Marisa Sneak Peek | Middle Tennessee Child Photographer

Here is a sneak peek for my very patient and dear friends, Christy and Jason. They were the winner of my Relay for Life auction last year.  They came all the way from Arizona for their session!

We had a beautiful fall day for Miss Marisa's shoot.

Whatcha think?Possible future fashion model?

She was certainly a great model for me.

Such a happy girl. 

Possibly my favorite so far.

I should mention that Christy and Jason were so generous with their purchase of this session.  The entire purchase price was donated to the American Cancer Society. 

Guys, thanks for being so patient, and I will have the rest for you shortly!

New Beginnings | Southern Tennessee Family Photographer

Now that the Christmas rush is over and here we are on the last day of the first month of the new year. Wow.  Isn't that just crazy?  Do we still call it a new year 31 days into it?  Well, it still feels like a new year to me.  I love the beginning of new year.  I feel like it is somewhat a blank slate and I get to start all over again.  The past is not necessarily forgotten, but the future feels full of promise.  That is how I feel when I look at the photos from this session. 

Dawn contacted me in the fall to schedule a session of her new family.  She and Brad were recently married and are in the process of blending their new family together. We met at the beautiful Green Haven Creek Bed & Breakfast one afternoon after school.  Dawn had scoped it out and gotten permission for us to use the grounds. It was the perfect setting for this new family.

I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to see Dawn so very happy.  She certainly deserves it.

This is one of my favorites.  Maybe my very favorite.  It just makes me smile.

And their  kiddos.  Talk about sweetness.

 

 Baylee, Aubrey and Dylan.  The girls could be models, 

and Dylan... well they don't come much cuter than him!

Such a sweet family.

I just couldn't resist a shot of the boots!

This tree was just too awesome not to use.  I love this.

What a wonderful way to spend my afternoon.  With a very special "new" family.  I am so glad that Dawn and Brad have found each other.  They have such a beautiful family and I wish them a long and happy life together. 

My favorite 8-year-old | Southern Tennessee Child Tween Photographer

A few days after Molly's 8th birthday we had a big snow.  Big for Tennessee standards that is.  7-9 inches in places.  It was certainly the most snow that my kiddos had ever seen.  I decided we had to take advantage of it for Molly's 8 year portraits.  We took a few minutes and walked through the woods on our farm for a little shoot.  I always love photographing Molly.  I know she is mine, but she is just so photogenic! 

These next two are so Molly.

She can always give me just the right look. 

She actually found this spot on our walk. Love how the girl thinks!

A couple fun ones with a little wardrobe change.

We were a little cold, but it was so worth it.  Love my sweet, 8-year-old Molly.

The Blessing of Friends.

Sometimes in this profession I am truly blessed.  Yes, I love being able to share in special moments in the lives of my clients, but the session I am sharing today may have been the one I have been most blessed by to date.  I am reminded of this passage, and try to live my life accordingly.  

¹ “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. ³ But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.  --Matthew 6:1-4

I share this session not to boast of my own works, but to share an act of love and kindness that truly touched me.  

I was contacted in the fall by a friend.  She contacted me regarding another friend of hers, Amy.  Not a friend that I knew, but a lady that I had heard mention of from other friends.  Amy had been diagnosed with cancer, and was scheduled to begin chemotherapy the following week.  Our mutual friend told me that it was her wish for Amy and her family to be able to have family portraits done before Amy began her chemo.  She knew that within the next 1-2 weeks, Amy would be losing her hair from the treatments.  She asked me if there was anyway I could work them in that weekend.  It was very important to her that Amy not know who had arranged for the session.

I had urban Christmas mini-sessions scheduled for that Saturday.  I had completely booked all the spaces I had allowed, but I thought that I would have time to do one more session after the last one I had scheduled.  Our mutual friend said that she would pay the session fee, and Amy could then just order the photos she wanted.  Touched by the kindness of our mutual friend and thankful for the opportunity to do something good for someone else, I told her that I would do the session at no charge. She could then put her part towards a product credit for Amy.

I got Amy's phone number and called her with the good news.  Luckily, the time worked for her family, so that Saturday afternoon after my last Christmas session we met for the first time.

As we walked and talked it was obvious that Amy's children adore her.  It is easy to see why.  She is a stay-at-home  mom and she home schools.  Family is very important to her.

After our session I ran into another one of Amy's friends.  She told me that she had heard about their session and wanted to also make an anonymous donation towards Amy's product credit.  Wow.  I was touched again. Even though I had only recently met Amy, I knew that she must be a very special person for these ladies to want to do this for her.

It did my heart good just to see the love that they had for their friend. They asked me to help them do something for a friend.  Something that would bless their friend.  I in the end was just as blessed as anyone involved.  So very blessed to have gotten to be a witness to such love, kindness and friendship. 

Snow Days.

I hope everyone is enjoying the snow days.  I know our family has!  

The photographer is me has been loving all the snow photo ops that this Tennessee girl seldom sees. One of my favorite things is snow on cedar.

After a day of play, I made it back into the office.  I am busy editing this afternoon.  Nice to have no where to go, and lots of time to work and have fun with the kids!