Family Fun...

I had the pleasure to photograph one of my past clients that has recently moved out of town. They moved to the Northeast just in time to enjoy all of the crazy weather fluctuations that area has endured lately. Not only did they decide to enjoy Christmas back in the South, but they had some other family members come in town to celebrate along with them. It made for a nice time to create some family portraits as well as do some fun, relaxed pajama portraits. All in all it was great to see them again and I hope they enjoy the sampling of images from the session...

Tis' the Season...

I had a session yesterday which truly started to put me in the Christmas spirit. With the hint of a chill in the air, the mood was set. I first photographed Katelyn about this time last year and seeing how she has grown and matured is amazing. Having a chance to observe the love of a child by the parents also never gets old. And getting to do this for a living is an absolute blessing. Creating portraits of this family in a beautiful Christmas setting was very cool (no pun intended). I hope you enjoy the samples below...

Cowboy Up...

I had the opportunity over the weekend to photograph a family from my daughter's Preschool. Two year old Walker was just a ball of energy from start to finish. He is one independent boy and at times I thought I was looking at my own two year old son. They share many similarities and both are/were able to put my sports background to the test as they moved pretty quickly. Walker's parents are great and although I sensed a small bit of frustration because of their son's busy feet, it never showed through. I only witnessed the pride that they had for their son and that is the image that resonates with me. Part of what I love about my job is watching these children be their own person and do my best to capture their personalities. I hope through the "teaser" images, a glimpse of that personality will be evident...

Future heartbreakers...

I photographed a brother and sister yesterday who were adorable and are definitely going to be heart breakers down the road. Hopefully that is road is very long and far from now. In speaking with their Mom during the session, we discussed how fun and innocent this age is (2 and 4yrs) as I have children the same age. I was mentioning how part of me would like to keep them at this age for a while longer as I dread the thought of teenage rebellion, etc. But we can only love and nurture them the best way we know how and prepare them to be their own person. This is why I enjoy creating portraits of children, siblings interacting and families as a whole. I'm being entrusted to capture and record the emotional and physical bond between family members in a portrait.

These two children, Harrison and Hollis, were so well behaved and polite; it was a joy to see. I certainly understand that even though I'm photographing the kids in their own environment, I still am a stranger with equipment and lights flashing and potentially making things uncomfortable. Both Harrison and Hollis who is only 2.5 yrs old listened well and followed directions to a T. Sometimes I cannot get parents to follow directions, but that is another story... Regardless, this is so much more satisfying than the professional sports and advertising photography ever were. Documenting the relationships of a family really puts things into perspective for me.

Fun in the Park...

I have been doing my best to keep up with my blog and get all of the families a few samples to view, but unfortunately I just cannot. Things have been absolutely crazy but I am taking some steps to correct things and speed up the process, so please bear with me. I photographed a really fun family in Decatur a few days ago and had a blast. We were a bit hesitant about the weather being warm enough to have a comfortable outdoor part of the session, but thankfully it worked out nicely. We went to a little Park that is right down the road from their home and is quite beautiful. I lived in Decatur about 15 yrs ago and would drive past this Park on a daily basis and had only stopped one time to photograph a fruit and vegetable vendor working out of his old Ford truck. This park I feel is truly a hidden gem for the simplicity of it. In any sense the kids, Sarah Kate and Ethan, seemed to really enjoy themselves until they ran out of gas and we had to call it a session. As always I loved watching the interaction between brother and sister as well as the children and parents. I haven't been let down yet. Just the true love of family...

Family Bliss...

Earlier this week I photographed a family of four (5 including a kitten) that just have a zest for life. The two boys, Jonah and Roman are just great kids. Granted I only spent a brief time in their presence, yet it was quite obvious to me. I could just tell that they were raised well which is testament to their parents, Art and Nora. As I've said repeatedly, I feel blessed to do what I do. To be able to meet families, be welcomed into their lives and creating meaningful and emotional moments in their lives is as the commercial states, "priceless". Capturing the relationship between brothers and sisters, children and parents and even the family pets is very rewarding. This family was a blessing. They are currently going through some difficult times as Dad is out of full time work, but my prayers are with them that it will only be for a brief period. Art is a very sharp guy not too mention a talented artist and I'm confident he'll find work again soon. Here are a few images from the session...

Fun Session...

I photographed a really fun family the other day. The child, Madelyn, is a beautiful 13 month old with striking blue eyes. She has an incredible personality and is quite the adept crawler and not too far away from walking. She's probably so quick from having to make some distance between herself and their three large dogs... It was hard for me to determine who she resembled more, her mother or father, but she couldn't go wrong in either direction as her folks made an attractive couple. Her father is a home builder and although the market is currently down, hopefully it will be brief. One thing is certain, he is an artist as their home was absolutely gorgeous. I really enjoyed meeting and photographing this family as they were so down to earth with a great outlook on life. So here is a quick selection of sample images...

Beautiful Rain...

I saw more Rain yesterday in a couple of hours than I have seen in a year! Everyone must think I'm crazy, but that is a very accurate statement albeit a tad misleading. Actually I photographed the one year portraits of the beautiful Rain J as seen above. It is so awesome to see how a child grows and changes in a year. I originally had the pleasure of creating portraits of her while she was about two weeks old (see above). She has gorgeous Auburn colored hair and was so cute as she was bouncing her head side to side while listening to her father sing a song. Although her Dad's singing was quite pitiful, I think he was attempting to sing a classic tune from The Band. Actually his singing wasn't too bad, I just like giving him a hard time... As for Rain, she was incredible and was very well behaved and happy; a testament to her folks. I hope you enjoy the samples!

Love this time of year...

I absolutely love this time of year. The weather is extremely comfortable, the colors are gorgeous and life is good. The only thing I don't care for is the shorter days, but what can you do? I photographed another beautiful family earlier this week and had a great time. Madison was quite cute and seemed to be having a good time. She really seemed to love the train/slide and I thought we may have problems getting her to leave that area, but she was incredible. She started to run out of steam about the time we started to lose the light. Her parents were great and it's always fun to watch and capture the interaction between the child/children and Mom and Dad. As always, I've included a few samples from the session above.

Another Fun Family with an Added Glow...

I had the pleasure earlier in the week to photograph another really fun family. They have a beautiful little girl in Isabel, and as it turns out, another child on the way. Mom definitely had that "glow" about her and it was fun to see. The day was stunning and we opted to photograph outside first because of Daylight Savings and it really worked out quite well. We managed to get to a couple of locations in time to catch the lowering sun and then head back to their house for some of the formal portraits. What a good looking natural family! It is really going to be a difficult edit as we created some really beautiful portraits regardless of how biased I may be...I certainly hope you agree.

Intimate Wedding on the Square...

I normally only photograph weddings for family or close friends as it is just not my favorite thing to do. Many photographers love to photograph weddings and that is fine. I simply prefer to not do them. Please don't misunderstand me as I enjoy creating beautiful images, I just don't care for the extra drama that can sometimes be associated with all the many family members and friends. Thankfully the wedding I did this past weekend was a joy to do. It was a small, brief and intimate affair on an absolutely beautiful Sunday afternoon. The bride and groom made an extremely attractive couple and it was truly a pleasure to photograph their wedding. I hope you enjoy the few images I posted above.