Abra Michelle Photographer

Tony & McGee :: In Love :: Atlanta, GA :: Piedmont Park

2011-10-18T15:00:00.000-04:00

I hope you are prepared for awesomeness!!

Seriously, this couple was so amazing. I offered my services to the bride for her wedding but she had already hired a wedding photographer. . .

Fast forward several months later and I got an e-mail from her asking how crazy it would be if she hired me to do to take "after the wedding" pictures. Of course I responded that it wouldn't be crazy at ALL and that I would love to.

When they traveled to Atlanta from New York we got together and headed to Atlanta's Piedmont Park for some fun times.

Even though I have been to Piedmont Park of several occasions for fun, I actually had never shot there before. I knew exactly where I wanted to go though. I have a thing for ivy covered walls.

McGee is one of those people that if you didn't love her so darn much, you could just as easily hate her because she's a living Barbie doll. If she looked half as stunning on her wedding day as she did the day of our photo session. . .well, you get the point.

One of my favorite things is light. Light and emotion are something I endeavor to capture in every photo session. This one had an abundance of both as you can see below.

I love the way he looks at her. You can see the love in his eyes.

I don't know if any of you have heard of the Beloved Movement with Jesh de Rox but I happen to think it is a truly remarkable way to capture true emotions between two people. Whereas most of my photo sessions are fairly typical, I love to throw in what Jesh calls "invites". These are basically inviting the couple to forget you are there to take their picture and just be in the moment for each other. The genuineness that you can get from this is beyond amazing.

Couples that laugh openly and freely together are the best.

She was just the cutest. This little thing with her nose was something she kept doing throughout the session and I just had to capture it as part of what makes her her.

Sometimes when things are not the most focused, they turn out the best. I love the dreaminess of them in the background of this shot.

Light. . .check!

. . .emotion. . .Check!

A friend of hers made the brocade belt so I wanted to make sure I got a good detail shot for her.

For the first part of the session, the bride was being very serious and it wasn't until later in the session that I realized how incredibly goofy these two were as a couple. I definitely took advantage of that.

See? Goofy as the day is long!

She had made this sign herself and transported it from New York.

I also had them write and "illustrate" these themselves. It was funny to see how much they put into their individual signs.

Another invite I did with them with a little twist let to the most adorable chase.

One of McGee's favorite hangout spots in Atlanta was this very Starbucks. As we arrived, the staff was incredibly friendly and happy to let us take over for a little bit.

Here we have McGee showing off her fish face capabilities.

A little sugar to end the evening.

Looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .
or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

It's Alive! It's Alive!

2011-10-14T12:54:00.000-04:00

I have been absent from the blogging world for some time now as I have been endeavoring to change things up a bit. Let me detail some of these changes for you . . .

. . .here is my new home page:

With a little further explanation:

There are two things you may have noticed first. Artistry in Focus has been changed to Abra Michelle Photography.

Why, you may ask?

Well, to be honest, I came up with Artistry in Focus for a reason that is totally irrelevant now. When I first started this blog was about the same time I opened my (now dormant) Etsy shop. At the time, I was still working a full time white collar job trying to get my creativity in any way I could.

SO, I opened up an Etsy shop in order to sell my photographs and jewelry. The name Artistry in Focus was born because I wanted it to encompass all forms of craft that I happened to dabble in. My intention was a play on words. I stuck with that name for the past two years or more but over the course of time, as I concentrated more on my number one passion of photography, I realized that name no longer meant the same for me.

Not only that but my name is something I have come to be very proud of. I love how unique it is. It has become a major identifier for who I am. With that being the case, why wouldn't I proudly own a business with my name on it? The Michelle is also tacked on there to make sure that people know I am a girl. ;D

So that's most likely one of the first things you noticed. Technically, I could have left the other thing alone because this:

. . .is actually the letters A and M the way I initial things in person. However, I didn't feel that was clear to all AND I wanted something a little more representative of me and my personality. I kept the basic design element that my dear friend Ryan (see here) came up with with the repeating circles I just made a few changes that I felt was more. . . me.

What I did was create an inspiration board from my Tumblr and Pinterest accounts, a la Promise Tangeman's advice, and examined what stood out to me the most and really seemed indicative of who I am. What I noticed was a lot of circles, nautical stripes, repeating lines, YELLOW, and weathered wood among a few other things. Can you see that above? I also like things to be asymmetrical (you should see the jewelry I make) so I have the background reflecting that.

Even though I am a font junkie (dafont.com is AWESOME!!!) and I played around with quite a few font choices, when it comes down to the standard fonts used, I prefer Times over Arial. So, in light of that fact, I decided to stick with Times so that it was easily legible and user friendly.

What you may also notice throughout my site is that I am stressing how much of my work is truly about storytelling. When Spencer and I sat down to discuss and dissect my business we realized how much of what we do and what we love about what we do is the fact that, in essence, we are historians, documenting pieces of our client's lives.

This is going to sound odd, but one of my favorite compliments is making someone cry because she loved how the pictures showed her, her son, and husband playing together. Can you imagine years down the road when he's grown, looking at those same images and a smile can't help but come to his face? Imagine how much more meaningful that is if something happens to his parents and that photograph becomes one of his most cherished possessions of a time when his memory can't recollect?

Okay, okay, I got off on a little tangent there, but you get my drift. That is what I LOVE about what I do in a nutshell.

Well that's that. I really hope you like the direction I have decided to go in. I feel it reflects me so much more so that when you meet me you feel like you know me a little bit already. I would love to hear your feedback and thoughts about all this.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Vice Wedding :: in love :: North Carolina Wedding - Part 2 of 2

2011-08-12T14:09:00.001-04:00

Here we are at part two. Ceremony and beyond.

Like I said his groomsmen are goofy as evidenced by the image on the right as they wait their turn to walk down the aisle.

YAY! Getting married!!

You can't even tell that it was raining. Right before the ceremony it poured down rain and then slacked off a little by the time it was the bride's turn to traverse the aisle.

I love the little looks given during the ceremony.

Isn't it funny how incredibly awkward the first kiss as a married couple can be. If you are against PDA in any form I would think that this would be a moment of torture. Side note, I love having a second shooter who gets a totally different angle on things than I.

It was actually still raining at this point but thankfully the wall behind the stage was just the perfect backdrop for our images. Fit in perfectly with the rustic feel of the ceremony.

After they got the chance to grab a few bites to eat, we braved the raindrops for a few shots of the lovely couple.

Love this shot. . .

. . .AND this one.

A little of the details. I completely forgot to ask what kind of flowers these were.

The bride's bouquet was actually constructed of hydrangeas transported from Georgia in the back of my car in a cooler. Ice saves the day.

We were driving back to Georgia that night and this is what we were to look forward to on the way, as well as what the wedding guests got to anticipate on their way home. Good times.

