Monday, March 31, 2008

Preparing for Baby...

Yesterday afternoon, I met up with Katrina & Mike for their official maternity session. Along the way, I've been taking pictures of Katrina's belly, but this is the first time that Mike has joined us. We started at their house and then we decided to do some urban maternity shots downtown.
I have to admit that it was a little weird directing my best friend and her husband around, but now I know why I did... I love their images!
Here are two from their session. I've got to finish up on a few things before moving onto their pictures, but I couldn't resist looking at a few.



Saturday, March 29, 2008

Sibling Love!

Everyone who thinks that siblings are jealous and fight with one another has never met this pair. Meet Trey and his little sister, Lauren. Trey is in love with his sister... and it shows. I just love this image!
I met up with Trey, Lauren, and their parents for portraits this morning. Our original intention was to meet at Drexel Park, but after realizing that an organization was having an Easter Egg Hunt (yep, a week after Easter) we decided to make a drive over to McKey Park instead.
I'm up to my eyeballs in proofing images from the past week (I've had four sessions since last Saturday, and I've got another tomorrow) so all I have time to share is one... but there will be more, I promise!

Ethen

Thursday afternoon, I met up with Ethen in downtown. He was a little slow to warm up to me and my camera... he had more important things on his mind, like driving his Tonka truck down the steps of the courthouse. :)
Here are a few teasers from his session:



Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Never one to pass up arts & crafts...

... I was jumping for joy when Katrina mentioned that "Baby Girl" (the name of her child) wanted to dress up like an Easter egg this weekend! :) I just happened to have craft paint to match spring-like colors and a few paint brushes handy.
Sunday after eating our yummy feast, I painted Katrina's belly to look like an Easter egg. "Baby Girl" is going to look back in 20 years and thank her mother... I'm sure of it!







This weekend, Katrina is having her official maternity pictures done. I swear, she's getting more pictures than any other pregnant women, but it's been so awesome capturing her belly through each stage.

Easter

Easter Sunday was wonderful this year. Even though it wasn't spent with family, it was filled with friends and great food!
One of the things I love the most about Valdosta is how pretty it is. It was one of the main reasons I chose VSU as a college, and springtime still amazes me each year. Saturday (okay, technically before Easter) I photographed the following flowers:







After church on Sunday, we were in full-speed mode to get all of the food finished in time to eat. Due to a calamity of errors, we didn't end up eating until late... but we still had a lot of fun. Look at our spread!





Brett made a fantastic fried turkey, and our side dishes included country green beans, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, deviled eggs, beer bread, and a variety of desserts.


I've got more images from Easter to include, but honestly, they deserve their own post. It involves a pregnant woman and craft paint... that's all I can say!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Sister, Sister

This morning, I had so much fun with Misty, Lindsay, Whitney, and Kelly. I can't say why they had pictures taken because it's a surprise... but I will say that it was fantastic.
I used my new Canon and although I had some issues at times with focusing (hey, it's a learning process, right) I was very excited to download the images to my computer and start playing.
I've got a slew to go through, but wanted to get three images up to share.





Friday, March 21, 2008

Cuteness!

One of the things I love most about photographing children is seeing their personality come to life. Makenzye is the daughter of a good friend and I can never get enough of seeing her with her bouncy, beautiful curls. They tell so much about how lively she is! I absolutely love this image of her... and I'm hoping to have a session soon with her so that I can show her off some more. (hint, hint, Shele!)

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Happy Birthday!

Last Saturday, I had a wonderful time being an ogre... I mean, photographer... at Lane & Kate's birthday party! The decorations were wonderful (including my own pair of ogre ears!) and the food was delish. Lane was turning 4, and Kate was turning 2, and all the other kids were somewhere in between.
I love being able to photograph children's birthday parties. It gives me an excuse to be around kids, I always end up with a piece of cake, and I love that parents are actually in pictures and have an opportunity to celebrate with their children instead of manning the camera.
Here are some images of the party!





