We have had a busy weekend to say the least! Since Thursday, we've shot two big family sessions at the lake (different lakes), a regular portrait session, a rehearsal dinner, and an incredible wedding (more on that later). However, I have been waiting since last fall for the Pepper Place farmer's market to open again. I have what you would probably call an obsession with farmer's markets and this is my favorite one in Birmingham. The colors, the flowers, the veggies, the people, the dogs, the morning, some music and art thrown in. The market is held every Saturday morning and this past weekend was literally the first time I have had an open morning since they opened this year. I am a big fan of seizing the moment so I took my tired and too much work to do self downtown anyway and enjoyed every second. I came home with two of my top five favorite things--zinnias and homegrown tomatoes. I spent way too much on both of them, especially since they are both currently growing in my backyard (but way too slowly!).

part 1

I really wanted to post more tonight from Jessica and Corey's wedding but I have got to quit and go to bed! I keep finding more pictures that I want to play with and put on the blog but I really know that I could do this for HOURS if I'm not careful. So, here are some early favorites. I really will post more later. And I know that I also still owe pictures from other weddings that I've promised to post. We are smack dab in the middle of whirlwind wedding season '08 and loving it! I realized today that I was wishing it was closer to Saturday because I can't wait to shoot our wedding this weekend!

rosie's

My Huntsville friends are a creative bunch. When Michelle told me that she wanted to take the girls' pictures at their favorite restaurant, I was so excited but also a little bit nervous since I had no idea where it was or what it looked like. I love taking pictures at new places so I was ready for the challenge. Turns out it was one of my favorite places that I've ever shot and the girls--as usual--could not have been cuter. We had a great time and I love the way the pictures turned out. Enjoy their slideshow!

shout out (way overdue)

So, I'm not what you would call an ambitious girl. Not big on the risk-taking, one of those who dreams big but acts pretty small. One who can convince herself she's content when she secretly wonders if there might be more. The truth is that I didn't really know what I wanted to be when I grew up. Who really does? There were things I knew that I loved--kids and their families, art and creativity, being outside; I sure had no idea how all of those things could ever come together in an actual career. I mean, really, surely that would be a little too much to ask for, right? I spent my first few years in Birmingham teaching preschool and kindergarten and I found many of those loves nurtured by my job. Yet I always knew that it wasn't really my PASSION.

Meet my friends, Melissa and Rishay. For the first couple of years that I knew them, they were simply mothers of daughters who were in my class. As it happened, their girls moved up with me through preschool, pre-kindergarten, and kindergarten. Our friendship began through chats at school parties and field trips and just simply grew over the years. I have always been in awe of the way they selflessly love their families. As I had dinner with them and their families tonight, I was struck once again by how faithful and encouraging these two women have been to me along this journey. Other than my family, they were the first two people who let me/asked me to photograph their girls. I have no idea why they believed in me or why they gave me a chance at all. All I know is that because they did, I had the courage to actually do something that I'd always dreamed of doing. For that, they deserve way more than a blog shout-out and I wish that I had so much more to give. Thank you, sweet friends, for everything.

really?

Seriously, it feels like it was just a couple of months ago that I posted the picture of Corey and me at the Cubs game on our four year anniversary. I'm not sure a year has gone by quicker in my entire life. I just cannot believe we've been married for five years. This past weekend we shot a wedding in Memphis, my hometown. It was the wedding of an old friend and there were so many people there that I had not seen since before Corey and I were married, some of them since we began dating. I feel like I have been Erin Nolen for so long now that it becomes a weird feeling to be recognized only by my maiden name again. There is comfort in it and yet it makes me realize how different I am and how different my life is because of Corey. I am thankful for that. So, anyway, I think I said this last year on my fourth anniversary but I still can't figure out whether it feels like it's been a long time or not. All I know is that I'm grateful for another year together.

Also, I have been asked who takes the picture of the photographers. This picture was taken with the timer as the camera was propped up on the back of the Volvo. In our driveway.

may wedding

It has taken me forever to get this blog post up. Part of that I must attribute to how many pictures I love from this wedding. We had such an amazing time photographing Tiffany and Rick's wedding. They have an incredibly sweet story of falling in love (Tiffany's family moved to the same street as Rick's family in high school!) and their excitement toward becoming husband and wife is truly inspiring. We just felt honored to be a part of it and to witness this celebration. I told Corey that their wedding reminded me most of our own and that was a sweet gift in itself. Enjoy their slideshow!


Aren't the hydrangeas beautiful? Tiffany wanted as many blue flowers as possible and their florist did an incredible job with the flowers.


We are always so excited when couples choose to see each other before the wedding for pictures. We work hard to make it a special and intimate time since we understand it is going against tradition! It is so much fun and allows us to really focus on pictures of the bride and groom.



Tiff and Rick told us they were renting this car before the wedding but we had no idea how much fun we'd have taking pictures in front of it. Their reception was at the always fun SoHo in downtown Homewood. It is a great venue!