We had to be a bit creative to get shots of the couple as the light was quickly leaving and the rain just wouldn't go away! I think they turned out quite nice actually.

My favorite

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Vice Wedding :: in love :: North Carolina Wedding - Part 1 of 2

2011-08-10T15:15:00.001-04:00

This wedding was awesome wedding that I just couldn't wait to get the chance to photograph. As much as I enjoyed their engagement session, I knew the wedding would be amazing too!

As there are so many images to share with this wedding, I am going to break it up into two parts.

Enjoy Part One!

Curls don't want to stay in Danielle's hair so her sister had to work extra hard to make her wedding day do the curly affair she dreamed of. It was quite amusing watching the process as each section was meticulously curled. (Do you see her mom's method of holding her hair back there?)

Meanwhile, it would seem Jared was having a little fight with his necktie.

The resulting "poodle look" that Danielle sported for the rest of the afternoon until she got dressed. Poodle hair and Basset Hound face.

Spencer was at the wedding location with the guys while the girls primped and I think it's safe to say the guys were having a blast. I only wish I could have been there to participate in the fun.

They were so incredibly goofy that I had a blast looking through the images while editing them.

This is one of my favorite "serious" shots.

And this is definitely one of my favorite goofy shots. I don't know who's idea it was but THUMBS UP!

This dress suited Danielle to a T. Right up her alley. And any number of other cliched phrases you would like to insert here. ;)

Whereas corseted dresses look awesome, they are a pain in the tush to put together.

The photo on the left shows Danielle getting rid of her poodle look to get luxurious soft curls.

Danielle and Jared opted not to see each other before the wedding. This photo opportunity was not planned. As we were passing Jared's dressing room door, I knocked to see if he was appropriate for a picture. LOVE IT!

The girl's looked absolutely fabulous and although it was threatening to rain, the good thing was that it made the greenery look SO lush.

This is my favorite shot that I posted on Facebook some weeks ago. I love the natural and happy look of it.

Yessirree! She's a stunner!

Sometimes certain pictures just call out to me to be played with. This one in this instance. I don't usually, but I like it.

Sometimes, when looking at people's wedding pictures I wonder how the people have the nerve to sit down on strange and possibly not clean surfaces. . .in this case, we have to give a shot out to the wonderful paper towels protecting the girl's lovely derrieres.

Absolutely positively stunning! Thank you for this shot Spencer!

I was looking at this picture of the two sisters while waiting for the ceremony to start and I actually teared up. They are such good friends.

And here is Danielle with the new sister that she is acquiring.

Wedding are such great family expanders. (I can say this because I am fortunate enough to love my in-laws. . .and in a weird convoluted legal way, the people in this wedding are related to me too!)

Stay tuned for Part TWO!!

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Vice Family :: Family Photos :: North Wilkesboro NC

2011-07-20T18:56:00.000-04:00

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you would see that at the beginning of June I had my first double wedding weekend which consisted of travelling to North Carolina on Friday where the night before the wedding I photographed the groom with his family. They hadn't had any family photos in about 10 years and felt it was about time.

As I drove up the first thing I noticed was how pretty their

gardening/landscaping was. Their home was so cute and quaint.

The first thing I was requested to do was take a picture that would emulate one that was taken at their previous session. It was almost depressing to see how much little ones can change in a matter of 10 years. I wish I had a copy of the original to be able to show you the difference.

I am not sure what kind of tree this is behind them but I love it! I have always loved weeping willows but they suck up too much water (I am told) and these look just as appealing.

Don't they look lovely?

Ahhhh! Laughing. My favorite. ;)

As they were walking and "talking" they couldn't help but focus their attention on their son as he would be getting married the next day.

As we walked around the house, I discovered that the sun was positioned most perfectly on the horizon. I love how these turned out.

Then who can resist a beautiful big old tree?

They have recently celebrated 25 years of marriage. Personally, when I first saw her I thought she was the sister of the groom, not his mom. Some people just don't age as rapidly as others.

This one had a 70's feel to it and I just had to go for it in my processing. I like how it turned out.

Looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Thoughts

2011-07-19T00:03:00.000-04:00

I have been on another one of what I call my "Jane Austen kicks" when I have been voraciously devouring her works of fiction and watching the somewhat sad attempts at portraying her wit on screen.

I once read that most of the films completely miss the point that she was truly trying to make. I tend to agree with that but at the same time I still enjoy the films on their own merit. I am one of those people who will tell you that the book was definitely better but the movie's not half bad either. I definitely never go to a movie thinking it's going to be just like the book. It's like thinking a painting will be just like a song. Different art mediums. I do not envy one bit those who have the task of adapting books into movies.

Most will tell you that Pride & Prejudice is their favorite book of hers and it is definitely one of the top for me but Persuasion has been steadily gaining more ground for affection in my heart.

I love love stories where the hero and heroine have real cause for being in love. If you ask me what is my favorite fairy tale, I will at once tell you that it is Beauty and the Beast because she knew him and loved him despite his beastly appearance. Or one of my favorite classic novels is Jane Eyre because she fell in love with Mr. Rochester's intellect from their conversations together. I scoff at Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty and other such heroines who fall in love with the "handsome prince" on his handsomness and being a prince alone.

Well thank you internet for listening to what was on my mind this evening as I labored along editing photographs of beautiful people. . .

What?!?! You want to see some of those photographs rather than read my ramblings? Well fine. Stay tuned and you shall. ;D

For now I will leave you with an older picture I ran across in my "Random 2011" folder. Cutest little boogers.

Summertime

2011-07-11T00:38:00.000-04:00

This summer has been flying by so fast. I almost feel transported back to the days when I was in school and it seemed like no time at all passed between being let out of school and having to go back to that day to day drudgery.

My little guy has been in such demand, I feel I barely get to see him and when I do, I'm working. :P So there's the negative view on matters. Here's the positive. My baby boy is so well loved and liked that people find it a joy to be with him. And my photography business has actually been busy enough recently to keep me very much on my toes.

In other news in the land of bittersweet. Spencer and I are no longer homeowners. We closed on our old home this past Friday and have finally closed the chapter on that "not so wise" decision in our lives. The weight lifted off of our shoulders is lovely. Now to set this house back to rights after our last failed yardsale. :P Hey, $16 is better than nothing right?

Thank you all for sticking with me through the tumultuous times. Do take care, all of you.

Sarah and Martin :: in love :: Covington GA Engagement Pictures

2011-07-07T12:19:00.001-04:00

Whenever a photographer gets contacted by another photographer to take their pictures. . .the pressure's on! Will you live up to their expectations? How will the shoot go?

Well when I met with Sarah and talked to her, I realized she was meeting with me because she liked what she had already seen and that's all I needed to do.

