A Very Special Client

Last week was my daughter Sarah Beth's 2nd birthday.  I can't believe what a spunky little girl she has become!  I swear just yesterday she was barely walking, now I can't keep up with her.  For her "official" 2 year old portraits, we returned to the same location of her 1 year photo shoot, The Cradle of Forestry in the Pisgah Forest near Brevard, NC.  It is a wonderful place tucked in the mountains where you can learn about the first Forestry school in the U.S. and see where the students lived and worked.  Sarah Beth's favorite part of this visit was running through the old cabins they have scattered throughout the grounds.  She thought each one was her personal playhouse.

I also learned that being Mom and Photographer in one is not the easiest thing in the world when you're really trying to get a nice "sit-still" photo of a 2 year old.  She is very into holding Mommy's hand which presents obvious problems for the photographer side of me, but the Mommy side of me still loves her little fingers dancing across my palm.  Here are a few of my favorites from that day, as well as a few from our trip to a Sunflower field near Rock Hill, SC.

This Sunflower field was breathtaking.  It also was insanely hot and humid and abuzz with swarms of bees.  Not ideal conditions for a photo shoot but we snapped off a few shots before succumbing to our anxiety that Sarah Beth was going to be stung or pass out from heat exhaustion.

 

Mom in front of the camera.  Very rare photographs!

 A Sunflower Crown for the Birthday Princess.

Cutest Boy on the Block

 I can't believe it's been whole year since our friends and neighbors Nikki and Brian welcomed sweet little Gavin into their lives.  I met him on day 2 when I took pictures of this cutie pie and his parents at the hospital and he's been a wonderful, smiley, happy addition to the neighborhood ever since.  Last week I went to the park with Gavin and his Mom to take a few pictures.  Happy Birthday G!  We have loved watching you grow this year and can't wait to see what this next year has in store for you.

Happy Father's Day

A few weeks ago, my husband and I went nuts at an REI sale and racked up quite a tab, so we told ourselves it was a  combo gift for Mother's Day/Birthday/Fathers' Day/Flag Day and any other day we could think of.  I couldn't let the day go by, however,  without a little token of appreciation for the wonderful father that he is.  I got creative and made this print for him in Photoshop.  The photograph is from our May trip to Folly Beach, SC and is one of my favorites of the two of them. I framed it and gave it to him today.  He loved it.  I love it too.  I think I may have to do these more often.

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Daddies out there who light up the lives of their children!

I Heart Faces: Bright and Vivid

This week's challenge over at I Heart Faces is "Bright and Vivid." I thought of this photo I took of my daughter all dressed up on Easter morning, wearing her signature hair clip. She was happy because she was holding a delicious Petit-Four in her hands from our favorite bakery. 

Check out more beautiful bright and vivid photos over at I Heart Faces!

New Shoe Turns 1.

I can’t believe it has been one year since I started up New Shoe Photography.  I have met some wonderful people along the way.  I learned a lot about business, photography, and most of all, people. 

Everyone is beautiful. 

I mean it.  There is a unique, endearing, beautiful something in every person I have photographed over the past year.  Some people have eyes that dance with light, others have luminous skin.  Or impossibly shiny hair.  Some have a smile that could absolutely stop traffic. 

The real beauty is in between the faces. 

It’s the love and laughter amongst the family that the camera catches clear as day.  Like a mother smiling at her child the way only a mother does.  A smile that says, you are my heart.  Or a Dad tossing his son up in the air, beaming with pride and enjoying this time to act like a kid again himself.  Or brand-new parents taking in the tiny miracle that has blessed their home. 

The In-Between moments. 

In-Between the posed shots, in-between locations.  That’s what I love the most.  The silliness of a two-year old hiding behind a tree.  Or a bold 7 year old mugging for the camera.  A family carefully inspecting a passing grasshopper.  Siblings hugging so hard they nearly fall down in a heap of giggles.  That is the good stuff.    Those are the images I see and gasp with excitement that I caught a little of the magic that connects one person to another.

I am so delighted that I can continue this journey, becoming a better photographer and meeting new people along the way.  Thank you to all my clients for letting me share time with your families to capture these moments for you. 

You are beautiful.  See?

Here's to another great year filled with lots of in betweens.  Cheers!