Just a few more portraits...

home

Like I said in the last post, I never know how a shoot will go. This session had to be rescheduled a couple of times due to weather and we came so close to missing this one as well as a result of threatening storms. It was late on a Friday afternoon and the gardens were nearly empty (one of my favorite things). I love the pictures from this shoot and I am once again so awed and grateful for the relationships and connections I experience through what I do. I'm not sure what was going on here but this picture cracks me up. I know it looks like we are playing peek-a-boo but we were not. I think this is more a look of exasperation...

This is a boy with more expression than you can believe. I wish I could include a live track of him talking along with the pictures.
Maybe one of my favorite pictures ever.

sisters

You never know, really. Before every session, there are always these moments of anticipation when I wonder how things will go, how the whole experience will unfold. Sometimes things go exactly as I expect but most of the time, each session takes on a life of its own and I feel as much as anyone like I'm just watching to see what happens next. I really had no idea what to expect when I photographed these sisters several weeks ago and I'm not sure they did either. The pictures were a gift for their mom and from the beginning, she said she wanted to be surprised instead of watching the pictures being made. These two were total naturals and I had SO much fun getting to know them. Obviously, they are beautiful girls on the outside but I can promise you that they are just as beautiful on the inside as well.

It is not hard to see where these girls get their beauty...

The cell phone picture was a request by her mama.
It's not my usual style but I thought I'd try this look on a couple of these photos. This field was awesome and the girls were total troopers about walking through the itchy weeds. I like the timeless look of these...

it's monday again!

These things happen so fast! I am posting to say that I will be posting at least one session today and maybe more!

just the beginning...

I may post some more vacation shots again someday but for now, I have so many other things that I want to post. We have had so much fun at the weddings we have shot recently. Something about photographing a wedding makes you feel like you have a whole new community of friends when they're over. We loved every minute of Tiffany and Rick's celebration last month. I am planning a longer post on their wedding and another May wedding soon but here are a couple of sneak peeks. Talk about a photogenic couple. We're begging Tiffany to let us do our first trash the dress session!

catch up.

Whew! Coming back from vacation is kicking my tail! Luckily, we really love our job. It is such a relief to come home and not dread work. There is just so much work that it feels nearly impossible to fit it all in! We are working around the clock to get the slideshows and orders done from the week before we left as well as in the middle of a full week of shoots. Thanks for your patience, everyone! Here are just a few more vacation pics...

The whole gang...


Some shots from Yellowstone...






The one and only Old Faithful...

Most of Glacier

Here are some things that I learned on vacation:

1. I never feel ready for vacation to be over. I have counted down to this trip for months and it was still a million times better than I imagined.
2. I was a crazy person to think I'd be able to post to my blog everyday. I probably could have if the wilderness had internet access. But is the wilderness really the wilderness if it has access to the world wide web?
3. You should eat all of the huckleberry ice cream, smoothies, shakes etcetera that you can while you have the opportunity.
4. Even when coming home is really hard and you miss your friends so much it hurts, it is awesome to have your mother-in-law pick you up at the airport with your favorite pizza and drinks waiting for you in the car. Especially when it's 10 pm and you've been traveling for 17 hours.
5. I love Montana. (I knew this one already.)

I really do want to post a lot more pictures from our trip. There are so many more from Glacier and then a ton from Bozeman and Yellowstone, too. We'll see how that goes now that we're jumping head first into work tomorrow. For now, here are some highlights.

A shot of our amazing hotel lobby. My grandmother just told me that I had lunch here when we vacationed in Montana when I was a little girl. How cool is that?

Aspens. Cannot get enough of them.


They're not kidding about these bear warnings.

You may recognize Salem from other posts on this blog. She was a total angel this entire trip and made everything even more fun. I miss her so much already.
Corey and Say conked out in the back seat. It takes a lot of driving to see most of Montana.
Here are some fun wildlife spottings in East Glacier.

Seeing this mama and baby moose was one of the highlights of my life. I know that may sound crazy but I have always dreamed of seeing a moose. Josh and Corey saw one on a hike the day before (see below) and were so sweet and apologetic to me that I missed it. We really didn't think we'd see another since the ranger told me he'd only seen 3 or 4 in 4 years. We saw 5 in one day!!! It was amazing.


Corey and Josh hiked one of the most difficult hikes in all of Glacier National Park. I still can't believe they did it. They said it was incredibly hard but worth it in the end. I love this morning shot of the mountains. On the snow picture, you can see Corey to the left. They were the only ones up on this amazing lake.

The first moose sighting. Is that incredible or what?

Just a few more nature shots from the trails.

I am planning on devoting a whole post to this place. I have never been anywhere like it...from every angle. The yummiest homemade bread I have ever ever had.
East Glacier.
Sweet friends. More friends to come!