Celebrating 5 | Hendersonville, NC Children's Photographer

Happy Valentine's Day!  I hope you are all celebrating with those that you love.

 

Today I thought I would share some of the photos that we took of

Peyton for Valentine's Day Cards and to celebrate her 5th birthday.

Warning:  It's a long post!

 

 

 

 We actually shot these photos on two separate days.  If you have ever tried to photograph your own children, you know how hard it can be to get them to cooperate.  So instead of frustrating everyone by trying to make all of this happen on the same day, we shot a few inside a couple of weeks ago just in time to have pictures for her Valentine's cards, and then we shot a few outside this week with the snow on the ground.  

Thanks for the adorable scarf Grandma!

 

 She loves dancing and being silly. 

So happy that I was able to capture that personality in these images.

 She also loves these fake glasses and books!

 We used this shot on the inside of her Valentine Card.

Of course Gizzy Girl made it into a few shots!

 Wardrobe change.

More dancing!

 

 

 Happy birthday sweet girl!  I love you more than I could ever express in words.  I can't wait to watch you explore the world as your uniquely 5 year old self.  I know it will be filled with fun & laughter!

 

Love, 

       Mama 

Many Faces! | Hendersonville, NC Portrait Photographer

The many faces of Peyton...

When I was taking pictures of Cooper for his first day of Kindergarten, Peyton insisted on me taking some pictures of her too.

She had to sit on the porch just like Cooper did.

She was pretending it was her first day too.

She showed me many cute little faces.

In her funny little hat.

And her favorite purple nail polish.

But most importantly, I think these pictures let you see in a little window to her personality.

Sweet ~ Fun ~ Quirky

And then Coop snapped this picture of the two of us together.

PS  Peyton cried this morning when Cooper got on the school bus without her. She has been with him pretty much everyday since she was born.  She is a little lost without him.



Trying Not To Think About It | Sunbury Photographer

What am I trying not to think about you wonder. I’m trying to forget about the fact that my sweet baby boy started Kindergarten today.  I know every mom says this, but “How did that happen???”

On the left is the first day of preschool last year and on the right is his first day of Kindergarten.

And yes, he picked out the same outfit to wear on the first day of school both times.

Cooper is a whole lot of personality all wrapped up in one cute little package!

He is rotten to the core.

He is as sweet as he can be

He loves to hang out with his big brothers. (when they will let him)

He adores his baby sister. And she returns the adoration 100%.

He loved preschool last year and is excited about starting Kindergarten. When he told me this summer that he missed preschool, I asked him what he missed about it. His response, “Playing in the gym and on the playground! I don’t miss that lame stuff like writing letters.”

I think it's fair to say that he was excited about his first day of school!

PS  I didn't shed a tear today.  Tears did start to well up after I put him on the bus.  But I did surprisingly well for sending my baby boy to kindergarten.

PSS  Peyton dressed herself this morning.  Not sure what is up with that hat!  :)

PSSS  Speaking of Peyton's dress.  The dress she has on was made my her grandma for her cousin when she was 2 or 3.  Now that same cousin is starting her sophomore year of high school.

Ava | Hendersonville, NC Child Photographer

Meet sweet 4 year old Ava!

She and I had a lot of fun playing on her Grandma & Grandpa's farm on a warm Saturday morning!

She was full of smiles....

and lots of giggles too!

I was trying to capture her personality, along with things from around the farm

 to make the pictures just a little more personal to her. 

More personal then if we would have shot these pictures at a park somewhere.

My hope is that someday, many years down the road, these pictures will spark

some wonderful memories of playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

More Than A Snapshot: Photography Tips | Sunbury Photographer

I have people ask me all the time to teach them how to use their cameras. Or how to make their pictures more interesting. I am always an open book when it comes to teaching people how to do these two things. My desire in having a photography business is not to just take beautiful pictures of other people. My desire is to help others realize how important it is to document their lives with photographs. After they realize how important it is, I want them to know how to create great photos that truly tell their story. After all, isn’t that what photography is all about? It’s about capturing all of our memories as a family.

(Picture taken this weekend.  No one is looking at the camera which is part of what tells the story.  Every one is looking at Dad while he gives strict instructions about riding in the wagon and driving the tractor.  Dad giving strict instructions is a daily thing in our lives! LOL )

For me, my photography business is about capturing images of your families as well. Photos that will help tell your story. But there is more to your life then the photos that I take of you and your kids on a Saturday afternoon in the park. So many things that happen every single day in your homes that are photo worthy. Things, that I for one, want to be able to remember. And since I have a horrible memory, I have to capture that memory with my camera!

(Playing in the pool on a hot Saturday afternoon.  I want to remember those pretty long eyelashes, cute little nose, and perfectly pink squishy lips.  Not to mention the wispy, perfectly highlighted by God, hair falling around her face.)

All that being said, I thought it might be nice to do a few posts to give you a few tips on how to take pictures that will really tell a story. Pictures that will someday bring you right back to their newborn days. Or their first day of school. Or when they were obsessed with Thomas the Train. Or when they went to Senior Prom. AND, my second goal is to take pictures that will help my kids better know themselves when they look back at all the photos that we have taken over the years.

(I also want them to remember their relationships with their siblings.)

So my first tip for you is very simple!  And you have probably heard me say it before.

Get your camera out of the closet
and get in the habit of using it daily!

So go on….

 

Go get your camera out of your closet, out of the camera bag, and charge the batteries.

I’ll wait for you to get back…

OK good. That is a huge first step!

My camera sits on my kitchen counter, charged and ready to go, every single day. That way when something cute is going on, the camera is at my finger tips.

My future tips aren’t going to do you any good if your camera is packed away in the closet!

Taking interesting pictures is not all about knowing all the technical aspects of our camera. There are lots of things that you can do with your camera in auto mode that will still make your photos more interesting. Maybe someday we will get in to the technical stuff. But for now, let’s focus on simpler things. Things I can tell you in a brief blog post.

So that’s it. That’s my first tip. Get your camera out and use it every day. Try to take at least one picture every single day. There is almost always something going on each day that is picture worthy. If there is not, create something to take a picture of!