Laura | 18 Months

I'm going to start this massive sneak peek with a disclaimer... this was NOT a typical session!  A few months ago I saw a blog post about a wedding that was shot at the Lake Yard in Defuniak Springs and I was curious about the area.  Knowing Len grew up over there, I asked him about it and we ultimately decided it would be an interesting place for Laura's 18 month session.  So we all loaded into the car on Saturday, including David, and drove over for a good part of the day.  So it's sort of a lifestyle session with a couple of posed formal shots thrown in.  Mostly we just followed Laura around and helped her have a good time, which in turn led to lots of laughing and smiles for the rest of us, as well.

See?  Not a normal session.  I normally would NOT end up being spun on one of these things.  

The weather forecast called for rain, but we decided a few days beforehand that we were going to try our luck no matter what...  Val bought these rain boots the day before in the smallest size she could find, but they were still far too large!  Laura had a hard time walking in them, but I think she had fun with them anyway.

And then Len caught a baby duckling.  Don't worry, no ducks were harmed and the baby waddled right back to its mama as soon as it was released.  Laura absolutely LOVED the babies and she was happy to get to pet one.  (It is possible, however, that I was more excited about the baby duck than she was.)

I was laying on the porch taking pictures of Laura running around and she decided to come lay down next to me.  She's adorable.

My life through Instagram

My goal this year is to post a personal blog post once a week so you guys can get to know me as the person behind the camera a little better and not just bombard you with a bunch of sneak peeks from client sessions.  This is only the fourth week of the year and that's already proving more difficult than I'd like.  I think my life is pretty boring most of the time and my photography sessions make up a large part of what I get excited about.  Go figure.  But here are a few snippets of my life that I shared on Instagram the last couple of weeks.  I'm on a black and white kick and actually trying not to post anything that isn't in black and white for the last few weeks.  I've made a couple of exceptions, but sometimes you just need the color to convey the image properly.
   

Reading in the bathtub becomes a little more risky when you do most of your reading on a Kindle or an iPad.  I absolutely love my Kindle, but if it drops in the water it's a bit more of an issue than dropping a $7 paperback book!  So I sealed it up in a ziplock bag to make sure it stayed safe.  Really I don't take baths all that often, but the tiny snippet of cold weather we had made me crave the warm bubbles.

Brett is our handsome senior dog.  He's also a bit needy.  He prefers to be laying under something, especially if there's bad weather coming.  I always try to make sure he has a bed or a place to lay in whatever room we're in, but this particular evening he desperately wanted to lay under my desk in the new office.  I disagreed with his plan because I have cords under there he can get tangled up in AND he's not all that careful about not stepping on my bare feet!  His guilt trip (he's staring at my desk here even though he has a "bed" to the left of this image) did not work to change my mind.  I can be just as stubborn as he is sometimes!

And speaking of the new office...  I've got it painted and set up now.  I'm just waiting to get the finishing touches on the walls and then it will be a blog post of its own.  I've discovered ALF on Hulu and set up the laptop to play some episodes while editing.   

Bailey really knows how to pout.  I can't even remember what she was upset about this particular night but she was peeking around the corner at me and trying to avoid me.  Also in this picture you can see the window I recently covered.  This window on the stairs has been an issue for ages.  Once upon a time I actually had curtains hanging, but I think a cat tried to climb them.  Then I had a cheap roll-up shade there, but the cats chewed on it and it got a tear.  It was pretty awful, but this window is literally about ten feet from our neighbor's living room windows so it had to have something to cover it.  I found this printed & frosted cling film that I fell in love with (if I told you how much it cost, you'd believe me) and finally made the window look pretty a few weeks ago.

I'm back to taking daily walks whenever I can with a couple of co-workers since my podiatrist (who is AMAZING and I highly recommend if you need one) has adjusted the correction for the pinched nerve in my foot and walking doesn't currently make my toes go numb. One of the benefits of working in the less than stellar building we work in is that the Riverwalk is just across the street.  It does make for a nice break in the middle of the day when you think you might snap if the next person looks at you the wrong way. 

We shot Laura's 18 month pictures last Saturday (blog coming soon!) and I rode with them to Defuniak Springs.  (Not a typical occurrence, but I really wanted to check out the Lake Yard over there so this wasn't a normal session.  David also went with us.)  On the way back home Laura was out within minutes of getting in the car.  She's so adorable! 

And this one isn't in black and white, but I didn't think black and white did it justice and it's one of my favorite pictures from the last month.  We went to the January 7th Ice Flyers game and they won in overtime.  It was a good game, and I loved the excitement in the Hangar when they got that winning goal!  And my favorite part of the image might just be the confetti.  I'm still a kid at heart and confetti makes me smile.

Sherrin, the before session

I met my friend Sherrin through Twitter.  She has a cat, so I was pretty sure she wasn't a serial killer and we eventually met for coffee one weekend.  We hit it off pretty well and spent a few hours chatting about all sorts of stuff there in Starbucks.  So when she finally jumped through all of the hoops and had a date set for her weight loss surgery I jumped at the chance to do before and after pictures.

I'm so happy she took me up on my offer, mainly because it means we got to spend a few more hours chatting and I got to take pictures (which is almost always a fun activity in my book).  But I'm also glad she let me do before pictures because I hope that some day she will be able to see that even without the surgery she's beautiful.  I'm happy for her because I know this is something she wanted and worked very hard to achieve, but I hope she some day comes to see the before pictures as beautiful, as well.

And so I waited until today to post them.  She had her surgery this morning, and her sister has tweeted that she's doing well.  I didn't want her picking them apart before the surgery while she was stressing about everything else.  So here's wishing Sherrin a speedy recovery - and a speedy return to her charming twittery self!

Blackout.

I'm not going to take my site down entirely today, but I do encourage you to go sign the petition against internet censorship.  If you need more information about what all the fuss is about, read this.  Your regularly scheduled Wednesday personal post will resume next week. 

So long, Kori | Milton Child Photographer

Jessica and Brandon didn't expect to still be in Milton when Kori turned 18 months, but with the military's timing being what it is we got to do her 18 month session after all!  I met them at the L&N Train Depot in downtown Milton and we had a great time despite the really chilly weather.  I'm going to miss this sweet little family and I know life has many blessings in store for them.

Kori's "evil eye" is pretty adorable but what's even better is the grin she gets on her face afterward!

A train went by while we were shooting and Brandon hung out of one of the museum cars to watch it go by.  I have tried, but I can't decide which of these two images I prefer.  So you get both.

And in a totally unfair move on his part, Brandon wanted a picture of me and Kori together at the end... after I had been rolling around on the ground (which I found out was wet - you can see the wet spots on my knees) and my hair was a mess.  But I'm kinda glad he made me do it because, well...  this.

I'm not going to say good-bye.  My Papaw wouldn't tell us good-bye when we were kids.  He would always say so long, and that's a phrase that has stuck in my family.  I don't say "bye" on the phone with my mom, husband, or sister.  We say so long.  So until next time, Kori Lynn! (And Brandon, Jessica, and baby Mila!)  Hopefully our paths will cross again.

PS: I need some vintage kid-sized suitcases before I shoot here again.  I can TOTALLY envision Kori pulling them around the station!