Martin couldn't get out of his head that this was going to be a stiff Olan Mills type of production at first. Once he figured out I actually wanted him to kiss Sarah, he was good to go. ;)

We started out in one of my favorite places where there is sure to be beautiful even light to get things started.

Oh look! It's a he shot/she shot! I will admit, I like his better.

Kiss her? SURE!

I am in love with colorful doors. Sadly, my own front door is quite bland. In other news, I LOVE how playful they were together. As much as I love the quiet shots like the one above, my heart really belongs to the fun ones with plenty of smiles.

Oh Sarah, you are beautiful even if you don't agree. I think you are outnumbered.

I know that Martin agrees with me.

While I was changing my camera settings. they pulled this one on me thinking I wouldn't get it. Thankfully, they forgot about Spencer. .bwahaahahahahaha!

Okay, I am getting tired of being jealous of the cool creative shots that Spencer gets. :/ Nothing but love here though. He likes to say it's because he has a good teacher. . .but he's biased.

Too cute!

You know, they say certain things get passe and overdone but the way I see it, everything you do is unique to THAT couple because THAT couple is in it and no one else. I love that she was eager and willing to sit down on the train tracks in her beautiful dress. . .and I love this shot.

:D He did this all on his own.

Would you kiss her again please? NO problem.

See the three below for exhibits A. B. and C. of why I just ADORE laughing fun shots:

Exhibit A.

Exhibit B.

Exhibit C.

So this is a funny story. Anyone who schedules a shoot with me may notice that I usually set the time to be later in the evening. This is for several reasons. It's cooler in the summer and easier for Spencer to join me but the number one reason is the LIGHT. I am always hoping that the sun cooperates with me and shows me how beautiful it can be as it retires for the evening.

Unfortunately this doesn't always happen. In fact, this time it didn't seem like it was going to so we got in the car and headed off for some much deserved sustenance for our bellies. . .

So we're driving down the main drag in Covington towards the restaurant when I all of a sudden start freaking out because the sun was, in a word, spectacular! GRRRR! I began searching for a place to pull over because I just HAD to get them with that sun behind them. Thankfully, Sarah and Martin completely understood. That's one of the advantages of photographing a photographer.

The result is how you see below. . .{{SIGH}} I love when the sun shows me how purty she can be.

Thank you so much Sarah and Martin for being rockstars! I think I would have been happy if I just got this shot! I am looking forward to your wedding in LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!!!! AHHHHHHH!!!

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

I Honestly Never Get Tired of These

2011-06-27T15:07:00.000-04:00

Today's animated pictures brought to you courtesy of my lovely husband. I had gone in at this point to get ready for the Bride and Groom to be announced. This series is perfectly indicative of their personalities. :D

Do these two look familiar? That may be because of their last animated post or their FUN engagement session.

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Animated Pictures are Just so Durn Fun!

2011-06-24T11:30:00.000-04:00

Okay so I haven't put one of my fun animated pictures up in a little while and I felt this one warranted a showing! I love how fun these shots turned out just for this simple blog post alone. Don't you just love how the groom looks like he is about to eat his sister at one point in the progression?!

These are the kinds of fun images I love taking. The ones that don't necessarily come out the sharpest or such but that show the true joy of the moment. :D

Don't feel bad if you end up watching this over and over again, I have a bad habit of doing that as well when the subjects aren't half so interesting. ;) Heck, I'm not going to even tell you how long I have sat here at my computer watching this one. . .over. . .and over. . .

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Kaleigh and Josh :: in love :: Covington GA Engagement Photos

2011-06-22T09:15:00.002-04:00

It's not very often I get a bride SO on top of things that she hires her photographer over a year ahead of time.

That is just the kind of girl Kaleigh is. She knows what she wants and she goes for it. I am just fortunate to be one of those things she wants. ;) You better believe that I wanted to work extra hard to make her engagement session live up to her expectations.

With all that in mind, imagine my dismay when I show up at our meeting location

(Oxford College) and am greeted by pouring rain.

See what a pretty place it is during the sunshine?

Well, when the rain died down some, we made our way over to one of the student halls for a few inside shots as we waited to see if the sun would grace us with it's presence for longer than a few minutes.

Despite the sunshowers I am in love with this shot taken in the upstairs of Candler Hall Student Center.

As the rain decided to give us quite a break, we made our way outside and first spent a little bit of time in front of Seney Hall. . .

Then we walked around the beautiful campus itself.

I have to explain what is happening in the images below. He wanted me to take a picture of the way that he is in the habit of coming up behind her to embrace her. That resulted in the first great shot, then I asked him to kiss her on the neck. . .well. . .it tickled, resulting in the second image where it looks like he has her in a headlock. I love how things just happen sometimes.

I found out this was one of Kaleigh's favorites and I can definitely see why. What a beautiful face!

This was an idea of theirs because it's an activity they are often engaged in. I loved how it turned out.

I played around with the new Fuji Instax camera that Spencer had just given me for our five year anniversary! Yay for instant pictures!

Not sure if I've mentioned how much I love laughing images. Have I? {{rolling eyes}}

I played around in photoshop a little with this one.

We were hot and tired by the end of our session because we trekked along the nature trail there at the college and you can imagine the mud we encountered. . .but Kaleigh had one last place up her sleeve. . .

It was perfect. I LOVE this big hill!

They were so sweet as to lay down on the wet grass for me when I asked. How incredibly obliging of them!

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Kelsey and Shane :: in love :: Covington Georgia Engagement Photos

2011-06-17T10:02:00.001-04:00

When Spencer found out that this young lady was dating, he started feeling his age (the baby that he is). ;) He remembers holding her when she was a baby and now for her to be engaged to be married. . .well most of us "old folks" know how that feels.

I have been wanting to photograph Kelsey for some time now because I just am in love with her look. She has such a unique beauty and effortless style that it was really a joy to work with her.

She also had some FUN ideas. After we met up, we headed over to Ingles to grab some colorful balloons while the guys sat in the car "bonding" as they waited. ;) Yep, good times.

In our first location, the grass was a wee bit higher than I had anticipated, thankfully I had brought bug spray.

Little did we know, our next location was going to have some issues of it's own. . .

I had scoped out this little area that I thought was public property with plenty of green and some old abandoned buildings and a train track to boot!

Aren't the hearts cute? Sewed them myself!

Yessirree!

Unique beauty and effortless style. He's not too bad looking himself either.

My view and his view coming right up!

SOOO! After we had been in the area shooting for a bit, this truck comes pulling up so Spencer goes to talk to the guy who proceeds to tell us that the Sheriff's Deputy has been called and we're on private property. Of course I immediately suggest we leave and he's all like "It's too late for that. . ." blah blah blah.

Seriously?!?!?! Anyway, I calm my dear clients/friends down and continue to take pictures on the railroad tracks while we wait. They were such troopers.

