Inspiring interview with Chaffee Braithwaite

I recently had the opportunity to interview one of my favorite people in the world... Chaffee and I met when we were both starting our businesses. Now, fast-forward 5 years, we are still great friends and growing our businesses together. Loved chatting with Chaffee for NAPCP.

Check out the interview here: http://www.napcp.com/

Celebrating 10 years...

Will be sharing more of one of my sessions this weekend in Charleston soon. Here's a teaser... Joy & Garrett are celebrating their 10 year wedding anniversary, and they wanted to capture some special portraits of them in the location they got married. More to come soon!

Bennett and his water hose

Neely and his chickens

I traveled up to Athens recently for a sweet session with Neely Knox, son of famed grilling expert, Gena Knox. Gena and her husband founded Fire & Flavor in 2003 and have since then became a household name for specialty grilling products such as grilling planks, grilling paper, skewers and rubs, not to mention several gourmet cookbooks that specialize in...you guessed it, grill dishes, both inside and out.

I loved the feel of our shoot. Very organic, very southern, and did I mention they had chickens on their property? So much fun....



Neely's parents were an absolute pleasure to work with. Reminded me of the small town southern friendliness I grew up with.

Both of these outfits were Neely's dads when he was his age.



Infectious smile that ran through his family...



One of my favorite books too, Good Night Moon.



Playing in some water outside. Just loved his hair...





And finally, ending our session just in time for his afternoon nap.



I foresee lots of good, home cooked meals in Neely's future. What a lucky boy!

NAPCP Retreat 2010: A full recap

My sincerest apologies for my absence the last couple of weeks! I returned from Napa with piles of unfinished work, unanswered emails, and administrative work from the Retreat's conclusion. And of course, lots of back-to-back client sessions that I missed while gone... Happy to announce that I am almost all caught up ;)

NAPCP's first Retreat in Napa Valley is still very much a haze to me. I'm so humbled by the 50 attendees who flew cross country to join us for our first retreat. Our speakers were phenomenal, the wine and atmosphere - perfection, and the late night bonding with new & old friends was priceless.

Members emerged with a renewed commitment to our craft; this was an experience that celebrated who we are. We laughed, cried, shared, and opened our hearts...

One of our members, Tanya Alexis, writes:

I have never been to any sort of photographer retreat/expo/convention, and I had no idea what to expect. I knew I was looking forward to meeting some faces who had been a large part of helping me shape my business during my first year, but other than that I was curious to see how things would end up. The retreat exceeding my expectations above any beyond anything I could have ever imagined. It was the perfect combination of fun and information. I have already starting implementing information that I learned during my days in Napa. Alice & Kyu are amazing. They put their heart and soul into this retreat, and it showed in spades! The attention to detail and to those at the retreat was above and beyond anything you would expect.

I know that I have forged life long friendships with people that I only met in person for a couple of days. I cannot think of another situation where you would be able to get so close to people in such a short period of time. A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this retreat possible. I am very proud to have been apart of the first NAPCP Retreat :)

My words exactly, Tanya....

Our first night, Whitney, Sara, Tanya and I stayed up until 2 am or so putting together our member swag bags.
Swag stands for “Stuff We All Get.” Every time you attend a workshop, convention or event, Swag is usually given as a thank you at the end. For our first retreat, we wanted to make the entire experience extremely memorable – starting with our gift bags.

Each contained hundreds of dollars in gifts from our sponsors. Sponsors included:

Album Crafters
Custom Photography Blogs
Easy as Pie Pricing
Big Folio
J Lee Albums
Bay Photo

And one of our top sponsors, my good friend Zida of Studio-Z, created the most gorgeous letterpressed programs, table cards, stationary, and business cards I've ever seen. The below photos honestly do not do the gorgeous pieces justice. You really need to hold them to appreciate them....

My absolute favorite part of the experience = the connections that were made.
Online friends who were able to meet for the first time, share a glass of wine, and really bond....



Our keynote speaker, Tamara Lackey, discussed the importance of Photographer-Life Balance. This is a constant struggle for many working child photographers.
How do we balance work, family, and living our own lives to its fullest?



Along with being an incredibly gifted speaker, photographer, all-around awesome person, Tamara is also a pretty brilliant group therapist.
Lots of digging deep inside, prioritizing and, real & practical tips for balancing it all.



Dane Sanders discussed the power of "i" and owning "my" talents and "my" success. Such a liberating and powerful way of thinking...



"You are your most valuable asset."



Fellow attendees stepped up to lead group discussions, which I LOVED as well!

Lisa Thomas: "What is Community?"
Jane Johnson: "Photoshop Tips & Workflow)
Brandy Anderson: "Fusion Videos"
Andrea Halsey: "The Client Experience"

They all did an amazing, amazing job....



Afterwards, we ventured outside at the Resort's private vineyard and joined 15 child models from San Francisco for our Shooting Clinic.

Armed with our gear :)



The shooting clinic was a huge success! The challenge: finding beautiful light, connecting with our subjects in short amounts of time, and producing stunning images. All without any instruction....



Those that remained til the very end. sunset after our shooting clinic... What a great group.



