{Woo Hoo! -- brings giggles & wiggles}

This past weekend I had a photo session with 2 year old Sophie! What a cutie - and she's so fast. The wind was whipping during our session but that didn't stop this little munchkin from running around checking everything out. At first Sophie wasn't sure what to think of me-- then when she got a hold of her mom's cute shoes, the smiles and giggles came out. My sister-in-law was in town and was my assistant during this session (thank you Jen!). Anyway, Jen said 'woo hoo' and Sophie heard and couldn't stop repeating 'woo hoo' and giggling hysterically. Of course we couldn't help but laugh watching, what a doll! Here's a little sneak peek. Thought I'd make two 10x20 storyboards.

This first one - I couldn't resist... Sophie is 'all girl', she's already giddy over shoes {trying on momma's shoes}. The second is black and white with my touch of mocha conversion.

{Autumn Bookings & Happy Mother's Day}

I'm currently booking for Autumn- summer sessions are full and fall sessions are quickly filling up. In order to allow plenty of time for holiday orders, my session cut-off is November 16th. After that date I'll be booking for January 2009! Thanks to those of you who have already booked your holiday/Autumn sessions! :)

This is one of my favorite videos... I saw it a few years ago and it still makes me giggle. Happy Mother's Day to you all! Oh and you'll have to press pause on the music player on my site to be able to hear the video. :)

{Little Miss Personality...}

Oh my... on Sunday I ventured to Hartsville and photographed one of the most amazing 3 year olds - Elizabeth Grace! When she came walking up she took my breath away - seriously. She's stunning with with her long, curly, red hair; peaches n' cream skin; piercing blue eyes and perfect heart-shaped pouty pink lips. And she was so calm and a little nervous in the beginning, but about 15 minutes into the session she became a little entertainer. She was in awe over the petticoats and tutu's I brought - that's when the real entertainment started! She had me and her parents laughing at her cute little expressions, songs she was singing and dance moves she was proudly showing me. Anyway, I had so much fun photographing Elizabeth Grace!! Here's your sneak peek!

And I couldn't resist creating a quick storyboard!

This first one is a 10x8 and the next one is a 20x20 :)

{Kait Emerson Designs}

Wow, you don't know how fun it is for me to do fashion photography and spotlight such talented designers. My daughter and son have started to really get into the sessions too and each day when I get Briella dresses she says, 'Are you going to take my picture in this mommy?'. Today when I told her we were just getting dressed for the day in response to her question, she said - 'but I want you to take my picture mommy'. I wish she was like that all the time - ha!So check out these chic & bold designs Feanna Otta, of Kait Emerson Designs! She's has such an eye for tot fashions that have a fun and relaxed yet hip and classy look to them. Yeah, all of that packed into her designs. I love them! And she hand makes each item she offers; pants, tops, dresses and other clothing and accessories and is a very busy lady - with so many on-line stores featuring her clothing. She lives and creates her designs in Huntington Beach California but sells her items at the following online high-end boutiques: Kait Emerson Designs, Hip & Little, Haute for Tots, Jaela Fredrick, The Refined Cubbyhole, Modern Mommy and Starlooks Boutique. Wow, that's a lot and look at these boutiques!! Anyway, here's just a small sample of her clothing line.

{One, two, three....cutie-patooties}

Okay so I'm behind on posting sneak peeks and featuring designers. I'm still playing catch-up from being gone an extra week with Brielle in the hospital. Thanks for hanging in there and being patient. Oh and for those who have e-mailed me about a session or other photogs who've e-mailed - I'm not ignoring you... I promise. I'm just swamped and have been working till past mid-night every night to get orders submitted & packaged, editing and trying to catch-up on e-mails. I will get back to you all soon ;-)

On Saturday my session was with 3 little cuties - 10 month old Harmon, 3 yr old Teige and a 5 yr old Emmeline. I love their names! So unique! And Emmeline is just as pretty as the name sounds. Harmon and Teige are all boy! Teige just couldn't get enough of pretend play, he has such a great imagination! I could tell he and his daddy play a lot of 'action' type of pretend play - again, very boy. :)

Here's a little sample of the images I captured :). (some of them called for a vintage wash with some light texture, others b&w with a touch of mocha and of course a few with my fun and funky color).