So, the Deputy arrives and I go up to her to explain what we were doing and she smiles at me and tells me now to worry and that if they had told her that we had balloons she would never have even come out. She was SO sweet and got all giddy when I told her it was an engagement session.

Well, that was an adventure that I hope never to be repeated. I learned something important though, just because there is no sign saying a place is "private property" or "no trespassing" doesn't mean it's fair game.

Well, after that adventure we moved along to one of my favorite spots that to me is just a beautiful location in a little town in Georgia called Newborn (pronounced Nu-burn for all you non-southerners out there).

I just love the texture of this old door. . .

. . .and the color of this one.

They are just too good looking!

These two are some of my favorites, then again, I am partial to laughing pictures.

The balloons made a brief reappearance.

This was one of Kelsey's cute ideas. They are actually written out in each of their handwriting.

{{HUGS}} :D

Then we headed on over to the establishment where they had their first unofficial date. . .

THE WAFFLE HOUSE!

I know those poor dear people who work there thought we were out of our minds as we sat down at that booth and started taking pictures. At least they were polite enough to keep their opinions to themselves. Lord knows, they've probably seen stranger things.

Aren't they just the cutest?

After we went to dinner (and not at the Waffle House, by the by) we headed back to my home office and grabbed a few shots by the water tower in our backyard.

????

Yes. . .you read correctly, the water tower in our backyard. ;)

Not too many jobs out there have you buying balloons, dodging bugs, getting the authorities called and all while hanging out with good friends and good people. . .but my job does! Hurray for that.

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

I have a problem. . .

2011-06-16T15:05:00.000-04:00

Perfectionism. It's something many people struggle with every day. I am one of those people. Some people think that it's not necessarily a bad thing. It is when it keeps you from living your life the way you want to because you hold back until everything is "just right" because guess what? IT NEVER IS JUST RIGHT!

SO! I stopped blogging a lot because I always felt the blog posts had to be these amazing works of my creativeness. Yeah, that's sad.

Anyway, today I am going to post about how much I miss my baby boy and how I am so afraid he's going to have more fun with other people this summer than he will have with me. He's been gone to Texas for two weeks and then he came back for about two days before he headed off to Macon to be with my parents for a week. It's been perfect timing as I have been insanely busy, but I still miss him dreadfully.

This was taken the night he returned home from Texas.

Deep down, I know that I don't have to be spectacularly amazing for him to enjoy being with me but working from home makes things difficult at times. He knows that when I am home I am working but it still doesn't quite make sense to him why I can't play or let him go outside and play without me being there to watch out for him (yes, I'm THAT mom).

I told him we'd do craft projects this summer and I haven't gotten any of the stuff together yet to do them. However, we did do ONE together before he left which was (in my mind) a failure, but at least they were tasty.

This would be my attempt at making dinosaur fossil cookies. They don't look too bad pre-oven do they with the jelly beans and m&ms as dinosaur eggs and cinnamon & brown sugar as dirt? . . .

I don't have any post images because let's just say the dough completely spread out to the point where it was just one sheet of COOKIE (singular) and the dinosaur footprints were nowhere to be found.

Oh WELL! That is life. And at least we had fun making them.

And that's all I have to say about that. :D

Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Little Jack Corcoran :: One Year Baby Pictures - Covington GA

2011-04-29T17:26:00.000-04:00

It is always so surreal to me how fast time passes between maternity sessions and their little offspring turning one. It honestly feels just like yesterday I was taking pictures of little Jack in utero and now he's a year old.

He is seriously a pretty little boy. Not just cute or handsome, but downright pretty.

I know that is an adjective normally reserved only for girls but in some cases it is more than applicable to boys as well. See for yourself:

I LOVE little dimpled hands. . .

He was very much enamored with the color yellow during our session.

See what I mean? PRETTY!

Love this one a LOT!

I brought this cool abacus along to see how it would work out. I like the result. . .

and as you can see, he again is drawn to the color yellow. Too cute.

Mommy and Gabby joined for a few images.

What an adorable little expression.

Yellow. . .nuff said.

I was sitting in his way as we was cruising around and he gave me this look. Priceless!

An absolute and complete favorite. EVERY mother should have an image like this with her child.

Now I really do love portrait images like the one above but I would be hard pressed to say which I like more, images like above or images like what are coming next. . .

I adore when I am let into someone's home to document a little piece of their everyday life.

This one makes me giggle inside. I love Spencer's big ol' grin.

Gabby and Jack have a very special relationship. His mom firmly believes that one of the reasons he walked so early was because he wanted to get to Gabby. She is one of the sweetest dogs with him. Jack pulls on her and gets on top of her and she just takes it. It is rare and wonderful to find a dog like that.

Heehee!

And the mom is pretty darn gorgeous too!

The look of happiness on her face from watching her son makes me very happy.

See what I mean by capturing a little piece of their everyday life?

I think Jack wants some more, what about you?

Seriously? Too cute for words. . .

He was a happy camper one millisecond later. . .honestly. I am just glad that mom likes unhappy face pictures as much as I do. She totally understood me snapping this shot.

One thing that moms worried about me coming into their homes need to realize is that most every home looks great in black and white. ;D Seriously, and even though the images will be a little grainy and sometimes even slightly out of focus, I think they are priceless memories.

Just like this one. What a happy little guy wandering around in nothing but his diaper. Wish I was unabashedly happy as he was in his skivvies.

Looking for a photographer to document your family memories? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Hanging Around

2011-04-19T12:34:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned I have moved into a new home and putting things on the wall is one of the things that I usually put off until last but it's one of the things that really make you feel like you are HOME.

In the past I have come to rely on "eyeballing it", as they say, and I'm usually pretty good at it but sometimes. . .I'm not. Well, while I was perusing my new favorite web addiction, Pinterest, I came across a really awesome tutorial/idea on how to hang groups of pictures.

This picture is from the site I got the tutorial from. . .

. . .and this is what I came up with on my wall. . .

. . .resulting in this:

It took me two forevers to hang pictures from my wedding in my last home and I was bound and determined not to let it be that long this go round. I know that it can be the same way with many of you out there so that is why I thought I might share with you how I went about it.

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Cummings in love :: Augusta Wedding - Part 2

2011-04-18T18:29:00.000-04:00

Time for Part TWO of this lovely wedding. . .

I absolutely loved this stone wall. The colors of the stone were so soothing.

Then we have FUN colors of this little alcove that I just HAD to utilize. I mean, how could I not when it went so perfectly with their wedding colors?

You may remember this colorful wall from the engagement session I posted last week.

Some fountain fun.

I loved how the light turned out for this one.

Like I said, this couple loved their sunglasses.

I enjoyed revisiting some of the same locations from the engagement session.

