{Project 52, Week 8} |Fulton/Montgomery Lifestyle Photographer

The theme for week 8 in this 52 week project is ‘Windows and Doors’. Well, in the beginning of February in Upstate NY, there is not much that could make me open the door for longer than it took to get in or out of it. (Cause it’s friggin’ COLD here just in case you didn’t know.) Also? All the windows are generally plastic-covered this time of year, which makes pretty light a little difficult. Instead of finding a church with beautiful stained glass, or a storefront to shoot into, I chose to use a big window in a SUPER fun way! I used it to show off a beautiful belly full of impending life! ♥

As always, if you want to play along, please click here, and if you like what you see, Share me with your friends!!

Posted in 2011, Fulton County, maternity, Project 52, winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

{Project 52, Week 7} |Fulton/Montgomery Lifestyle Photographer

As I’ve mentioned before, you can find (and follow) our 52-week group on facebook here. The theme for week 7 was love, which, once again, can be interpreted so many different ways. For week 7, I used a picture from a maternity session that I had that week; one of the Momma-to-be and her sweet 3 year old girl. ♥ There is just something so special about the bond between mothers and daughters. It is something that can not be explained, but is palpable in the air and so amazing to see. ♥

“A daughter is a miracle that never ceases to be miraculous…full of beauty and forever beautiful…loving and caring and truly amazing.” — Deanna Beisser

Posted in 2011, children, Fulton County, maternity, Project 52, winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

{Project 52 Week 6} | Fulton/Montgomery County Lifestyle Photography

The theme for week six on my (newest) journey through the year in pictures was bokah. If you’re not a photo nerd nut like I am, you might not be familiar with that term, and you might be sitting there all ‘what the hell is this crazy woman talking about?’. (Well, to be honest, you might be doing that anyway). Ahem. Anywho…back on topic.

Bokah.

Bokah is that beautiful fuzzy background on a crisp, clear picture. I have a picture from last year to use as an example, but since it was last year, I didn’t wanna use it for this new project.

Ok, the greens and yellows you see behind these flowers? Yeah, that’s bokah. Still, even with that explanation, this theme could be taken a few different ways….like the way I interpreted it…Bokah Dots! ♥ At Christmas time I had a blast shooting everyone’s christmas trees for Bokah dots, and these come from the light show at a Pink Floyd cover band my husband and I went to see. They rocked. For real! (There will be a whole separate post about that to come, promise!) Anyway, here are my week 6 captures. Click to see the picture larger and enjoy! ♥

Posted in 2011, Fulton County, music, Project 52, winter | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

{2190 Days}

Six years is a long time. Of course, on it’s own, six is not a very large number. Sure, it’s more than half of ten, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not really very many. However, when you say, for example, 72 months, or 312 weeks, or 2190 days, or, well, you get my drift right? Well, it sounds longer. Anyway…6 years isn’t very long….unless you’re talking about the life of a child. In 6 years a child goes from completely helpless in pretty much every respect, to an independent, brilliant, thoughtful, creative little person.

It doesn’t seem possible that six whole years ago at just this time, I was at the hospital with my husband (then boyfriend), about to give birth to a big-ole’ surprise. We did not find out what it was; it seemed more fun to me to have a surprise. (also, that way I didn’t wind up with a whole lot of pink)

Ahem. Back on subject.

We only spent 3 hours at the hospital before our strong willed girl was ready for the world. Oh, but was the world ready for her?! (Sometimes I still wonder that!) Miss Amazing was born at 11:30 pm on February 15th; exactly 30 minutes before my due date, and from that moment, she had my heart. In working on this post, I have been sorting pictures all day long; some bringing back funny memories, some making me want to cry, but all of them gave me an overwhelming sense of joy. In my daughter, I see myself, but a more fiery version. She has wit and a tendency toward sarcasm, and is a completely honest soul with no tolerance for injustice. No matter the consequences.

I am continually in awe of her, and the journey we’ve taken together in the last 2190 days. The moment Miss Amazing came into this world is one I will likely never forget. She was beautiful and perfect, and immediately I loved her so much more than I’d ever expected I could love anyone. She stole my heart, and the two of us began to grow together. In every stage of her life there have been a million things that I love about her, and the core of those things have never changed.

