beautiful day...

I have taken a lot of pictures at the Hampton Cove waterfall in Huntsville in the last couple of years. It is a beautiful place for pictures no matter what time of the year you're there. But when I was in town for a session there last month, it was prettier than I have ever seen it. It was just one of those afternoons when the light and the scenery and the subjects are almost too much for me to believe. I love what I do! These two boys are full of so much life and energy and it really was my joy to get to photograph them. Enjoy the Hales!

cousins...take two...

Here is another one of my sessions from way back at the beginning of summer. This one was extra special because little Philip is the second cousin of my friend Elizabeth. Elizabeth and I met during our days at Rhodes and she has always talked about her cousins and how important they are in her life. She even came to the shoot on the afternoon we did the pictures and was a huge help in getting little Philip to smile! There are a couple of pictures where you can tell he's looking right at her! I love these shots we got of their little family--it is not hard to see how much they delight in their little boy.

radiant...

I was so excited when Stacy and Rick asked us to photograph their wedding. They are friends of ours and it is always a gift to be given such an honor. I was even more excited when they told me where their wedding was going to be. I have always loved the church where they were married and always said that we would have had our wedding there if we had gotten married in Birmingham. I guess photographing Rick and Stacy's wedding helped me to vicariously experience a wedding there! It was truly a perfectly beautiful day from start to finish. Stacy was a radiant bride and her groom could not take his eyes off of her. I know that this part of their story is just beginning and that there are great things in store for them as a married couple.

new friends...

One of the best parts about this whole photography gig is the people that you get to meet. It's even better when you get to meet people that you should already know...like people who not only live in the same itty-bitty town as you but who also happen to go to the same church as you. All that to say I really loved getting to meet Ryan's mom and daddy on the day we did his pictures. I love love love the pictures from this session which is the main reason why I couldn't pick just one to post and decided to post all three. I could tell you how precious he is but really, you just have to look at the pictures to see that.

sweet dreams...

Ava Scott was a dream to photograph. Really she was. She was awake when we wanted her to be awake and then she went right to sleep! That NEVER happens! But I am glad that it did on the day that I photographed Ava Scott. I photographed her big brother and sister a few months back so look for their cameo, blue-eyed appearance in the slideshow.

A few months ago I started a post saying that some photo shoots are easier than others...and that there was more to come on that later. The funny thing about that is that apparently I wrote that post soon after--maybe even the day of--my session with the Duncans. I didn't think anything about it but Mandy, the mom, immediately assumed I was referring to her girls as the more difficult shoots that I have sometimes. I felt awful! For one thing, her girls weren't hard to photograph at all and were sweet and agreeable the whole time. Having your picture taken is just a hard thing for kids and all things considered--especially my 100 degree troopers the past two weeks--I could not ask for more from the children I photograph.

I didn't expect to have time to post another show today so....surprise! Hannah and Christopher are sweet cousins whose grandmother was SO excited to have them in the same city to get some pictures done. We had a great time exploring places around their house to take pictures...I love this pink wall!

cutting it close...

Okay, I really almost didn't make it this time! But with 39 minutes to spare, here's one more slideshow for the week. We're headed home to Memphis for a wedding this weekend so I don't know if I'll be able to keep up my streak through the weekend. I promise to pick it back up come Sunday night! If not before then...

In the meantime, enjoy these super cute twins! Yay for twins. I really like twins a lot and have always wanted to be one. You can see how much these two have the whole twin thing going on...

three months...plus three...

Okay, here is a great example of how behind that I am. I am posting sweet Maury's three-month pictures but we have scheduled her six-month pictures for next week. Hmmm...

Maury is one of those super easy to photograph babies...she totally went with the flow and was her sweet, cooperative self the whole time.

two for two...