These two girls looked so very gorgeous together. Good genes, I guess. ;)

The bride loved how this shot turned out before so she requested we recreate the scene.

The reception hall was quite impressively elegant.

They had an image from their engagement session matted in this really cool metal mat that you can sign with a diamond tipped pen. I thought that was so incredibly cool.

Fun ring shots.

I don't know if you can see but it's so cool the engraving in the groom's ring is Song of Solomon 2:16, "My dear one is mine and I am his."

I thought that this was a beautifully decorated cake. . .not too bad tasting either. :)

There was lots of fun on the dance floor.

See what I mean about good genes?

There is always something somewhat awkward about capturing emotional moments, but I couldn't help but capture this tearful parting of the two sisters.

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Cummings in love :: Augusta Wedding - Part 1

2011-04-15T13:45:00.001-04:00

My first wedding of the year was this March in Augusta GA/SC.

I think it is vital that I got the opportunity to know the bride and groom in our engagement session that previous fall. The colors of the wedding were a salmon coral and turquoise. Such a fun color combination. The roses matched perfectly.

The groom helping his big brother get ready.

They loved their sunglasses. The groom looking too cool for school. . .

. . .and his megawatt smile.

This was my favorite groomsmen shot. I love the fun they are having together.

A few more detail shots as the bride got ready for the day.

I love the elegance of her dress and the way the beading gave it such a subtle beauty.

Her mother was such a cute character. She was so happy for her daughter and proudly gave her away to a man she is confident will love and cherish her firstborn daughter the way she should be.

You may now kiss the bride. :D

Part two coming to the blog soon!!

Getting married and looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Cummings in love :: Augusta GA Engagement

2011-04-12T14:33:00.000-04:00

I was just getting ready to blog about this couple's wedding but then I was embarrassed to realize that I never let you guys see the full engagement sessions even thought

SOOOO. . .first things first. . .here is their beautiful engagement session.

We started out in this amazing outdoor ampitheatre. I loved the lines and sunlight coming through.

Great shot that my dear husband got. Love it.

A little play on focus.

The shot on the right is one of my favorites. Love so much about it.

It took a little bit for them to warm up to me as this was the first time we had met but then they let their goofiness shine through.

Thought this was a really cool place for some fun shots. Shows the elevation above sea level I think. Either that or it shows the level the water has risen to in the past. . .Spencer would know.

Rare shot of me in action courtesy of Spencer.

I liked this building and all the different windows and colors.

BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!

Funny thing, we scheduled the engagement session for the end of October so that we could get some beautiful fall colors. Well, here in the south the colors had not quite hit their peak yet, especially in Augusta. I found this one little tree that had some color to it and I shot some fun shots in front of it so that Ave could have her fall portraits. ;)

Love the quietness of this moment.

I love when I try something different and it works out. Ave said it was one of Daq's favorites. SCORE! They so obligingly climbed into this wheel for me and it bore pleasant fruitage.

A little play with fountains.

Click on the picture if this image doesn't play for you.

I liked working with the different colors in this shoot. The turquoise of the flower box and her shirt and the red of the wall and the flowers. It just went well together.

Our last stop for the evening was Mellow Mushroom in downtown Augusta to get our eats on. I couldn't resist one last shot in front of this funky painted wall. Then we sat around and enjoyed the rest of the evening with Pizza and beer. All photo sessions should end like that. ;D

Are you looking for a photographer of your own? Please contact me and we'll talk pictures. . .

or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

2011-04-12T12:17:00.000-04:00

You wouldn't have known it from the storms last night but today turned out to be an absolutely GORGEOUS day. As I stood outside (watching my dog relieve herself) I felt the wind blow through my hair and it reminded me, once again, of how much I absolutely love the wind. I immediately came inside, opened the windows of my office (pollen be darned) and sat down to write this blog post.

I was cleaning up my office the other day and ran across this little booklet that my sister made for me one year with all of John William Waterhouse's works in it. To me, that man was a genius with his brushes. The reason I bring this up is because two of my favorite paintings by him strongly incorporate the wind.

Just look at the detail!

The details in this one especially boggle my mind. I was looking at it up close on my phone and I noticed details that I would NEVER have bothered with. The circles on the skirt of her dress. The motion blur on the trees blowing behind her. The outline of her hand through her sheer scarf. Seriously amazing!

Not only that but do you notice that there seems to be a dead bird on the ground on the left hand side of the painting. I may have to look up what that means, if anything.

Anyway. This post was just a little randomness expressing my love for the wonder that is wind and the exceptional talent of an artist.

Dancing Man :: Wedding Fun

2011-04-05T14:48:00.001-04:00

I don't really feel bad about posting this little animated gif because the faces of the innocent (or guilty) aren't shown. I sure do love it when the wedding guests get down and have a good time.

(BTW, if the animated gif is not working click on the picture to make him dance)

Please contact me for your own wedding coverage or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Autumn and Ryan :: in love :: Atlanta Engagement

2011-04-01T10:39:00.005-04:00

This was a somewhat unique photo session. No, not in the way it was shot since that was done in my usual way of doing everything in my power to capture the love between two people.

No, this was different in the way I processed the pictures after the shoot. I had a special request from the soon-to-be bride and groom to give the pictures a little extra funky touch. . .so I obliged their wishes and took each section of our time together and processed it in a way that I felt added to the feel of the shoot. I hope you like it as much as the couple did.

We started out at this really cool "beer bar" in Little Five Points

where they have spent a good bit of their time while dating.

I was in love with the decor.

This is a favorite of mine.

We walked down Little Five Points and got a few shots on our way to one of their other regular spots. . .

Right in front of the Variety Playhouse you can see on the left that we had a little interest in our photo project.

This was a fun background to shoot against.

Left is Spencer's point of view and right is my point of view.

We had to get some fun shots against the graffiti walls. Some of Ryan's favorites.

Next stop was Joe's. Awesome little coffee shop where I got an amazing peach icee drink of some sort that tasted just like drinking a real peach.

This is definitely one of my favorite ring shots. . .

. . . which is a close race with this one. I love playing with focusing on the ring that binds. ;)

After that we headed over to the park where Ryan proposed to Autumn which was also the place where they finally met after running in the same circle of friends for so long.

We caught the last few rays of sun while we were there giving such lovely glow to the images.

Seriously, a FAVORITE!!!! Her eyes are amazing.

Heeheee, cuteness personified.

Our last stop was this awesome little bookshop, the Atlanta Book Exchange located at 591 N Highland Avenue Northeast; Atlanta, GA 30307-1438

Autumn found the perfect book for her to peruse.

I would definitely say that we had some fun while here.

Please contact me for your own in love session or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

Danielle and Jared :: in love :: North Carolina Engagement

2011-03-30T12:36:00.002-04:00

This is from the fun session that I previewed earlier of the two lovebirds swinging from an old rope swing.

