J Senior Session

Never have I ever had to sneak around a location so much before in my life but dang was it worth it! About a month ago (almost every blog I write now starts with that!) I shot the beautiful Ms. J who was the a Class A Sneaker. Upon entering said location and before I could even set my bag down we were told we weren’t allowed to shoot there… we found that more of a challenge than anything and spent the next hour using code words to identify employees who’s names we made up (Leslie was the most persistent). It was all well worth the stress though and we managed to create some seriously killer images!!!

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S Family Session

One of the most highly anticipated babies of this year was born a month ago and I feel it’s about time to share a sneak peek into their newborn session! After months of seeing Mama M & Papa D count down the days, showing off that big beautiful belly, and hearing all the sweet stories she’d tell me about Papa D anticipating his first born and his plans for their future, Baby S made her big debut! I was fortunate enough to be able to be a part of such an important event in their life and will never be able to put into words how much I appreciate being in the delivery room with them and being able to impose on their bonding time for newborn photos!

The birth of Baby S was so emotional and her Mama and Papa immediately became pros and acted as if this was their 5th child, parenthood just came so naturally to the both of them.

Watching Papa D in the delivery room would make any woman hate her man and see Mama M after (during and before) giving birth would make you wonder why you bothered trying to put on makeup today. These two are so dedicated to one another, I can’t wait to watch the 4 of them (including Weenie) grow over the next few years and see Baby S’s personality develop and I’m really bad at wrapping things up so if you’re still reading this… enjoy!

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E Fruit Bath

Did you guys know I have a child? Two at that!!! They just so happened to been birthed by another woman and are being raised by said women… Anyways, I love me some Baby E & her big brother G! It’s always such a treat getting to spend time with this adorable family and I try to exploit our time as much as possible!

I’ve been dying for months to do a fruit bath shoot and seeing as we’re creeping into fall I feel like that time was slipping away! Thankfully I had me one of the most precious chunky babies to love on and photography and she loved chewing on her lemons! Her big brother G loved the strawberries and kept picking them out of the water as we were shooting!

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A Maternity Session

Cowboy G

I might regret saying this in 10 years, when I have a little girl reading over all my old blog post, but I've always wanted a boy! Just because I would literally probably go bankrupt buying floral everything and I feel like you have less to worry about with boys. The only good thing about me having a little girl, when the time comes, is that she might have a chance with Mr. G, even though I'm sure his Mama has promised him to a dozen girls already!!! This little fella is notes incredibly smart and is great at acting out the words he hasn't learned yet, like vey detailed acting out, he's an amazing listener, no matter how badly he might not want to listen at the moment, plus I absolutely love his Mama & Papa and could totally deal with them as in-laws!!!! Plus he's just so stinkin handsome!!! This little buckaroo was the first child to break 'Woody' in and I've been dyyyyying to use it in a shoot! I can't wait to see this little guy again when his little sister gets here know he'll be just as enthused with her as he was his rocking horse!!!

O & K Maternity Session

My longest days working, besides weddings, are when we do 'destination locations' but they are by far the best! I'm down for driving two hours every day for the perfect spot, trying to run around said park to find service because GPS takes you to the wrong place, panicking when you can't find each other, seeing your phone is about to die and you have no idea where you are, and seeing that bear in the woods eyeballing you because you look like a tasty snack... all of these things happened on my maternity shoot with Mrs. O & Mrs. K, except the bear thing. Bears know I probably just taste like Cauliflower and coffee, not a great combo to start your day as a bear. 

Mrs. O & K have gone through in vitro fertilization and were at the time expecting a little boy in the following month (Baby O has since been born and looks just like Elvis!) so we were all a little worried about making her endure the hike to our location! She was a trooper though and both K & I couldn't say a thing about being exhausted from the rock climbing and hiking because O was doing it at 8 months pregnant! We were all kind of hoping it would send her into labor so we could all head right to the hospital and we could photograph him making his big debut! Plus this shoot was mid December so we were thinking that they had already hit their deductible for the year so...! O handled the cold so well and still somehow looked so elegant and beautiful during the whole session, I always get so jealous of women who look 10 times better than I do on a normal day 8 months pregnant. K was so helpful helping me get those super flowy dress shots and despite not wanting to be photographed she was also such a great model, and almost sickeningly sweet and caring to her wife! K & O were both so excited about their pregnancy and have worked so hard and done so much to get to where they are! They're already preplanning their next child and I am dying to snuggle their handsome little guy! 