Okay, it's late but I promised! I am officially two for two on my vow to post every day this week. Here is another fun shoot from way earlier this summer. These two were a PRECIOUS pair who love each other so much. What a great big brother and a sparkly little sister! Enjoy Luke and Ella!

summer lapses...

so...new computers can be really hard sometimes. i am still getting used to this one, which is why all of the fonts keep changing on my pictures these days. i guess it's good to try some different things out since it seems that i don't really have a choice anyway.

so...new computers are hard but vacations in the mountains are not. we just got home from a week-long adventure in colorado with my family. it was a wonderful trip and everything was so beautiful. i will hopefully be able to get around to posting some of the gazillion pictures we took while we were there. the one thing that may keep me from that is how many pictures i have to post in the meantime...

i have gotten so behind with my posts to the blog so i am vowing today to try to catch up by posting at least one session every day this week! i know, i know...but it's worth a try! here are some really fun sibling sets from earlier this summer...

walker and payton

the whisenhunts

long time, no see...

I can't believe it's been a week since I've posted! I try to do better than that but things have been crazy around here! Here is another June wedding...another beautiful day and a glowing bride and groom. Rebekah and Michael were so ready to be married--she was one of the most laid-back brides EVER, which made them really fun and easy to photograph. Thanks, you two, for letting me be a part of such a beautiful day.

It's funny how I also photographed Claire and Anna Claire on successive days the same week that I took Grayson and Caroline's pictures. They are just about the same age, too, and are both so much fun. They both were pretty shy at first and it took awhile before they warmed up to me but they were both all smiles by the end. I love the process of watching kids relax into their natural selves over the course of a session.


Claire's mom requested the song for her slideshow and it has become one I've loved using in recent shows. I get a lot of questions about the songs that I use and how I choose them for shows. I really love using songs that are a little bit different and may not be ones you hear everyday...incorporating music in an original way has always been one of my favorite parts of what I do. There are lots of times when I will finish a show with everything except for the music...sometimes you've just got to sleep on that kind of thing! All that to say, thanks to Claire's mommy for the newest addition to the song library!

half-way there...

It was really fun to get to take pictures of two babies more or less the same age in the same day last week. Happy six months, you two! It is amazing to see the way they change so much in such a short time! I have photographed both Grayson and Caroline before so it is really fun and challenging for me to try to do something new and different each time. They are super easy babies to photograph! Caroline's mommy knew she wasn't herself the day we did the pictures and it turned out she had a double ear infection the whole time! It makes me sad to see all the pictures of her smiling and working so hard when she didn't feel good at all...what a trooper!

life...

I know that I am always saying what a gift it is to be a part of people's lives as I attempt to capture life through the lens of a camera. I feel like I am always writing the same thing. Maybe I am. My hope is that the story won't grow old. The magic of what I get to do never fails to amaze me. Photographing a wedding is an incredible experience-- you just sort of appear in the middle of this really beautiful story and all of a sudden you're right in the center of it all, watching these priceless moments of time unfold. Wow. I cry at every wedding I photograph and during a lot of sessions with kids and families. It's just life. And maybe it is a dressed up, not your everyday kind of life but it's life just the same. All this being said, Steph and Wes had a wedding day of celebration and I was honored to witness this part of their journey. The pictures of the two of them were taking just minutes after they said their vows and their joy at being husband and wife is contagious. I don't think I could have gotten them to stop smiling for anything.

These girls and their mom have such a sweet friendship. One of my favorite things about this shoot was seeing how each girl's unique personality unfolded during our time. I hope that comes through in the pictures! Enjoy the Welch girls!

joy continued...

Seriously, have you ever seen bluer eyes in your whole life? I feel like I am always saying what a delight the children that I photograph are. Part of that is that I really love being around kids and I really love taking pictures and that doing it all at once seems to be more fun than I even know what to do with.

The day that I photographed Eric was a beautiful afternoon and it was just so....easy. Really. He just smiled and loved on his mom and his dad and charmed everyone in sight. He has to be one of the happiest babies around.

sweet sunshine...

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Tiffany and Noeun's wedding was a beautiful May day from start to finish. I love this picture because you can see her happiness all over her face. They have the sweetest of stories and are totally and completely head over heels in love. Though it was a little on the warm side, Tiffany's prayers for no rain were answered and the day was filled with sunshine. There were so many things I loved about this wedding but I especially loved the laid-back, relaxed feel of the whole day. It was probably the most stress-free wedding I have ever photographed!

joy x4...

