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!

Nicole & Drew Anniversary Session

Tennessee has been kind to me with beautiful locations and couples these last few months! After months of talking & waiting for the leaves to change I got to work with the beautiful Ms. Nicole & her handsome boyfriend Drew! These two are celebrating their 4 year anniversary & I was so pleased they chose me to work with them! As little as we spoke before our session, & despite Drew being such a little butt (JK!),  it was amazing how well we got along & how quickly the session seemed to go by! We had so much in common & I think we all spent the whole session laughing! I'm going to have to start thinking of excuses for us to work together again & if you check my galleries out regularly (I mean why wouldn't you?) you can see some of their photos are now up in my portfolio!!!

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

Baby B Newborn Session

I don't know if I'm getting better or these babies are just getting sweeter! I had a postponement on a newborn last week who was still a little jaundiced so I got to play with this handsome boy instead! Mama E was referred to me by another amazing photographer/videographer Husband & wife team that I know & I've been overly giddy waiting for the arrival of her little guy! We had spoken a few months prior & it seemed like the day would never come!  Baby B must have known I was incredibly impatient because he came a few days early & was at the home studio not too long after! Baby was so well behaved & slept through his whole session, however, He did have an exhausting night keeping his mother & father up all night though (lucky me!).  I always gloat about how babies have the best eye lashes (etc) but Baby B skipped over having baby acne completely & had the most perfect complexion I've ever seen!

Baby B was known as Harry Houdini to his parents & I quickly learned why. I'd turn around for a split second & he had somehow managed to free his arms & legs from his wrap, which resulted in me having to wrap him in layers. I was incredibly thankful that when we moved to his 'nakie' photos he was completely content being posed in so many strange ways, as long as his hands were by his face! This little guy looked so handsome in whatever color I put him in it was hard narrowingdown what to use.

I always love meeting new families & after speaking to E for so long it was so nice to put a face to her & her husband. They were so patient with me as I kept them much longer than necessary (I tried to get them to leave without B a few times & just told them to come back in a few years) & came up one of the most unique themes I've gotten to incorporate into a newborn session in a long time. I can't wait for them to see their gallery tomorrow nor can I wait to see all the updates I'll hopefully be getting on B as he grows! A huge thank you to the G family for allowing me to work with your adorable growing family & cuddling your precious son!

Blue Knit Bonnet - Lavender Blossoms - https://www.etsy.com/shop/LavenderBlossoms

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

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 R Cake Smash

Guess who finally turned 1!!!!!!!

Baby R was brought to me when she was just a month old & has once again made a visit to the CMP studio for her butterfly themed cake smash! She was so well behaved even though we got her right around nap time. She just wanted to be with her mama the majority of the morning but was finally able to separate when she was given cake! I was even able to use some of the cutouts I had used for another session a year or so ago, so I suppose my cutout hoarding pays off!

Can you tell when she was starting to get adjudicated with me? All in all she DID enjoy digging her feet into her cake & seeing all the cats & Ozzy running around during our session, even though you might not be able to tell!

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

Baby R 1/2 Year

The fact that I'm doing Baby R's 6 month session makes me super sad because it means he's halfway through the baby plan which means I won't be able to see him as frequently soon!!! Baby R is the epitome of cuteness and style, he's everything I would want in my own son, & his parents are everything that all parents want to be! 

Baby C Family Session

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

As a special Easter treat I have a very special blog that I've been dying to share all week! Last weekend (when it was about 30 degrees out/sleeting) I was finally reunited with the beautiful Baby C & her gorgeous parents! A few days before our session Luisa & Rey had gotten married, which we've all been waiting for them to do forever, so this session was extra special! It was Mom & Pops first time being photographed as a married couple & I was almost as thrilled to do a few photos of them together as I was shooting Baby C (who is now 9 months old!!!) Rey is absolutely crazy about both the women in his life & though most sessions are spent keeping the little one happy these two parents spent a good amount of time exchanging these sickeningly sweet little glances between one another, holding hands, & just being down right adorable. Rey would just sit there & talk about how beautiful C was & compliment her & her mother without even thinking about it. If they hadn't been exactly the same way at our last session I would think that it was just the fact that they were still overly giddy being newly weds but these two have such a strong & inspiring relationship between each other that it was hard to let them go! Had it not been 30 degrees outside with the wind blowing like crazy (again, it started sleeting not long after!) I could have kept them there for hours!

