Two high-school sweetheart couples in a row here on the blog. :) Although, Rebekah+Braden have known each other since they were very little and their mothers were long friends. She wrote in an e-mail to me, “I’m pretty sure I fell in love in the 7th grade!” Rebekah is currently a senior at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville (Not NC’s Fayetteville) getting her degree in speech therapy. I’m always really interested in what people do for a living and realized with surprise that Rebekah is my first speech therapist! This was kind of exciting because my sister is a speech therapist, so we talked about that stuff for a while. :) Braden is here at Campbell University pursuing his masters in Education so that he can coach football… both high school and college. He played for 3 years at SMU in Dallas and still plays at Campbell. They are both super cute and sweet and we had a great time with them! I told Rebekah to wear boots because we’d be trapezing through some tall grass, but while we didn’t run into any poisonous plants, there were plenty of signs telling us to avoid the snakes. :(

I do believe this was Geoff’s last engagement session for the year that he’ll shoot with me as his regular full-time job prevents him from shooting once the sun sets earlier and earlier, but I appreciate him coming with me to this session and all the others throughout the year! He’s obviously still coming to weddings, but I can handle the engagements on my own. ;) Thank you for attending as many engagements as you could in 2011, Geoff!

Congratulations, Rebekah and Braden! We hope your Texas wedding is wonderful! :D

I don’t really do baby sessions. This is my third one. In fact, babies scare me. They make me really nervous. I’m always afraid to pose or move them for fear that they’ll break into a bajillion pieces… and I have no idea what to do when they cry. Baby photography should really be left up to the experts (newborn photography is really a work of art and the people who do it well are incredibly talented). However, Jen and Nick are our dear friends… and baby Elic is basically our adopted nephew whether his parents like it or not. I’ve told them from the beginning that I’ll be the cool aunt who lets Elic stay up way too late when he stays at our house, feeding him nothing but Skittles and letting him watch the Exorcist. I think Jen and Nick have more or less accepted that at this point.

That all being the case, I gave Jen and Nick a little newborn session for baby Elic shortly after he arrived into the world. He’s a total stud, as you’ll see, and rocks the corduroys as well as Eddie Vedder, despite Nick repeatedly telling me that Elic will never be permitted to play in a band (we’ll see what Uncle Geoff has to say about that). He also has the pensive, serious face of an early 90’s grunge artist… only surrounded by stuffed giraffes instead of Courtney Love. It’s probably for the best.

Hey there! I’ve been on vacation in the Outer Banks for a week and now I’m back and ready to head into the second part of wedding season in the south.

Happy one year anniversary to our beloved Amanda and Chris! They were married a little over a year ago on June 23rd and we’ve missed them. :) Way back a few months ago when Amanda contacted me to do their anniversary pictures, I was super excited to see them again. Then we all became even more excited a few months later when we found out that Amanda is pregnant! It’s a great feeling seeing previous clients again, and a greater feeling when you get to see their happy little family expand… whether by cat, dog, or baby. ;) They chose to do their photographs at Oak View County Park where they frequently visit. They really love old-timey era things and have told me before that they’re probably living in the wrong decade, and they find that they love this park due to its old buildings and land. We met up on one incredibly hot evening last week and, while we all almost melted, we survived to bring you beautiful summer evening pictures. Enjoy!

Happy anniversary, Amanda and Chris! Good luck with the remainder of your pregnancy and stay out of this heat!!…unless it’s to do photos with us. ;)