On May 27th, I arrived at her parents’ home to photograph the beautiful little Miss Elizabeth.  She was so sweet, but she didn’t want to go to sleep.  This is a problem I always have with newborns.  It’s like they can tell someone new is there and they want to stay awake to see what’s going on and why they are there.  This session was truly a family affair because Elizabeth took pictures with her mother, grandparents and even the family dog, Lexi.

The next session was her 6 month session, which took place in November.  Some of the images also served as Christmas portraits, which her mother had made into Christmas cards.  This session was truly a joy because Elizabeth was aware of what was going on, but wasn’t mobile enough to actually crawl away.  There were times when she rolled or fell over though.  Her mother had two outfits for her.  One was a very pretty and frilly red and white dress with ruffles that Elizabeth’s grandmother had bought.  While Elizabeth was wearing it, she was very subdued.  She didn’t move much, nor did she smile much.  We didn’t think much of it until her mother changed her into a cute little pink, cotton dress.  Once that was on her, she perked up.  She was laughing and smiling and seemed a lot more relaxed.  At that point we determined that she wasn’t into all of the “girly girl” clothes and preferred something more simple and comfortable.

Now at her 1 year session, boy was she active.  She is one quick crawler.  We tried sitting her as close to the backdrop as we could, to give me more time to get shots of her before she crawled away.  I must say it was a challenge, but so much fun.  We laughed as she would be scooped up and repositioned.  Near the end of the session her grandmother started singing the ABC song, which Elizabeth happens to love.  Every time the song ended, Elizabeth would say loudly “A”.  So of course we had to continue singing it.  I even joined in on the singing just so she’d stay still.  Sometimes it’s the little things that work better than any toys or other objects, which we tried as well.  There are a few images where she’s holding her mother’s cell phone because it made her concentrate more on it than crawling away.

The last outfit was with Elizabeth in a pink tutu and a mini birthday cake.  Before we put her and the cake down on the floor, her mother let her taste it.  I was going to surprise them with the cake, but I thought better of it just in case she didn’t want her to have any sweets.  Up until then, Elizabeth hadn’t had any sweets, but her mom thought it would be fine.  Elizabeth seemed to like the cake, but she preferred to play in it instead of eat it.

All I can say is that is has been great being a part of Michele and Elizabeth’s life and I look forward to many other portrait sessions as well.  Michele, if you’re reading this….thank you so much for the honor of capturing Elizabeth’s first year of life!  It was truly my pleasure.

We started the session in the living room, then had to take a grilled cheese break.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Mom got hungry, so all the girls went into the kitchen to make grilled cheese sandwiches while I finished photographing mom and dad.  While they ate and mom changed clothes, I moved outside to prepare for shots on the porch.  On my way outside, the girls were talking about what young girls talk about and sharing the latest dances.  It took me back to when I was a young girl and hanging out with my friends…but I digress.

We photographed outside on their porch because it was a lovely day and their porch  provided excellent lighting.  They told me that shortly after we had out consultation for the session and I had expressed my desire to photograph them on the porch, they had the porch painted.  During their viewing session they showed me pictures of the flowers they just planted and wished they had those ready for the session as well.  Perhaps we can incorporate them in the next session.  Right now I’m looking forward to the next session with the new baby.  Yay!

Well because of his movement I wasn’t able to take too many shots, so he had to go to sleep.  The one good thing is that he kept looking in my direction like he could see me. Putting him to sleep actually took a while so I just chatted with the family and friends in the home until the deed was done.  His mother brought him back out and we tried again.  He was great until she laid him on the pillow.  Next thing I know he was wide awake, again.  I was like “really?”.  Evidently the flash wasn’t making him tired, nor the feedings.  So what else could we do?

He began fussing, so his dad picked him up while his mom went to get something to eat.  After his third feeding his father was able to get him to go to sleep.  This time, he was knocked out.  Yay!  I was able to move him and position him however I liked  without him stirring too much.  It was great!   After about 3 hours or so, I finally finished with some great shots that I was excited about.  In case you haven’t read any of my blogs before, this is normal for me and photographing newborns.  During these types of sessions I am working on the baby’s schedule, not mine so I must adjust and be patient.

Regardless of how long it took or what we had to go through to get there, it was done and done to my satisfaction.  One of the best things out of this session, aside from the great images, KingChaise didn’t pee once.  He had is diaper off the majority of the time too, which is quite amazing and what a relief.  No one likes getting peed on, especially me.

I was first contacted by Gabriela via a phone call.  She had seen one of my post cards in her doctor’s office and was interested in having me photograph her.  (Yay me!)  It is always flattering when people see my work and are really interested in me taking their portraits.  She had many questions and after several phone calls, we were able to schedule the session.  Initially I was going to go to their home, but with all of the preparation they were doing for the new baby, they thought it would be better to come to my studio.

When they arrived, Matt asked if I had a dog, which I do.  I had to put him in his crate as he wants to greet everyone who comes over.  They let Cookie introduce herself and sniff around a bit, which put my dog at ease.  Then we proceeded to the studio for the portraits.

Gabriela was very easy to work with.  She was a natural and brought out her inner super model.  She was very fit and mobile for being 8 months pregnant.  I was very impressed.  She had a few outfit changes and looked lovely in each one.  There was one particular outfit that I told her it looked like she was going out on a date!  I’m sure you will be able to figure out which outfit that was.  When I spoke with her on the phone, she wanted to make sure that she could have images taken with her dog.  Of course she could!  Cookie was so cute.  At first she was shy, but eventually she warmed up to me and let me pet her. She even came to me when I called her, which I had to do because at one point she wandered into the shot.

Needless to say, we had a great time and some lovely images were produced.  Please take a gander at the images below.  Enjoy and don’t hesitate to contact me for your portrait session!