*FYI: Clicking on the pictures makes them larger.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

It's my Anniversary!

I know I'm behind in blogging about Kate & Lane's birthday party from Saturday, but I just had to blog about this... three years ago today I said "I do" to my wonderful husband, Brett. It's been such a wonderful journey with him so far, and I can't wait until we grow old together!
This morning as he was getting ready for work, he prompted me to open the HUGE (and heavy) gift that was wrapped on the kitchen table. I have his present at work, so I told him just to wait until tonight. He pressured some more so I, of course, caved in and opened it. WOW! I'm so excited!!




Not only is it a KitchenAid mixer... but it's PINK! He sure knows a good way to make a girl's heart flutter.

Friday, March 14, 2008

First pictures from my Canon!

Unfortunately, I've not tried out my new 20d on any human subject yet (although this weekend it will happen) but I have had an opportunity to try it on the flora variety. Here are some flowers (err, weeds) in our backyard.
I love how crisp these pictures look, and can't wait to try it out on people!



Thursday, March 13, 2008

'Fraidy Cats!

Are you guys scared?
When I said, "first person to e-mail me..." doesn't mean that you should all run like the wind! And just because you're thinking to yourself "I'm sure she's already had someone e-mail" doesn't mean you shouldn't try.


I'm just sayin'... :)

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Ready for a Contest?

One of the things I set out to do this year was to really have fun with my blog and blog readers. I've really been lacking in this department, and figured that there's no better time than the present to shake things up a bit!

I'm so excited to offer my first contest! My previous post talked about updating my website. If you haven't seen it lately, well, it hasn't changed. In an effort to do a total re-haul, I'm looking for some fresh faces. You'll notice that my first gallery is titled "Featured Session", and that there isn't anything in it. That's where you come in.

I'm looking for someone who is willing to get creative. Willing to be "out there". Willing to just go with the flow. The first person to respond to me by e-mail with the subject line "I'm willing" will get a free photo session, and will be the featured session on my website until... well... I don't know. :)

The Rules: I'd like to limit this session to an individual or couple, the session needs to be completed by March 30, and you must be willing to have pictures taken in the Valdosta area.

Maybe you still need your senior pictures taken, or engagement photos. Maybe you're anniversary is coming up and you haven't had portraits taken since your wedding. Maybe you're just up for some fun! Whatever the reason or situation, I'd love to add your pictures to my portfolio.


Ready?
Set.
GO!

Monday, March 10, 2008

It's about time...

I'm so embarrassed to admit that I haven't updated my website since October. Seriously. Because I have some free time in the next few days, I've decided to devote it to updating my site. Since October I've had a lot of wonderful clients, and they definitely deserve some time in the spotlight!

So far, I've got the new main page and the maternity gallery up... but it's still the older stuff for everything else. By Wednesday evening, everything should be up and going! Feel free to stop by then and show me some website love! :)

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Lane & Kate

In the few weeks, Lane & Kate will both be celebrating birthdays... Lane will be 4 and Kate will be 2. Because of their ages, Bethany their mom thinks that having a joint birthday party would be best. I'm so excited to photograph their party next weekend... it's a Shrek theme!

Last weekend I went to their house to do a mini-shoot for their birthday card. Afterwards, I tried to get a few of them just being cute kids, and it totally worked! Here are some of my favorites.




I can't decide if I like this image in the color-version...



... or in a sepia tone. Kate has beautiful chocolate eyes!

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Katrina's Belly... Part Two

You may remember Katrina from her original session with her belly. Two weeks ago, we met up again to photograph the next stage of pregnancy. Katrina is probably one of the cutest pregnant women I've known... and truly does have that "glow". I can't wait until a few more weeks when we can do her official maternity session!








Note: Even though the doctor has said that Baby E. has grown between the time of the first session and this one, I don't think that Katrina's belly has changed much.