Crafty Photographer...

As many of you know, I love to play in arts & crafts.  I think I get this from my mother...as long as I can remember she was always learning how to make something, whether it be the old folk art hand painted wooden statue things (remember those), or the shirts with the large fabric iron on things that you painted on (I remember the Christmas ones were all the demand), or making hand made Christmas tree ornaments.  She had some sort of crafty project in the works all the time and always allowed me to help.  I have always made things for people (baby showers, wedding showers, etc.) because I believe it is more personal than just going to the store and buying something.  It shows that you care, not only to spend the money on something, but to take the time out of your busy life to hand make something for someone.  Another added bonus is that I can usually make something for a 1/4-1/2 the price you could buy it for someplace else, so that usually makes for a bigger gift, lol. 

Since I have started taking photographs, I am obsessed with props!  Especially the little cutesy stuff for babies!  Well, if you haven't checked out the prices on this stuff lately... they will absolutely $20-$30 you to death on all these little headbands (I do love the one I ordered from Etsy though!), tutus, etc., etc. I had a baby girl session coming up (8/6/11) that I needed some things for.  I had specific images in my head that I wanted to create, but needed some little props to make them happen.  Well in my world (of not doing this full time, plus just getting started) I did not want to spend like $100 on some headbands, etc. for pics.  In my brain, that calculates out to be like 1.5 backdrops that I could order, or an antique piece of furniture to use... see how my mind works...lol.  I am just too thrifty to allow myself to pay $ to someone for something that I know I can make... bottom line.

So begun the hunt through local craft stores for what I wanted to use.  (Which BTW, they are selling tons of stuff that make it really easy to make your own baby headbands now... and you do not have to be a crafty person.  Just equip yourself, with some glue and a few supplies and take off.)  For yesterday's sessions I ended up making one hat, one headband, and two crowns.  I could not be more pleased with how they photographed (of course it helped that I had an absolutely gorgeous baby girl to model them!)  Here is the very best part... I spent less than $20 on all 4 pieces... that's a bargain in my book any day! 

Please check them out below :-)

The Hat

  I have always LOVED peacock feathers!  See it in action in the next photo :-)

The Headband

I always love purple on little girls... and it something different than PINK, lol.  It looked sooo cute on!

The Crowns

I follow alot of prop places and photographer pages on FB.  I recently discovered Crowned Embellishments page on there and had an epiphany!  I was like "I can so make that!"

I really love these because every little girl deserves to be a princess... at least for a day!

The smaller crown.

The larger crown.

I can't wait to get to make some more things!

Reyer Family 7/23/11

Remember back a few months ago when I did the free session giveaway on FB?  Well, this is the family that won!  These children were such a joy to be around and photograph!  I've been wanting to try a session in our driveway, so we gave it a shot!  They were troopers!  It was hot (already at 8:30 a.m.) and they had to trek through some bushes and deal with alot of bugs.  We live on the Tennessee River out in the woods, literally!  Our driveway looks like you are heading out into the middle of nowhere.  It's all natural, very overgrown, but I was extremely pleased with how this session turned out.  I'm going to have to do some more sessions there. :-) Shane & Stefanie, you have beautiful babies and they did wonderful!  I hope they had fun and the experience wasn't too bad for them!  Enjoy these pics from their session!

Miss Lacey!

This young lady has stunning blue eyes... ahhhh!

Little Micah!

Women would kill for those eyelashes!

Nathan :-)

Such a little cutie!

I remember thinking this Bamboo was the coolest thing when I was little and would go visit my grandparents. :-) Love the way it turned out!

This one makes me smile :-) One of my fav pics that I've taken so far!

An example of a Storyboard, the possibilites with these are endless.

Sweet kids!

Thanks to everyone for liking my page and participating in the contest.  I will have more in the future! 

Loving this giveaway by Oh so Posh Photography!

@Oh So Posh Photography is giving away the amazing Bohemian Symphony Collection to 3 lucky winners! Go enter to win! http://www.ohsoposhphotography.com/blog

I ain't never had too much fun"

So, my friend from High School and I decided to take a little road trip over the long weekend...  I have family in South Georgia that I have been wanting to visit for awhile, but it just never quite worked out where we could go.  She needed to get away, and I'm always down for a trip!  We haven't had "girl time" in quite awhile, so it was overdue. 

We left out last Friday (7/1/11) around 5-6 p.m. and made the entire 9 hour trip that night, which put us arriving there sometime around 3:30 a.m. Saturday.  Whew!

