You know those people who radiate happiness and kindness? Savannah is one of those people! When you first meet her you notice those blue eyes and that sweet smile, but after talking to her for a moment you can just feel how nice she is. She has a soft calming voice and laughs often, and when she laughs she gets a mischievous sparkle in her eye. I’ve had the pleasure of watching her grow up from the sidelines. I’ve been friends with her mom since we were in the 7th grade and I can tell you, Savannah is her mother’s mini.

We had amazing weather for her session! After grabbing a few shots downtown we went home so the rest of the family could get in on the fun. I have a pretty great job and I get to photograph some pretty great people!

The in-between moments are always my favorite!!

She hit the big brother jack pot! Not only was he willing to stand around waiting for his turn, he did it while he was starving and he didn’t even complain about it.

She sang Jolene in her school talent show so this shirt is only fitting! It also helps that she has mad music talent and can play the guitar, fiddle, and sing.

I may have to borrow their driveway again. I mean, look at those trees!!!

I’m a little behind on blogging my sessions. Okay, I’m WAY behind!!! Better late than never right?

This is the very beautiful Meredith. She is an absolute dream to photograph! The weather was perfect, the location was perfect, the horse cooperated, (kind of!) It was a great session!

This image is probably my favorite from 2016

Class of 2017 it isn’t too late! Contact me ASAP to get on the schedule!

I know I keep saying it… and when I do I have the best intentions! But somehow life gets away from me and I realize it has been MONTHS since I last blogged. I’m a blogging failure! I admit it, I know it’s true. sigh……

Instead of making empty promises I’ll just fill you in on what I’ve been up to. After I announced the Spring Giveaway I was super busy and I loved it!!! I had several senior sessions and got to capture a super fun family. (all of which will end up on the blog. {eventually…} The end of the school year came a bit early and as we transition into “summer mode” I find myself doing things a little less rushed. Which is both a blessing and a curse. I tend to either go full tilt and burn myself out or when I finally crash, I move at a sloths pace. I’m working to find the middle ground and working even harder to slow down and smell the coffee. As they say, the struggle is real.

I’m very much looking forward to “Natalie’s Wild West Adventure” which takes place in July. For 11 glorious days I will be traipsing around 4 states snapping pictures of rocks and sunsets and all the quirky stuff we encounter along the way. My friends are mortified that I will make them watch a slide show of the trip and I kind of feel like I should throw one together just to torment them. Actually I’m looking forward to unplugging a bit, (lets be real!! I’m not going to be able to completely unplug because….it’s me! And well…I hate to miss stuff!) experience fun new stuff with my smallest cherub, and make life long memories. (good and bad)

I’ll throw a little photo in here to show you my youngest client yet. I had the pleasure of photographing her last week.  I don’t typically photograph newborns but….this one was a princess so how could I not?!?

More blogging coming soon! I can’t wait to show you all the fabulous people I’ve been able to photograph lately! Now booking Fall sessions. Get yours scheduled ASAP before all the great dates are gone.

I have the luxury of meeting the most fantastic people! Every time I meet with clients I’m just so thankful to be on this journey with them. It really doesn’t matter if they are high school seniors or a family of 3-10, each portrait session is a wonderful time for me to make new friends and get to know people from all walks of life. I try very hard to meet with my clients before each session to discuss your vision and to share my thoughts on wardrobe choices and locations. I also like to chat for a bit to get to know you and to give you the chance to get to know me before we embark on the stress that is a session.  I’m a mother so I fully understand the stress of getting your family coordinated and to the location in one piece, all while trying to keep your sanity in check. I also understand how nerve wracking it can be to be 18 and not completely sure what you want in your session other than looking great and not feeling awkward.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ashley at Starbucks a few weeks before her session. We spent 20 minutes planning the specifics of her session then another 10 talking about music, what she does in her free time, and what her plans were after graduation.

The weather on the day of the session was perfect and our time flew by. Before I knew it, our 2 hours were up and I had a ton of great images of her. I’m sharing a few of my favorites. They were hard to narrow down folks! She is truly beautiful inside and out and I know her parents are extremely proud of her. Thank you Ashley for enduring my impromptu dance moves, stupid jokes, and occasional singing. 

the image on the right…..love!!

her boyfriend is in the service. He couldn’t be there but she wanted to include him. So, we did!

how gorgeous is this yummy light? “golden hour” is my favorite time to photograph people and this is why

hey y’all!! Can you smell it? Spring is right around the corner!! whoo hoo!!!

