Mac Daddy Shoot

Okay so this is a family that I've had the privilege of photographing a few times. The first time their oldest son was still a little tyke and he was sporting the biggest cowboy hat I've ever seen on a little boy - precious I tell you. I've also had to fortune to photograph their extended family twice for Christmas (in pjs both times too I think).

They've just finished building a new house and needed a great large portrait of the family to frame in their living room and that just makes my heart smile. If you come to my house you'll see large pictures of my family everywhere. I don't understand why people would prefer fine art instead of perfectly captured portraits of those they love most. Anyways, I think we really captured some great moments for them to treasure for years to come.

Here are a few.





I love this picture - I know it's not the perfectly posed picture most moms want but these are priceless to me.



I've actually known this couple since high school and I just adore this photo. I hope they like it too.







Have you ever seen a cuter set of red-heads than these two?









I've already been informed mom has no idea how she's going to pick but I'm going to make sure she does. We hang their best art projects on the refrigerator and their best work gets hung on the classroom walls do you have any idea what it does to their little egos to know that Mommy & Daddy chose to hang pictures of them up on the walls. Studies show that it really increases kids self-esteem to grow up in a house with pictures of themselves on the walls. Okay that's all I'm going to say about that. You don't have to worry about these boys Momma's gonna have plenty of pictures to cover the walls with.

Thanks God for this Shoot!

Okay, so I have to Thank God for how incredibly beautiful and NICE this day was when I shot this session but I also have to thank God for getting it scheduled for me. I met Crystal and Zane (aka Mom and Dad) years ago before they got married. Our first shoot was their engagement session and our last session was to welcome their new bundle of joy. Sweet Kason was a little over 3 months when we did this session (yeah I'm a little late posting them but mom and dad have been checking them out for several weeks now). I'm a little backwards I guess - I feel my client should see their pictures before ANYONE else, so I edit and post in my private gallery before I ever post any on FB or in my blog. By the time I post the pictures online for the public my client has usually had a chance to place their order. Just my way, it's not for everyone. So for the first time to the public here's this sweet little family.







Okay so I credit God for this session so much because Crystal and I were pregnant at the same time - obviously I was much further along than her but we were both pregnant at the same time. I was due in September and her in January. Crystal had no idea that I was going through a time where I was seriously considering quitting my photography. And Crystal messaged me about doing a session of her son. She almost immediately felt bad about it and although I was responding positively she just about decided not to have me do them because she was worried it would be too hard for me.

One night she said she couldn't sleep God was really on her to call me to schedule the shoot. She shared a story with me and the moral was basically that by not allowing me to do the shoot she was denying me the opportunity to share in her joy - a joy that she felt (and she was right) that I would want to be a part of. She just knew in her heart she couldn't worry about how she felt about hurting me because God put it on her to do this FOR me. It was really awesome and it really did mean a great deal to me. There are a few things that I think will always remind me of Owen and I haven't outwardly discussed them with people but there's a reason behind them all (full moons, ladybugs, hic-cups, the wind, there's more but you get the jist). Anyways, this particular day was the hottest day (in April) and just before our shoot the nicest breeze started blowing. And during our shoot we went to move precious Kason and when they picked him up there was a ladybug crawling around where he had been laying - the first ladybug I've seen since Owen passed. It was a very very special shoot for me.















There was no way that Crystal could have known how much I needed this shoot - I'm not sure I knew how much I needed it before it happened but I did. Thanks Crystal and Zane for letting me be a part of your beautiful family.

A Family Affair

So I've been part of this family for well over a year and I finally got to do an official photo shoot with my Brother-In-Law and his wife. I've been asking and we've been planning for quite some time but something always happened. I was really excited about this shoot - except for the fact that they were planning to dress in Alabama colors. Thank goodness they came to their senses and scratched that plan. They know how I feel about the Crimson Tide.

So here goes, their first "official" photo shoot with me ever.









The happy couple



That's enough of them on to the babies! My babies. They've grown up so much since I first met them. Here are my precious neices and my nephew.



This picture cracks me up because she was literally all smiles and all I said was don't smile for this one and just look at that face. Bahaha she's so stinking cute!



But she does model A LOT for her big sister - she's thinking about following in my footsteps and becoming a photographer.









Isn't this the sweetest picture of these two?



And their big brother is such a sweet boy - he's gonna grow up to be a special young man for sure.





Now these are so SWEET!!!!





Okay and a final picture or two - remember you are always only seeing a small selection of the shoot - there were a TON of pictures (there always are) that's probably one of my biggest faults as a photographer - I'm working on it though.

A Mother's Day Gift

This shoot melted my heart before it even started. It started out as a mother's day gift from a sweet little boy to his mom and it just got better from there. I had such a good time getting to know Liz and Ethan. Ethan didn't know it during the shoot but he had a big surprise lined up for later that night - and we used that throughout the shoot to keep him grinning. We kept a tight lid on it all through the shoot and I really wish I could have seen his face that evening when he found out what lay in store for him . . .









We had a couple of visitors decide to join us on this shoot. The first was this horse - I always call him by the wrong name is it Peanut? I can't remember anyways, she/he is a camera hog, this isn't the first time this horse has stolen the spotlight during a photoshoot. But Ethan like it - at first!



But then he bit Ethan. It didn't look like it could have possibly hurt so I really hope it didn't. Poor Ethan - but it really was funny!



It was fine - he took it like a pro and just kept right trucking along through the rest of the photo shoot.









Isn't he handsome?

These next few moments are some of my favorites that I've ever captured - and I think it's partly because Liz had just told me he was getting to that age where it wasn't cool to love on mom - well I sure hope these pictures hold her over through the times when he's "too old" for that stuff - because I think they're priceless.





This shoot was really special all the way around to me. I can't imagine how special it was for Miss Liz. Happy Mother's Day hon!