I am WAY behind on posting all of the sessions of the last few weeks but here is one of my recent favorites. Photographing this family was an absolute delight. Over the short amount of time we were together, I felt like I really got to observe each of them and the unique and irreplacable role each child plays in their family. I hope that I will get to know them better in the coming months. Mary Catherine, the mom, is actually on a mission trip right now with our church. Hearing her story and the way she has stepped out in faith to serve and be away from her family for these days was an added gift to me from the day. Enjoy the Godfreys! I hope you can see their joy.

here comes the bride...

I am so excited to make my first post of a wedding from this season. I have really loved photographing all the weddings over these last few months. The experience of photographing a wedding is such a rich one for me. I am so grateful to get to witness these relationships and attempt to make a record of such a special day. It is clear to see that Ashley and Daniel are incredibly in love and surrounded by many people who love and treasure them.

introducing...

...custom collages! We are excited to introduce this as a standard ordering option. Prices are based on number of pictures in the collage. You have the option of choosing the pictures you want included and we will design a custom collage for you! Here are some that we have finished lately. Please contact me if you are interested, even if your pictures were done several months ago.

henry...

Henry's mom and dad were two of the first people Corey and I met when we started going to our church five years ago. We met them in the newcomer's Sunday school class and have enjoyed knowing them ever since. It is really fun to watch our friends transition from couples to families and I loved getting to spend the time photographing Henry. I always feel like I get to know not only my friends but also their kids in new ways through the experience. I am really thankful for the opportunity and hope that I captured Henry and where he is (pacifier, animal crackers, occasional tears and all...) at this sweet time of their lives.

appliances?

So...yesterday was our 4th anniversary. Four years. What a weird number...is that a long time or not at all? I can't figure it out. I think that, for now, it does not feel like four years is a very long time. Life feels so new these days. Having a photography business--and together of all things--is definitely not where we were when we met 9 years ago or really even when we married in 2003. These days everyday, even it's chaos and busy-ness, feels like such a surprise that we're really getting to do this. I feel like I am always learning so many new things about Corey and as I learn those things, I realize that I love him even more than I thought that I did. I am a big fat scaredy cat and I know that I never would have taken the chances that I have without his encouragement and faith in me. I have seen him be so willing to sacrifice for me and to serve me when it's definitely not the easiest or most convenient thing for him. Also, he totally puts up with me when I come home overwhelmed and freaking out. And he listens and tells me that it's going to be okay. And also, he has been incredibly kind about the fact that I have not cooked dinner in about 8 months now. Anyway...there are definitely really hard days and it always seems that just when I'm feeling so good about how awesome and fun my marriage is, we have the hugest fight of the century. So, yeah, it would not be true to say that it's never hard. But I would not trade it for the world. For the whole wide world.

All that to say, we went to Atlanta last night to see the Cubs play the Braves. Anyone who knows my husband knows that he loves the Cubbies and loves to see them play. It was a beautiful night for baseball and we had a ton of fun using our zoom lenses from our way up high cheap seats. All in all, a great 4th anniversary. And we both love our new appliances. (Which is a weird choice on the anniversary gift list, by the way.)

little monkey...

Ethan is so full of life and energy. Sometimes the overstimulation of being outside and being barefoot and having a strange person pointing a camera at your face can be hard on a little one. Not Ethan. He was totally in his element as he explored the gardens and chased his ball everywhere. One of my favorite things was watching his half-walk, half-crawl that he used to get wherever he was going. He's unbelievably fast! One of my first remarks was, "you're just a little monkey!" and his parents assured me that that was in fact what they all called him. He just might be the cutest little monkey around!

brothers...

I love my little brother. Really, he is not that little (he's been taller than me for longer than I can remember now) and it's still hard for me to believe that he's actually a grown-up with a real job and a (super cool) wife. He can make me laugh harder than just about anyone in the whole world but he also thinks deeply about things and loves great music and movies and books. And also mountains. He loves the mountains and I always like that in someone. All that being said, I really love the relationship between a brother and a sister. I get to see that relationship with children a lot but it was really fun to get to photograph Meagan and Matt a few weeks ago. They had the sweet idea to surprise their mom with a photo shoot for Mother's Day. We had fun exploring the city and trying to make it not look like an engagement session!