the h family | family session

I was so glad to finally get to shoot this family's session! We've been talking about it for almost a year, and trying to pin down a date for nearly six months! Let me tell ya, this is one busy family!

We met at 7 a.m. at Jetton Park in Huntersville since the sun rises so early during the summer. The morning was beautiful, but that lovely NC humidity was already pretty strong, even that early.

We got started with some gorgeous, glowy light on the beachy area. I love the way Marc is looking at Johane in this picture! You can just see that he is totally smitten.

Julia was playing at the edge of the lake while I was snapping the pictures of her parents, and I couldn't resist catching her unawares.

I tend to prefer less "camera aware" pictures, but this one is still one of my favorites from the session. As Julia gets ready for middle school, and all that that entails, it is lovely to capture this mother/daughter connection as it stands at the end of elementary school.

Marc was so affectionate with his wife and his daughter, and every time I turned around I'd catch little moments like these. Just makes me happy. :-)

This is another one of my favorites. Who can't help but smile on a swing?

And here's the winner for the family portrait! I can't wait to see how it looks on the 16x20 canvas that they printed it on.

Oh, and Marc and Johane? You better hang on to your hats, because this girl is a stunner. Seriously, just beautiful. (And does anyone else see the resemblence with a certain Glee star?)

Thank you for the chance to spend a great morning with you all!

the k family | family session

Jen and I have been talking for a few months trying to get our calendars to mesh for a family session, and I think it was worth the wait! What a gorgeous family! The clothes that Jen picked were so classic and timeless, the weather was warm but with a gentle breeze, and the light? Oh, the light was just perfect. That wonderful, glowy, golden time of the day that we photographers like to call "the golden hour."

We met at Stutts Marina which gave us lots of places to put together family poses, but also a great place for the kids to play and be themselves. There was a family of mallard ducks that particularly caught the kids' imagination!

Henry, Maddie and Eva were such a delight to work with, each with such different personalities. Henry is all boy, and loved chasing the ducks, picking up rocks and then throwing them in the lake, and did a great job of corralling his little sisters. Maddie is a very girly girl who at first preferred her sister's ruffles and bows until I pointed out that her little sister's outfit wasn't nearly as good for twirling as hers! And Eva? Well, she's one! And she has places to go, things to see, and no time to be sitting still for pictures, thank you very much!

We had a lot of fun together and I hope that I captured your family's dynamic the way you live it!

kelly | lifestyle session

Kelly's mom has been asking for a current picture for several years now (apparently the one from college is a little out-of-date?), so she decided to surprise her with some new portraits this summer.

After running behind toddlers, making goofy faces and noises for babies, and soothing newborns, it was a refreshing change to photograph someone who is not only open to instruction, but is also absolutely beautiful!

She wanted her photos to reflect her new lake-front lifestyle, so we headed to Stutts Marina which offers beautiful views of the lake, docks, and ginormous old trees.

Kelly was so natural in front of my camera, and even laughed at my stupid jokes (which tend to be geared for the elementary-age set...).

I hope that she enjoyed herself enough to not wait so long before getting new pictures taken! Girls as pretty as her should be in front of a camera all the time!