P Family Session

You don't realize just how long two years has been until you see a family you haven't seen in ages and they have one child running around and another who is just starting to sit up (that you had no clue they even had)! Two years ago I had amazing photo session with Baby C, who is now Big Brother C, and his amazing Mama & Papa! Nashville weather, as much as I love it, I hate it all the same. We had to reschedule twice to do rain and sickness caused by allergies, so the third time was definitely the charm! We did however end up finishing right before it started to storm, the storm that brought all this awful Nashville humidity, & I'm so thankful we had such a beautiful and cool morning to shoot! It's definitely not going to be like that again till fall! 

Baby C had such a big personality, she was well beyond her years and such an incredibly happy  baby!!! She was nothing but smiles (& tongue) her whole session and was reaching for her brother every time he was close enough to grab him. Big Brother C was a little ball of fire & despite what the photos might show he wouldn't sit still! There were so many exciting things going on around us, he was such an adventurer and was so incredibly fearless! (Hence why Baby C was reaching for him, she was trying to get him to hold still so she could get home & take a nap!) I don't know how Mama C & Papa R keep up with them!

To see just how much this family has changed check out BB C's 6 month session with me! Still the cutest pumpkin I think I've ever seen!!! http://www.chelseameadowsphotography.com/blog/2015/11/13/fe2dqbzud2e3tsnywfwfd1jvpu7fya

E Family Maternity Session

Talk about a family that's hit the genetic lottery! Some 7 months ago Mrs. E announced she was expecting her second child and I was ecstatic! I knew I just had to buy my time and hopefully I'd be able to see them and though it took till Mama Brittany's 37th week it was well worth the wait! (It also means less time for me to wait till I get to meet Baby S!) Papa Mitchell had contacted me some weeks before our session and we attempted to plan a session for his adorable family in secrecy but it wasn't until Mama B got involved that the whole thing really came together! 

The hardest part of this session was not only trying to decide which of my maternity dresses Mama B would wear (the answer was all of them!) but letting this adorable family leave! Big Sister H was such a cute little ham and you can tell she's used to having her photos taken on a regular basis! Even when the chilly wind would blow H would just throw on the biggest smile as soon as I lifted my camera. She's super excited to meet her little sister and is going to be such a great little helper to her parents! 

Baby P 6 month Session

The first BLOGGED session of 2017 is well deserved to be shown first for the excessive cuteness!

It's crazy how fast 6 months goes by when it's not your child! Somehow it's already been 6 months & little Baby P was extra sweet & cuddly for her 6 month session. She was much happier to see me this time around & had thankfully forgotten how much I disturbed her while she slept during her newborn session! After planning for many weeks trying to work around this sweet princess being sick & Nashville's inconsistent weather we finally caught a lovely day in between the rain & wind to shoot on this awesome families beautiful property! We spent the first part of the morning going through the older girls (who are the best mini mommies) closet & my goodness I've never seen such a wardrobe with such exquisite taste! It was easy to see why mama J had such a hard time deciding between outfits. I can't decide what the best part of this family is. How sweet Ms. P is, how social and easy Mama J & Papa R are to get along with, or just how incredibly awesome the R & G are! The older girls, G & R, always acted like they were so happy to see me & have always so social & well behaved anytime I have met them, in ever setting! I always try & squeeze extra time in between photo taking to frolic with them & catch up on the latest gossip ;) 

Little Miss G & R were also kind enough to watch their baby sister while I snapped a few photos of Mama J & Papa R together! The two newlyweds looked so great together & photographed so well I could have spent another hour with them just taking couple photos, but we just so happened to shoot on super bowl Sunday & that takes precedence over most things! 

Believe it or not the hardest part of this session was getting Ms. P to look at me! There was lots of tasty grass all around to be eaten & having photos taken on game day wasn't exactly what this cutie had in mind! She fell asleep for a portion of the shoot & things became so much easier! You could also tell just how adorable & squishy her cheeks were when they were smushed up against her Mama! 