We slept for a few hours, got up, went and got manis/pedis and went to the beach (if you can call it that on St. Simon's.)  Later that night, we decided to go out.  My little cousin got off work around 9:30, so we headed to the island to do the tourist thing.  Haha.  It was a crazy fun night, that resulted in us on the beach after 2 a.m., and back tot he house after 5 a.m., among other things.  I should have known we were too old to try to hang with a 22 year old, but that didn't stop us from trying. :-)

Remember that country song "I ain't never had too much fun"?  Well, I think we definitely did, and paid for it all day Sunday, it was worth it though. LOL.

We spent the last few days of the trip, in a little more laid back approach, family time, beach time, and watching the fireworks over the river. 

All in all, I had a great time and I hope Becca did too.  I just love South Georgia!  I spent a Summer there co-oping at the GP plant while I was in college.  The Spanish moss in those big ol' Oak trees just warms my heart!  It is truly a beautiful area. 

Of course, we had to play with pictures while we were there, so I'll end this post with those. Enjoy!

The marsh

Trees at St. Simon's Park

My little cousin, Chrystal

 

Becca, known this girl since before Kindergarten.

Fun times!

I have more pictures on FB :-)

"Every good and perfect gift is from above..."

OK, so to make a long story short, Beth (a good friend of ours) found out she was pregnant with their first child last Fall.  She went for her first ultrasound and got a surprise she wasn't expecting.  They discovered a large tumor in her abdomen.  After further tests they realized that it was very large (about the size of a watermelon) and that it needed to come out ASAP.  With her being so early in her pregnancy, the Dr's wanted to wait until she was further along (around 12 weeks) to remove it. 

These were taken the weekend before Beth went in for surgery...

At approximately 12 weeks into her pregnancy, Beth went in to have her tumor removed.  It turned out to actually be her ovary and was the size of a large pumpkin.  To put that into perspective, from the day she went into the hospital to the day she got to come home, she lost over 19 lbs. Everything went great, and baby Jack was still safe and cooking away in his mamma's womb. ;-)

Below are some of Beth's maternity pictures.  She wanted some that showed her "battle wound" as she referred to it. 



Through it all, Beth's faith never faltered.  Her positive attitude about the entire situation left me in aw.  I would have been a nervous wreck (and believe me I was for her)... going through all the "What ifs?" in my head over and over.  But this incredible woman never let it get her down, and if it did, she never let it show.  About six months later, Jack was born.  A beautiful, healthy baby boy!  So you see, this little man is a miracle in so many ways!  Not only did he save his Mommy's life by leading them to the tumor, he's already survived a major, MAJOR surgery before he even got here. 

What an angel!

What a beautiful family!  Congratulations Beth & Jimmie!  I can't wait to watch this little guy grow up!  Jack is so blessed to have such wonderful parents!  Love you guys!

~Heather

Sweet Sweet Baby - Jackson Eli Letson - Welcomed to this world on May 31 , 2011

Ok so, I just have to add a few of this little guy right now... He is such a MIRACLE in more ways than one. Jack already holds a very special place in my heart and I pretty much think he's the prettiest baby ever, but I'm also kinda partial ;-) Enjoy these for now, and I will post his and his beautiful mommies story later...

And my favorite ;-)

and yes... I was a nervous wreck positioning him for this one... but it was soooo worth it!

With his Daddy's baby blanket...

Brown Maternity Session Saturday June 11, 2011 Moulton, AL

I had the honor of photographing this beautiful couple (Keith & Shalana) this past Saturday, and well... what can I say, I've had a really hard time picking through their photos for the ones I wanted to edit because they are all so wonderful.  I mean really, these guys apparently do not take bad pics!  I had a great time with them (even though by the time we were finishing up we were about to melt in this Alabama Summer heat, but hey, you would never know from their photos!) 
Shalana is 9 months pregnant!  That's right, she is due in about a week or so!  You would never guess by looking at her though, this gorgeous Mommy is ALL belly!  This couple was so sweet!  It's wonderful to see that much love still present for one another  after 10 years of marriage.  I look forward to seeing what their sweet baby girl, Kennedy Isabella Brown (lovin' that name), looks like.  With parents like these, there's no doubt she will be a stunner!  Congratulations Mom & Dad, and Shalana may you be blessed with an easy delivery!  Thank you for allowing me to capture this special time in your lives! 

Enjoy!