Have you made a New Year’s resolution?  I did, but mine is the same every year.  My resolution is to be happy.  That’s it.  No, I don’t need to lose weight.  I don’t need to find a new job, I just want to continue to be happy.  I think that’s pretty simple and if you know how, easy to do as well.  I already do what I love for a living.  I have a wonderful son and husband and yes, we even have a great dog.  All of our needs are met and even some of our wants and my family and friends are happy and healthy, as are we.  What more could I ask for?

So, do you have any resolutions for this year?  If so, I’d like to read them.   Just drop me a line on this blog or on my Facebook page.  My next blog will be of one of my last sessions, so stay tuned.

Yesterday I decided to take the day off, which is always hard for me to do, but I did it.  I spent more time with my family and doing things that I needed to do.  Today I am working and I realized that this would be my last blog of the year, so of course I had to say something.

I just want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year filled with much success, joy and love.  Learn from your mistakes and try to be the best person you can possibly be.  That doesn’t mean try to be perfect, it just means do the best you can.  Help those who need help and make sure to take care of yourself and your family to the best of your ability.  Thank you all so much for allowing me to share my experiences and thoughts with you.  Below are some of my favorite images from this year and I look forward to creating more great images!

As a child photographer I have learned that my schedule is not necessarily my schedule when dealing with children and especially with babies.  Many parents like to take pictures with their newborns while they are awake; however I prefer to photograph them while they are sleep.  Considering that many of the babies do not want to go to sleep while I am there, I tire them out by photographing them awake with their parents.  One of the things I have to be careful about when they are awake is their eyes.  Since they can’t see very well yet and don’t have control of their eyes, they very rarely “look” in your direction.  Other times when they do look, their eyes may be crossed.  I’m sorry, but not matter how cute your baby is, crossed eyes are not cute.

As I was saying, I prefer to photograph babies while they are sleep.  That way there is no worry about crossed eyes or jerky movements which inevitably cause the baby’s hand to be in their face just as I snap the shutter.  Even with all of this, I love photographing babies.  This last session I had was wonderful, even though she wouldn’t go to sleep after two feedings and a diaper change.  She was determined to say awake, but she kept yawning signaling that we had to keep working to make her tired.  Her parents took this time to get a little something to eat and relax a bit while I tried to rock her to sleep.  Finally she went to sleep!  And when she went to sleep, she really went to sleep.

I was able to move her from prop to prop without her stirring too much.  It was great!  No, I didn’t go crazy with the posing, but I wanted to get a good variety of shots.  Mission accomplished! What a great session!  What really made my day was when the parents told me they didn’t want the pictures that were taken in the hospital because they had their own personal photographer to take them.  Wasn’t that sweet?  I certainly thought so!  In case you’re wondering why I called this post “My Little Fuzzy Wuzzy” is because her father nicknamed her fuzzy because of all of the hair that she as a newborn had on her body.  He’s such a guy!  Anyway, below are some of the images from the session.

After a while, Elizabeth finally woke up.  Yaaay!  Her mom fed her and then it was on! She had two outfits.  One was a Christmas outfit and the other  was just plain cute.  While Elizabeth had on the Christmas outfit, she wouldn’t smile much.  She seemed to be in a good mood, but we don’t think she was feeling the frilliness of the dress or the red, sparkly stockings.  At any rate, I was able to get some really sweet shots.

Next came the soft pink outfit.  No frills, just nice and comfortable.  She smiled much more and was rather mobile.  She would roll over or try to crawl somewhere.  I don’t know how many times her mother had to catch her from falling over.  I even have an image where she has a smile on her face as she is falling to the side.

We had such fun that day.  It took a while to get started, but it was well worth it.  I love photographing the babies!  I have another session with a newborn today and I am so excited about it!  Can’t wait to share those images either! Anyway, below are some images of Elizabeth and her mommy.  Enjoy!

My assistant and I met them in the Village of Stone Mountain in front of the gazebo.  Not sure how I knew, but when I saw them coming, I just knew it was them.  We all hit it off immediately and began getting to know one another.  Then we drove down the road to Stone Mountain Park to a few of my favorite spots to shoot.  It was a little after 4:30, so we didn’t have too much time before the sun started setting.  Fortunately it was a lovely day, about 74 degrees F, but we still had to hurry since we were moving from place to place.

