Archive for June, 2009
..right when a baby is coming into their personality and they seem to have an endless supply of facial expressions – it’s so much fun to photograph. look how much jack has changed! we did his six month shoot as his grandmother’s home in hampton cove and as soon as I walked in the door he was ready to go.
i think i could fill an entire 20 page album with the series above – i just kept shooting and he changed expressions every frame!
below – mom said, “i love the smile where his entire face scrunches up”…all i can say is how could you not – it’s just so stinkin’ cute, I can’t stop looking at it…
“waaaahhhhh”
doing custom portraits is similar to bird-watching in that you have a wish-list of shots that you would love to capture for your portfolio, but you never know when you’ll get lucky. i’ve wanted this shot for a long time…
toes, fingers, whatever – those teeth are comin’ in and he needed a little relief…
finally, i love this one too – it would look great on canvas and the expression is priceless.
I’m so tickled for mom, getting so many different looks from Jack. He gave me everything he had in the first 30 minutes of our session and then he was ready for a nap. So, mom and I had this conversation that I thought I would pass along to you.
Time varies so much from session to session. With Jack we shot for around 2 1/2 hours for his newborn (that’s average for newborn shoots), around 2 hours for his 3 months, and around 45 minutes for his 6 months. With this session, I knew after 30 minutes with Jack that I had more than I needed to complete the job. But, I didn’t want mom thinking that she wasn’t getting 100% from me if I left 30 minutes after I arrived. She said, “If you were to say that you got what you wanted after 15 minutes, I say call it – I trust you.” That’s such a wonderful complement.
This is why I charge one session fee for any amount of time – from 45 minutes to 3 hours. Every job is different. So, know that if you book a session with me it’s guaranteed. There is no risk involved because I will allow as much time as necessary to complete your shoot or if like Jack here, I can say, “that’s a wrap!” 
after 30 minutes you can rest assured your gallery will be as full and varied as anyone else.
June 30th, 2009
Three families from Kentucky, one from Oklahoma, and one from Ohio all converged on the newly renovated Guntersville State Park Lodge to celebrate this handsome couple’s 50th wedding anniversary this June.
I had such a nice morning getting to meet your family and I hope you had a wonderful stay in Alabama celebrating 50 years together. Congratulations!
I should have added “have a family reunion” to the “things to do” list. 
*special thanks goes to lance for helping me with my kitchen portrait stools.
June 29th, 2009
some images really lend themselves to a vintage look while others don’t – i liked how this one turned out, so i wanted to share…although with this look you lose the aqua color of the chair…hmmm. tough call.
June 27th, 2009
livia and luke live in a beautiful home in boaz, alabama with a backyard view of green pastures…loved this little moment…
here, luke has not quite warmed up to me yet, but i still love the look on his face here as he contemplates climbing into the chair all by himself…
this was in the grass, waiting to dart between your legs, trip you up and into a cow pie…naughty kitty…
she’s thinking about how to answer a question about banana flavored popsicles…nice call to mom on the blue chair…
if i can come away with shots like these next two from every shoot then I’m 100% satisfied…
big, natural smiles that make you smile just by lookin’ at ‘em…
another big smile, from luke in his cute orange suit..
now normally, i would stop here for the sneak peek ’cause you got what you came for…or so you think. livia may have given me two of the funniest shots i’ve ever taken and you must see them. this is the set-up shot, so you know what you’re lookin’ at…her prized ‘goldfish in a bag’…
i asked her to pull the bag up in front of her eyes. she did. i love her.
…now for the second shot.
it ranks up there with this shot of britton, my nephew, doing his best impression of me. all i can say is if this is what i look like while i’m shooting, it’s a good thing i wasn’t trying to win jon over from behind the camera…
here it is – it makes me laugh, i love it…
June 25th, 2009
but before we get to that, a little side-by-side comparison. six months on the left and two years on the right…where does the time go?
okay, so the berry pickin’ – here is what we were after…well, specifically the big one at the top. i snapped this shot really quickly and didn’t realize i was capturing the entire life cycle of the strawberry here…
“nothing but sincerity as far as the eye can see…” - name it for a free sheet of wallets
right, so with this one, you have to notice how delicately she is holding the basket – i don’t know why it tickles me so much, it just does…and so we begin the search…
ooo, looks like a good one, we’ll see if it passes inspection…
…and yes! it’s a keeper!…and so is she…
getting ready…
oh my gracious, what a face – the sweetness of strawberries straight off the vine can catch you off guard at first, but she wasn’t done by far. we were just getting started…
and finally, i LOVE this one. look at this intense expression. i feel like she’s thinking, “what are you doing? can’t you see we have work to do here? there are berries to be picked!”
I specialize in portraits that tell a story and your story can be anything, but I’m so glad I finally got to do a shoot like this and I look forward to more in the future.
I encourage you to take your children to the local u-pick farm or into a family member’s garden and let them experience fresh food from the vine. Twenty-seven years old before I had my first garden fresh strawberry…it’s a shame, that’s all I can say. Now, watermelon…well, that’s a different story…
And while you’re at it, take your camera!
One more thing, this shoot is the perfect example of what you’ve heard not to do for portraits. Bright, mid-day sun, no shade, so what…my sessions are based around what’s best for you and it just so happens that Hannah was ready to go at 12:30, so we did. 7:00am, 10:00am, 2:00pm, 6:00pm, and everything in between can be considered. If your kids get up with the sun, so will I. If they really get going at around 4:00 in the afternoon, that’s perfect too. The point I’m trying to make is this, I don’t put limits on my sessions because that’s what keeps it interesting. They are 100% custom to you. So, where do you want to go and when?
June 25th, 2009
no, i haven’t been asleep all this time…but butch has…
here’s the short version…