Ready...Set...Go! Portrait season is here!

Spring is definitely in the air here in Charlotte. Who isn't loving these beautiful, sunny, 70 degree days? This girl loves them! Another sign of spring being in full effect is portrait season kicking off! I'm excited to head up to the South End tonight for my first shoot this spring of a sweet family. I've got another portrait session on Sunday as well. Whoa... time to dust off the old camera and capture some smiles! Now, when am I going to get around to taking my kids' photos??? They are (almost) 6, 3, and 1. Time sure does fly, which is why it's all the more important to make sure you're documenting these precious ages! Happy Friday, everyone!

Thankful

Hi all. As you can see, I don't blog often. I do update my Facebook page, but blogging just isn't at the forefront of my priority list. It seems so "2010". Anywho, for the fun of it I'm posting a few pics from a family portrait session I just finished up. I am thankful for this, and for the AWESOME family whose pictures they are. They are very relaxed, easy to be around, humble, and sweet. I am thankful for clients like this! I'm also thankful that in less than four days I'll be done editing for the year! This lady doesn't work during the holidays, so one more wedding to finish and a kids' portrait session, and I'm done for 2011! Enjoy your Turkey Day, everyone. God Bless!

Beckett - Charlotte Baby Photographer

I am on a roll... just finished up Baby Beckett's newborn session. I'm working like a dog today because tomorrow's my birthday and I want to take the day off from all work (full time job and this.) Happy birthday to me...

This big boy (almost a ten pounder) was almost two weeks late! We all patiently awaited his arrival which couldn't have gone smoother. Proud new parents, Chris and Hannah, just happen to be my 2010 advertising couple. They are too sweet, and my hubby and I enjoy hanging out with them when they're in the neighborhood. They were married in Tybee Island which was one of my all-time favorite weddings to shoot. So fun, and done so well :)

This might have been my best newborn session yet. It's best to photograph these little ones when they're just days old. Babies change too much after 2-3 weeks! It makes me eager to have daily photo sessions with our newest addition come April. (It will be our final edition, so I'll go all out. hee hee) Beckett was awesome. He was cranky and awake the first 20 minutes, then passed out cold the rest of the session allowing me to manipulate him six ways to Sunday along the way. It's been hard, but I've chosen a few of my faves to share with you. Check out my Facebook page to see even more!

Caitlin - Charlotte Baby Photographer

This is one of my favorite posts to share with you. Babies, babies, everywhere! Sitting here expecting our third in April (we're really pulling for a BOY) I've got babies on the brain.

Sweet Caitlin is a miracle in the making. I just can't stop staring at her little face... mostly because I keep waffling on who she looks like more, her mom or her dad. Proud parents are Scott and Beth, one of my alltime favorite couples whose wedding I photographed two years ago at Saratoga Springs.

They are the nicest couple ever, and definitely the type who got married for all the right reasons and nothing more. They are like peanut butter and jelly, and now they've created this amazing little girl who clearly is the light of their world.

Here are a few faves from our session at Davidson College (same location that I took their engagement pictures!)

Sunflowers

So last week a little birdy told me about a sunflower field not too far away. I drove by that day, and was instantly in love!

This morning I had a portrait shoot, so before I had to be at it I decided to take the girls to the sunflower field. They were very unhappy, as the sunflowers are very thick/pokey, but I got a few good shots none the less. I'm going to return tomorrow morning with Ava to get her four-year pictures. Yes, her birthday was two months ago, but such is life... Happy Weekend, everyone!

ONE smile out of all the shots.

The main event: picking flowers

Always camera ready! (I've trained her well)

Summer Sessions - Charlotte Child and Family Photographer

I'm horrible about blogging! Please forgive. The good news is that I have an excellent excuse... I'm busy with photography! The last month has brought about two more portrait sessions and one engagement. I've got a few of my faves to post below.

First off is a family whose little girl I photographed when she was just six months old. Today she's a happy toddler (2.5) and has a baby brother who's six months old. It had been two years since they last took any pictures of any kind, so they decided it was time again. We went to Francis Beatty Park in Weddington (one of my favorite places to shoot) over Memorial Day weekend. We had a great time, and just beat the huge thunderstorm that rolled through right as we were finishing up. Phew!

Second is my first product from this summer's Mini Sessions. This is sweet, five year old Keira. Don't you just love her hair and beaming smile? We went with a "tea party" theme right here in my neighborhood. I live in a very unique, charming neighborhood in Ballantyne with over 9 acres of parks, so we had plenty of locations to choose from. My eldest daughter, Ava, also enjoyed "playing" with Keira at the tea party. They were both smiling the whole time, so my mission was accomplished!

Babies Ryan & Ellana - Charlotte Baby Photographer

I've been in newborn heaven lately. Five good friends all had babies within five weeks. All but one are in North Carolina, so I've gotten to see four of them. I officially took pictures of two of them (see below).

