mybestfriendMarti

So, any of you that have spent more than say 5 minutes with me know I have a best friend. If I haven't told you her name, I feel certain I passed on some of her advice to you or parlayed her into some story that started out, "So I was talking to a friend the other day..." 9 times out of 10 that 'friend' is Marti. My neighbor friends affectionately call her mybestfriendMarti (all slurred together like that) because it got to a point that they were like, "We KNOW who Marti is now!" Yes, mybestfriendMarti is just that...my best friend and her name is (who would have guessed) Marti! We've been best friends since 3rd grade and we talk, oh 10-12 times a day. She lives in Atlanta and while it baffles our husbands, we do truly talk that much on the phone. Now, realize many of those calls are just 30 second calls to quickly express a thought, but yes, some of those calls turn into political discussions or mom-venting or theological debates of how the Holy Trinity operates exactly. Indeed, we talk about anything and everything you could think of. And one of the things I love most about Marti is the fact that we have so little in common...hmmm, that didn't come out right...we actually have a lot in common too, but we have a lot not in common. For example, she just got a nose ring (gasp!). I mean, I think I would consider a belly button ring, a shaved head, a tattoo of an eagle's wings spanning the width of my back before I would have considered getting a nose ring! Now I am really laughing because I know Marti is howling at the thought of me at the pool with my kids and a tattoo of an eagle spread across my back under my Mom-tankini! That being said, after we talked through her REASONS for the nose ring, I completely understood and respected her decision...and actually thought it was cute when I saw her! Okay, this blog is digressing from where I wanted to take it! :) Okay, so another thing that is totally different about Marti and me is her love of foreign missions. Oh, that sounds bad too... but I am just going to say it, when I was growing up and the topic of foreign missions came up in G.A.'s (Girls in Action...a Baptist thing), I would tune out. Considering that G.A.'s is actually BASED on 'Missions in Action' (Girls in Action, Girls in Action, Mission Studies and Mission Action, Growing, Living, Loving, Girls in Action, Girls in aaaccccttttion now!) I tuned out a lot. I promise I am not a bad person, I just have a hard time really identifying with people who live so extremely different from me (as I type this, I realize this is a fault I am sure God is taking issue with me about!) Anywho, Marti LOVES foreign missions...and she truly has a heart and a gift for it. When she called me one of her 10-12 times a day a few years ago and said she wanted to host a Belarussian child for six weeks over the summer (she had just had her second child), I thought she was crazy! I could see her doing it in a few years when her newborn was say, sleeping through the night!, but now? Are you crazy?! But she really felt called to do it and so enter Angelina (pronounced with a hard 'g') Angelina lives in a town in a Belarus by the name of Mogilev. This town is close to where the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant had its melt down in 1986. There is still extreme radiation fallout from this disaster, and it adversely affects the health of the children growing up there. What they have found though is that if the children can be removed from the environment for just 6 weeks/year, their immune system has time to build up enough to protect them for the rest of the year. I am so glad Marti followed her heart because Angelina is a total delight! This is her fourth year coming to stay with Marti and her family and every year we try to get together and get some portraits of her. This year she grew up so much! Isn't she beautiful?! And she truly is just as beautiful on the inside...she fits in perfectly with Marti's family here in the states. If you would like more information about this mission, go to www.abro.org . Angelina, we miss you already and look forward to your trip back next year! Thank you for the joy and love you've brought Marti and Lane through the years! And to mybestfriendMarti, thanks for reminding me of God's bigger plan!

Oh Yes, I remember...