Though Ms. P is halfway through graduating the baby plan I'm always going to be looking for an excuse to work with these little girls & their awesome mama & papa! I've already recruited the little ladies to model some of my handmade dresses for me soon! I'm starting to try & slow down finishing these photos because I don't know what I'm going to do with myself when I finish!!! 

Deer headband - Dearest Dreams

Red Headband - Pixie Blossoms

Matoka & Jarett Engagment Session

Going on adventures with friends is one of the best parts of being a photographer! As much as I love my many adventures with young Samuel there's just something extra special about going out and sharing in the mischief with equally as awesome people. Matoka & Jarett are always so much fun to be around and I always get some stunning images from all their sessions so when we planned on going to Cummins Falls I thought we would get some drop dead gorgeous images at the waterfall! Well, we got some awesome images but they weren't by the waterfall! None of us had ever been to the area & as beautiful of a drive & walk as it was it was atrocious to navigate. The weather was thankfully beautiful but that just meant the area was packed with people who didn't seem to notice that we were taking pictures. We went out of the way in lots of areas to get photos and not to disturb anyone doing their thing and somehow people still seemed to go out of their way to sit on the same rock or stand in the same area as J & M. The fact that it just so happened to be the one time of year I get sick & I had no voice what so ever didn't help too much! Thankfully Blake was there to make sure everything went as smoothly as possible & I had to use him multiple times to show the two what type of pose I needed them to do. Despite the craziness of the day these two were such good sports & always provide such amazing conversation. They managed to make a crazy day an amazing experience and despite the cluttered setting they still knocked it out of the park! In every photo, posed or not the way they look at each other is the way that all women want their man to look at them (& vice versa). One of the best things from the day was the fact that Matoka was painting her nails as we went, which takes some serious skill!!!

 I can't wait to finish this session up or for their wedding in October!!! 

Jessie & Wes Destination Wedding

As the year comes to an end & I try & catch up with all my blogs I can't help but first share the first of many stylized sessions with one of my old models & her handsome husband! As I say a bit too much, it isn't often that I get the opportunity to shoot for myself, the last time I did was Halloween & the itch hasn't left (thanks for the itch Maya ;D), so when I saw Mrs. Jess was getting married I definitely made some calls & made sure she knew she would be working with me soon! I spent months watching J & W prepare for their wedding online & share sneak peeks of their decorations, attire, etc, & immediately feel in love. I knew I wanted to shoot them before I even knew what I wanted to do.

After weeks of planning & another week of me changing those plans the day finally came for our session! I've never been a morning person but due to sheer excitement I spent the night before waking up every 30 minutes anxiously awaiting the moment I could take the 2 hour car ride to one of the most stunning locations I've ever visited with one of the most amazing couples to shoot some of my best work to date.

I'm notoriously picking days where it's absolutely freezing outside to shoot very important shoots & this day was no exception. Being right by the water, in the shade, & catching every breeze that went by this was by far one of the chillest shoots I've ever done however J & W still managed to look like professional models throughout it all! You can tell just how deeply these two know each other simply by their movement. Every pose & little movement came so naturally to them & they knew what I wanted them to do before I even said it!

Despite all the parkouring we had to do over chilly waters & all the paths we had to navigate this location remains one of the easiest to navigate! (MUCH better than Cummins Falls). I thought Blake & I had it bad carrying camera gear but Jess had it worst wearing flats and having to carry he beautiful dress in between every location. Wes was such a gentleman & helped her every step of the way & they never once complained about being cold (I was doing enough of that!) There was no ledge too steep or no cliff too sketchy for these two!!!

After two hours we finally decided to wrap it up & head home. Jess & Wes having very little sleep themselves fell asleep almost immediately in the back seat & I felt like such a proud parent with her children all snuggled up in the back of the car. I saw in these two beautiful people a young more cool version of Blake & myself. Working with these two was like working with someone you've known all your life & I can't thank them enough for giving us the opportunity to create such magical photos with us!!!

I also want to give a special thanks to my most excellent assistant/dude Blake Smith! I couldn't have done it without you!