Class of 2016, you still have time to get your photos done before school is out. Contact me ASAP and we’ll get you on the books.

Spring sessions are always popular and go fast. Don’t wait until you see the trees changing to schedule your session, it may be too late. There is typically a short window of prime “bloomage” on those spring trees so we need to act fast. I’m looking forward to hearing from you, it’s been a long winter and I’m ready to come out of hibernation. Plus I bought some new toys that I’m chomping at the bit to use.

I have a ton of stuff to blog so keep checking in.

I’ve been spending my rainy days sorting through thousands of images on my hard drive in an attempt to be more organized. (key word there: attempt) I have always loved looking at photos. I’m a sucker for a thick photo album and it doesn’t matter if the pictures are old or new. While surfing through my virtual photo albums I’ve had a few good laughs remembering some of the shenanigans that occurred when the pictures were taken, and I’ve wondered at how everyone has grown up through the years. But one thing that has definitely stood out is my growth as a photographer!!

I’ve always loved pictures! My best friend Tara will attest to that! I was that annoying 10 year old who always wanted to have a photo shoot. As we entered our teen years she was more agreeable to being photographed and we’d spend hours every weekend changing clothes and posing in her backyard while we happily snapped away. Back in the glorious 80′s you had to drop your film off to be developed and you had to wait for 2 weeks to get it back. AGONY!!! I’ve always been an impatient person ( some say it’s a character flaw…I say it’s just one of my charms) so the digital camera era has been perfect for me!

When I had kids I took my love of photography to a whole new level. I had a “willing” test subject and time on my hands. (figuratively) I went through a time that I got a new camera every year or so. First a digital camera (ooohh….ahhhhhhh….I can see my picture instantly on the 1 inch screen on the back! All 3 mega pixels of it!!) Then those Kodak cameras that you drop the film canister into and you could take panoramic photos. Remember those? (yes. I have boxes of panoramic images that are dreadful! But I just can’t throw them away!) Then the happy day I got my first DSLR camera. I literally cried with excitement! I read the instruction manual. (who even does that? Have you seen those books? War and Peace, the photography edition….) I started reading everything I could get my hands on and I practiced. And I made mistakes. LOTS of mistakes!!!! But each time I learned something. I’m still learning something every day! I enrolled in a conference in D.C. and met some of the greatest women I know. They have been a constant source of knowledge, help, understanding, comic relief, and a great group of friends. Everyone lives all over the globe but through the power of the internet we keep in touch and I’ve had the best time watching their growth as well as my own.

So, as I’ve been cleaning my hard drives I stumbled on some of my “early” work. At first I was horrified because I remember thinking that this image was “so good”,  then after I closed my horrified mouth and stopped laughing I took the time to appreciate it for what it was, a stepping stone. I’ve learned in life that you can’t regret the journey, it’s the reason you are who you are today. I hope I continue to learn and grow and produce great images. Not only for myself, but for my clients as well. I do love this business that I’m in!!

Without further ado, I present…… growth! (first image taken in 2012 before my photography conference, second image this year. same model)

Sooo much wrong in one image!! (now you see why I was horrified!!!) Rule #1, never face your subject towards the sun because they will squint and the light will cast harsh shadows on their face. As you can see, the light is behind her in the second photo. Thus creating a nice “halo effect” and some  sun flare.

Glad I took the time to see where I’ve been, it makes me appreciate where I am so much more! Want to make memories? Contact me and we’ll get to work!

So the saying goes, “when you have a sister you have a best friend”.   I’m the youngest of 5, all girls. I can honestly say that there were times when we were most definitely not best friends! But as we get older I know that they have my back no matter how annoying I was as a child. (because I’m sooo not annoying now as a grown up!! )  As I watched these girls interact with each other I know that the saying is true. These girls love each other, laugh together, and are the best of friends! I asked them if they ever fight and as they were saying yes they were laughing hysterically at each other. I’m guessing that if they do fight, it’s short lived and quickly forgotten.