Her tenacity, her flair, her affinity for dresses, her delight in all things pink, her desire to always see good win in the end.

Some of these traits are her own, and some of them, I know come from various parts of our family, but she has wrapped it up in a pretty pink package and made it her own. Amelia-mazing was her super hero name as an infant, and she has more than grown into it as she continues to bloom. Miss Amazing astounds even me, and I truly feel blessed to call her my girl, and know that where she leads, I will continue to follow; where ever her pretty pink trail leads us.

Happy Sixth Birthday, Amelia Mae; I am so lucky to have the privilege to watch you continue to grow and bloom and spread around your belief in the happy endings. ♥

Posted in 2011, birthday, children, Fulton County, rambles, thoughts, winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

{Project 52 Week 5} | Fulton/Montgomery County Lifestyle Photography

So, as usual, I start these projects, and I keep up with them on my facebook fan page (found here), but for some reason, I constantly fall behind on the blogging end of things! Not this year though! I am going to get caught up and stay that way, damn it!

Ahem! Ok, back on the topic I should be on here. Week 5

The theme for week 5 with my 52 weeks of photography club (which you can find here) is ‘Weather’. Yet another super-broad theme, but it worked well for me, since last week we got a butt-load of snow! So here, without further delay (or links) are my week 5 pictures. Enjoy, and come join us on the 52 weeks of photography page. It’s super fun, and you’ll learn something, and more than likely, you’ll capture something beautiful!

Posted in 2011, Fulton County, Project 52, random, scenery, winter | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

{The littlest birds…} | Fulton/Montgomery Newborn/Family Photography

So, yesterday I had one of my most…ahem….challenging sessions to date. I guess though, to explain yesterday, I should go back a few months. A few months ago my new friend Kelli called me up wondering about gift certificates from Saratography. Well, of course I told her a big-fat-emphatic YES, and when I found out what the gift certificate was for, well, I almost fell over with excitement. You see, it was going to be a baby shower gift for a friend of hers, and I just ADORE newborn shoots! Like, super-squishy-heart LOVE them.

Anyway, so back to my challenging session yesterday. Now, it goes without saying that babies are a great many super-sweet things, but one thing they are not is predictable. Not in the least, in fact. Thus was the case yesterday. Now, the Momma and I scheduled the shoot to fall about 30 minutes into nap time, so that, in theory, the little babe would be sleeping her little head off, but, as we all know with little tiny babies, you listen to them and not the other way around. With that idea in her pretty little head, Miss M. decided instead to refuse to let go of her paci, cry, and not sleep outside of her Momma’s arms during the entire session! (Doh!) Even with that though, this sweet girl was just a beauty, not to mention that her super-smart and handsome big brother kept me entertained the ENTIRE time! ♥

I came home yesterday after the session a little worried, I’m not going to lie. I was afraid that I hadn’t gotten what I was going for, but once I put those pictures on my computer, I couldn’t help but grin super-big! These little ones are just absolutely gorgeous, and you’d never know from the pictures that sweet little Miss M. spent the better part of our time together in tears. Still, I had to leave the pictures untouched until after dinner, because, you know….my own kids occasionally like to eat as well. While I was working on that, my mind still on the pictures I’d still only just glanced at, I caught this awesome song on pandora, and while I don’t usually do this, I’m going to encourage everyone to check out The Be Good Tanyas song Littlest Birds. It is fast becoming a new favorite of mine, and I couldn’t stop humming it while I was editing these pictures last night.

To see the pictures bigger, just click on them and they will enlarge. Enjoy!

Well it’s times like these I feel so small and wild

Like the ramblin’ footsteps of a wanderin’ child

And I’m lonesome as a lonesome whippoorwill

Singin these blues with a warble and a trill

But I’m not too blue to fly,

No I’m not too blue to fly cause

The littlest birds sing the prettiest songs,

The littlest birds sing the prettiest songs…

Well I love you so dearly,

I love you so fearlessly….