One place I wanted to take them was to the covered bridge.  Unfortunately construction was being done down that road, so we couldn’t drive down there.  That was a bummer, so I had to think quickly.  Sunset was at 5:29 pm and at the time of our discovery, it was already 5:20!  Bruce told me that he had played golf there and I remembered that there was a lovely spot near the golf course, the only problem was that I left my park map at home and couldn’t quite remember where the course was.

So I drove hoping to find a sign that would lead me in the right direction and my instincts told me to make a right turn.  I followed the road to see where it led and low and behold, I remembered how to get to the course!  We parked, walked briskly to the location and began shooting.  We were able to get a few shots before it got dark, so everyone was happy. We even had a shot with the geese that were hanging out there.  What a great time we had and I feel like I made some new friends.  Below are some of the images from the session.

I initially received the call from LaShonda, who then scheduled a free consultation in her home.  That’s when I met Matt.  They are such a cute couple.   They had plenty of questions and were excited about doing the session.  Even Matt was excited, even though he wanted to make sure that the session didn’t interfere with his Saturday afternoon football.  I assured him that I would make his participation in the session quick  and painless and that we would try not to impact his viewing schedule too much.

We also talked about the name for the baby.  They seemed to like names that began with M.  The funny thing is that every M name they liked, there was a relative who was named that particular name.  Matt liked the name Malaya, but LaShonda wasn’t convinced yet.

When I arrived for the session I could tell they were excited because both of them were ready.  In all my  years as a photographer, no one has ever been ready when I arrived!   Imagine my surprise, but I guess at some point it was bound to happen.  Since they were ready, they talked to me while I set up and assisted where they could.

During the session the football game was on so that Matt wouldn’t miss too much.  He actually was quite attentive and I didn’t have to call his attention away from the t.v. However I did give him breaks when I photographed LaShonda by herself.  I think he really enjoyed that.

We really had a wonderful time and I got to see them again this past Saturday for their viewing/ordering session.  It was such a pleasure to see them and to watch their faces as they viewed their images.  By the way, they officially decided on the name Malaya.  Below are a few images from the session.

Most of my clients are people who call or email me that I’ve never met a day in my life, but every once in a while one of my friends will ask me to photograph them and or their family.  This is always an exceptional joy because they are not just asking me to do it because I am their friend, but because they like and admire my work.  That is a really big compliment and I hope they know it is greatly appreciated.

My latest session was with my friend Dawn and her family.  I’ve know Dawn for some years now, but this was the first formal portrait session I’ve had with her.  I was so excited to photograph the Mullings, besides it’s always great to see them anyway.

When I arrived, Dawn’s daughter Sydnei answered the door.  She was sweet as usual, even though she wasn’t feeling very well.  Darn allergies!  She welcomed me in and informed Dawn and Damian that I was there.  At that point they were still getting ready, so I went ahead and set up in the living room.  As I was setting up, Dawn came out to greet me, as did Damian and we discussed the best place for the images.  It was good to know that we were all on the same page.

Dawn and Damian have been married about the same amount of time my husband and I have been married, and I’ve known Dawn longer than that.  I mention this because Damian knew he knew me from somewhere, but couldn’t quite place me.  After Dawn explained to him where he knew me from, he realized it was ok to welcome me with a hug.  You’d think after that many years you’d remember, but I digress.

When I photograph families, I like to get the dynamics of the families…basically natural interactions.  With some people it’s easier than others.  Some families you can just have them sit next to each other and they just start interacting.  Others, I have to work with and tell them things like “act like you like her.”  The Mullings were more like the former.  At times I would rearrange the order, but they would take over and act like I wasn’t even there.  I love when that happens because then I can get some really candid and yes, even silly moments.

They are a very fun-loving and loving family and my goal was to capture all of that in their images.  I believe I was able to do that, but I think I might be biased.  At any rate, we had a fun session and even though Sydnei was under the weather, she was a real trooper.  Below are a few from the session.  Enjoy!

This session was pretty much like my other sessions except for two things.  In the bedroom shots I decided to use natural light since a lot of sun was coming through the windows.  Even though it was sunny, it wasn’t quite enough sunny enough for me to shoot without a tripod.  Luckily Justin went back to sleep after a series of shots and I was able to shoot without any movement.  Yay!

