Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 02:18PM I am now booking Easter mini-sessions. This years sessions will take place at beautiful Shadow Valley located in Fayetteville, Tennessee.
Schedule:
10:00 -
10:30 - Martinez
11:00 - Bloxham
11:30 - Gattis
12:30
1:00 - Steelman
1:30
2:00
2:30
3:00 Parker
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 12:04PM So far 2012 has been exciting for me. I've felt more excited about work than I have in a while. I sat down in December of 2011 and did some planning and decision making. I've been doing this just long enough now to have discovered exactly what I enjoy doing the most, and what I would like to do more of. That was the reason I decided to do more styled mini-sessions this year. I love the creating part of putting together a fun set. I still have lots of those planned in the coming months. Another thing I knew I wanted to do was to add the option of studio sessions for my clients.
What?! I know! That goes against my motto! I do love, love, love on-location shooting. That is still my favorite. However, when it comes to the little ones I photograph, I have been limited in the winter months. There is a type of studio work I am drawn to. Photographers who work I just adore. Their work is different, but it has one thing in common. It is art. Just like in my location sessions, for studio work I love color and texture. I decided that it was something that I wanted to offer to my clients. Something that isn't really offered in our small town.
Earlier this year I purchased my first studio lighting thanks to some help from my photographer and scrapbooking friends Robin and Gina. And now I am happy to announce that I no longer have just an office but a studio! My ever-willing model helped me try out one of my new backdrops earlier this week. We literally did this in the 30 minutes we had between picking her up from school and picking her sister up from tennis practice. How I wish I was as photogenic as my daughter!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012 at 02:06PM Well, I'm a little late sharing my little guy's Valentine's Day cards. I didn't want to share them too early, and then I was busy yesterday and didn't have the time to post them. I cannot take credit for the idea. It was inspired by a Valentine I saw on Pinterest. Stewart received some of these stick-on mustaches for Christmas, and I knew I had to use one for his Valentine shoot. These are the ones he gave to his classmates yesterday.
For you creative ones, the paper is from Gina Miller's Christmas Prints Paper Pack. And while I am sharing, here is Miss Molly's Valentine.
Where are Elizabeth's you ask? Apparently 5th graders are too old for Valentine Cards. :-)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 02:48PM Yesterday I shared Kari and Landon's session. Kari asked if we could also do a few family shots and some of the kids. Miss Ryan was sleeping in the car and didn't care for being woken up to come out into the cool for pictures. I mean really who would want to? LOL! So we decided to do hers another day on her terms. We did take some of Jaxxon though. He is such a sweetheart. He is one of Molly's friends. They were classmates since Kindergarten until this year when he transferred to a new school. I still miss seeing him. It was nice to get to spend some time with him this day.
Right before we quit for the afternoon, I asked Kari if she wanted to take a few of her and Jaxxon. This was the result. Some of my all time favorite images. I really cannot express how much I love these next ones of these two. Moms and little boys just make me happy.
When Kari saw those she sent me a message. "If no other pics turn out, it will be worth the afternoon for the ones with me and Jaxxon. I LOVE IT!! Thank you. :)"
Capturing moments like that make me so thankful for the path God has leading me down.
If you would like to see more, Jaxxon's slideshow it below.
Thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 02:59PM When I talk about what I consider to be a good photo, I seldom mention words like exposure and composition. Don't get me wrong. Those are both very important in photography, but the words I am most likely to say are emotion and meaning. For me a photo can even be a little blurry, but if it captures a tender moment it can still be better than the crispest photo ever taken.
Chris and I both lost our grandfathers in the summer of 2011. We lost them within the span of two weeks. They were both very important in our lives and helped shape us into the people we are today. When Chris was a teenager he helped his Grandfather a lot on his farm. I remember when we first started dating that there were signs on the gates that led into the farm that read "Stewart Farm." Chris told me that he had helped his grandfather hang these signs.
After Tata's passing last summer, we were going through one of his out buildings and found one of the signs. Chris took it home that day and later shared an idea with me. He wanted me to photograph our kiddos and his sister's children with the sign on the farm for his mom for Christmas. So he arranged it with his sister.
I will go ahead and tell you that this next photo was my favorite from the day. Why is it my favorite? I like the colors. I like the contrast. I like that the little boys are holding the sign as it would have been hung on the gate.
The next photo is the one Chris had planned. This was the first time in years that any crop other than hay had been grown on Tata's farm. He leased it to some local farmers and they grew corn. He negotiated the terms in the spring before he became sick.
We weren't able to get together to get the photo taken before the crop was harvested, but Chris had the farmers leave a section of corn when they harvested the crop. We met at the barn and secretly crossed the road to where he wanted the photos taken. He wanted a photo of the kids holding the sign in front of the corn.
For Christmas we gave his parents a 24x36 gallery wrap of the photo above. Like I said before, I liked the other photo a little better, and I wasn't able to get the image to fit on the gallery wrap exactly as I would have liked. However, Chris loved it. It was the one that was the most meaningful to him. That is what really mattered.
When my in-laws unwrapped it on Christmas I knew that Chris was right. The way his mom cried when she looked at it. The way she hugged me. The way she thanked me. The emotion she felt was so obvious. This image held so much meaning for her and that meant everything about it was perfect.
It is now above their fireplace, and I hope that each time she looks at it she smiles. I hope that she has good memories. I hope that she will know she is loved.
That my friends is what I believe makes a photograph meaningful.