Isn't it funny how our memory works? I've often said that God had a grand plan when He thought through the procreation process, and a pivotal part of that plan was the erasing of our memory of the first few months of new parenthood! I saw a special on the Learning Channel once that explained that after childbirth a chemical is released in a mother's body that actually acts as a memory blurring agent, because let's face it, if we vividly remembered the pain of childbirth, it wouldn't make a second chance at procreation so appealing! I believe that whatever that chemical is, it must extend into the first few months of a new parent's life...oh and somehow it gets in the dad's system too! Hmmm, maybe it is the lack of sleep that aids that chemical reaction! (Can you hear my Chemical Engineering background coming out! Ha!!!) Anywho, I remember distinctly thinking when I was a new mom that if I made it through, I was going to make it my personal mission to help other new parents through this challenging time. I do believe that is another reason I love newborn photography so much. Meet Alex! What a precious angel he is, don't you think?!!! Looking at these blog portraits you would think he was the Johnson & Johnson commercial baby...you know, the one that sleeps all night and giggles and coos the other 12 hours of the day and never causes anyone a minute of anguish! But like most one month olds, Alex is still figuring out sleep...his little tummy (as my two year old always said) "got grass", and getting him to sleep was a challenge. Actually a two hour challenge. And as we bounced and shhhhed and walked around in circles in the dark and in the light and in the middle, it reminded me of a blurred memory of mine, yes, new parenthood was hard! There is a book I usually recommend to new moms called MotherShock- it likens new motherhood to culture shock in a very comical, but real way. So true! But then, magically after two hours the miracle happened...Alex fell asleep and the Johnson & Johnson commercial started rolling! As I look at this first portrait of Alex with his parents, the memories started flooding back...yes, parenthood is hard, yes, parenthood is NOT what I thought it was going to be, but YES, parenthood is so worth it! I rarely have to instruct new parents what expression to make when they look at their new sleeping newborn...it comes totally naturally...it just comes through as totally, unabashed love. And these new parents were no different... I love the way the parent's heads with Alex's head sort of create an upside down heart shape... such a natural outpouring of love happens during new parenthood! So, to all you new moms and dads, hang in there! Yes, it IS hard, harder than I ever expected, harder than I ever dreamed, harder than I ever could have imagined, but truly it is the best, the greatest, the undeniably hands down most super experience I'm still having every single day ...and no chemical in the world will ever make me forget that! Thank you Alex for your sweet, sweet self...and shhhh, sleep well tonight!

Hello...Goodbye

One of the things I love most about what I do is the families I meet. I can't tell you how many true friends I have made that started out as me photographing one of their children...then their next...then their family portrait. It just makes me smile because lifelong friendships have been made that started out as a call about photography. Unfortunately this family is not one of them. Well, that sounded bad, didn't it?...I said unfortunately because this family is moving! And I absolutely LOVED taking their portraits! This family won the gift certificate for the silent auction at Ogletree Elementary so I do not know if they had even seen my photography before we arranged our session! But let me tell you, this family is precious! With their youngest child being as old as my oldest, they are obviously in a different stage of life than my family is...and what hope it gives me! The session went so smoothly and the mom encouraged me that seven years is the magic age (I had myself convinced FOUR was the magic age but with two of my children over four, I'm facing the music that age four isn't all ice cream and roses!) So, now my new goal is age seven. Don't get me wrong, I am not wishing the time away...truly I am not...afterall my favorite quote is from Dr. Seuss, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." Hmmm, maybe my quote needs to be, "Don't cry because it isn't over yet, smile because it is still happening...and enjoy it!" See, things with my family ARE getting easier...three are potty-trained...three are swimming...three are out of cribs, but I have to admit, things are NOT easy. I am often asked how I juggle it all...my answer: very poorly. However, I am still trying to ENJOY it. Enjoy the craziness, enjoy the chaos, enjoy the madness. But this family gave me a glimpse of what is to come...maybe not easy, but at least a little less crazy. So, take a look at these good looking boys...they were a delight to photograph...so well behaved and so handsome! I wish I had more time to get to know this family better because I truly enjoyed being with them...for now, I am just so thankful that I had the opportunity to meet them before they moved. You'll have a special place in my memory at least for the next 4 years (at which point MY youngest will be seven!) Thank you for the encouragement... indeed, I will miss ya'll!

Snooze City

I think I have explained in the past that it is best to bring your newborn to their first portrait session within the first two weeks. The reason for this is because this is typically their sleepiest time. This of course is just the typical, but not always the absolute. I have learned to never expect anything from a newborn...afterall, they are new to this world and still figuring things out. But when you get a sleepy one, it makes my job so easy...and Davis was a SLEEPY one! Oh, this little one I do believe was the sleepiest baby I have every photographed...he was a dream! I moved him and jostled him and arranged all his little baby parts and he just snoozed and snoozed and snoozed! Add all that snoozing to a newborn with a head full of hair and you get some priceless portraits! Did I mention he has the cutest older brother...not the quietest or the calmest but the cutest! As Charlie ran and played in the studio guess what Davis did...yep, snoozed! What a fun session this was! Here's to the sleepiest newborn thus far! Keep on snoozing Davis!