First up is Baby Ryan. His parents are very good friends of ours from college, and I've been photographing his older brother Drew for almost three years now! We took some similar poses as we did with Drew for comparison's sake. It's really fun to look back and see how much they look alike (or don't) from the same perspective. Ryan did quite well during this session and I was super pleased with the results!

Second up is yet another Boilermaker Baby, Ellana Madeline! Her parents are actually our girls' godparents. They too are very good friends from college. We are lucky that they live just "up the road" in Durham as they attend Duke and UNC respectively. We went to visit Ellana when she was only a week old. I took my camera along for the fun of it. She is so flipping cute! I can't wait to see her again this summer.

Audrey Turned One!

My sweet baby girl turned one on Friday. We had her big party on Saturday with 22 people at our house! It turned out so well. She was a little taken back, but plowed into her cake none the less. The theme was cupcakes, and I went all out!

Special thanks to Polka Dot Bake Shop in Park Road Shopping Center for supplying each of our families with cupcake party favors. Cloud 9 Photography and Polka Dot Bake Shop are both local Charlotte "Boilermaker-Owned" businesses!

Happy Birthday Audrey! - Charlotte Baby & Children's Photography

My sweet baby Audrey is turning 1 next month. Based on the horrid forecast upon us, yesterday appeared to be a fantastic day to take her pics (sunny and 50). I brought Ava along and got a few of her too. My girls are growing up too fast! p.s. those baby blues are REAL! I can thank my hubby for giving both of those to my girls. (My eyes are green.)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my birthday. I LOVE October, and part of the reason is my birthday. Who doesn't love their birthday? I don't complain about getting older. I'm thankful for it, afterall, it's another year on our glorious Earth. I think of all of our soldiers whose families would give anything for just one more day, so how can I complain about a few more wrinkles here and there, ya know? Happy to be 32!

I flew to DC and back today for work. I literally take ONE business trip a year, and it happned to fall on my birthday. This I can complain about. I had to eat Subway in Dulles airport for dinner, but my manager took me to a really nice Italian restaurant for lunch so I guess that makes up for it :) As well, my wonderful husband awaited me at home with roses, a slice of carrot cake (my fave!) and some super fun presents.

I'm super happy, because for the first time in five years of business I've taken the fall OFF! My last wedding was September 26th, and I'm on hiatus from weddings until January. Don't get me wrong; I love shooting weddings. But I also love college football and hanging out with my family watching my girls grow, so I'm happy with my decision to say "no" to all the 2009 fall weddings. This doesn't mean the works stops. I still have two weddings, one engagement, one canine, and two baby sessions to edit, plus a few more portrait shoots coming up. Never ending, I tell ya!

Speaking of, both January and May are booked for 2010. I've been getting inundated with inquiries for all the other months, so book soon if you're interested! I only accept one wedding per month.

Here are some faves from my recently finished collection of Baby Grant, taken at about 6 weeks of age:

Drew & Matthew - Charlotte Babies

In the past week I had the fun opportunity of capturing two cute Ballantyne kiddos, both recently turning one year old. I'm so flattered that their parents chose me to photograph this awesome milestone. I've been capturing Baby Drew since he was just a week old, actually. I was thumbing through some of my older shots of him from last year which just reminded me how FAST these sweet babies grow up. Having two beautiful daughters of my own (ages 3 and 5 months), I've learned first hand how quickly they change from squirmy, wrinkled newborns into fat babies full of personality!

This was my first time shooting Matthew, and he made my job very easy. He's very relaxed and easy going, and doesn't move around too much. He's very easy to make laugh and enjoys simple things like bubbles and playing peek-a-boo with his Mama. Speaking of his Mama, he's her identical twin as a baby. It's almost scary how identical they look! I wish I had a picture of her as a newborn to show you. You'd die!

My advice to any new parents out there: have your baby photographed all year long (newborn, 3 mo, 6 mo, 12 mo.) You will never get this time back and they change so much... it's worth every penny. I don't care who you go to, just have it done! You won't regret it.

This is my favorite of Matthew

I just want to SQUEEZE those thighs!

So innocent and pure

When Matthew gets excited, he gets excited!

Drew's playful side coming out. He is a silly boy.

Look ma... no hands!

I wish I were this flexible.

Drew LOVES his wagon!

Rachel + Turner (... and Audrey!) - Charlotte Wedding

Ok, kids. I'm getting back in the swing of things. Audrey will be four weeks old on Thursday. Time is just flying by... but I'm loving every minute with her (even at 2am and 4am nightly). Anyhow, I finally wrapped up Rachel and Turner's wedding proofs from their very cold (but super fun) January wedding uptown. I've posted a few of my favorites here. Their ceremony was at St. Mary's with the reception at Roof With a View... which is a really cool warehouse-style venue with an amazing view of the entire skyline. Definitely somewhere you Charlotte brides will want to check out!

I'm also shamelessly posting a few pics of my sweet new baby girl Audrey Reagan... how can I not? She's so darn cute!

Ok, now for our newest little angel. I took her upstairs to her big sister Ava's room the other day just to play around. Here's what we came up with. I hope you like them as much as I do.