Anyways, here's Baby C rockin her adorable little Easter dress & one of my favorite Pixie Blossom Headbands!

A big thanks to Auntie for coming out & helping & another HUGE congrats to Mama L & Papa R!

Baby A Cake Smash

Who remembers the maternity session I did last winter with the beautiful woman that made my camera/travel bag (Nikolette Bags) WELL! One year later I was finally reunited with this adorable family and was allowed to do the photos for Baby A's birthday! I sadly wasn't able to do his newborn photos, I mean... how dare they live halfway across the continent... so I've been anxiously waiting this day for some time.

Mama Courtney & Papa Dan were in Nashville for a very short time visiting family & they graced me with the presence one cold & windy morning! Apparently every photo session they've ever had was when the weather was awful, our maternity session it was so incredibly cold, it was raining when they had their engagement photos done, and on this day in particular it started sleeting! The cold weather meant I couldn't cuddle on Baby A nearly as much as I wanted to. This handsome little dude was such a happy baby and was so incredibly animated it was hard not to get a good photo of him. He loved interacting with his mama & papa and you could tell he was accustom to having his photos taken all the time.

Though we were all incredibly excited for A's Cake Smash he didn't share our enthusiasm! He got just messy enough to give the illusion that he enjoyed the process! I wish I had as much self control as A!

Even though he was unhappy being covered in icing he loved splashing his feet in the sink, which was probably the cutest thing I've seen in forever, and exploring the sun room where I have my studio set up. He was so happy when he didn't have to look at the cake (I tried to explain to him that it wasn't a real volcano!). Check out Baby A rockin his Dino hat & 'considering' his cake!

Baby T Cake Smash

I've waited four months to share this blog... FOUR MONTHS TOO LONG!!!

My last Cake Smash of the year was with one of the sweetest & most well behaved children that I've ever worked with! I spent months talking with this little ladies mother not knowing that Elizabeth was someone I had known for AGES! (The last name was different and threw me off, don't judge) so it was extra exciting seeing this family after months of talking & years of not seeing one another! Thankfully this chilly weather stayed away for a few weeks & the beginning of December stayed in the 60s for weeks! After blowing up about a hundred (ten) balloons (& somehow not passing out) I met with these beautiful Mama's & this beautiful little lady who arrived in her adorable jammies! None of the photos I had seen of her prior to our session did this adorable little girl justice!!!  Supposedly Baby T never smiled for her daycare photos but was nothing but smiles from the moment she arrived at out session! I tried multiple times to make farting noises with a balloon but couldn't do it to save my life but thankfully it wasn't necessary! Check out this little girl rockin her tutu & giant bow!

Again, most well behaved child! When it was time to walk away from the balloons she dropped everything and went over to her mama's for a quick change & was instantly ready to play again! This sweet girl was so easy to amuse and wanted nothing more than to just play with all the tall grass and her mama's (didn't want anything to do with her parents phone!)

I loved the unique theme Elizabeth picked for Baby T's cake smash and all the vivid colors that came as a result! Baby T loves Balloons (if you couldn't tell) but not as much as she loved her cake!  

One member of my 'cleanup crew' somehow snuck out of the back part of the house and started the process before we could even finish washing Baby T in the sink!

The D Family

I had the privilege to see the D family before Papa Tam was deployed & have finally caught up on all my other blogs so I'm able to FINALLY share these images! I've loved watching this adorable little family grow and was so happy to have them as my first session of the new year! Nashville weather has given us some incredibly cold days but thankfully the sun came out just long enough this day to make an outside session possible! (Baby A let us know when she was getting cold and brought us her sweater to put back on her, it was so cute!) Adrienne and Tam somehow always manage to produce some of the goofiest but cutest couple photos & Baby A has grown into such a little fireball too, I don't know how her mommy and daddy keep up with her! We spent most the session chasing her around and didn't jump in the water.

I'm always so impressed with how sharp this family dresses! They're always incredibly coordinated and ! Now, if only I could get Blake to willingly dress as snazzy as Papa Tam I'd be a happy lady!