And their daddy is an airline pilot so check out this official pilots hat and the cool vintage plane Teige is playing with. He knew all the technical terms for each part of the plane and he knew the names of tricky cool moves the plane can do. They were all completely over my head (honestly, I hadn't even heard of over half of the terms he and his dad were using - but they sounded really cool) ;-)

(now with texture and a light wash....)

{Baby Sadie}

Oh I got to photograph this little cutie - one day shy of 2 weeks this past Friday. She was so teeny-weeny. I barely remember my kids being this little at one time. When I held her she seemed so light, peaceful and so fragile. I had fun using my 'wraps' on her and she looked so snug and comfy that I hated to unwrap her from them. Anyway, Bobby and Mary Beth thanks for letting me photograph her - I now have a strong desire for a third....oh no. It will pass... no worries Jeff (my hubby...) ;-)

{Kennedy & Friends Co.}

I'm sooooo excited about featuring this next designer - Kennedy & Friends Co.! I love tutus so I was giddy about doing this! My daughter was just as excited as I was and cried when it was time to take off the tutus. She kept showing me ballet moves (I have no idea where she learned them but she suddenly started showing me her two year old version of plié’s & pirouettes). Nathalie, the designer is such and sweet person and has amazing passion for making little girls feel so beautiful in her handmade designed tutus. She has so many varieties - she can even make custom tutus for dogs, cats, dolls, you name it! Oh, my old pug would've loved that (although my pug was a boy so maybe not) ;-) Her tutus are retailed alongside Kaiya Eve, Deux Par Deux, Bratt Decor, Juice Couture, Bugaboo, and other exclusive designers and are found at 'Jellybeans' in Springfield Missouri and other high-end boutiques across the country. {Note: Her tutus are only available at these boutiques or on-line through Etsy}.

{Arizona Series: Black & White of the beautiful 'sisters'}

Couldn't resist showing just a few more pictures of the sisters from AZ! All B&W with a touch of Mocha - very classic.

More commercial photography to come... ;-)

{Arizona Series: Beautiful Sisters...}

I'm finally home again!! And it's so good to be back with the rest of my family again! Brielle is feeling much better and went to the doctor first thing this morning, she still has signs of her illness lingering so we'll go back again each week for tests. Thank you again for your continued thoughts and prayers, e-mails and comments. :)

So I was finally able to down load and edit some pictures today from my trip - still tons more to look at and edit but here are a few images from my session with two fun and beautiful sisters, MacKenzie & Tatum. Can you believe they aren't even teens yet?! Kenzie is taller than me and I had to stand on my tippy-toes for most of the session ;-) and Tatum, who is 9 years old, is right behind her older sister (they must have been really good vegetable eaters when they were little). Anyway, we found a great location in the Scottsdale area of Arizona and shot in a garden of sorts. The girls were so fun even when passer-by's stop a moment to watch.

Anyway, here's a little sneak peek from our session.

{to my mom, on her birthday...}

I'm horrible at writing poetry.... love to write but I'm awful when it comes to poetry and the rules that go along with it (I'm a rule-breaker I guess) :) But my mom is an amazing person who is so selfless and giving, I wanted to give her something special and from my heart for her birthday. She's endured a lot lately and again is so giving of herself during this time.

Mom, thank you for being such an amazing mom and role model. I wish I could be with you today.

Happy Birthday Mom!

--God Made--

God made an extraordinary mother,

A mother who never grows old;

He made her laugh at the fun times
and gave her great strength during the tough times;

He made her a heart that is loving and selfless;
and a soul that is magnetic and true.
God made an extraordinary mother,
And He gave that amazing mother to me.

(Image to be inserted when I get back home to SC) :)