This is a bonus for anyone who wants to try my services.  You can see what a session would be like and get a free gift without paying the full price.  It’s almost like a try it before you buy it deal.  As I stated before, you get a gift of one desk portrait, but you do have the opportunity of additional purchases if you so desire.  If it so compels you, you can donate more than $24 as well.

For just $240 (10 charity portraits) a child’s smile is saved and their life improved.  Orthodontic surgeons donate their time to perform these life-saving surgeries.  When I say life-saving, I mean it gives the recipients a new lease on life.  Without the surgery, they may not be able to live a normal life, get married, have children or do other things that they wish to do.  Come and be a part of this wonderful charity and set up your session now.  404-784-3008, ayesha@phoartgraphy.com or PhoArtgraphy.

If you need more information about the charity, please click here.

Our Easter celebration consisted of activities for Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday we attended and participated in a massive Easter egg hunt.  When I say massive, I truly mean massive.  They even had a helicopter drop eggs onto a large open field.  I guess you can’t really call it an egg hunt, because all of the eggs were out in the open.  It was more like an egg pick up.  They separated the kids by age group.  The first group consisted of pre-K children and younger.  Then my son’s group, Kindergarten through 2nd grade and after that 3rd through 5th.

One thing that bothers me is when people don’t follow directions.  There were people who were obviously not in the correct age group and people jumping the line because they couldn’t wait to get onto the field.  All they had to do was wait because everyone was going to get a chance.  Even thought all of this was going on, it was still very well organized, even though there were plenty of people who lacked patience.

On a lighter note, my son and many other children enjoyed the bouncy houses, slides, playground and tightrope walk.  There was face painting, basket raffles and food also.  And what a gorgeous day it was.

On Sunday, my son and I went to my best friend’s house to color eggs with my God son.  They always enjoy playing together and I love seeing my best friend.  We try to get together when we can, but when you’re married or just have kids, you know how difficult it is to find the time.  It also doesn’t help that she doesn’t live on my side of town.

At any rate, I’ve included some images from our fun weekend.  I hope you enjoy them!

In a nutshell, Celebration of Smiles raises money to provide surgeries to correct facial deformities such as cleft palate, to people who cannot afford it.  One surgery costs $240 and it can change not only a person’s face, but their life.  For more information please click this link for Celebration of Smiles.

If you would like to help, April 21st, 2012 is Celebration of Smiles Day.  I am a participating photographer in Georgia and am very excited to be a part of it.  I will be setting up 15 minute increments for the mini-sessions, starting at 10:00am.  For only $24 you can have your mini session and receive the gift of a 5×7.  Please call 404-784-3008 to schedule your session now!

The first time I facilitated the event, I was provided with a clipboard that contained the athletes’ names and ages and an area to mark their jumps and the bar to jump over.  That’s it.  We had to provide our own writing utensils and tape measure.  The second time I facilitated it, they provided the bar, a measuring tape, and writing utensils, but no clipboard with the athletes’ names.  Oh, this time I actually had some additional help with setting the bar and increasing the height, so that was a plus, but still not everything I needed.

I’m not telling this story to put down the organization, but to demonstrate how difficult it is to do a good job without the right tools or all the tools.  The same goes for any job that you do.  If I didn’t have the right camera, lenses, lights or other tools that I use, then I couldn’t do my job effectively.  You may be asking how can you, the client, can tell if someone has the right equipment.  Usually you can tell by the finished product.  The right tools can be subjective and photography is no different in that respect.  Photographers are judged by the work that we produce and the service that we provide.

You may already know this, but before selecting a photographer for your needs, it is important to talk to friends to see if they could recommend someone to you.  Whether or not the photographer comes recommended, you still need to check out their work to make sure their style fits what you want your images to look like.  When I say style, technically it has nothing to do with the actual people in the portraits you view.  Style is the composition of the images;  the colors, mood and overall feeling of what the images convey to you.  Is that the feeling you want when viewing images of your child or family?

After viewing the photographer’s work, then you may want to talk to or meet the photographer.  Sometimes people find themselves having to choose between great images, but a photographer with a not so great personality/attitude.  If you don’t have to like the person who photographs you, then the decision won’t be difficult.  I on the other hand find it important to like the person doing work for me.  I have a problem paying people who aren’t appreciative of my business, but enough about me.

Well, maybe one more thing about me.  During my sessions I like to have fun.  When you have fun you tend to smile and laugh more and you’re more relaxed which allows me to get some great shots.  Of course I’m pitching what I do.  I love what I do and I want you to love what I do too!  If you want to check me out, you can respond to this post, email me or give me a call.  Please feel free to review the website and I will be happy to entertain any and all questions you have.  Come on, give me a chance.  Who doesn’t want a little fun?  Plus you can really see the right tools that I have.

When I got there, I had just missed Mrs. Vaughn, who called her husband to tell him that she thinks she just passed me on her way to McDonalds.  So he and I had a nice chat until she returned.  Once she got back, she was full of questions and information about their children.  I can’t wait to meet all of them and photograph them as well.  What fun that will be!

Some time after this session, I will have the pleasure meeting Ansleigh Tatiana once she enters the world.  Oh how I love to photograph the babies!  Looking forward to sharing the session with you all, so stay tuned.

Does anyone out there have any interesting topics for today?  If you do, just drop me a line.  Just so you know this is a family friendly forum.  If I know anything about it and it’s not too controversial, sure, I’ll write about it.

This is really killing me.  I feel like Seinfield.  He had a show about nothing and now I have a blog about nothing.  Aw well, I hope to have more ideas next week.  Perhaps I’ll write a blog about some photography tips.  Better yet, if you have some questions you’d like addressed regarding photography, I’d be happy to answer them.  Just let me know.  I’ll be waiting.