This is what I love most about photography. Working with amazing people in a relaxing environment & turning them into the works of art that they are! As many beautiful locations & people as there are in Tennessee there is so much opportunity to capture so much that I'm extending my destination wedding packages to all my wedding clients, old & new! Relive your special day & dress up in your wedding attire, joining me & Blakein a relaxing environment (minus all the hassle & pressure of your big day!) as we frolic through beautiful fields, muddy trails, steep rocks, whatever & where ever it takes to get the perfect location & photos you always dreamed of having!

Q Boys

As fall quickly came to an end I found myself shooting one of the most bittersweet sessions to date. After years of hearing about how wonderful these two little guys were & seeing multiple cell phone photos I finally had the chance to work with N & J, before they moved half way across the country with their parents. They did not disappoint, they were even more handsome in person than in their photos & right away N warmed up to me & showed me his play room as well as other things in his Papa & Nana's house (meanwhile J hid from me & screamed every time I got close!) Once we got to our location though it was a completely different story. While N was more concerned with the most awesome stick that he had found J was definetly a fan of having his photos taken & was such a ham! I ended up getting to carry him around and get lots of kisses, which were very much so appreciated! Check out these handsome little guys & their adorable outfits! Nana A picked out a great theme & location!

Halloween Session with MC

HAPPY HALLOWEEN Y'ALL!!!

It's been ages since I've been able to do a 'stylized' session & ever since I've started making dresses it's all I've wanted to do, so it only seemed fit that I dragged one of my favorite little ghouls to the graveyard with me to frolic. Don't worry, we didn't forget our tooth brushes!  

Normally my sessions last hours, simply because we spend so much time talking and making awful jokes, but somehow Maya & I managed to knock out this spooky session in an hour & a half, even with my knee slappers! I don't think I've met anyone equally as funny or so much like me & I always love working with Maya for this very reason (she also knocks it out of the park every session too but, that's beside the point). I could literally spend all day with this beautiful woman & not get sick of her or her crazy antics!

We spent the better part of the morning drinking (what I thought was) bad coffee from Mc Donald's & glairing at passing cars while we dramatically danced & prayed as we ran through the cemetery. Maya thankfully was carrying enough good juju that we both felt safe. We were accompanied by Jeffery & Jeffery's less important friend who's name I don't remember (who I picked up from Michael's just an hour before our session). Even though Halloween just seemed to slip by my this year but I am so incredibly thankful that I had the opportunity to engage in some level of Spooky before the day passed!

Baby R Cake Smash

Another Baby R graduated from the Baby Plan this month! This pouty lip baby just gets more handsome & is probably the #1 reason I'm so dead set on having a boy when the time comes! (Come on now Blake) I can't think of a better way to start fall than with a session with the most handsome little one year old boy, the most stylish mama, & the most handsome papa! We've had this location planned for more than 6 months & thankfully they had a lovely display out that made an amazing backdrop for our session.

Cake Smashes are probably my most favorite part of the Baby Plan, but they're also the worst because it means I won't get to see my little ones as frequently! Baby R's Beautiful Mama (who I always gloat about how I want to be like whenever I have children) had R's theme picked out early & made the set planning so easy! She knew exactly what she wanted & also made the two blue banners you see in the set, which really made it 10 times better! Looking back now it would have been so boring without them! I normally only share a few photos from the cake smashes but R was just too precious & I couldn't help but showing a ton of them! Baby R was a little grumpy at the last part of the family session & we were thinking for a moment that we were going to have to postpone his cake smash, however, as soon as we brought it out he had a complete attitude change & was willing to tolerate me for the rest of his session! As Papa N cheered him on (in the best 'Dad voice') Baby R kept saying 'Mhhhm' so it must have been a pretty decent cake!

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Baby R Cake Smash

So I think it's safe to say that it's time for the DW family to have another baby because, not only are both their children so incredibly perfect but Baby R just graduated the baby plan!!! I had the privilege to see this little lady come into the world, to hold her when she was only a few hours old, & now to see her crawling around with so much personality... I don't know how you parents do it! I get emotional just thinking about it...