….The littlest birds sing the prettiest songs. ♥

Posted in 2011, children, Fulton County, infants, newborn, Portraits, winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

{Project 52 week 4}|Fulton/Montgomery County Lifestyle Photography

So, if you’ve been following along here at my blog, of if you’ve gone here, you know all about the 52 Weeks of Photography club, but just in case this is your first time here, I’ll sum it up quickly. Each week there is a new theme, announced Monday-ish, and a list posted in the notes, and you just have to capture a picture that fits the theme. Simple, no?

Anyway, week 4 centered around ‘texture’. Texture can be construed a lot of ways, let me tell you. There is, for example, the texture of a super-worn blanket, or well loved stuffed animal. There is the texture of ice and snow in the winter, and then there is textured art like my oldest human likes to make; Paper glued on paper glued on paper, then repeat. Yes, for real.

For this week’s capture, I chose some outdoor texture; there is the downy-looking texture of the blooms that are still left on this long-dead plant, and there is the texture of the snow all over it, and the texture of the pointy empty flower pods, as well as the beautiful bokah that is the background. As a photographer, I can safely say I ♥ textures!

Posted in 2011, Fulton County, Project 52, random, scenery, winter | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

{Project 52; week 3} |Fulton/Montgomery County Lifestyle Photography

Week 3 brought about a theme that I more or less covered in week 2; Favorite snack. (Please keep in mind, you can follow/play along by going here ) For this week, there were SO MANY different things that applied; chips and salsa, fried chicken, green olives, and SO many others! Instead, I stuck with a tried and true favorite; my big-fat-giant cup and some coffee. <3 The best snack around, in my book. Any time, day or night, I could not say that I don't want coffee.

Posted in 2011, food, Fulton County, Project 52, random, winter | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

{Project 52, Week 2} | Fulton/Montgomery County Lifestyle Photography

It’s time for the second week’s worth of Project 52 pictures. (Remember, you can get in on the fun any time by joining us here ) This week’s theme was ‘white’, and here in the North East, that shouldn’t be a problem in January; right? This year though, you’d be wrong. Up until just this past week, we didn’t have much snow, and what we DID have was pretty brown and slushy and gross from the sand and salt. Because of that, I started thinking outside of my normal little snow-covered box. I started brainstorming and came up with a few alternatives to the ‘white’ of the snow, and after working through marshmellows (we ran out) and my white robe (which is really more gray now, since I have 2 small humans around), I finally thought of a real solution to this problem.

Milk and Oreos.

See? I told you, (or if I didn’t, I should have, I guess) I’m occasionally brilliant. So, here are my week two photos; double stuffed oreos and creamy, delicious milk!

Posted in 2011, food, Fulton County, Project 52, random, winter | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

{The World’s Newest Blessing| Baby L.} | Fulton County Newborn Photography

A few weeks ago I got a message from an old, dear friend. She had just (JUST) had a sweet new baby, and was looking to capture some beautiful, special moments of her new son’s life. Yesterday we finally had the chance to get together, and as I drove up to her home, it was the most wonderful sense of going back in time. I could not even begin to count the number of times I traveled up those roads as a child, then as a teenager, and though it’s been years since we’ve seen each other and really had a chance to visit, I can say honestly it was as if no time had passed. I feel so blessed to be able to capture these precious moments for her new, beautiful family.

To see Laura and Sean with their sweet, gorgeous son was such a wonderful thing, and to say that sweet little *L* has them completely wrapped around his tiny (and super long) little fingers is a total understatement. This little man has THE life. He has a wonderful family filled with love, and a beautiful home full of memories and family history, and most importantly, he has parents who utterly adore him.

Congratulations Pehrsson Family; you are SO blessed! I can’t wait to capture your sweet boy as he grows and changes, and your family as it continues to grow in love.

((To view the pictures larger, simply click on the image. Enjoy!))

“If I have a monument in this world, it is my son.” -Maya Angelou

“Babies are always more trouble than you thought…and more wonderful.” -Charles Osgood

“A baby is born with a need to be loved…and never outgrows it.” -Frank A. Clark

“A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.” -Anonymous

“There was a never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

“People who say they sleep like a baby usually don’t have one.” -Leo J. Burke

“A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on.” -Carl Sandburg

Posted in 2011, children, Fulton County, infants, newborn, Portraits, winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment