Little Ms. R Pageant Session

No matter how often you work with a family or how well you think you know them they always seem to have a way of surprising you! That was very much so the case for Ms. R, even though I was literally there when she was born and have worked with her multiple times since then I was taken back how much of a little fireball she was on our private session together! Without her big brother or father around I got to focus exclusively on this little lady for her Pageant photos and she was such an incredible delight. Her personality is much too old for her age, she is so incredibly well behaved, exceptionally smart, and is just all around funny. The hour we spent playing peekaboo to get these beautiful cheeky smiles was by far the best hour of that day! If this little lady gives the judges in Texas just an ounce of the personality she gave me she's going to knock it out of the park!!!

Little Ms. R's floral headband by the super awesome 100AcreBoutique

Ms. Nadie R

Now that I've got a fancy computer where I can actually see what I'm doing I've been going through lots and lots of old files and I have to toot my own horn a bit and say I'm still amazed at some of my old work! It's so easy to be hypercritical of yourself and compare your work to others but stumbling across galleries like this really make me incredibly proud of my work and even more eager for every shoot I have!  One of my most wonderful and imaginative models to date! I look forward to the day I can work with Ms. Nadia again! 

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!

View fullsize

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!

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!

Alexis Editoral

For those of you who didn't know I had some of my work published sometime last year for an article written by Alexis E. (who is also the model in these photos) about summer hacks/cheap or free ways to have fun! I loved incorporating all the pastel colors & a little bit of both of our styles into this session (& of course working with her is always a treat). I've been dying to share these colorful photos for ages & it was so hard narrowing down which ones I wanted to share!!! I've worked with Alexis on multiple occasions now & I must say how in awe I am at how quickly she can go from being such a serious intense model to such a free spirit! I think she enjoyed running around in the heat hula hopping & eating ice cream just as much as I did!

Baby B Newborn Session

This blog is probably one of the saddest I've ever had to share simply because it means I'm finished with this adorable families session. I don't get to look forward to working on Baby B's newborn photos till the wee hours of the morning (it's 4am as I'm writing the blog so I apologize if I start to ramble) & that's rather depressing. After Mama Bre shared a image of her beautiful friend Amber in the hospital with her newbornI fell in love & silently waited, hoping that she would contact me about shooting her adorable little dude. To my pleasure she got in touch with me the following day & we set up a date!!! As I've said before, I have 10 thousand items for little girls so I scrambled to get some items together for Baby B's session. I colored a few wraps & made a little hat just for his session & now I'm in love with the template & will probably be making 30 more, if I ever get some down time (with summer coming up I don't see that happening!)

I feel like I say this all the time but I'm not exaggerating when I say this little guy almost didn't go home. Baby B was so incredibly handsome & literally slept through just about everything. When he was awake though he was so calm & hardly fussed unless he was hungry. He basically just let me do whatever I needed to do with him & he just silently watched. He also had some of the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen on a baby! My mom came home closer to the end of his session so she got some much needed baby cuddles in & Baby B even marked her just in case he ever needed to find her again, I didn't even receive such an honor!!! Baby B was so easy to work with & I was actually able to do a lot of poses with him that I've never been able to pull off before!

If you can't tell where he gets his good looks from you can check out his gorgeous mother here! Amber radiated beauty even though she had given birth only ten days before & her outward beauty was equally matched with her amazingly sweet & kind personality. She really put me to shame in my messy bun, tank top, & yoga pants!!! This Mama was all around amazing & inspiring to someone who has yet to have children, she handled Baby B & his sister like a pro & was so calm & collective in everything she did. She especially rocked my favorite Nautical Headband from Love Adorn Accessories!

This little guy lucked out with an equally as kind & handsome Papa! Papa Nate spent most the session taking care of their older daughter & making sure she was happy, which she was watching all the kitty cats run around! Nate is also a very talented Tattoo artist so I couldn't pass up the chance to her some photos with him & Baby B

This was one of the hardest 'sneak peeks' I've ever had to come up with simply because I love every image from the session. This family was just so perfect & I'm already looking for an excuse to get them back over to my home studio! Though I only spent a short amount of time with this adorable family it was so easy to tell how much they all cared for one another & how hard they had worked to get to the point they were at now. Baby B is so lucky to not only have a smart & sweet sister like A was but to also have a mother & father who care just as much for each other as they do him!

Blue Knit Blanket - Bailey's Knits - http://baileysknits.bigcartel.com/

Nautical Head Band - Love Adorn Accessories - https://www.etsy.com/shop/LoveAdornAccessories

Gray Bonnet - Boutique De Marcipan - https://www.etsy.com/shop/BoutiqueDeMarcipan

Claire & Doug

Writing a blog is like writing an essay in school, in so many ways... Not just that you have to have an intro, a body, & conclusion, & you have to somehow captivate your audience, but also that I hate to do it. Especially when it's a blog about someone I'm not that fond of. I mean at all.  

Just kidding...

Hey ya'll, it's Doug & Claire Bear! California's don't say ya'll but Claire has been in the south long enough & says it. I was just as excited as everyone else to see that these two got engaged & I patiently waited to be asked to do their photos! If not for their wedding than to at least do their engagement photos! I had awkward encounters with Claire over the last 3 or 4 years, & she's always been someone I know I can text for a good laugh! We have so many stupid stories between one another & I knew that any man willing to put up with her must be some guy! Turns out, I kind of knew the guy! Small world isn't it? Her handsome hubby to be used to skate with my older brother Jonathan & he seriously doesn't look like he's changed in the last ten or so years!

When these two FINALLY contacted me about doing their photos I kindly invited myself to their home & spent the morning playing with their dog, trying to make their cat love me, & oh yeah, taking their photos.

Even though these two photographed beautifully it was hard to compare to Baxtor, who stole the spotlight from his Mama & Papa during out session!

I'm sure you're wondering why a butt picture made the cut... if you weren't before, you are now.

One of the things I've discovered over the last few years is that it doesn't really matter how long two people have been together... when you know you've found the person you want to be with the rest of your life, you know. Just being around these two for a short amount of time would make you think they were a couple that had been together for years. They already know how to make one another so happy & have pretty much pushed all the boundaries in just how weird you can be around one another.  I couldn't think of a more considering or kind man for Claire & I wish them the best with their future together, even though they obviously don't need it.

The only advice I can give to you is to put a limit on how many pets you have... but if one just casually walks up to your door, by all means let it in.