Ellen - Eight Month Portraits |
S o, I had this "great" idea. Or, so I thought. We have a beautiful framed portrait of Claire from when she was seven months old (a square cropped version of the third image on this post) that is hanging in our bedroom. I thought it would be awesome to get one sorta similar to it of Ellen to frame. She outgrew that dress at three months of age, so that idea was out. But, I thought I would just put her in navy blue or something like it. I didn't try these shots right at seven months since that was Christmas-time, and well, doing monthly portraits INSIDE for a handful of months requires some creativity and spreading the love. SOO... I saved it for January. But, there were two major flaws to this attempted idea... ONE: we live in a different house now with one small window on the first floor and thus only one small inch of time on a BRIGHT, SUNNY day to get the right light to do portraits (whereas the old house had TONS of light, even on rainy days). TWO: Ellen and Claire are different babies with different personalities. So... I tried, friends. I did. But, basically, once I got to the point when I wanted to put the dress on her, the light was GONE (only 5-10 minutes later) and so was Ellen's playful mood (she was hungry!). Oh well. I still love the results. They just are different. Happy viewing, friends!
two teeth! |
| she still loves to play with her toes. so much so that it is hard to keep socks on her! |
| we were playing peek-a-boo with the camera. She started to lean to see me! |
| ... and then I got this look. As happy as she is, she still has her very intense pensive moments like Claire gets. love it! |
| the one happy shot with clothes on. :-) She was smiling at her Aunt Brianna. |
S o, I may be a wee bit late on this one (by a few hours, anyway), but here we go! As I was trying my best to narrow these down to an acceptable (and consistent) number for the blog, I wondered if it is easier or harder to photograph a family I have gotten to know without a camera in my face. In some ways, I think it is easier because I know their personalities on a "normal" basis (ie. when they aren't "on" for the camera). But, in other ways, it can be harder because I become MORE of a perfectionist in trying to get the best of each member of the family. So, this is why I gave sweet Baby Georgia her own post, and why this post was a little late... laboring over picking the best instead of my normal gut reaction picking the first impression best. Anyway, I love this sweet, happy family, and I am thrilled to share them with you all. Happy viewing!
seriously, how gorgeous is Scarlett Elle?! |
| haha! Scarlett and Joseph were launching matchbox cars off the porch. joy! |
| I know this is not the sharpest shot, but Joseph is so stinkin' cute in this one! |
| LOVE this moment! it is a very real moment for sure. |
| I love that all three kids are in this one in birth order (sheer luck). |
| this one makes me laugh... Georgia's boots just weren't staying up, but it did not stop her! |
| daddy-daughter moments make me melt. |
| Scarlett is trying to catch a ball that Joseph threw up in the air. ha! (she didn't catch it, but she sure tried!) |
| and, to close, one of mom and dad (with Scarlett running around in the background). :-) Still happy together! |
S o, officially, I was going to just do one post for the Swaim family (which you may remember them from here, here, here or even, whoa, here). However, it just didn't pan out that way. Sure, we only had the typical hour-long shoot together, BUT... Jennie had this genius idea to put more nudity on my blog than there ever has been before. Okay, breathe; she just wanted some pictures of her nearly 9 month old baby girl in her birthday suit. And, I was SOOO excited to do it! Well, so, of course, you will see in just a second how adorable those are, but yeah, once you see the blog post on Monday with all of the rest of the family, you will understand perfectly well why I simply could not narrow it down to one post. Besides, sweet baby Georgia is the third child, and I have a special place in my heart for those third childs out there (since I am one of them!). Happy viewing, friends!
