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HI! I'M CATHY BLACKSTONE.

I am a Columbus based photographer and welcome to my blog.

I love to photograph babies in the tummy, babies out of the tummy, kids being good, kids being bad, kids with special needs, kids with fur, couples in love, families being themselves and seniors in between text messages :)

I have a fun and carefree style that I think you will be very comfortable with. Of course I love to take the classic picture where everyone is looking at the camera with a perfect smile but what I really love to catch is the real "in between" moments. The candid moments that you will cherish forever.

This is my photo blog where I will share favorite images from recent sessions and blab about my interests and family.

Thanks for visiting my site and taking a look. I really appreciate it. 

NORMAN BLACKSTONE | our orange great white

January 11, 2010 Posted in Personal

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yes I am doing a blog post about a fish. a fish that has caused a lot of happiness and agony in this home. let me tell you why…

won at the Ohio State Fair FOUR years ago by the proudest happiest little girl ever named Ellie:)

named after the tractor driver that took us back to our car

since then we have won at least 10 other fish at the Fair

all.now.flushed

total alpha aggressive survivor

used to be cute in his little bowl by the sink

no longer

goldfish grow

because of Norman all Ellie wanted for her birthday two years ago was a bigger tank and more fish. chaching.

because of Norman I thought I bought a big enough tank and chose not to listen to the goldfish police that told me goldfish need at least 10 gallons of water each. HAA! I put 5 fish in 25 gallons.

because of Norman, Bradley Wayne has cussed me out (privately in his head) every other month cleaning the disgusting tank because I didn’t obey the goldfish police.

because of Norman we had to rush to the pet store 2 months ago at 8:45 (while Ellie looked mentally ill rocking back and forth crying in the front seat) because Dane had dumped an entire container of goldfish food in the tank which resulted in 5 fish in little bowls gasping for air slowly starting to turn upside down with a burned out broken pump because we left it running on accident while we frantically tried to dump and save.

because of Norman Ellie got a new giant 55 gallon fish tank (and stand and lights and plants) for Christmas. chaching.

because of Norman we (just kidding) Bradley Wayne has spent an absurd amount of time sanding and priming and painting and putting together the new fish tank stand. It had to be white. For me. Not Ellie. No can do the fake oak look. Once again I’m privately getting cussed out.

because of Norman we might have to put together the old fish tank again because he is a bully and doesn’t play well with others.

because of Norman what once was his best friend Bear (pictured with Norman below right) is now hanging on by a thread in his own little bowl as a result of Norman literally beating him up. Ellie is a kind and worried soul that keeps vigil.

because of Norman we are now goldfish experts and have learned through Google that goldfish aggression is VERY rare (of course) but it does occur at times and that fish must be removed and sent to solitary confinement for the remainder of their lives…….
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I’ll keep you posted. I know you are all on the edge of your seats:)

by Cathy

7 comments

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January 21, 2010 - 10:11 pm Kim Whybrew - nice Cath. I adore this post. You should come over to Petland here in North Westerville. More of those kinds of stories with my two dogs, new kitten, hamster, two dwarf frogs...

January 15, 2010 - 2:12 pm Alicia - I agree with Beth... your day to day stories would make a great book. Your writings remind of this book called Love, Loss and What I Wore... by Ilene Beckerman

January 14, 2010 - 8:20 am Leslie Bennett - Cathy-I pulled your post up last night so Patrick could read it. We are working on killing our second betta fish and he said after reading this that he and Brad need to go have a drink and commiserate sometime :) He too is privately cussing me out because it's not Carter's fish-it's HIS fish! lol

January 13, 2010 - 1:36 pm Tina - Don't you just love your electronic scrapbook?

January 11, 2010 - 7:07 pm Wendi Miller - I'm SO glad you are in my life!:)

January 11, 2010 - 6:30 pm christie - Cathy, I love your posts! I can relate to your Norman stories - we have George, the turtle at our house. : ) What lens did you use to get such great shots of Norman?

January 11, 2010 - 4:22 pm Beth - LOL!!! Cathy-you need to journal your life daily. Then write a book (in a few years)

The MARTIN family | columbus, ohio family photographer

January 7, 2010 Posted in Children, Families

Here is what I will remember about this shoot….

Mom calling me the night before wondering if Dad getting poked in the eye by the youngest (causing that awful bloody eye look) is a deal breaker. Not when you’re married to Brad Blackstone Photoshop extraordinaire:)

Getting to their house and meeting their beautiful children. I love the hum of a house with 4 children. I love the negotiations about shoes and the wrangling of the youngest. And speaking of youngest….2 words……on fire.

Cold cold day. The type of cold that is painful to your fingers. Genius dad gets a golfcart. Everyone “discussing” who will drive next. The whole situation was very funny to me. I’ve never had a family trail me in a golfcart during a session:)

The youngest doing a body plant at the end. Crying HARD. But through his tears asking me for the sucker I promised him. I could never be a wedding photographer for that very reason, lol.

