Little Layla Elli was an angel and I am anxious to show you her pictures.?? Due to the stomach flu hitting the Brinkman household with a vengeance this week, it will take me some time before I can finish processing.

When we were preparing to shoot this particular image, Jacqueline mentioned that Nick (Layla’s Daddy) was going to wonder what on earth we did to his child when he saw the finished image of her in a pouch hanging from a tree.?? I don’t often comment on newborn safety because I like to think that those who follow my blog assume the best of me and what I do.?? Having said that, I will mention again that because newborn safety is a priority, I embrace an artistic approach to newborn photography and many of my end products were created to be art.?? In other words, don’t believe everything you see.?? In this instance, Jacqueline never even saw this tree branch at all because the shot of the tree was not taken on the day of our shoot.?? The above image is a composite.

I love photography but I think I love the art side even more.?? What I can DO with an image once I have captured it…now THAT is fun.

Now about this particular branch…

My Dad is a bird lover.?? Actually, I am not sure he loves the birds themselves as much as the hobby of raising them and creating spaces for them.?? He has done this all my life.?? I must admit – the resulting consequence is that I am NOT a bird lover LOL.???? Last week he decided that he wanted to build a bird cage outside his bedroom window (it’s right off the sidewalk).???? Preparing for my mother to have a bit of a meltdown, he decided to sell her on a somewhat different vision.?? He told her he was going to build her a hanging garden.

When he started hauling his materials into the backyard, she realized at once that he was preparing to build a birdcage.?? NOT what she envisioned.?? Add that to the fact that my dad tends to do things Duck Dynasty style and she could not see past the UGLY cage he was dragging in to her domain.

As promised, he cleaned it up, painted it, and built a “hanging garden” on the sides of the birdcage.?? She loved it.?? She is rather unhappy with the squirrel who is also enjoying it immensely however.

I teased my dad and told him that he was inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon built by King Nebuchadnezzar for his wife Amytis.???? How could she refuse a miniature version of one of the great wonders of the ancient world??? That was a very smooth way to get a birdcage right off the back porch.???? Genius.

Anyhow, I was dropping the kids off there while this project was underway and noticed this particular branch that was set aside to be a perch for the birds.?? Dad took a trip up north to bring back branches off Manzanitta (Ironwood) Trees because he thought they had more to offer in terms of aesthetics over desert trees.?????????? I had been hoping to find a branch like this so I was rather overjoyed with the whole thing and let him know that I needed to borrow that branch for purposes of my own.???? The whole thing ended up working out quite well for both my mother and I.?? The branch is now secured in the Hanging Gardens of the Zimmermann’s backyard to be enjoyed by all.

Lovely branch + beautiful baby = happy photographer.

So what do you think Dad?