Next we moved down to the basement and I set up my backdrop and light for other shots. I don’t use very many props, but one that I do use is what I like to call my “Moses basket”.

In case you haven’t noticed, Mr. Brown is a natural in front of the camera.  He loves having his picture taken and always gives me “good face”.  Sometimes I wonder are the sessions really about the children or are they about him?  At any rate, please enjoy the images from the session!

The special moments I like to capture are those in intimate settings with a small number of people, generally 5 or less people.  I get to work on my own schedule and don’t have to worry about not being able to stand in a certain place or not be able to use my lights or other such rules.  I like to feel comfortable and not be rushed so that I can get the best images possible.  When I’m comfortable my clients are comfortable and we have fun.

For the past two weeks I have showcased the Brown family.  Since I have such an extensive history with them, I figured I should share them with you.  This year marks the 5th year that I have photographed them and each time it gets better and better.  Last week I shared images of Mrs. Brown and son, then the previous week was Mr. Brown and son.  Today will be the entire Brown family.  Well one member isn’t that visible, but his debut will probably be in next week’s post.

There are many types of photography like wedding, portrait, sports, architecture and so on.  Within these categories are subcategories like photojournalist weddings, lifestyle portraits and the like.  I often say that I photograph lifestyle portraits.  For the most part I do, but I also do what I call relationship portraits/photography.  Generally there needs to be at least two people in the portrait to create a relationship.  From there I will have my clients interact with one another.  I’m not too into posing, but I will when I have to. The reason is because not everyone is good at posing or following directions, but they are good at being themselves.  Usually I will put my clients in a situation and let them take it from there.  They can talk, laugh, play, whatever makes them comfortable.  Sometimes I get in on the act and end up making them laugh.  Those are usually my favorite shots!

When you throw children in the mix, there is no telling what will happen.  They add a certain something to the image.  It is so great to see two parents smiling nicely and then their child(ren) are doing something that’s just off the wall.  A lot of times, that’s just how it is.  My motto is to let children be children.  I try not to constrain them, but that doesn’t mean I let them go completely crazy either.  Just a nice balance of both works out well. So with all that said, enjoy the images below!

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There are many old wives tales that are supposed to be able to determine the sex of a baby if you don’t already know.  The one that I’ve had the most experience with is the one where children who are of the same sex as the child you are carrying, will tend to like you, as opposed to children who are a different sex of the child you are carrying.  I’ve even experienced this one myself.

When I was pregnant my husband and I decided to not find out the sex.  Of course everyone was upset with us because they wanted to know.  They said that if they didn’t know what sex the baby was, then they wouldn’t know what gifts to give or in what colors. Even if my son had been a girl, I still wouldn’t have wanted anything pink.  Anyway, I was still working as a software consultant and a group of us were about to go to lunch.  The wife of one of my co-workers was going to join us and they brought their son who was about 3 or 4 years old I think.  As we were about to leave, I realized I needed to go back to my desk to get my purse.  Well this little boy who didn’t know me from Adam, stepped away from his parents, took my hand and walked with me to my desk.  It was totally unexpected, but very sweet.  At that moment I knew I was having a boy.

Another example, my cousin was visiting from Cleveland.  She had been here previously and one of my nephews met her and was quite enamored with her.  He next visit she was pregnant and he couldn’t stand her.  She ended up having a girl.  Still a coincidence?  Here’s one more…

Every year since their first son was born, I’ve taken pictures of the Browns.  (Mr. Brown and his son were featured in the previous week’s blog).  The images from the last blog about them showcased the closeness between the father and son.  Of course he loves his mother too, but he and his father have a very special relationship.  At any rate, Mrs. Brown got pregnant with their second child.  She told me stories of how close he seemed to have gotten to her since her pregnancy.  He’s always wanting to sit on her lap or be as close to her as possible.  They decided not to find out what the sex of this baby was and just from the way their first son was acting, I figured she would have a boy.  Well, April 28th they had another boy.  Funny how that works out.

I could probably give more examples, but you get the point.  You should try it out yourself.  Now there are some constraints that need to be followed in order for it to work.  I believe the child needs to be between the ages of 1 and 4, but no older than 4. Don’t force the child to go to someone, just see what happens.  If nothing else it’s a very interesting experiment.  Below are a few images of mother and son from the family/maternity session we had.