Maternity at it's Finest

One of my favorite maternity sessions to date...the pure beauty in all of the expressions is just priceless. I love everything about every single one of these photos and I will let them speak for themselves...Thank you Erica, Baron, and Velora for letting me capture such a special time in your journey! I can't wait to meet baby number 2! 

Sydney is ONE!

I met this precious baby girl a year ago when I first started photographing her during her newborn session. That session was smooth sailing and she slept the entire time without a peep allowing me to capture the most amazing newborn photos! Since then, she doesn't tend to love the camera and it takes lots of singing, tickling, getting older brothers to help out to make her smile. We about called it quits this session but then managed to capture some adorable photos of her smiling at the very end. However, when the cake came out, she was DONE! Her momma is so patient and one of the kindest people I know who has allowed me to work with her sweet baby girl for this past year without giving up on me! Here are a few of my favorites from her one year session...

A Disney tribute to my mother-in-law...

I don't usually like to post personal photos on this blog however, this post is an exception as I want to give a shout out to my amazingly strong and determined mother-in-law. She found out a little over a year ago that she had breast cancer and she immediately began aggressive treatment. She's a hair dresser and works in her own salon as well as teaches at a community college so when she lost her hair it was a pretty difficult experience that I can't even begin to imagine. Her hair is her staple. Recently, she has enough hair back that she's comfortable not wearing a wig anymore and although she doesn't love it, I think she looks amazing and is glowing. We're so thankful for her life and being able to celebrate that she is cancer free. We went to Disney World with her to celebrate and the last night there we enjoyed the Polynesian Luau which was a perfect ending to a perfect vacation. 

Here is a photo of my husband and his mother with smiles of thankfulness. 

 Here are a couple photos of me and my family...so much to be thankful for.

SeniorBeauty

I love taking senior photos as I get to use lots of creativity and don't have the short time frame that I normally do with toddlers and infants. Seniors usually enjoy their sessions and have lots of fun getting to show their personalities. Sometimes they bring their parents, sometimes they bring a friend, sometimes they like to have their sessions with just me. Whatever their preference, I try to make them as comfortable as I can and take my time so they know my goal is to capture their true personality through a lens. I have several seniors coming up this summer and I'm super excited to work with these young adults. They all have so much to look forward to with their entire lives ahead of them. I love seeing the excitement on their faces as they get ready to close the high school chapter. 

This gorgeous young lady plays lacrosse for Ravenwood so her schedule is super busy and we finally found a nice weekend to take her photos. She brought along her mother and a friend for support and I loved seeing her beautiful smile shine. She is beautiful on the inside and out and I can't wait to see what she will accomplish! Thanks so much Mariah for letting me capture these gorgeous photos of you! You are bound for great things and I can't wait to hear about your successes! 

Family: The Higgs

This precious family of mostly boys lives around the corner from me and their daddy works with my husband. They have the prettiest blue eyes that sparkle and pop every time I photograph them and I just loved how these pics turned out! It was Cole's 9 month pics and you can tell he just adores his big brothers and the attention they give him. I really enjoyed seeing their beautiful smiles on such a gorgeous spring day! Such a pure joy! 

Toddler: Little Vel

This cutie is my stunning niece. I can sincerely say she's one of the most beautiful babies and now toddlers who I have ever seen! She doesn't get to see me very often and we have to start over getting her used to me every time, so this session she and her mommy (and nanny) came to visit for a long weekend of shopping and photos. We thought it was going to rain, so we weren't sure when we would squeeze in a session outdoors, but luckily it didn't rain us out. Her mamma is expecting her second child and didn't know the gender yet. We took photos for both boy and girl gender reveal so she could use either one when she did find out. Her appointment was the Friday after she left my house and she posted the below pic to reveal it's a boy! We're all over the moon for them and can't wait to meet baby boy Hall. 

I wanted to do something unique for the reveal as most of the balloon, lollypop, painting type pics are overdone. I came up with the umbrella idea although I didn't realize it would be tough for Vel to hold up the umbrella! Either way with her Hunter rain boots and little umbrellas, I thought they were adorable! 

 Spring had just arrived and the trees were in full bloom of gorgeous flowers all over! 

9 Months: Baby Sydney

I have been photographing this little princess since she was born and we are on her 9 month pics already! Time has flown by this past year and I can't believe she's already almost a year now that I'm posting this. Her mamma is a friend of mine and owns an AMAZING cooking company, Summers Sweet Shoppe. She makes custom cookies which not only look amazing but they also taste amazing! I will post some pics of her work to follow. Little Sydney makes me work pretty darn hard for a smile and usually we have a tough time getting our sessions timed around naps, pre-school pick-up, etc to get her on her best time of the day. Finally during her 9 month session we were able to capture a few smiling images and I believe we will be on a roll from here on out! I'm already planning some ideas for her one year shoot! I can't wait! 

Newborn: Baby Ryan

This little darling's mamma is a friend of mine and his daddy works with my husband, so it was a no brainer for me to do their newborn pics for their baby gift! I spent about 4 hours "playing" with him. He slept the entire time and let me do lots of prop changes without any fuss. His big sister isn't too sure about his presence, but she let me capture a few images with her and they turned out adorable! His mamma loves the Beaufort Bonnet Company and she has a collection of lots of their adorable items. They make clothing, bonnets, swaddles, swim suits, towels, etc. Everything they make is with a southern flare and it's very sweet. Check out how sweet and innocent these kiddos are. I love them!  

Newborn: The Johnson Family

One of my sweet co-workers had her second baby, who was the most precious little angel ever! His big sis was super proud and didn't want to miss out. Toddler siblings are typically pretty difficult to get to participate in a newborn session, but she was so well behaved and so loving. I loved getting to spend time with their family and see the love big sis had for her baby brother. These moments to me are super priceless and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it! 

One more effort to revamp the blog!

I tried in 2014 to make an effort to revamp my blog and not only do I have a difficult time keeping up with my personal blog, but this one has taken the back seat for quite some time. I've decided to make one more effort to bring it back in hopes to share some of my recent and upcoming work.

I've mentioned before that I got into photography in 2008 after my daughter's newborn session that I hired done in Houston. I wasn't allowed access to the digital files, which I didn't like and the prints were outrageously expensive. So-after lots of trial and error, online photography classes, and in person seminars, I have learned a lot over the past 8 years. I still love to do it but no longer do it or view it as an occupation. Rather a hobby which I can share the benefits with others. I do not advertise and I do not wish to occupy every evening and weekend taking photos. I simply enjoy taking photos for others who appreciate my time and art created with their portraits.

My specialty...well-that's a tough question. I have pretty much done all types of photos; newborn, toddlers, children, teens, seniors, families, couples, even a couple weddings. I enjoy all of it! Since I have done more newborn sessions than any other kind, I consider that as my specialty. I have a way with babies and have a system during my newborn sessions to keep things moving smoothly and efficiently. These sessions do take about 2 hours on average, but that's totally necessary to set up, get the baby asleep and allow for lots of pee pee and poopie cleanup.

So-why am I writing this post? Lots of things have changed over the last 8 years. I have been in and out of photography for others, owned a business in Texas, stopped the business when I moved to Tennessee, tried to start it back up in Tennessee and then quickly realized why I stopped it in the first place, and now I've found a happy medium. Photography for me is fun. It's a hobby and I want to keep it that way. Therefore, I only do select sessions with select friends and family and friends of friends. My fees are very minimal and only cover my costs of prints and no profits are made.

I hope you will start enjoying my updated posts with some of my updated work and older work that's never been shared!

Cheers-
Lauren