The next day, we set out for our wine tasting experience! So fun singing "Hey Soul Sister" on the bus with everyone.



Merryvale had a lovely spread prepared for our first wine tasting experience... The wine-cheese pairing was so lovely.



At Judd's Hill, we were fortunate to have been able to sit in on Dane's askdane.com with Tamara as his guest.



We squeezed in several photos at Judd's Hill, exchanged head shots, and photographed the beautiful scenery.

One of my favorites.... Dane is providing the group fill light with his 17" macbook pro. Awesome.



Our original Learnfest group 08' reunited... An amazing, amazing group...

On June 20th - 23rd, 2010, NAPCP members gathered together to for our first annual Retreat in Napa. We emerged with a renewed commitment to our craft and forged friendships that will remain for a very long time. This was an experience that celebrated who we are. We laughed, cried, shared, and opened our hearts... Thank you to all who joined us....

I {heart} NAPCP...

We just returned from Napa for NAPCP's 1st annual retreat, and I have to admit, we have some pretty incredible folks in this industry. As I catch up with all that I missed here last week, I leave you with a photo that brings so much joy to my eyes. This group, our inaugural group of NAPCPers, holds a very special place in my heart...

More images from the Retreat coming soon!

It's finally here!!

I am beyond excited about the next few days ahead.... We have been planning this Retreat for our members for months now (Kyu can attest to my obsessive planning disorder), and we're thrilled to be spending the next week with members in beautiful wine country.

Lots of bonding, learning, shooting, wine tasting and soul grabbing fun.

We'll be updating the NAPCP blog on Monday with all of the fun things going on in Napa. Be sure to check there for a sneak peak of what's going on!

Meanwhile - thank you to my wonderful clients for your patience as I get back to a regularly scheduled routine....next week!

Cheers to you all!

March of Dimes Photo Shoot

A few months ago, the March of Dimes contacted me after seeing some of the images I posted of my 2 lb princess, Nicole from Northside Hospital. The organization was preparing for their Prematurity Awareness Month campaign in November and reached out to me because they needed images that illustrated the emotional experiences of families whose babies are born prematurely.

After weeks of planning, conference calls, and fine-tuning our creative brief, I flew to Little Rock for a few days to photograph 20 or so families and their sweet babies.

The experience was incredibly powerful for me. As someone who is used to planning sessions around baby's milestones, I felt torn for the families who had been in the NICU for weeks and faced challenges with their newborn every single day. They embraced me photographing their family because they cherished their time with their baby. Everyday was a blessing. And it was evident in the room as I quietly captured their family's tender moments.

The March of Dimes has graciously given me permission to post some of my favorite images from the shoot. These babies are incredible. Their families, equally incredible. What a blessing it was for me to witness such remarkable love and strength...

1 day old, alone in his isolette as mom recovers from the delivery.



A baby a few doors down and a few days older. Happy to model for the campaign and smile for my camera...



Tender moments with mom and dad. Skin-to-skin is recommended often between the parent and infant.
Research proves this to be very therapeutic for both parties. I love how their hearts are touching...







Big brother stands proudly beside his sister's isolette. He was a little premie as an infant too.



I loved this family. Such joy to be holding their baby after more than 10 weeks in the hospital.



And this mom, who proudly told me her baby was getting big. Look how tiny his foot is in her fingers...



Loved these all as well...





And the infamous purple hat of the March of Dimes. So snug on the baby's little heads...

This was such an amazing experience that I was so proud to be a part of. Here is the group after our last day of shooting. All worn out, but incredibly happy to have had the opportunity to work together on this project.

Left to right: Kristen, Lori, myself, Susan and Shanna

I left Little Rock with such a heavy heart for all of the families who experience premature births. You are all incredible...

Out :)

Just FYI that I will be out of the office until this Thursday, June 10th. Photographing some very special babies in Little Rock, AR.



See you soon!

xoxo...

coBBlestone rue: lifestyle for the modern family

I am a big fan of bloggers, certain bloggers more than others. ;)

Spending my mornings with the AJC and a cup of coffee has quickly been replaced with answering emails and keeping up with virtual friends and the fascinating lives they lead. If I'm searching for a little photographic inspiration, I'm on NAPCP's Blogroll, but if I'm in need for some calm in my life, I'm keeping up with Mil or Ree (a couple virtual friends who seem to solve all of my qualms in life...).

Yesterday, I received a beautifully crafted announcement revealing the launch of my friend Joy's new blog - cobblestone rue.

She writes:

Cobblestone rue is my search for clarity.
It's about birthday parties and tea parties.
It's about lifestyle and home style.
It's about smart fashion for children and smart children.
It's about being a wife, mom, entrepreneur, cook, designer, housekeeper, chauffeur and super-hero, all at the same time and doing so with grace and ease.

What makes bloggers so compelling to me is how relatable and honest and open they are. Joy is no exception. Life is complicated, but she counts her blessings everyday and isn't afraid to teach her daughters to dream.

I'm excited about the launch of her new blog - her place of purpose and passion. I've witnessed Joy do amazing things with her husband Garrett's photography career and effortlessly juggle life's craziness with grace & poise. I can't wait to see where she takes this, and I look forward to following her journey.