The Tate Family

This is the Tate family having fun on the Country Club Plaza on the 20th. It was a warm Fall day for pictures and this was such a sweet and relaxed family that it made for a wonderful shoot. (you can click the photos to enlarge them slightly for a clearer view!)

Every little kid loves to swing!

It was early on this Saturday morning before the Plaza got too crowded & restaurants opened so it very nearly felt like we had the place to ourselves.

I love this shot of them by the fountain. I'm not really sure what they're looking at but it's such a nice moment. Love the expressions & the blue water. :o)

These eyes! What else can I say? They speak for themselves!

Hope - Oct 13th

This is Hope, one of the Cutest Kid Contest winners from last Summer's Kid's Fest. You can see why she won! She was so mellow & well behaved, adorable and she loved wearing her Halloween costume a little early for these pictures at Loose Park on Saturday the 13th. What a delight! The flowers were still blooming in the rose garden which made for a perfect setting for a little fairy.

This could go on one of those "kids say the darndest things" kind of shows: After a mid-session clothing change, with her fairy costume came a magic wand. I told her she could make a wish & wave her wand. She studied her wand very intently & began waving & shaking it furiously. Then Hope looked at me & said, quite matter-of-factly, "The wishes won't come out!"

Even fairies get broken wings...

Bubbles!!

On the steps in the rose garden

A balancing act

We finished up our session with a game of Peek-a-boo!

Raves

It's always great to get wonderful feedback from people and I'd like to share what Justin, from a recent wedding, wrote about me on his blog. Thank you so much for your kind words! It is very much appreciated!!

You can read what Justin had to say HERE

Justin + Stacey's Wedding

I had SO much fun photographing Stacey & Justin's wedding in Bryson City NC on the 29th at the Nantahala Village Resort. Beautiful scenery, gorgeous couple, inside & out. Congratulations you two!

Here is a little teaser slideshow of some of my favorites of them. Enjoy!!

Photos published

Last year I had the honor of having one of my photos on Flickr found & seleted for publishing in an area travel guide for Kansas City. This was the photo:

Then just this week, I had another request from this same company to publish another of my photos. This time it's for their Jacksonville, FL area guide. I took this photo in St. Augustine FL, which is just south of Jax. It's called the Castillo de San Marcos & is a popular sight to see. It's the oldest fort in the US. This is also one of my favorite photos I took when I lived in FL.

Saturday Designing Fun!

This afternoon, instead of taking pictures (a Trash the Dress session post-ponement which I will most certainly post up when I do get to do it next month), I have been playing in Photoshop putting my design education to good use and having tons of fun putting together an event card for an upcoming wedding in North Carolina.

For all my wedding clients: You hear me talk about Event Cards, well, I thought it was time for an example so you can see how cool they are! Usually when I do your engagement photos I'll use those in the design. But, since this happy couple is quite a long distance away from me and I never got to do their engagement pics, I just used a photo I took in Eureka Springs, Arkansas last Fall instead. I like to stay with the theme and colors of each couple's wedding (this makes every design unique!) so when they're given to your guests they also become a wedding keepsake, especially when they have your engagement photo on them. ;o)

Here's how I spent my afternoon (click image to see it a bit larger):

October Outlook

I am getting SO excited this week because next Thursday we leave for Nantahala Village Resort in Western North Carolina for Stacey and Justin's wedding on the 29th. They were given the task 5 weeks before their wedding of having to find a completely new location to have their ceremony and reception because the original place burned to the ground! Talk about wedding jitters! But, always handling things gracefully, Stacey and Justin went straight away to the mountains that following weekend to scout out new locations. I just know that everything will turn out gorgeous and you just can't go wrong with the mountains for a backdrop for their special day. :o)

This will be a very fun wedding for us as Justin and Stacey are not only great friends but this is the first destination wedding I've done so lots to look forward to. My family and I will also be heading on family vacation after the wedding to Savannah GA and Central FL. Get ready for some great vacation pics too! :oD

During the month of October I will be a very busy woman! I just booked the last date I had open for October yesterday, so if anyone is interested in wedding, baby, maternity, or family sessions I still have some dates open in November, but October is now booked solid. Fall dates have filled up even faster than I anticipated so for those interested in photos this fall or in time for Christmas cards/gifts (yes, that's right, I said Christmas!) now is the time to reserve your date!

Also, I have been waiting for just the right people to take me up on having a photo session in the snow this winter! Just because there's snow on the ground doesn't mean pictures have to stop! So come on out when the snow is right and have some fun for the camera - make snow angels or have a snow ball fight! Winter is fun!!

To all my September and October people: All album orders must be placed by November 1st in order to guarantee delivery by December 25th.

In the meantime, I will keep posting between all the editing I'll be doing next month and give you all lots of fresh things to look at.