Archive for March, 2012
I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I was super, duper nervous about this session ;-). I met this little girl’s mommy last year when she drove down from Arkansas to attend one of my professional family photographer workshops. It blows me away to think that almost a year ago exactly, she was just *thinking* about having babies and now, here she is, a full-fledged mommy and is doing an incredible job at it, too!
Anyway, why was I nervous? Well, it was the first time I have ever flown anywhere specifically *just* for a session. I would literally fly in to Arkansas that morning, do the session, and fly right back out that night. So many things could go wrong!!
But…they didn’t.
In fact, it was one of the most magical, incredible, beautiful sessions I’ve had. She was the perfect angel and wow, isn’t her mommy radiant? Her big brother was so kind and attentive to her. Their images just glow with love and peace.
We had pretty much finished for the day and I was going to head out to the airport when Meagan reminded me that the peach trees were in bloom. Okay…yes…we should at least try to take some pictures out in the orchard. Wouldn’t you know it, though, it was supposed to be perfectly overcast that day, but instead, the sun was just beaming down on us–not exactly the ideal lighting conditions for working outdoors. We waited and waited and waited for the sun to go behind a couple of clouds. And waited. And waited. And then FINALLY…a BREAK! I’ve never worked so fast in my life and I’m SO thrilled we got some images out in the orchard. She is indeed a little peach blossom and I hope her mommy takes her out there every year to mark her birthday in that field.
Thanks again, Meagan, for trusting me to do this for your family. It was a pure joy hanging with you that day. You are very, very blessed.
Mar 28, 2012
Yeah. She came to visit me a little bit ago. I tried really hard to tuck her away in my camera bag so mommy wouldn’t notice, but it didn’t work. Better luck next time.
They have added a +one by this time (congratulations!!!!), but even though this session wasn’t terribly long ago, I had to ask myself, “Is this for real?” How in the world did we get so lucky to have perfect weather, this incredible field, a glowing mama, and crazy charming little (big?) brothers all to align at one single maternity session? This family makes me smile.
This sweet baby literally took my breath away. You may remember that her parents are quite classy themselves, so it’s no surprise that she would be the perfect little lady. We listened to Frank Sinatra during her photo session and I hummed the tunes all the way home, the perfect soundtrack to her photos. She was so delicate and had this angelic glow about her. Everything she did was “just so.” She didn’t make a peep the entire session. Sigh…it was lovely.
Mar 26, 2012
That’s probably the first word that comes to mind when I think of this session. I wasn’t quite sure how we were going to top their last session, but I think we managed to pull of something so different and so incredible for them…
Tracy (an amazing photographer!) really, really, really wanted to go to a carnival, so planned the session date around that. Well, unfortunately, we got a little caught up in the flowers and didn’t quite get over to the carnival as early as we planned. It was pure AGONY standing in line to get in watching the sun steadily slip behind the horizon. We had to hoof it to get our images and the kids (bless their hearts) were so patient with us. In spite of the darkness, we found some really cool spots to work in and I love how they turned out! Tracy…I hope you do, too, and I can’t wait to see what display you create with these!
This little guy was born into a colorful world and I love that his parents have made it so. This line from their client questionnaire before their session cracked me up: “He will love the color orange, puppies, Harry Potter, reading, Texas Longhorns, all sorts of music, football, and getting dirty (or those could just be things I like…).”
Their maternity session before he was born was just as colorful and vibrant:
What a fun, vibrant, energetic family! I very much look forward to seeing how their family grows and changes over the years!
First of all, I want to know who planned the weather out for this workshop? LOL. My word, it couldn’t have been a more dreary, rainy couple of days, but fortunately for me, there was a wonderful group of women in attendance AND we had a SUPER cute baby boy to work with.
Some behind the scenes pics (I always love these!):
And then I really lurve this snap from Bekah…
…mostly ‘cuz I think the backlight makes me look skinny 😉
By the way, we are *still* looking for a family in Austin that can do this for us on March 30th. We’ve received several applications, but we need options. You never know, you might get a free session from me! If you live in Austin and are expecting a baby within the next few weeks, PLEASE fill out this form.
I’ll be back soon with images from the in-home session and I also can’t wait to show you some pics that the attendees took (can’t wait to brag on them and how well they did during some yucky, yucky weather ;-).
Things I want to remember about my boy before he grows into those puppy feet of his.
Mar 14, 2012
This is a long one. Grab a cup of coffee. Okay.
About 15 years ago, I was a young, naive college kid and had just landed a job at the Office of Student Activities at my university in Corpus Christi. It was there I met Tracey (gosh…did I really meet Tracey 15 years ago?). She was married, had a young daughter, and was kind of like my older, wiser big sister. I’m not sure Tracey will ever know what she did to guide me and show me the ropes as I was becoming a young adult. She listened, she led by example, taught me a great work ethic, gave great advice, reminded me to stay focused, and helped me through my boy troubles (I later married that boy ;-). A couple of times, she would bring in bags full of her old clothes for me. Tracey was (still is) so stylish and those bags of clothes were like treasure chests to me. I was going to college full time, almost 1,500 miles from the place I called home and I didn’t have family close by. I was working and on student loans just to pay tuition, rent, and to make ends meet. Those clothes meant the world to me. I’m getting choked up just remembering.
Tracey also gave me extra jobs here and there to help me get by. One that stands out the most to me was when I watched her then 5-year-old daughter and her new baby brother for a weekend. Well, I tried to make it through the weekend. I ended up getting really, really sick and at about 5 a.m. the first night/morning, I was curled up in their downstairs bathroom, my head in a toilet, trying desperately to keep the room from spinning and to figure out how in the world I was going to survive two more days of this AND care for two young children. And it was there Darrow found me. She was still in her nightgown, she had lovely blonde hair that framed two of the biggest blue eyes I had ever seen. She was (still is) so angelic. Darrow looked at me and then at the toilet and then she said, “Here. Take this,” handing me a trash can. “Mommy says when I get sick, I need to use this.” I still giggle thinking of how “helpful” she was to me that awful morning.
And then, fast forward a few more years (actually, almost 12 years ago to the day) when I moved to Austin and sweet Darrow was my flower girl when I married my college sweetheart from Corpus Christi…
[forgive the poor scan quality]
And then fast forward a few more years…like to 2011…and imagine how my heart soared and perhaps broke a little bit when Tracey told me Darrow was graduating high school and wondered if I could take her senior portraits. What an honor!! But what disbelief! I could not even believe this little girl was going to graduate high school. I could not believe her baby brother was a teenager. I could not believe that Tracey went on to have two more children…TWINS, in fact. I could not believe on how much life I had missed out on and was ashamed I had not done more to stay in touch.
Well, we had our session just a few weeks ago. It was positively magical and surreal all at the same time. It was a strange time warp for me…Tracey hadn’t changed a bit over the last decade+, but Darrow, Darrow was a young woman. Darrow…was me…my age when I started college and first met her mother. Un.Real.
Tracey and I could barely stop crying when we saw each other. I’m sure it had to have been strange for Darrow, LOL. But I can only hope that when Darrow decides where she’s going to college–and especially if she travels far away like I did–that she finds someone who can be a pseudo-mom to her, just like Tracey was for me.