A couple of weeks ago, I met up with this charming family for an evening session at J. Lee Vause Park – side note – LOVE this park!! – and was lucky enough when baby Lennon sat up on his own for the first time. <3

Today was pretty darned awesome. Josh got up with the kids, who all day long were very excited about “Happy Mama’s Day!” although Matthew a few times confused it for my birthday. I took Lindsey out to meet with the effervescent Kate and Lindsey’s self-proclaimed “boyfriend”, Will, who was a little cool toward her today – if they were on Facebook they’d be totally changing their status to “It’s Complicated”.

Anyway, we got together and took some pictures of our beloveds!

Aren’t Kate and Will just gorgeous?

See the rest of the pictures at the fan page.

Afterward, I napped, enjoyed lunch with the husband, played with the kids (and didn’t have to change a single diaper today, score!) and then Josh and I hit up the Marie Livingston’s Steakhouse for hands down the best steak I’ve ever had. Bliss.

The other side of Mother’s Day extends to a mother who fifteen years ago lost her son in an awful car accident. She was the mother of a Matthew, the Matthew for whom my Matthew is named. I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose a child, much less have a reminder of your loss compounded by Mother’s Day so close to the actual day. I think of her every year around this time of year, and hug my Matthew a little tighter and tell my Matthew about her Matthew.

So for everyone who is a mom, wants to be a mom, has a mom, doesn’t have a mom – find a mom in your life and give her a hug. I hope your Sunday was a good one!

I managed to limit myself to only taking a few shots with my fisheye lens

Are they not a beautiful family?

And once Ella warmed up to me (she makes a great assistant, approving all of my shots), she twirled like a ballerina for us:

Thanks for a great shoot! I can’t wait to delve into the rest!

Location: Dorothy B. Oven Park

I met up with Jen of Ecological Babies and her beautiful family today at the Goodwood Museum. Beautiful grounds! Rita Clare is a riot and so adorable in her bow and pretty dress! And every time I see Tyler, I swear he grows new chub rolls. Love those gorgeous eyes! He’s also devious – in this sneak peek, he was methodically headbutting Rita Clare. Hah!

I am the luckiest photographer I know. I was worried when I moved here last year about how I’d start meeting people – I mean, I can’t just go up to pretty babies and ask their moms and dads, “Hi, can I shoot your baby?” I’m glad I never had to do that with Leslee and Dan! You may remember Leslee and Dan from the days before Sarah Beth came along:

And then when Sarah Beth made her appearance (also, see above – she’s on our blog header!):

BUT now you get to see Miss Sarah Beth in all of her beauty – she’s now a ripe old age of three months and is darling with the most gorgeous blue eyes you’ve seen yet. Just a quick one for now:

I love watching babies grow up before my lens – it is undoubtedly the best part of the job. After we were done with the shoot, Dan totally made my day by telling me how much they loved Sarah Beth’s newborn portraits. Thank you so much, Dan, Leslee and Sarah Beth. It’s stuff like this that make me extraordinarily thankful on this Thanksgiving weekend.

I had so much fun with Mia and Bella a couple of weeks ago (before I got slammed with schoolwork, oops). Mia was one of our winners of the Tallahassee Adorable Kiddo contest, and she brought her little sister, Bella, along for the ride. They were absolutely adorable and so agreeable as well! Here are some of my favorites from the shoot. Thanks so much, Melissa & Victor, for letting me spend some time with your girls! (oh, and you two of course

Look at these eyes! I could eat this baby up!

So I have to interject really quickly here with a brief little story. Totally personal, but that’s me.

My grandmother hated being in pictures. Just hated them. Always thought she didn’t look pretty enough for a camera so why waste film on it? Anytime my uncle busted out his old school SLR, she’d shy away. I have precious few photographs of my grandmother and I wish wish wish I had more. I’m in my mid-thirties and I can tell you I never thought she didn’t look good enough to capture her essence on film and keep it intact for my kids to see. They – and I – don’t see her imperfections.

I always try to sneak in a few pictures of both parents – especially Mom. I find that moms are the ones who tend to be behind the camera far too much! So I was delighted to get a picture of Melissa – who is beautiful, don’t you think? – laughing and smiling with Mia. These are the moments Mia will remember when she’s a woman herself – and I am thrilled to have had the privilege to capture them.

I met Lindsey of Mother Rising Birth Services at the Ecological Babies potluck last month and today met with her husband, Matt*, and sweet little boy Gabriel. We met up in the hot sun of an early Tallahassee morning and had a lovely time at Dorothy Oven Park. A quick share for now, more to come later!

*also, kind of amusing – Lindsey and Matt have the same names as my Lindsey and Matt(hew)!

Just a couple of more from a recent session! The overcast day made the geeky photographer in me squee. The kids were just a joy to work with, too!

I had the opportunity to catch some time with Riley and Ryan today, right before a short and quick rain/thunder storm rolled in. Thank goodness too – we’d already rescheduled for today from Saturday when the clouds looked ominous then too. I had a great time following Ryan and Riley around – they were so well behaved and a delight! Here’s your sneak peek – catch you in a week with the rest of your shots. They’re lookin’ good.