Franklin, Brentwood, and Nashville TN newborn, child, and family photographer

Lexi turns 3! | Nashville TN family photographer

August 3, 2014

Lexi will be celebrating her 3rd birthday tomorrow! This family has been with me from the beginning– in fact, Lexi was one of my very first newborns to photograph. I remember that I ordered my backdrop stand and some of those first supplies to use for her session. That backdrop stand still serves me well three years later! This family was actually a client before that because I did a photo shoot of their dogs at their home. They later used those images to decorate in the nursery.

Back to yesterday– we met at Percy Warner Park in Nashville. Lexi’s mom is a runner and is regularly over there, so it was fun to use this familiar spot as their setting. I love shooting in spaces that have meaning to my families. You know, this post almost needs a subtitle. One of the really fun things about Lexi is how expressive she is. We could subtitle this preview “The Many Faces of Lexi”. She alternated between silly and serious. She also started off wearing a tiara, which is a staple of her wardrobe these days. Dolly, her trusty sidekick, also made an appearance in some photos.

Mamas sometimes worry about photo shoots, thinking that there’s NO WAY we’ve gotten good images. Trust me, I’ve been on the other side of the camera when my boys were not cooperating. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again– I don’t leave a session until I feel good about it. I know when I’ve gotten my shots. Sometimes this doesn’t take long. Sometimes we need a little more time (especially with 2 and 3 year old friends). 🙂 We just have to be patient (and I have to be a little sneaky). It’s all good.

Johnson family: expecting Wesley | Franklin TN maternity photographer

July 27, 2014

When Dana and I originally started talking about her maternity session a couple months ago, she told me that she wanted flowers. There are a couple spots I know of that have flowers during certain times of the year, so I just filed that away. As I started scouting last week to choose our final location, I found that none of those spots had a single flower! Well, they might have had ONE flower… but that was it. My husband made some suggestions, so I went driving around the other night (and then walking around) and found IT. Though it wasn’t a field of flowers, there was tons of big clover, some black-eyed Susans, and a few Queen Anne’s lace. Between that, the gorgeous light filtering through the trees, and the old wooden fence nearby, I was sold. I texted Dana a picture that night, and she trusted me that it would work.

Also, let me just say– this family’s clothing choices are like a perfect textbook example of WHAT TO WEAR for a photo shoot! They coordinated, but didn’t match (ie, not all wearing the same color top). Dana wore a necklace with her long dress that pulled out the exact colors in her husband, Matt’s, plaid shirt. I’m telling you, people, it was impressive. The simple white dress with accessories looks awesome in photos. She used to be a hairstylist, so it makes sense that she would be in-tune to style and things like that. Amazingly, she said they already had all of these clothes in their closets, so she didn’t have to go shop for the photo shoot!

Lois turns 90! | Brentwood TN birthday photographer

July 13, 2014

My primary clientele are families with newborns or young children. Several weeks ago, Darlene called me asking about party coverage for her mother’s 90th birthday party, which was held yesterday. Most parties I go to are for 1 year olds, as you can imagine. I jumped at the chance because I have such fond memories of celebrating my Granddaddy’s 90th birthday several years ago with friends and family. Lois celebrated 90 in style with a carrot cake and food from Puffy Muffin (if I had known that, I wouldn’t have eaten beforehand!) There were lots of smiles and lots of fun!

Below, you’ll see the birthday girl, Lois, with her three children, with one of the families of grandchildren, and other details. I walked past the table of cards and gifts and smiled when I saw the cards saying everything from “Mom” to “Grandma Lois” to “Lois.”

Teddy: 1 month old | Brentwood TN baby photographer

June 30, 2014

When I pulled up Google Maps to figure out where this family lived, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they live in my grandparents’ old neighborhood in Brentwood! Though my grandparents are deceased, I have vivid memories of going to their house (just blocks away from my client) until it was sold when I was in high school. I detoured by their house and couldn’t help wonder about the family living there now. Wouldn’t it be crazy if I could meet them and do a shoot in that house?

On to this sweet family I went to meet… little Teddy is 1 month old and was ready for his turn in the spotlight! At this age, babies aren’t sleepy quite as much during the day, making sessions a little more interesting. I made sure his mama knew that we weren’t aiming for my typical posed newborn shots because of this, and she was totally understanding. I’m really pleased with the collection of images you have below. Teddy’s big brothers jumped in for some photos. I have two images below that are polar opposites– one is a classic setting with smiles, while the other is more vibrant, outside, and shows them laughing. I love the contrast between the two. Very fitting for a 3 year old and 6 year old!

Teddy did take a little snooze while I was there, so I did get some sweet detail shots like you’ll see below. He was a precious little guy that really enjoyed being snuggled more than just about anything else. This was my second family of three boys in the last couple weeks. So fun! I love it.

Ty: 1 year old | Franklin TN child photographer

June 28, 2014

For two weekends in a row, I have had the silliest boys in front of my camera! Both Ty (today) and Blake (last Saturday) were total hams. You’ll see what I’m talking about with Ty’s expressions in the photos below. Big, wide-open mouth smiles! His big brother, Ethan, also jumped in for a few images of them together.

While sitting in my car this morning, I was trying to remember if I paid much attention to the weather before I started my business. I guess I did a little– I was a 4th grade teacher, so I wanted to know what it would be like during recess! Preparing for photo sessions now always means consulting online radar. This morning, we had scattered showers, and they truly were scattered! It was raining when we arrived. We waited a few minutes for it to stop, shot for 12 minutes, waited in the car a few more since the rain started back up, and then shot for another maybe 8 or 9 minutes. The rain certainly slowed us down a bit, but we were easily able to complete our mini in downtown Franklin and get some portraits. Ty also thought the water was good entertainment. As you’ll see, his mother stripped him down to his diaper at the end and let him have fun!