how beautiful are they?! |
| might just be my favorite. sweet baby girl! (she's even got the Renaissance pose that a lot of the nude women's portraits had- well, at least her legs) |
| if this doesn't make you giggle, I don't know what more I can do for you. ha! |
| Georgia, you are gorgeous! |
| all three of the Swaim kids got these for Christmas. |
| She looks so much like her older brother in this one (just more girly, of course). |
| Okay, so I said I wouldn't really post the rest of the family on this one, but I couldn't help it with this one. The girls all together for Georgia's shoot. Scarlett is so adorable! (and Jennie is the best!) |
| I hate that I didn't have the reflector up for this shot, BUT... it is too sweet of a moment to leave out just because I didn't get the perfect light. |
| There isn't one thing I don't love about this one! |
| Seriously, she's so pretty, and I love lil Scarlett's hand, too. Such love and joy! |
| Georgia was about done... just in time for us to bundle up and go outside! Fortunately, there were no major meltdowns until we had reached that hour limit. But, I just love the sweetness of this! |
| On a personal note... Since Georgia and Ellen were born (only about 6 weeks apart), Jennie and I have had a TON of "playdates." Every time I leave her house, I wonder if I just had that date for myself or for my girls. Fortunately, I think we all win. It is so refreshing, as a mom, to find another mom that has pretty much the same balance of strictness and mellowness in parenting. All moms need that kind of encouragement from other moms! Anyway, I have gotten to know and love her and her kids pretty well over the last 7-8 months (well, of course, it goes back to when we met in 2007, too!), and that really made this shoot especially fun for me. I can't wait to share the outdoor pictures on Monday! |
Brandi & Josh - Newlyweds |
H ow is 2012 treating you? 2011 was a far better year for us (personally) than 2010, but that may not be saying much since we had a lot of tough stuff going on in 2010. And, in 2011, we were blessed beyond measure with our second daughter Ellen; she brings so much joy to our lives! I will be super tardy on this, but I do intend to share a personal recap of 2011 since I was remiss in posting very much about our personal happenings. Hopefully that post will come before February. ha! You think I am joking?? ;-) Life is full, friends. Claire is turning three in two short weeks, and I decided to go about as crazy as I did for her first birthday party, just because I love to decorate and create (not to mention make that girl happy and excited!). So, I have lots to prepare for! And, then there are the wedding albums that were not under the Christmas deadline... they are now ready to move since Christmas is over (and thus there is not an onslaught of print orders!). Anyway, I know this is far more personal talk than I usually have to start off a blog post that isn't about my family and me, so maybe you can tell by now that it sort of is... You see, Brandi was my roommate during my senior year at Converse College, so we are *like* family in that she is one of only 4 people I have shared a bedroom with for more than a weekend visit (that would include my husband Chris). ha! Other than Chris, she is the only one I remember staying up until all hours chatting about whatever was on our minds and then giggling about it all (okay, Chris doesn't giggle). :-) I digress.
So... Brandi got married about four weeks after I gave birth to Ellen... in South Carolina. Naturally, I couldn't don a beautiful bridesmaids dress and heels when the doctor was telling me to stop walking so much and just lay around the house (hilarious order for a mother of a toddler, too!). So, I couldn't make it to her wedding. And, Brandi was a bit like I was with the whole engagement thing... hers didn't last long and neither did her courtship to her husband, so I had never met the lucky guy (Josh). So, I did what any loving girlfriend that lives far too far away... I bribed her with a photoshoot to get herself... in her gown... with her husband... up to Philadelphia to see us so that we could meet her husband! And, it worked! It was so fun to have them both here, and I could not be more happy that she has found the one her heart loves. It is so obvious (from even the first meeting) that they were meant to be together. What joy! Happy viewing, friends! |
| they laugh a lot, which is perfect really. |
| Brandi wasn't head over heels for her bridal portraits, so we had to get a few of those, naturally. |
| and a few ring shots that they didn't really get on the wedding day... |
| and, to close, one shot where I *tried* to show the snow that was falling. It was flurries, really, so you can just barely see the flakes in Brandi's hair. Oh well. Of course, to South Carolinians, it was enough snow to close a school. haha! Sometimes I really miss The South. ;-) |
Ellen - Seven Month Portraits |
H appy New Year everyone! I know every other photographer on the planet is doing a blog post overviewing 2011, but not this one! I am hanging on to the Christmas spirit by its last thread by just now posting Ellen's seven month portraits, which also happened to be our Christmas portraits of the two girls together. I think you guys will get a kick out of this. Life is a little crazy around the holidays, so finding the time to do these close to the 15th (Ellen was born on May 15) was pretty challenging. But, I made it happen, barely, and of course, Ellen was out of sorts that day. She just popped out her first tooth and was not a fan. So, my sweet, happy baby was not-so-much feeling this shoot. Oh well. Happy viewing, friends!
I did get a smile! And, this one is already in our Christmas frame for the year! |
| the same week, we said good-bye to this "side pony." It was only this long on her left side, so I put it in a ponytail (over 3" long!) and cut it. Poor thing really cried! And, I saw her neck for the first time! She was born with a mullet, folks. ;-) |
| Okay, so this isn't super sharp because I had to try to make her smile by NOT looking thru the camera (and thus I couldn't easily get the focus perfect). I still love it! |
| Ellen so wants to be mobile. She gets pretty low like this and then starts kicking and somehow lifts her butt enough to scoot herself forward just a smidge. It makes me laugh every time! |
| presents! Claire was pretty into Santa (or at least the idea of him) this year, so it was pretty fun! |
| and, then, the shoot was over, but Ellen started doing my favorite thing... grabbing her feet. |
| Paci on the side of her mouth for chomping on, still grabbing her legs... one happy(ier) baby! love her! |
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