Baby R & her awesome family came to visit me for like the 10th time the other week & we had such fun splashing in the water & causing mayhem! I've never had such a relaxed session nor have I seen children so well behaved when there were so many things to get into! We almost had a little accident where R almost fell in the water but Papa K was thankfully there to catch her! I think Mama T & I both screamed...

Can you guess this little ladies Cake Smash theme?

Can you tell M & R are related? They look identical!!! M was soooo good while R ate her cake! He waited for his turn to steal some of the delicious blue icing from her & even let him mama have some! I'll tell you, doing cake smashes on a diet is one of the hardest things I've done... never have I ever had to resist the urge to clean out the icing container while making this cake as I did that night!

T Family Session

Last weeks family came all the way from Ohio!

Ms. A contacted me late last week & we were able to manage a quick and precious 'family reunion' session! Her sister, little doe-eyed brother, parents, & fiance accompanied me on one of the warmest mornings of August & I couldn't be happier with the images! I had only originally had the pleasure of knowing A through in passing & through the grape vine so it was such a pleasure actually getting to spend a little time with her (& who I'm going to now have to recruit to model for me whenever she's available!) & I am so grateful her family gave me the opportunity to work with them during their very short stay in Nashville!

K Senior Session

What do you do when you're given the opportunity to work with an incredibly gorgeous, kind, and funny young lady? You make her work with you for two hours.

After weeks of talking with Ms. K's mother the day finally arrived where I would get to meet these beautiful ladies! Though these two are not Nashville natives they were able to introduce me to multiple amazing locations downtown , and though I normally avoid downtown like the plague (fear of crowds) it was well worth the trip! I feel like had K and myself been in high school at the same time she would definitely be a girl I would have wanted to be friends with. She was so kind, smart, but more importantly incredibly funny, and seemed to understand all my sporadic hand motions and directions, even though I didn't know what I was doing half the time! Ms. K was so incredibly classy it only seemed appropriate to incorporate the beautiful architecture of Union Station into her session! It was incredibly hard to narrow down my personal favorites and it's going to be even harder trying not to incorporate all of her photos into my galleries!
 

Baby P Newborn Session

One of the many wonderful things about living in Nashville is that everywhere you go you can find gorgeous scenery (& it's home to some of the most amazing people!!!). One of the downfalls to living in the area is that the summers can be unbearable!!! However, the weather was just slightly less unbearable than normal the day I got to work with the adorable Baby P & her family! After my long line of boys I've finally had some beautiful girls to work with & I must say the sessions have gotten a bit out of hand! I've probably stripped my prop stash & have attempted to use every little item I own on the ladies I've had the pleasures of working with recently!

Baby P was born on 7.12 at 7:12 & the day I got to work with her she weighed 7lbs 12oz! I had the best little assistants & Mom & Dad had the two best helpers I think anyone could ever ask for! Sister G & R were such good little mommies & were so well behaved our session. They were so polite, kind, & such good listeners, which is all I could ever hope my children to be. Everything came so naturally to the soon to be husband & wife (& they all photographed so darn well) I couldn't stop taking photos!

Little Ms. P Slept through the first half of her session, the miserable outside part, but barely slept once indoors. There were too many exciting things going on! Despite all my little baby tricks this little lady definitely did not like being naked or sleeping on all my soft furs, even if she was tightly wrapped up, however I still managed to get some pretty awesome shots in between feedings!

I'm so thrilled this little lady is now enrolled in the my Baby Plan because now I'll be able to see her & her family multiple times over the next year, not including their Aunt C's wedding in just a few months!

Baby C 6 Month Session

It just so happens that most of my babies on 'The Baby Plan' this year are all going to be graduating about the same time!!! It makes me so sad to see all these sweet squishy little babies that first came to visit me less than 2 weeks old growing up so quickly! They're all developing such wonderful personalities thoughand are just as much fun to work with the older they get!

Baby C and her beautiful mama came to visit me for her dreamy 6 month session the other week and I'm still in awe of how adorable this matching Mama and daughter were! I caught C right before she started cutting teeth so she was so laid back and sweet her whole session but wouldn't stop chewing on her hands!

Becca & Brad Maternity