Party in the park in the morning. No doubt more pics to come.
Summer Slowdown
July 1, 2009 · 1 Comment
Having young kids at home this summer means that when it comes to my blog, it’s a late night choice between posting and sleep. As you can see by the paucity of posts lately, sleep has been winning. That is, until the last week when a summer cold struck each of us, one by one. I used to live by the mantra that I would sleep when I am old or dead (whichever comes first)…but now that I’m a parent and no longer have the luxury of catching up on sleep on the weekends, I’m starting to see the wisdom in relying on actual rest, rather than caffeine, to get me through the week. I’m turning over a new leaf. I am officially a fan of sleep. I should add it to my facebook page. Which leads me to another tangent: have you noticed the random and extremely vague things people claim to be fans of?
Not that I’m giving up on my blog, just that I’m slowing it down until the fall when I can actually work on it during daylight hours. In the meantime, here are some pictures from our summer so far.
These last few are by T (aka Mr. Future Second Shooter?), as I was giving CM a haircut.
→ 1 CommentCategories: Babies · Kids · family photos
Tagged: amelia island, atlanta, childrens photography, childrens portrait, florida, ft lauderdale, Jacksonville, jacksonville beach, lifestyle photography, northeast florida, ponte vedra, savannah, south florida, st. augustine
Simple Pleasures
June 14, 2009 · Leave a Comment
VC enjoying fresh cherries for the first time…
She is turning one next month. I can hardly stand it.
→ Leave a CommentCategories: Babies · Photography · family photos
Tagged: amelia island, atlanta, atlantic beach, baby portraits, childrens photography, childrens portraits, family photography, fernandina, florida, Jacksonville, lifestyle photography, northeast florida, ponte vedra, st. augustine
P turns Four! :: Captain Character Birthday Party
June 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment
P’s mom told me it was just going to be a simple little get together with family, but there was a little more to it than that. I had fun being a part of the party and getting to document the fun.
Captain Character was on hand to provide the entertainment. Despite the rain, he gave the kids a fun dinosaur lesson…
made balloon hats and swords…
painted faces…
facilitated an archeological dig…
erupted a volcano…
and shot off a rocket! Not sure how this related to dinosaurs, but P loved it.
The beautiful and delicious cake was from Sheila’s Cakes.
Happy Birthday, P! I hope to get to celebrate many more with you.
→ Leave a CommentCategories: Birthdays · Kids · Photography
Tagged: amelia island, birthday cakes, birthday parties, childrens birthday parties, fernandina, Jacksonville, jacksonville beach, lifestyle photography, northeast florida, ponte vedra, southeast georgia, st. augustine
Baby B : Jacksonville Beach Newborn Session
June 10, 2009 · 2 Comments
Sweet, sweet baby boy…
Three weeks old, beautiful blues eyes, sweet disposition…what’s not to like?
Only 20 days in, and mom is looking amazing.
Dad and his little guy.
Changing was a family affair.
All eyes on B. You guys make a beautiful family. Congratulations!
→ 2 CommentsCategories: Babies · Photography
Tagged: amelia island, atlanta, atlantic beach, baby portraits, family portraits, fernandina, first coast, georgia, Jacksonville, jacksonville beach, jekyll island, lifestyle photography, neptune beach, newborn photography, northeast florida, ponte vedra, southeast georgia, st marys, st simons, st. augustine
Patrons of the Hearts
June 4, 2009 · 1 Comment
This week, I had the pleasure of photographing some young heart patients who are benefiting from the incredible work of Patrons of the Hearts. POTH helps children from around the world. These kids in particular are from Liberia, Morocco, and Grenada. Despite the challenges these families have already endured and still have ahead of them, smiles were plentiful on this morning. These pictures were taken at the Ronald McDonald House, another great organization that partners with POTH to care for the families while they are away from home.
This young guy came off as an average teenager. Kind of shy, sweet, and trying hard to be cool. But then I spoke with his mom and realized that his life does not conform to our idea of average at all. After coming to Jacksonville from Monrovia, Liberia for successful heart surgery, they’ve been told that they need to return annually for check ups because there is no adequate care in his home. His mother wonders how that will be possible with the lack of funds, support and reliable communication (phones, internet). But for now, she’s grateful for his health.