Picture Perfect

So this is Cole, and Cole is very special to me because I have taken his portraits since he was a newborn!  I have gotten to know them over the years and I just think they are the most adorable family!  As with most of my clients, my main contact has primarily been with the mom except for during the actual portrait session in which the dad will come to take family shots.  But this session was different.  Cole's dad actually called me this time and asked me to take portraits in front of their sunflower field.  I had no idea what to expect because I guess I have never really seen a sunflower field in full bloom in person.  Wow, was it beautiful!  I have since found out that sunflower fields are planted to help with hunting doves...hmm, who'd have thought!  In any sense, this field was gorgeous but I must admit that it presented a bit of a challenge...see the sunflowers were taller than the child!  To get the magnitude of the field, we would have to get Cole ABOVE the flowers and shoot down.  Enter ladder...thanks Dad!  A motivated dad can be a handy tool during a photo session!  I love this first portrait of Cole... honestly, doesn't the background look fake it is so beautiful!  And the second one with his puppy dog...look how patiently the dog sits while Cole places the flower behind his ear!  Too funny!  But this last portrait is the one that grabs my heart.  Because as perfect as the sunflower field was, a happy family is truly the key to the best portrait of all!  A sunset, a home and a family...doesn't get more picture perfect than that!  

New Background New Foreground

Okay, so I have been planning this portrait of McKinnon for a while now.  I look pictures of a friend's children in the fall and her oldest daughter had lost both her front teeth.  I thought it was precious and very signficant, so I decided at that point that if I was lucky enough that both McKinnon's front teeth were gone at the same time, I would definitely plan a session with her!  So, per my last blog entry, you know how I feel about taking my own children's portraits.  But after the reasonably smooth session last time I sort of thought maybe my kids were finally to the age that this wouldn't be an issue.  Ha!  Actually HA, HA!  I could only be so lucky!  To increase my expectations, McKinnon actually came to me and said she was READY to do this session...she had just lost her other front tooth, we had the outfit purchased and packaged with strict instructions she was not to wear it until AFTER the session...we were ready to go!  I wanted this to be a fun session and I just got a new backdrop! How cute is this one...totally fun and whimsical!  Perfect, right?!  Except McKinnon is six and she TOO had an idea for this portrait and let's just say, we were NOT on the same page.  Fun was what I had in mind...Silly was what she brought to the session...goofy silly, couldn't keep her on the backdrop silly, flat out NOT funny silly!  Which in turn frustrated me which in turn upset her...10 minutes into the session all I could think was, "I have spent thousands of dollars on equipment so I can get great portraits of my kids and I am going to have to pay someone ELSE to get them!"  Looking back, I see the problem.  I was very emotionally attached to these portrait...or should I say these hypothetical portraits.   To me, this stage is so pivotal and the lost teeth are so symbolic.  Baby teeth gone, adult teeth not in yet.  She turns seven next month and I must say it hit me harder than my own 36th birthday.  SEVEN!  And now that these baby teeth are gone I guess I finally realized that so is my baby!   She has been replaced with a little girl that enjoys getting her nails done and listens to itune, and writes about her pretend boyfriend...ooohhh, when did this happen?!   So, looking back I put too much pressure on this session as a whole and the result was a very uptight mom...and photographer.  Relax, have fun.  Yes, my baby is gone but she is now a little girl I actually ENJOY taking out to lunch, she is a little girl that likes music that is actually tolerable for me to listen to, she is a little girl that can write me a letter telling me how much she loves me!  At last, I just LET her have fun at the session...let her be herself...let her be silly and what do you know, we got some great portraits!  I like my new background but I LOVE my ever-changing foreground!  

She better LOVE this gift!

