where the wild things are...

Fischer is all boy--he spent the afternoon either down in the dirt himself or talking about his favorite thing: dirt bikes. Who knew that a 4-year-old could have a favorite dirt biker (or that such professionals even existed)? One look at these pictures and you will be able to see the sweet sweet love between Fischer and his mama. It was really fun for me to see the way that they make each other laugh. One thing about them that I especially loved is that they can quote Where the Wild Things Are back and forth, just one line after another. That is extra special to me because that has long been one of my mom's favorite books to quote to my brother and me. Just hearing Fischer and his mom tell the story of Max and his mischief brought back sweet memories. If it's been awhile since you've read it, it is worth going back.

saturday engagement shoot part II

Stephanie and Wes wanted their pictures done in downtown Helena which was awesome for me since it's like 2 seconds from our house. I really do love the little town where we live. Even though the trains can be frustrating at times (like when I'm late to get somewhere every single day), the tracks have provided endless photo ops. Stephanie and Wes were great to work with and I really hope that these pictures communicate the sweetness of their relationship. I can't wait to photograph their wedding in a couple of months!

some random thoughts...

Corey and I have been talking a lot lately about photography and how it makes us feel. As he has gotten more and more into photography himself, it has been fun to process these things together. We were having one of these conversations the other day and I couldn't come up with the words to describe my experience.
I was reminded of one of my all-time favorite books, A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeline L'Engle. The book is so rich and so real for a million reasons but one of my favorite parts has always been a poem that she quotes by T.E. Brown called "Indwelling." The first line of the poem says, "if thou could'st empty all thyself of self, like to a shell dishabitated..." It goes on to say, "but thou art all replete with very thou..." I spend almost all of my time being replete with me, thinking about myself, consumed my own thoughts and feelings and desires. But the biggest gift that photography has given me is a break from myself. I really don't know how else to describe it. When I am taking pictures, I feel like I am totally in that moment and nowhere else. Somehow, it is like being emptied of self and yet feeling more like myself all at the same time. A mystery, I guess.

All that being said, I really loved spending Saturday taking pictures of two really fun, really in love couples. I've only finished one slideshow so far but couldn't wait to get it up on the blog. Tiffany and Noeun met and got engaged at Montevallo so I thought it was a great idea when they wanted to do their engagement pictures there. (The pictures where they're in the white gazebo-ish thing is the spot where they got engaged!) I LOVED doing pictures somewhere new and felt like I could have explored new places all day long. I am so excited to be shooting their wedding in May!

Also, it should be said that the Patty Griffin song on their slideshow is my new super favorite song that I listen to on repeat all the time. I have been waiting to use it on a slideshow since the first time I heard it and today was the big day! I hope everyone else likes it as much as me because I am going to be using it a lot. I wanted to save it for a wedding slideshow but I couldn't resist using it today. Anyway, this is officially my longest post ever.

Clearly, I am trying out some new colors and stuff on the blog. I haven't made up my mind yet about the latest edition so if anyone has any suggestions, bring them on! We have been super busy the last few weeks doing some fun and new stuff. I have several things to post that I will try to get to this weekend. For now, here is one of my favorites from a session I had last weekend with Libby, one of the most endearing children ever. She made me laugh the whole time with her sweet words--she is the most verbal 18-month-old ever!

It is not hard to see Ella's energy and passion for life! I loved getting the chance to chase her around the gardens last weekend and watch her explore all the new things to see. I am so glad she let me capture this shot of the upside-down sunglasses even though I'm completely certain that she had no idea they were on the wrong way. I think that makes her expression even cuter! I am also loving her lowercase "e" shirt and wishing that I had one for my very own. Rumor has it her shirt came from ebay... More pictures to come soon...

the davidson girls

the zanoni boys

Lots of new things to post! I'll just do these two for tonight. Meeting both of these families was really fun for me. I love it when people I don't know call me to set up pictures and then when I finally meet them, we get to figure out who I know that they know. And then it's like all of a sudden I'm connected to the person I already knew even more because now I know someone else who's a part of their world. I love connecting with people! Is this really random?

