Style Me Prettiness in Charleston

I love Style Me Pretty. They are the leading online resource for style-concious brides on the hunt for unique and creative weddings. They were also our inspiration behind creating NAPCP's blog for Parents.

So, when the Nudd's emailed me to tell me their 10 Year Anniversary photos would be featured on their site, naturally - I was ecstatic. I've been waiting for SMP's feature to share the rest of the images from their anniversary session in Charleston. There were so many favorites... And what's so meaningful to me about these photos is not only are they of one of the most beautiful couples I know, but with each location we chose to photograph, Garrett and Joy explained to me its significance and why it was so important to them...

I started photographing at The Planters Inn as they got ready for their shoot. Love this shot. Garrett is rubbing Joy's toes...which I felt encompassed the entire feel of their anniversary. Garrett surprised Joy with the weekend getaway, the photo shoot, all of the details behind it, and spoiled his wife of ten years the entire week. What a great husband!

We ventured off to the Macaroon Boutique next - one of their favorite dessert destinations. Yum!





How cute are they with their macaroons?



I loved all of the architectural elements around the city. Made for interesting backdrops to use and have fun with!





Aren't they both gorgeous? Don't get me started on their kids.... :)







Love their style...



And some of my favorite images we captured right before sunset...





A true reflection that the subjects are comfortable with their photographer. Awesomeness.



Sigh... Joy, you are stunning and have such a sweet soul. I love that you are my friend.



And probably one of my favorite captures of the shoot. Love.



The full feature on Style Me Pretty can be found here.

What an incredible honor it was to document such a special anniversary for our dear friends. Garrett & Joy - you guys mean the world to us, and we cherish our friendship whole-heartedly. Thank you for trusting me to photograph some of your biggest family memories.

Behind the Scenes: Photographing a Newborn

A few weeks ago, a few NAPCP Atlantans gathered together for coffee. We chatted about family, talked shop and discussed our strengths & weaknesses in photography and business. It was a wonderful little pow-wow amongst friends sharing a common love for photographing children.

One of the girls confessed that she was scared to death to photograph newborns. "How do you pose them?" "What equipment do I need?" "How do I soothe them so that they stay sleepy?" "Help!" We heard her plea, and before any of us could say anything, Crystal James, a local Marietta photographer, and honestly - one of the most caring & thoughtful photographers I know - opened her new studio for an impromptu newborn workshop. Wow. She arranged for all of us to come to one of two hands-on sessions where we would be able to photograph ("experiment") with her new niece and a friend's new baby.

What an incredible opportunity it was for all of us. The session, which Crystal could have easily charged hundreds of dollars to host, allowed each of us the freedom to challenge ourselves creatively. Even though most of us had been photographing for years, we all walked away with new ideas, a broader knowledge of our very unique craft, and most importantly - added confidence & assurance in what we do.

Here are a few behind-the-scenes photos from the day:

Crystal prepping Ally for her photoshoot...



5 Days Old.



Beautiful natural light coming from a south-facing window, bounced by a 60" reflector:



This is Danielle's idea. Although she didn't make it to the workshop, we wanted to try her idea...



And the result..

So much fun!

For me, Crystal and this impromptu workshop was a testament of what the child photographic community is all about. While most business owners shy away from giving away their secrets and techniques, our community has embraced sharing... And we realize that when we do share, grow, and connect - we are are bridging gaps and raising our industry's standards to another level.

Thank you again Crystal, Lisa, Danielle, and Kim! Looking forward to getting together again soon!

ps - if you're a child photographer in Atlanta and you'd like to meet some fun ladies for coffee & cameras, email me!

Family, completed.

Sometimes life doesn't happen as expected. Sometimes it's much better.

I met with Shelly and her beautiful family last week for a session at her in-law's Atlanta home. We had a fun playing with 15 month old Jack, running through hoops and tickling him with feathers to get him to smile. And it was a beautiful summer day.

After our session, Shelly and I had a chance to wind down, talk girl's talk, and I got to learn about how their family became a family...

Shelly had just come back from working in New York, fell in love with her childhood neighbor, and soon after - found out un-expectantly, they were expecting! Within 4 months, they married without witnesses in the Caribbean's. Life was about to start for this 24 year old.

Then Jack was born, and Shelly's world changed. This sweet, cuddly, little boy smiled when they looked at him, didn't care where they lived or how chaotic life was, and made everyday a day worth celebrating.

I really believe children are God's gift to us. Whether we're ready for them or not - they teach us to care and love unconditionally. The allow us to grow out of old habits and become responsible parents. And we begin to find joy in the smallest things in life.

I'm so glad to have witnessed all of the joy in Shelly's life and hear her story of her family. She feels complete, and that is a wonderful thing.

Piper turns 2!

The little "firecracker" - as I called her a year ago - is now the sweetest, more enduring, little girl. Some of my favorites from our country session!

Laura and her blue chair

It's always such an honor for me to photograph other photographers and their families.

I began photographing Laura Hathaway's family three years ago, before Laura decided to pursue her love for photography. She's slowly growing her business, keeping her priorities on her family first until her children are ready for school. That's what I love most about our craft and our subjects.... We can grow both simultaneously and not feel guilty about leaving behind either... :)

Laura and I wanted to do something a little more outside-the-box during our session, so we asked her husband Daniel to drag their favorite blue chair to the middle of a field... I love the results.

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....