We first started out at the property that will soon be their home. It was such a cute rustic spot with an amazing weathered old barn:

This shot makes me smile. . .

Sadly, the sweet little black pup you see here on the right has since passed away. The groom is a real lover of animals, as you will soon see more of.

Here they are standing in front of what will soon be their new home.

Why, yes, that is a chicken and a rooster. It was an idea Jared (the groom) came up with and thought we would laugh at but we actually loved it.

Here we are a la American Gothic. . .

We changed locations and decided to head over to what they have decided will be the location of their wedding. No. . .not the old caboose. . .

Taking a little walk to the stage where they are to be wed and showing a little goofiness.

Strike a pose, there's nothing to it!

My view. . .

Spencer's view. . .

This is the exact spot where Jared proposed to Danielle at Raffaldini Vineyards

Isn't the building absolutely gorgeous?! I was in love with the feeling of being transported to an old world vineyard.

A personal favorite! Spencer gets such great shots.

LOVE!!!

They both have such amazing eyes!

Please contact me for your own in love session or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

The Swing

2011-03-16T16:34:00.000-04:00

Okay! If you liked my last post, then you will like this one too. :D

I seriously LOVE my couples. They are ridiculously fun to work with and have no problem being their awesome goofy selves in front of the camera. . .

. . .or taking suggestions like swinging from an old rope swing in this case. . .many thanks to the mother of the bride for this one.

I will have more of both of these sessions ready soon. This weekend, Spencer and I are off to Augusta, GA/SC for a wedding and then off to Charlotte, NC for a business/life class with Justin & Mary Marantz. Busy times=Good times. :D

Love to you all!

Please contact me for your session or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

The Theft

2011-03-15T10:22:00.000-04:00

Okay, I just had to share this.

It was one of the highlights of my weekend. I can't say I blame him at all for wanting it.

Cutest little monster!

Please contact me for your session or feel free to look at more of my photography online. . .

On Being a SuperGeek

2011-03-11T13:39:00.000-05:00

Things have been all kind of crazy in my life recently and extraordinarily busy with so many changes. One of which I initially teased about on my Instagram the other day entitled Future Changes:

This just happens to be located on the side of our new house. SO when I am directing you on how to get here, I can just say "When you see the water tower, there we are.' ;) I will have more images of the new house on a future post.

On another note, I have decided since I am going to be endeavoring to make blogging more of a part of my weekly schedule (once all this moving stuff is out of the way) that I would intermittently add personal posts that tell you guys more about me.

As any groom that I have met with recently knows, I am a bonified geek when it comes to Superman. I would be worried about the voracious appetite for all things Superman recently except that this kind of behavior is very much a part of my personality. To explain before I get back to my Superman dedicated post. . . :D

Two of the other things I am very much interested in are all things Lucy Maud Montgomery and all things Jane Austen. When I get in the mood for one of these authors, I read EVERYTHING by them that I can get my hands on. I can pretty safely say that I have read every book and short story that Lucy Maud Montgomery has every written. When it comes to Jane Austen, I am more limited in my ability to consume but I have a few choice "continuing stories" in my library as well as 3 versions of Pride and Prejudice in my DVD library. As you can see, I am a bit of a freak.

Where Superman is concerned, I am able to consume SO MUCH MORE since he is a more universal character for whom pretty much anybody can obtain license to write about. . .not to mention the PLETHORA of comic books out there.

Now I won't go into ALL of the Superman things I have consumed recently since that would make this post ridiculously long and boring. I am just going to give a few recommendations to any fellow Superman geeks out there.

A novel written in 2005 by Tom DeHaven called "It's Superman!" is an excellent read and not at all what I expected. It's set in late 1930's America and very much strays from the standard Superman mythos but is a good read none the less.

A novel written by Kevin J. Anderson entitled "Last Days of Krypton". I have to say I think I would have enjoyed this book even if it had nothing to do with Superman. It is an masterfully told story.

As far as the many comic origin stories out there, I enjoyed Superman Secret Origins by Geoff Johns but Superman: Birthright by Mark Waid really takes the cake in story telling in my opinion. I've already read it twice. I would recommend getting the graphic novel as opposed to the individual comics because of the extras you get in the introduction and prologue.

And for a quick read the graphic novel Luthor by Brian Azzarello was an excellent take on Superman from Luthor's point of view.

I could go on and on, believe me, but I'm going to end this post with what was to me exciting news of the newest man cast to play Superman/Clark Kent. . .

Henry Cavill. I personally could care less if he's British. So is Christian Bale and so was Vivien Leigh (although born and raised in India). And who are we to complain when we had an amazing American actor portray the inimitable Sherlock Holmes?

I am personally looking forward to this movie and am endeavoring to have no expectations for it just that it will be a fun film. I have to admit I have been perusing Google news for any new Superman casting information. I am anxious to see who they will cast as Lois Lane and have my personal favorite hope of Rachel McAdams being cast for the part. I think she would be PERFECT but....that's just me.

Okay, so hopefully I did not bore you guys too much with my longer than I meant it to be post about my Superman addiction. I promise I will get around to posting pretty pictures soon. ;)

LOVE YOU ALL!!

On the Cover! Southern Style - Macon Georgia

2011-02-08T16:35:00.001-05:00

Can we say excited!?

That was exactly how I felt when I got this message from a good friend/past bride of mine:

"My mom entered one of my wedding pics that you took in a contest for the Macon Telegraph's magazine Southern Style and we WON!! So they are going to put the photo on the cover!!!"

Her mother, also one of my good friends, was obliging enough to get a copy for me and I just got it in the mail yesterday!!! I will admit, I was a bit geeked out to see a photo of mine on the cover of something. I have always been very proud of her images on the beach though.

Without further ado, here is the cover:

You can see on the bottom image the little bitty text telling anyone who wants to know who took it.

This wedding was actually 8 years ago this May, which is ridiculously hard for me to believe. I was about 6 months pregnant at the time. {{SIGH}} How fast time flies.

Here are a few more pictures from that wedding that I have scanned into the computer (since it was in my film days). I actually don't have scanned the one that they submitted, but I do believe that this one is a close second. ;)

Please contact me about your own wedding or feel free to look at more of my wedding photography online. . .

Inspiration

2011-02-02T13:46:00.001-05:00

Who out there struggles with self-doubt? Now add the burden of attempting to run your own business to a

psyche already riddled with that self-doubt and you could very easily have a recipe for disaster.

While there is no easy solution for that, one of the awesome things I learned during the

Bride Attraction Bootcamp that I attended via phone in December was the need to

surround myself with positive reinforcement.