Spring is on the way and things are getting busy! I am so excited to be outside taking pictures again. It has been so much fun to be out at the gardens this week and watch the way things are changing even by the day. I have a lot of stuff to post but I'm going to start with just this one for now. Getting to meet baby Sophie and take her pictures the other day was a huge gift to me. We have loved getting to know her parents better over the last year and have been so grateful to watch them transition into their sweet little family.

I really love the pictures from this shoot! It is just so neat to watch my friends transition into being mommies. This shoot of Becca and Lily was my fourth in the last couple of months of my close friends with their new baby. What a gift that is to me!

While it is cold outside, I am really having fun taking pictures of my friends' new babies indoors! I really feel like taking pictures of babies that belong to people I know and love helps me to get to know their babies and connect with them in a way that I wouldn't otherwise get to do. There is just something about spending such concentrated time trying to capture their tiny intricacies. Babies are a miracle. I hope you like these pictures of baby Caroline.

I was so excited to meet my dear friend Paige's new baby this past weekend. Paige and I have been friends forever and we have seen each other through a LOT of life changes. It was so cool to see her in her new role as a mommy and it was such a gift to me to meet her precious girl! She let me take some pictures of Madeline while we visited.

Here are a few random pics. One is from the maternity shoot that I did last weekend and the others are just some that I took this weekend for fun. Nothing exciting but I thought it'd be fun to post SOMETHING today!

Playing in my kitchen window...

I know no one really wants their pregnant self all over the internet but I did think this shot turned out pretty cute (and it maintains my subject's anonymity!).

Here's Attie doing what he loves the most. I really think he would choose his frisbee over us.

I have really missed taking pictures the last few weeks! It is so gray and dreary outside that it makes me long for spring and color everywhere. I got the chance to try two new things this weekend--I did pictures of a 2-1/2 week old baby AND my first maternity shots. I am still amazed that people want me to take pictures of such precious parts of their lives. I am so thankful! Here are the pictures of Grayson...

I know it has been forever since I have posted. We had a busy Christmas season and loved spending time with our families. It was great to have a chance to rest after such a hectic pre-Christmas season! We were so excited to spend New Year's meeting our best friends' daughter, Salem. It was truly the highlight of our holidays! She is an absolute delight and it is so much fun to watch Josh and Keely as parents--they're such naturals! I was so excited to get to take pictures of her on the beach. There are actually two slideshows of her--one of the three of them and one that is mostly of Salem and Keely. We miss them all already!

We had an awesome weekend in Columbia, South Carolina for my friend Susan's wedding. Though our whole group of Rhodes friends couldn't be there, it was such a gift to be with people we are totally comfortable with and enjoy so much. It really was SO much fun from start to finish. It was also one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to! The service was incredible and talk about an entrance--the bagpipes were amazing. We are so thrilled that Suz and John are married now and it was so great to be a part of the celebration.

I ended up not taking many pictures at all and absolutely no pictures that were remotely creative. Their photographer looked like she more than had it covered! Here are a few of my favorites none the less (I think Ashley took all these!). I hope that you enjoy them, particularly the one of the crazy guy behind Corey and me!

Melanie and Pete's wedding was beautiful and I loved being a part of it. I just love weddings and all of the joy and excitement, the energy and the reverence of it all. It is so much fun to step inside people's worlds for a day...to spend just a little bit of time with them and yet somehow try to capture who they are so that the people who really know them recognize what is true and authentic. Melanie and Pete honeymooned in Telluride which I of course think is the coolest thing ever. I am still trying not to be jealous. Of course, we are off to a South Carolina wedding for the weekend...(more on that to come...with pictures, I hope!)...

Well, the Christmas sessions are starting to wind down. It has been a crazy few weeks but it has been so much fun. I have only had to reschedule two photo shoots because of rain and that has been a huge gift! This photo shoot of the Ransoms was a total surprise as we had a sunny 75-degree day just hours before the rain and arctic blast moved in last Thursday. These two kiddos have a really sweet friendship with each other and I loved taking their pictures!

