It’s so hard to plan a photo shoot when members of your family are as busy as they are these days. One kid has practice, the other art lessons, another has a job…it gets tough.  Well, you know what’s harder.  When one kid lives in Indiana, one lives in Alaska and one is on their way to Texas soon.  So when Allison emailed me from Alaska and was trying to coordinate a time to get family photos taken…I was going to be there, who cares if it’s the day after Christmas. There are only so many chances to photograph this family together…unless they want to take me to Alaska next time they visit Allison ;)

The point is…family photos are important.  People are busy, but in 5 years you wont want to look back and think…did I really not have one evening to dedicate to documenting my family at the time.  I know I stress this all to often, but it’s also all to often that I see families go 5 to 10…to 20 years without a family portrait. It’s a shame, and I hope to be a small part in changing that habit.

I am positive that 30 years down the road, Jackson is going to call up his Aunt Allison and thank him for setting up a session…because when it comes down to it, he is going to love seeing his family when he was just 1 year old.

Love this shot of Jackson & his Great-Grandma.

Crazy cute.

Jackson…you are too cute for words!

Only one more 2009 post to go…then I’ll show you some from this year ;)

There isn’t any possible way I can sum up the way I feel about the Ash family in a blog post. Sorry, I just can’t do it. As you’ve probably read, Hayley & I have known each other since we were 4.  We met in “preschool Sunday school” and  other than my sisters, she is my oldest friend.  Do you know how amazing it is to watch one of your best friends get married & have babies…well, it’s amazing.

Early last year Justin & I were at the Ash home playing cards & Hayley kept knocking everything (and I mean everything) over. She casually mentioned that last time she was that clumsy was when she was pregnant with Sophie.  We all laughed about that, and continued our game.  When we got home Justin was just as clumsy…and he said, Hayley better be pregnant, cause if she isn’t, you are.

And here we are now. And I am happy about that on many levels ;)

I thought I should combine this post and just go from event to event…so get ready for some maternity pictures, hospital pictures & newborn pictures :)

The maternity shoot was actually pretty unplanned. I was in Columbus and had my camera, and Hayley had a feeling that Laynie wanted to make her arrival before our scheduled shoot.

Love these…

The minute Richard called me to let me know they were heading to the hospital I was putting on my shoes.  Of course I had to wait a couple hours till Justin got home from school…but I was so excited!  *and surprise…Laynie decided to come about 1 month early!

Love this too:

My favorite:

My job is centered around love, and I realize not many people can say that.  The purpose in what I do is to document the love people have for one another.  Whether that be a family, newborns, wedding days…it’s all centered around people that want to document their relationships.  A perk that comes along with this job is that I have made the most amazing friends from my clients.  I typically leave a wedding feeling like I’ve known the bride & groom (and usually the entire wedding party & families) for years.  I am in awe that I get to watch kids grow up…maternity shoots, newborn shoots, 6 month shoots, 1 year shoots…it’s amazing to watch them grown and become the amazing people they are.  Megan Steve & Cade are no exception, they are as sweet & kindhearted as one can be.  Megan and I have been emailing back and forth since before her shoot…we even are having lunch just to catch up!  The best part…I have been asked to document these first amazing years of Cade’s life (and hopefully many more to come…I better do those senior pictures Megan ;)  We already have a date planned for Cade for his birthday shoot in October.

Obviously I am feeling very grateful today ;)

Thank you to all my amazing clients.  Thank you for not only allowing me to photograph your lives, but to become your friend.  It’s an honor.

**love** this photo…so much.

What are you thankful for today?

I’m back!  Then again, I am not sure if I announced that I was going to be gone.  I’ve been visiting beautiful Lexington & Wilmore, Kentucky since Sunday…and it was a wonderful trip! I was photographing an engagement shoot & a senior, and had a great time at both.  It was the perfect fall days, I couldn’t have asked for better weather!

Anyway, I am back in Bainbridge, and back to work! Not only that, but I realized somehow I forgot to blog an entire session…I had shown a sneak peak…but no actual post!  So, to make up for that, I am posting them now!

Meet with Watson Family (and the Ray family)…these are some of my very favorite people and it meant so much to me that they asked me to do their family pictures.  I actually consider them family myself.  Here a just a few of my favorites:

Too sweet.

And my favorite of the day, again.

Dear Watson Family, you are one of a kind (in the best possible way that can mean). I am a better person for knowing you, thank you for blessing me with your friendship. Love you all!