So, at the risk of seeming egotistical, I created my "I" poster to keep above my desk to

1. Remind me of the awesomeness in my life, and

2. Give myself a boost at how awesome I really am/can be.

Now when I am feeling lackluster and uninspired I look directly above my computer monitor and take a few moments to read this:

Another amazing quote that Natalie Bradley of Bride Attraction recommended that we keep in mind is this:

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

by Marianne Williamson

Yep, this is going above my desk as well.

Sometimes we all need reminders like this to help us get through those times when all we want to do is wallow in self-pity and mourn about how much we suck. Instead take that time and remember why you DON'T suck. Kinda like counting your blessings. Plaster it on your wall, or your desktop of your computer, wherever you need to to give yourself a little wake up call every once in a while.

Hope you all have a great day!

Please feel free to contact me or look at some of my photography online. . .

Sara - Model Shoot - Macon Georgia

2011-01-31T16:07:00.002-05:00

My sister did something I consider to be heroic. She asked to step in front of my camera for a photo shoot she had in mind. Why is that heroic you ask? We both have a tendency to be camera shy. I personally prefer to stay on the other side of the camera so as to avoid having my picture taken.

One weekend when I was down visiting in Macon we went to downtown Macon to have a little fun.

She's not the kind to give a fake laugh so I had to do some really silly stuff here to make her laugh.

For this one, I got out my lensbaby for a little fun. I always know I'm going to get interesting results when I break this lens out. I love the rainbow flare I got as well.

A little attitude.

I had a hard time deciding whether I liked black and white or color on this next shot.

I love this shot of her "soaking in the sun".

We decided after these shots that she is definitely a hat person.

I love this old building behind her. I think the colors of the brick and the pop of yellow from the bush.

With the sun going down, we headed back to the area we started our session at to get some fun

shots against this colorful wall. I love this series of her big, beautiful, genuine smile. . .

. . .and me making her laugh again. :D

Like I said, she is definitely a hat person.

I wasn't sure how this one would work out but I kind of like the sassiness it brings out of her because,

as anyone who knows Sara knows, she is definitely sassy

Please feel free to contact me about your own portrait session or look at more of my portraits online. . .

Cornell Family - Family Portraits - New York

2011-01-26T17:27:00.001-05:00

For your Wednesday viewing pleasure, I bring you a family session of an old friend of mine.

I flew to New York in September to spend time with them and document this time in their family before their number of four turned to five. At that time they lived in a little town on the edge of the Catskills.

We started out in town for a few fun shots and then. . .

. . .and then we headed to a little spot that used to be a train station for some beautiful shots.

These two are some of my favorites of the family.

This little guy wanted to show me how he could "transfer" his eyeballs.

I LOVE how this shot turned out with the sun and the trees in the background.

This is so typically them and how lovingly goofy they all are together. Looking at these again makes me wish they didn't live so many states away.

One more fun one for the road.

Please feel free to contact me about your own portrait session or look at more of my portraits online. . .

The Beloved Movement - My First Feature

2011-01-20T10:00:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to posting this lovely session I did as you may remember last week. Towards the end of the session I utilized some of the instructions I learned from Jesh de Rox and his inspiring words at his talk given at WPPI in march of 2010.

I loved this session so much that I actually had the courage to do something that I don't normally do. I submitted to a blog to possibly be featured. . .imagine my delight when I woke up Wednesday morning to see the post below on Facebook:

The blog was started by two other photographers who were also in attendance at Jesh de Rox's talk. They feature other photographer's work who also work to accomplish Jesh's goal of igniting and reigniting the fire between loved ones. Definitely worth a look. Please read their message as you see it below.

So, there you have it. My first feature on an online blog. This is such a big step forward for me to put myself out there. I think it's the whole fear of rejection thing that we all suffer from.

For those who commented on my posts about this feature on Facebook, thank you so much for all of your kind words and support.

Please feel free to contact me about your own portrait session or look at more of my portraits online. . .

Ethan Aberra - One Year Old - Stockbridge Georgia

2011-01-17T15:09:00.000-05:00

I'm so behind in my blogging that this gorgeous little boy is now closer to 18 months now than 1 year but I couldn't resist showing off how gorgeous this little guy is.

The many expressions of Ethan. :) He is such an expressive little guy.

They made a point that they must have pictures of him walking now. It amazed me how fast he picked up on the whole walking thing. He was barely walking at 9 months and then he's an expert by one year.

Ethan and his gorgeous Aunt Hannah.

Play time.

I love this shot on the left. I was hanging over the back of the couch to get it. He loves me with the camera around my neck. It's pretty much the only way he recognizes me.

A little peak a boo time with mom.

This was the first time that we decided to venture away from the house for family pictures. It was a special occasion, with him being a big one year old and all. ;)

Get mommy's nose!

For some reason, I really love this picture.

A little fun on the playground before we headed on home.

One last compilation shot showing how this little guy grew over the course of a year. It still amazes me how fast they grow and change in that first year. To me, it just reemphasizes how important it is to document it all before it's gone. I even made him his own little website showing his growth.

Please feel free to contact me about your own portrait session or look at more of my portraits online. . .

Aberra in Love for 10 Years - Stockbridge GA Couple Photography

2011-01-10T11:48:00.002-05:00

I was very excited when this couple that I've gotten to know better in the first year of their child's life then I had the previous nine years of their marriage asked me to commemorate their ten year anniversary with pictures of just the two of them.

I love how the two of them interact together.

The light was beautiful.

It's always nice to see people still together and happy after ten years.

LOVE these next two.

It's very difficult for them to stay serious together.

I really love this one, but. . .

THIS one is by far my FAVORITE!! I love the light and their gorgeous expressions.

I was trying out a few directions I had learned from this amazing man named Jesh de Rox when I had the privilege of hearing him speak at a photographer's convention that I went to in March in Las Vegas. I still would LOVE to share with all you his amazing vision.

As I mentioned, using some directions I learned from him, I was able to get some fun reactions and expressions from the two of them.

This series was supposed to be very serious, but her husband could not go without trying to make her laugh.

I am in love with the image on the right. Somehow, so much emotion is conveyed to me in that image.

Now that their little son is 1 year old, I won't have the excuse that I have had to see them every three months like I have, but I look forward to documenting their lives as a family as time goes on.

To see more of my family photos go online or contact me for pictures of your own.

Rachel Allen - Senior Photos - Indian Springs State Park

2011-01-03T17:51:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to catch up on sessions that really should not be missed. I did this amazing senior session this summer with a lovely girl who was so sweet and willing to try anything I suggested.

I headed to Indian Springs State Park where we had arranged to meet a little bit early to check out the area for possible locations and was very excited by the plethora.

I loved all of the stonework in the pavilion as well as the light coming through.

I absolutely love this stone wall covered in moss. Reminds me of the stone walls I saw when I got the opportunity to visit Scotland when I was seventeen.

Definitely one of my favorites.