The day I took Colton's pictures was his 2nd birthday! I have had several birthday photo shoots lately and it always feels like such a gift for me to be a part of capturing such a special day. I think this picture shows exactly how Colton wanted to spend the day.

Avery made the cutest baby faces I have EVER seen! She was a joy to photograph--so easy-going and laid back. It was a beautiful November day at the gardens--and 70 degrees! Crazy! Well, the Christmas rush continues so I'm off to work...

Charlie is in my class this year and it was so much fun to hang out with him outside of school! It was definitely the coldest day we've had this year and he was such a trooper.

The Kings

The Sanders

Caleb

The Harris Girls

The Monks

The Martins

The Millers

Emily and Jake

It has been a crazy few weeks with Christmas pictures! There is no way I could keep up with posting them all but here are a few.

Well, I have to say that the prospect of taking pictures of a family of 7 is a little bit daunting when I'm used to doing 1 or 2 at a time but I ended up having a great time with the Wells family last week. I love the way they laugh together and truly enjoy one another.

Brave and Jennifer were some of our first "couple" friends when I moved to Birmingham the summer before Corey and I got engaged. They have been wonderful friends to us over the last few years and we were so sad when they moved to Tuscaloosa this year. We really miss hanging out at their house and enjoying meals and time together. I was honored to have Brave design the erin nolen photography logo (which has yet to make its appearance on the actual website). Last week I had the privilege of spending time with Jennifer and getting to take pictures of their really cute, super fun kids, Alex and Hannah.

Fall is here and it's time for Christmas cards! The more that I do this, the more that I see how much I really love taking pictures. It helps that I really like kids, too. There is just not much that is more fun to me than hanging out with people that I like and precious children that I adore AND getting the chance to try to capture just a glimpse of who they are right now on this fall day in this treasured season of life. I hung out with some of my favorite girls ever this week and we had a blast playing in the leaves and running around. I hope I captured even an ounce of their joy--these girls love life and they are a gift to me.

(Click on the highlighted words to view the show--I don't know if I've said that in other posts!)

Adam and Jessica's engagement pictures were some of the first that I posted on this blog. Their long-awaited wedding finally came on a beautiful Saturday afternoon earlier this month. It was such a sweet time and I was honored to be there to capture it.

It is hard for me to believe that my little brother is MARRIED! We had a wonderful weekend celebrating Andy and Kelly and could not be happier about their future together. Here are a few of my pictures from the weekend. I wasn't there as photographer (I had a more important role as sister of the groom!) so I tried to stay out of the way most of the time. You can tell that no one's looking at me in most of the pictures! I put this together really just to show to them but thought I'd go ahead and share it.

It's been a while since I've posted, I know. I have several things to post and hopefully will be able to do that in the next few days. Here are some pictures of some precious little girls I photographed a few weeks back at the gardens. The Sandlin girls were so much fun to spend the afternoon with!

We had a great weekend in Orlando celebrating our best friends, Keely and Josh. They are adopting a baby from Ethiopia and we could not be happier that it is almost time to bring her home! On Saturday, Erika, Keely, and I had a great day at the Farmer's market and then had a really fun lunch to "shower" her with gifts we had brought from all of our college friends and family. It was so good to all be together. Check out Josh and Keely's blog at
www.outofethiopia.com

There are few people I would rather spend time with than our niece, Alex. I love her sweetness and her silliness and also the way that she just GETS things. Also, I think she is the cutest thing I have ever seen. I take pictures of her every chance I get, which she is TOTALLY over in a really funny way. Since the beach pictures were such a wash for the most part, we did these last week downtown. It was a new venue for me to take pictures but Corey's sister, Casey, is great about letting me experiment with photography on her daughter. I really love these pictures but I think it's mostly 'cause I REALLY love Alex.