This family, from Morocco, has been here since the beginning of the year and is still not close to going home.
This sweety from Grenada barely spoke a word to me, but she clearly LOVED getting her picture taken!
This pretty girl may have had the biggest smile of the group. She and her mom were headed home to Grenada the next day. So smart and well spoken, she was looking forward to the homecoming party that she knew was waiting for her!
→ 1 CommentCategories: Community · Jacksonville · Kids · Photography · Portraits
Tagged: childrens photography, patrons of the hearts, ronald mcdonald house
Search for a Good Cause
June 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Here’s a really easy way to “go green” set your default search engine to EcoSearch.org. It’s Google, with a cause. Every time you search, funds are generated for environmental organizations. Check it out.
Back to photos tomorrow!
→ Leave a CommentCategories: Green
We are One
May 29, 2009 · 6 Comments
I’m off to celebrate our wedding anniversary at an undisclosed (to me) location! This will be my longest separation from VC, but thankfully my big sis is here to watch the girls so I’m not worried. That, and I’m pretty sure we’re going somewhere within a short drive.
Photographing weddings and celebrating this milestone has me thinking about my own wedding day. My favorite part was definitely the ceremony. Our priest gave such a personal and loving homily and while I don’t remember the exact words he used, I do recall how honored we felt to hear them spoken to us and our families. Ironically, we have only a few pictures taken from way back in the church because I insisted on NO PICTURES during the ceremony! I wanted that moment to be sacred and I didn’t want cameras in my face and especially no flashes popping…
I try to remember this when I’m lurking around during other people’s magic moment, to get the picture but not get in the way.
I’m so looking forward to some alone time with my husband! Our wedding rings are inscribed with the words, “We Are One” because we promised each other that whatever distractions came our way – children included – our bond comes first. So far, so good! And a little alone time sure helps.
This doesn’t mean we don’t adore our girls, but we say, “Happy Marriage = Happy Kids.” And that seems like a good equation to me.
→ 6 CommentsCategories: Personal · Weddings
Tagged: marriage, wedding
bibi + yoyo = party!
May 28, 2009 · 1 Comment
The last of the bibi + yoyo trilogy. This is a long one, but I could show you dozens more!
After the dinner was over, I leaned over to Abbey, who was photographing B&J’s Magnolia Hall wedding with me and said, “Oh, I should have told you, these people are going party!” Between the great band, the fun collection of guests and the wonderful occasion, I knew this was sure to be a lively night.
First, some of the beautiful details from the day. The couple had assistance on the day of the wedding from planner Courtney Surber Paz.
The bride’s uncle played the bagpipes for the procession and recession, as well as to invite the guests back into the hall for dinner.
And a few of the “informals”. These are the portraits that I love to get, where they aren’t thinking about the camera, the shoulders relax and you get to see an authentic expression of emotion…in this case, joy!
The very happy mother of the bride.
The groom and his baby sister.
Finally, the party! Starting with cocktail/kisses/hugs/congratulations hour…
Dinner and toasts…
Dancing, dancing, dancing…amazing music provided by the Bradley Cole Smith Band…
Seriously, I could keep going and going. When the house lights came up, I caught this moment with the bride and some of her best girlfriends who came from near and far.
The newlyweds! Thanks, B&J, for letting me a be a part of your day in this way. I’m looking forward to lots of little “photo ops” in the future!!
More pictures from this event can be found here and here, or with other weddings in the Weddings category.
Check out Abbey’s pics here.
→ 1 CommentCategories: Photography · Weddings
Tagged: northeast florida, wedding photography, atlanta, Jacksonville, magnolia hall
The Silver Lining
May 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment
It has been raining here for days and days. The other day, it had paused for a bit. I was out with the girls on the porch complaining about the rain and CM said, “You know what the good thing about rain is?” I thought she’d say flowers or rainbows. Nope. “Puddles!”
Yesterday when there actually was some blue visible above, we made a break for the beach. I thought that at best we’d make sand castles and go for a walk so we didn’t even have swim suits…not that a little thing like that would stop CM…
And today, the sun is OUT! Unfortunately, though, our “basement” is under water!
→ Leave a CommentCategories: Jacksonville · Kids · family photos
Tagged: atlantic beach, florida, Jacksonville, lifestyle photo, northeast florida