So my mom's 60th birthday is coming up.  She is the type mom that says she doesn't really want you to get her anything and actually means it!  Or she'll give me a quick little idea of something you can quickly go out and wrap up so she'll act all surprised and I can feel good that I actually got something for her.  So as this pivotal birthday approached I hadn't stressed a whole bunch about what we were going to get her.  Then out of the blue she tells me, "For my birthday I want a new purse."  Okay, easy enough, I can do that.  Then she adds, "...with a picture of all five grandchildren on it."  All five!  With my three kids being the OLDEST!  So, a six year old, four year old, three year old, two year old and one year old.  Come on mom, do you want all six kids on the SAME purse or can I just give you six different purses?!  Awww, this means a photo session that involves my own kids!  Now, let me explain, you think photo sessions for you the mom is difficult...try being the mom AND the photographer, oh yes, and on this session throw in the aunt in that scenario as well!  No small task!  Let me be completely honest with you- I view taking portrait sessions of my own kids like I do exercising- I do it because of the after effect and NOT because of the joy of the activity!  Just like a long, hot run a full photo session involving all three of my kids is downright painful!  Oh, and did I mention my husband refuses to come to these photo sessions...yes, after one bad Christmas card attempt he swore he would NEVER take part in one with our kids again...so I don't even ASK!  One parent losing it with the kids is enough!  Anywho, luckily this session was not as bad as some of the ones we have had in the past...maybe it was having the cousins around to dilute the situation.  Anyway, the session was completed without me having to apologize to my kids even once...oh wait, maybe just once.  ANYWAY, most of you know my kids, so meet my niece Sophie and my nephew Sam.  These are my brothers kids and are they cute or what?!  Sam is quite possibly the happiest baby I have ever met and so easy going!  (Obviously didn't come from the Higgins' genes!)  I love this portrait of him...look at those eyelashes!  He is going to be a heart breaker!  And Sophie, she reminds me so much of McKinnon at this age- soooo cute and soooo talkative!  Chatty Cathy for sure...and to watch she and Elliott together is a hoot!  I got a bunch of them together but this one made me giggle out loud...look at Sophie holding her tummy as she belly laughs!  What ever Elliott said must have been hilarious!  Lastly, this one with all four is one of my favorites because it really shows who they are...Sam curiously watching as all four of the older ones abound in from a day of playing.  So, no these are not the ones going on the purse (that is a surprise for her!) but thankfully we got a lot of great expressions and had a not-too-miserable time doing it!  All I have to say is she better LOVE that purse because it certainly was NOT an easy purchase this year!  :-)

Patience is a Virtue

I think more people are having babies these days because to my delight I have had the joy of photographing quite a few newborns recently...and I LOVE it!  As I've said in earlier posts newborns are one of my favorite subjects to photograph.  During our session with Merrill (I just love that name!) I was thinking through why I love newborn sessions so much.  Honestly they are typically a lot longer than other sessions...actually significantly longer.  One main reason I like these sessions is the fact that the new emotion that goes along with a newborn is overwhelming.  Parents are so amazing to watch as they are getting to know their little precious one.  And the connection a newborn feels with her parent is nothing less than a miracle as well.  To watch the newborn settle into her mother's arms can melt a bystander's heart in an instant.  But believe it or not, many photographers do not enjoy newborn photography, which I find flat out crazy!  As I was going through this session however I realized what it may be that turns other photographers away from these sessions...the time investment!  Yes, little ones eat rather often and at such a young age oftentimes sporadically.  This session like many started out with a baby that flinched at each pop of the flash.  It didn't appear that little Merrill was going to go to sleep, but patience is what it took!  We waited, and worked, and hummed, and bounced and at last the precious angel drifted off into dreamland.  And the magic began!  Yes, newborn sessions DO take longer, they can be more challenging, but the reward is well worth the wait!  Welcome to the world Merrill!  At such a young age you reminded me of one of the most important lessons in life:  Patience is a Virtue!  And what a reward it beholds!!!