And I’m feeling vertical today..

img_7998-blogimg_8022-blogimg_8009-blogimg_8043-blogimg_8065-blogWhat he did naturally…

img_8213-blogWhat he did when he knew I was trying to get just his picture:)

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Can’t wait to get my camera on this family again. Love ,love, love large families.

by Cathy

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January 22, 2010 - 8:44 pm Grandma Ellis - Norman, My Favorite Gold Fish! This should be the title of a book for children that you and Brad can write and draw pictures, in you spare time, and sell it on e/bay! This fish will become a celeb. and Ellie can tell fish stories under the pictures that you draw. I think I need some rest! Maybe a tonic. Anyway, Norman is near and dear to my heart. Love, Grandma

January 9, 2010 - 9:56 pm Kim Whybrew - love the Martin family!! Great job on capturing them; I am excited to see the rest of the pictures!! So fun!

THE RITCHEY FAMILY | columbus, ohio family photographer

January 5, 2010 Posted in Children, Families

I’m going to post my random favorites from this session. I adore this family. I immediately feel so comfortable the second I walk in the door. Laura is so down to earth. I would never have the calm she has with twins. Especially if they were my first like hers are. Ron is hilarious and has the best big guy baby talk. Always makes me smile. They had lots of family over for the holidays and had me come over and document it and the family kept coming and coming and coming, lol. Lots of laughs. Lots of people making fun of each other. Lots of tears. Lots of moms trying to get everyone back under control:) Over this past year I have learned that I LOVE taking shots of the grandparents – alone – with each other and with all the kids. The shot of mamma and her three boys from this session is one of my favorites ever. I have no idea why. It isn’t spectacular but I love it. There is no rhyme or reason to these images. I’m just doing things a little differently. Just picking my personal favorites:)

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by Cathy

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January 6, 2010 - 5:25 pm Beth - Yep~mamma and her three boys, it's a special thing! Love it!

THE PARISH FAMILY | so happy to be related to so much awesomeness:)

December 29, 2009 Posted in Dog, Families

First of all I am so behind on my blog. I think these images were taken 2 months ago. Shame. Holidays. 4 kids. My New Years resolution is going to be to figure out how to stay on top of it all in Fall 2010.

Okay. So during our first session – yes I said first session – it got dark fast. FAST. It was just a weird night. For starters the clocks had just changed and that particular night it went from good light to no light in 10 minutes. I wish I was one of those rockstar photogs that could just get it all done in 45 minutes. But I’m not:( Don’t know if I will ever be.

So I had to call Diane the next day after losing sleep, sweating bullets, tail between legs, scared, feeling incompetent and tell her I needed more time. Mind you this was after we had planned this session and rescheduled 15 times because of schedules and rain. She was so cool. In fact she didn’t even say “hello” when she answered the phone…she said something funny that broke the ice because she knew we didn’t nail it either. The whole entire time I was thinking I’m so glad they are my cousins, I’m so glad they are my cousins, I’m so glad they are my cousins. Diane’s mom and Brad’s mom are sisters. Unfortunately we only see each other about twice a year in Mansfield, lol (we all live in Columbus). It’s ridiculous because we love each other’s families, have a lot in common, laugh a lot when we see each other, always say we need to get together more – but we don’t:( It’s called 7 kids schedules. I was so happy to take their pics though. So fun. GREAT family. 3 of the nicest, sweetest, well mannered, loving kids.

This is Robby. I noticed at the end of the session he asked if we were done then pulled out his phone to check his messages and start texting. That really impressed me:)

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This is Lexi. Doesn’t take a bad picture. Totally in tune to people. Dancer. Can hold her leg up over her head and smile at the camera perfectly balanced. Sensitive. Delightful.

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And Tommy. Cutest smile in the whole world. I wanted to just squish and hug him the whole time and see what his head smelled like but held back. That would be a little crazy.

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Love the shots I took of Bobby and Diane. When I catch a moment between a mom and a dad it thrills me more than the greatest family shot or kid shot. I can’t imagine what these two have been through either. I can’t imagine the strength a relationship must have to survive being married to a soldier. Period. I do not know how to talk military but all I know is that he has been deployed two or three times and each time it was for a long time and certainly not by any means safe.

img_1780-3061 This is the photo of my parents I would carry around physically and in my heart forever (if they were my parents)…..img_3039-blog

img_1372-blogimg_1571-blgimg_2956-2817img_3017-bloga favorite…..

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Thank you Parish family:) Thank you for understanding I needed extra time with you. Thank you for having fun with me. Lets seriously try and see each other more. You plan – we’ll be there!

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by Cathy

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January 4, 2010 - 1:41 pm Sampson - WOW! I don't know what else you need to do, because those were fantastic! What a fun family!

December 30, 2009 - 3:40 pm susan reimer - beautiful pics cathy!! LOVE the one of the family with the BOXERS in it!!! awesome!!!! and the one with the family jumping..one of your best!!

December 29, 2009 - 6:07 pm Lisa Scherer - That is seriously the best jump shot ever! Hands down. :)

December 29, 2009 - 5:28 pm Janel - The pics of the parent and those dog tags--so perfect, so touching.

December 29, 2009 - 4:57 pm apryl - totally digging the shot with the dogs & the jump shot - you nailed that one!