The two of us picking our way across the rocks with our flip flops was very interesting to behold, I am sure.

Doesn't she have some of the most amazing blue eyes.

Another one of my favorites. It's so nice when you have clients that are willing to lay down on the ground for you. ;)

I asked mom if she wanted to join in for a picture with her gorgeous daughter. She was a bit reluctant but you wouldn't know it from her amazing smile.

I also enjoyed making her this awesome personalized website just for her.

contact me or view more of my photography online. . .

A Photographer and his Wife - Covington GA Couple Photography

2010-12-29T18:20:00.000-05:00

Some time ago, a photographer I know was visiting his home state of Georgia and asked if I minded taking a few shots of he and his wife for him.

Who am I to say no?

They came by and his poor wife was subjected to listening to the two of us talk "shop" before we got around to the picture taking part.

I love how they look so happy together.

A little snuggly shot and a little fun. . .

Then came a few shots of just the photographer. I don't think I have ever seen such long lashes on a guy in person.

Then a little bit of fun and personality shining through. He told me he is not good at smiling normally for the camera. Seems to be a running trait with those who choose to "hide" behind the camera.

contact me or view more of my couple photography online. . .

Jason and Holly are MARRIED!!

2010-11-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

My latest Interactive Slideshow. Wedding days are just the best.

Flash Required to view this area.

You can also view this at Jason and Holly's Personal Wedding Site.

contact me or view more wedding pictures online. . .

Challenges of Motherhood

2010-11-05T00:57:00.007-04:00

Being a mother is a lot more challenging and plain out HARDER than I ever thought it would be. A baby is a walk in the park compared to when they get to be around 6-7 years old in MY book. I will not make this blog post a list of all of the things I have found challenging in the past year. . .

Instead, I will discuss one thing that has been a thorn in mine and Spencer's side. Teaching Liam how to ride a bike.

Now I will admit that I had my own challenges when learning to ride a bike. But honestly those challenges came once my training wheels were off the bike. Hmmmm, whereas Liam's have come from the time he started riding a tricycle.

First his legs were too short, then it was just too hard for him to push the pedals, then his legs were too long for a trike and they kept hitting the handlebars.

Okay, then he inherited a bike from a good buddy of his. Spencer and I went out an got training wheels to put on it. Somehow he never could ride it though. I don't blame him on that one though. I tried riding it myself and the pedals really seemed stuck.

(Feel free to go ahead and picture me on a kid's bike now)

NEXT, I tried him on a bike at Wal-Mart to see if the situation were hopeless.

He rode it fine. Good news. So my mom and dad got him the bike he wanted for a gift

on Spencer's and my anniversary.

Well. . .my dear, dear, DEAR boy has fears. Fears that his Transformer helmet and shoulder and knee pads can't seem to fend off. This could be because I made the mistake of letting him ride it one time without the knee pads and he scraped his knee. Or it could be due to my misguided effort to make him feel better about falling by telling him about my own war wound.

When I had learned to ride my bike I had issues making U-turns while riding. Instead I would stop the bike, turn it around, and then keep going. Well, one day I thought I had conquered this inability and decided to show my dad. Well, let's just say my U-turn was more like an L-turn. . .right into a tree. Long story short, one trip to the emergency room, eight stitches, and about 20 years later I am fine and have a fine scar to show for it. But the important thing is I survived.

(I also didn't ride my bike again for years after that, at which time I got stung by a paper wasp that had built it's nest under my seat,

but I left that part out of the story to Liam)

Unfortunately, the only thing Liam got from this story was that I fell and hurt myself bad and he does NOT want that to happen to him.

Inadvertently I made it more challenging to teach him to ride a bike.

I guess the point that I need to take away from this experience that if I don't want him to give up on learning to ride his bike then I don't need to give up on helping him get over his fears. . .but that is such a difficult thing to do when it takes time and patience that I don't necessarily possess in abundance. But aren't the things that end up being the most precious also the things that take the most out of us?

I'll leave that question up in the air and share with you some images of one of the times Spencer and I took Liam out riding.

Doesn't he look thrilled?

Spencer doing what he can to motivate him as well as assure him that he is always there in case he should call. I married a great guy. :)

One of the few times I caught him smiling.

Just look at the determination in his shoulders and his whole posture in this shot. Love it.

His expression in the middle shot just kills me. . .in a good way.

By this time, he was somewhat getting the hang of things and quite happy about it.

Thanks for listening. :D

contact me or view more pictures online. . .

Abel and Meraiah - Ten Years of Marriage

2010-10-23T23:37:00.004-04:00

Never did I think, ten years ago, when I offered my services (okay, pretty much threw myself at them) to photograph their wedding that I would become this family's official photographer and get the joy of watching their little man grow and document their 10th anniversary party. I wouldn't have it any other way. I love this family like my own and thoroughly enjoyed making this little slideshow for them that was playing during their party. I hope you enjoy it too.

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This can also be viewed on their personal little site by clicking here.

Rachel and Steven are MARRIED!

2010-10-09T19:49:00.007-04:00

Hello Everyone! I hope that you enjoy this. . .MY FIRST interactive slideshow!!!!! I am so thrilled to share this with you all. Give it some time to load and then enjoy and let me know what you think!

To turn off the music you can click on the bars at the bottom.

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EDITED TO ADD: To view this interactive slideshow online click here. . .

Maternity Photography - Covington Georgia

2010-10-04T22:10:00.004-04:00

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting one of Covington's newest families, just recently moved from Portland, Oregon. Their second child is due in November and judging from the parents and how handsome their little three year old is, their new son will be equally as handsome.

We met at Turner Lake Park right here in Covington, Georgia and got some fantastic shots of them.

We started with the gorgeous mother-to-be in the last of the bright sun of the evening.

Her little guy jumped in for a quick shot.

And then the soon-to-be father joined in the fun. ;)

See what I mean about the gene pool their new little guy will be drawing from?

He is bound to be handsome.

LOVE. THIS. ONE!

This one is also most definitely a favorite.

PEEKABOO!

Cute little guy isn't he?

Spencer got a few pictures of Dad and son interacting while I concentrated on mom.

What a beautiful woman.

Captured a sweet little moment between mom and son.

He kissed his little brother so quickly that I was surprised that I got it.

What attitude!

Change of location in the park. A little pavilion by the water.

Then we moved onto one of the little swings in the park.

Dad decided it would be fun to get a little tickling action in. . .

. . .I thought it would be fun to capture it.

A few more of the glowing mother.

Absolutely beautiful.

A little walk. . .

. . .to the playground that the little guy had been anxiously awaiting to get to go to after our session.

We only had a limited time for him to play as the heavens opened up their floods shortly thereafter. The funniest part was being pelted with pine needles on our way to the car. It was crazy.

Please contact me for your own family portraits or view more lifestyle photography on my site. . .