They call her Jewel

Okay, so I am a mom, as you all know.  And one of the most surprising revelations in adulthood, is that moms are just grown up kids.  By this, I mean that as a child my mom was just that "Mom."  She loved us, I knew that, but beyond that I can't say I thought about her feelings or emotions or responsibilities.  As  a result, when I was pregnant with our first child and was asked how many kids we wanted I always responded from a child's point of view.  I wanted three kids because for a long time it was just me and my brother and that didn't seem like enough fun to have around...yes, that third child would have been helpful when my brother and I were arguing or he was away at camp.  Enter McKinnon, Baby #1.  Wow, my world was rocked!  I kept asking my own mom, "When will I start FEELING like a mom?"  By that I meant, when will I start being just "Mom,"  not caring where we ate for dinner or bitter about doing all the laundry or having my own agenda for the day.  What I found out is being a mom is HARD!  And you don't lose your person when you become one (does that make sense?)...I am still ME but just in a new role.  And hmmm, how many kids my husband and I had would have consequences (i.e. MORE laundry...not just funner Christmases!)  So what on earth does this have to do with this session?  Well, enter Graham and Elliott into the scene (Babies 2 and 3 in our family).  Even after I learned the lesson above, I never translated it to MY mom still!  Meaning, she was now a GRANDMOTHER, but for me she was still, "Mom" but now with a new name "Granny."  I knew she loved me and now my kids but that was it, her job was to do that.  One day I called my mom about helping with the kids and (okay, mom confession) was kind of frustrated that she wasn't available.  I mean, come on, I have three kids, I am TIRED, I need some help!  What could she possibly need to do that was more important than helping ME!  Feeling slightly put out with my mom and extremely frustrated with the neediness of my kids that day I thought, "When will the day come that these kids don't NEED me so much?!!!"  Oh my gosh, the answer hit me like a ton of bricks, "Granny" wasn't just "Granny" or "Mom"  and the answer to my question of neediness was NEVER!  I still NEED my mom with the urgency I did as a child...for different things, but still as selfishly and urgent!  My view of grandmothers changed instantly at that moment.  Wow, I had come to appreciate my mother as a mother through becoming just that, a mother, but I hadn't appreciated who she was as a grandmother and the mother of a mother!  Life changing!  Again you ask, and this session, what does THAT have to do with anything?!  This session was arranged by two mothers to be taken with THEIR mother (the grandmother) and her grandchildren.  Wow, to see the love in this grandmother's eyes was tremendous!  It was not a difficult session at all because the love between this lady and those children was unhidable!  (I don't care if that is a word, it was THAT, UN-HIDE-ABLE!)  The grandchildren called her "Jewel" and they LOVED their Jewel... and just as importantly their Jewel LOVED them!  Being an awesome grandmother is more than being an awesome grandmother, it is being an awesome MOTHER at the same time!  To love my children with such intensity, such trueness can only be translated through a mother.  Grandmothers are not just "Mom + a generation".  They are real people with real issues as well, but they choose to put it aside to love their children with the greatest kind of love...extended, unconditional love.  So now as I see my mother love my children, I see it a little differently...a little clearer... she is loving ME, the daughter, as well, through my children.  What a gift...thank you Jewel for helping to make this a little clearer for me!  Like all grandmothers, you are certainly a gift from God!  

Honesty is the best policy!

It was hot!  And I don't mean kind of hot, I mean HOT HOT!  I am a very cold natured person so for me to complain about the heat means it was REALLY hot!  But this session was one of those "Must Do's."  Like many of my other sessions this spring, it had to rescheduled for rain on several occasions.  Camille had turned one a couple of months ago so as soon as we had a nice day that we could both meet on, we were going ahead with the session...no matter WHAT the temperature!  As a secondary urgency, Camille's mom wanted to get a portrait of their dog Sidney to give to her husband for his birthday.  So while it was hot for us, I can only imagine what it felt like to a black lab in a fur coat (literally!).  But Camille and Sidney both did fabulous despite the heat!  I'll be honest with you, as everyone knows I LOVE children's photography- I've read a lot about pet photography but can't say that it has ever really interested me as much as what I already do.  However, after this session I must admit I have been changed.  See what I love most about children's photography is the honesty in it...kids don't really care about the portrait itself and don't have a preconceived idea of what a portrait should look like...and who would have guessed but animals are the same way!  When you get the lighting right and the angle perfect, the animal does the rest to make an awesome portrait.  And like children, an animal's eyes tell such a story!  Sidney is an old dog...a very relaxed dog from what I saw.  I love his eyes in this first portrait...they say, "I'm old and tired and hot but I will do this for my owner because of love...So, here you go lady, take the portrait so I can get back in the air-conditioned car!"  Ha!  And indeed we did!  And these portraits of Camille- I love those little legs!  She was one and on the go for sure, but catching her peeking over that fence with just her bloomers on...oh, you gotta love that!  Lastly, her smile...her smile with the light warmly on her face.  Like Sidney, pure honesty!  Pure joy, despite the heat!  Yes, that is what I love about photography...when you can capture the honesty! Honesty IS the best policy both in life AND photography! And indeed we got honesty today!