The day of our session it was windy. I mean, board up the windows because a massive hurricane is coming, windy. The challenge was finding a spot that was blocked by the wind so 3 beautiful girls with long hair could have a fun session. My hair was whipping around in a frenzy and found it’s way into a lot of shots, (note to self: always have hair bands in your camera bag) my eyes were watering so much it looked like I was crying, but these girls…..never complained once! They just rolled with it and didn’t even care that it was windy. Gosh, I love that attitude!! (Mom and Dad, be proud! they are keepers!) :)  We were having so much fun that we didn’t even realize that 2 hours had passed. When my alarm went off we were all surprised and a little sad that it had to end. I had a hard time choosing just a few for the blog so I chose a bunch. Enjoy! Thank you “F” family for such a great afternoon!!

There are soooo many candid shots like this from the session. They just had the best time with each other and every time I look at these pictures I smile

I put together a quick video of this session. You can view it here: https://animoto.com/play/0CH50zN3SHJ70qsaV0icCg

My friend Taylor has already begun her Freshman year of college but she is just now making her debut on the blog. We had part one of her session last Fall at the barn where she rides horses. I loved it out there!! But then again, I’m a sucker for all things country. I love barns, horses, hay bales, Fall leaves…..my allergies…don’t. By the time I left I was a hot mess but we managed to get some great shots.

Taylor and my daughter Halee have been friends all through high school so I’ve had the chance to get to know her well. I tell her often that she is one of my favorite people and I truly mean that. She has an awesome sense of humor (and you guys know how much I love to laugh!!) and is very quick witted. And she doesn’t mind it when I ask stupid questions about softball, a sport that I know only a little about because I had to play at church camp every summer. (short stop. What were they thinking putting me there?? I duck every time a ball comes near me!!)  She doesn’t even get mad when I asked her {every summer} if she got hot in those polyester “costumes”, she just laughed and said, “yes, the ‘uniforms’ do get hot”. Bless her, she’s a saint!

I know she is knocking college out of the park!! (see what I did there? softball pun…..you.are.welcome!) Thank you Taylor for allowing me to follow you around with my camera and for making me laugh. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for you

Right before school was out and after her senior softball season was over, we met at the softball field to grab a few pictures of her in uniform. This year she was the catcher. After watching her in action during her first home game of the year, I was scared for the other team. She was fierce!!!

It’s always fun to photograph someone you’ve known for years and years, especially when you’ve watched them grow up. I met this young lady when she was in the 3rd grade and now she is getting ready to graduate! Crazy how quickly time has flown! She is super busy so I haven’t seen her much the past few years, so it was really great to spend a few hours talking to her. She has already completed several college courses and has decided where she will be attending school in the Fall. I have no doubt that she will be very successful in her endeavors and I know that she makes her family very proud.

We met at Shakertown and poked around for a bit. There are so many great places to take pictures tucked in and around there, and you never know when you may get chased down by a quacking duck or two. And because of said ducks……watch your step. ;)  We had a great time and it was a gorgeous day! Thank you Sarah for choosing me to capture your senior memories and for spending the afternoon with me laughing at my lame jokes. Have a great freshman year of college! I know it will be great!!

Sarah, you are beautiful! Ok, that’s all……

When I was a little girl I dreamed I’d have long graceful legs and be a beautiful ballerina. Instead I inherited the family “tree trunks”. There isn’t much comfort in having “a solid foundation” when all you really want are legs for miles. But hey, a girl can dream!!

I was so happy that Emma contacted me when I put out the ballerina casting call on my facebook page. Not only is she stunning, but she has the longest legs I’ve ever seen on a real live person. And to top it all off, she’s super nice too! Really, a win-win situation. We tooled around downtown for a bit and ended up on the ‘big hill’ (it’s big! like…hard to breathe when you reach the top, big) for some cool jumping shots. {Notice how crafty I am. I have my clients climb the big hill and I stay at the bottom so I can photograph them. Pretty sure one day someone is going to call me out on that}

Thank you Emma for coming out to play with me. I enjoyed meeting you and photographing you while you do your thing. Ballerinas……they are just so fabulous aren’t they?!?

My crazy ideas in action! She was standing on a seriously tiny ledge. Like, 5 inches wide, about 5 feet off the ground. But look how cool she looks! So it was all worth it….right?!