birth. Some of it is not so fun, but it all serves a purpose. I’m quite certain that giving birth is going to be painful and I won’t be ashamed to ask for pain medication should it come to that, but I’m of the philosophy that women are created to do this task and throughout pregnancy, our bodies are geared toward the one goal of birthing a baby. You can ask me about my philosophies afterwards too as I’m sure there is a chance they will change, but I’m looking forward to this adventure and the work that is involved in bringing a baby in to the world. We’ve waited a long time for this moment, longer than some, and I can’t wait to look in to Caleb’s eyes and see my son face to face.

Photo by Michelle Warren

Add comment July 26th, 2005

Welcome Message

In an effort to provide current information more effectively to our clients and site visitors, we took the dive and created this blog! We’ll post news, messages, a lot of photographs from recent weddings and other events, and pretty much anything else that we think you might be interested in. As always, we’d love your comments !

~ The Lumiere Imaging Team

Add comment July 20th, 2005