My heart beats black and white.

I started out shooting film and have always loved its organic look and texture, but in the fast paced wedding climate found it more practical to switch over to digital.  Unable to completely let go of the beauty of black and white film, I pulled out the cheap old Nikon N65 for an afternoon of fun with Adam and our nephew Weaver.  Big Weave is growing up faster than I thought possible, so I'm glad to have spent a couple of hours documenting his sweet face with my dinky little camera.  

Weave is taking a breather from all of the fun...

Playing ball with Uncle Adam.

Uncle Adam taking a breather from the fun. :)

LOVE this picture.  Reminds me of how much I love the simplicity of warm summer afternoons.

Outtake:  Who could expect a 15 month old to sit still for longer than 30 seconds?

I'm hoping to test out some different film varieties, so there will be more to come.  Next up on the film plate:  Gorham's Bluff in black and white!

Sweet Baby Haynes

As you have probably figured out by browsing the blog, I don't do alot of baby photoshoots.  I LOVE babies, but have never really marketed for child/family photos.  When my friends Melody and Brandon had little Haynes, I just HAD to come over and take pictures of the sweet little guy.  At just 2 weeks old, he was a perfect angel the whole time and barely fussed!  I couldn't have asked for a better session.

Here is my FAVORITE photo of the shoot.

Haynes & Brandon:

Beautiful mom and beautiful baby:

I love little baby toes!

I think baby photos look so classic and timeless in black and white.

I loved getting to spend the afternoon with the sweet Ellis family.  Haynes is absolutely perfect and it was so special to see Brandon and Melody's love for him.  I'm looking forward to watching Haynes grow and develop over the years!

The Incredible Pregs

Meet the Pregs.  They may very well be the most fun and creative family that I know.  Whitney has a fabulous design business called Pikl Paper (check it out for some really cute personalized stationary, sippy cup labels, enclosure cards, etc).  It was Whitney who designed my logo that I love so much.  Nate is a graphic designer as well.  He works at a company that produces these incredibly elaborate corporate trade show booths...very cool stuff.

I've been looking forward to their shoot for quite awhile.  We were originally hoping for some fall photos, but it never worked out for both of our schedules.  I'm glad that we waited--I feel like I've had lots of time to pre-visualize and am really happy with the way their photos turned out.

Doesn't Whitney's laugh make you want to join her?

My original idea for this photo was to have the boys playing "airplane."   They got tickled at each other and forgot the whole airplane idea altogether.  I'm pretty sure I like how this turned out even better.

Happy Birthday Weaver!

I cannot tell you how much this little man means to me.  My little nephew Weaver came into our lives exactly one year ago tomorrow.  He is a complete angel, and his Aunt Jessica and Uncle Adam love him so much!  We braved the weather today and went out to Botanical Gardens to get some 1 year photos of the Weave.

Look at this little man!!!

Isn't he so precious?!  He was so wonderful the whole time that we photographed him.  Little Connor came to visit his family in Alabama for a week, and his aunt Julie (my fellow Phi Mu sister from the Montevallo days) wanted to surprise his mommy with a photo shoot.  

You can view sweet little Connor's slideshow here.

Sweet Angel...

That's what my grandmother, Hubbard (isn't that the best name for a grandmother?!), used to call me when I was little.  She'd say it in her soothing southern Gone with the Wind accent.  That's what I thought when I saw this precious little one that the Russells are watching over...I just wanted to cuddle her the whole time I was there.  She's such a wonderful, calm baby who is soon to have a new home...we had to rush to get these photos done before she was adopted.  What a gift she'll be to her new family. 

Cade's 1st B'day

I cannot believe that Cade is already a year old!  He is possibly the cutest 1 year old I have ever seen.  His disposition is both sweet and serious at the same time.  He intensely observes the world around him, yet just loves everyone he comes in contact with.  He's also the spitting image of his mommy.   Happy birthday Cade! 

Sweetness

Precious.  That's all I can say about these two.  More to come soon.

My new favorite

Isn't she the picture perfect baby?

And she has the most adoring big sister I've ever seen.  

Just wanted to show the Browns a little extra love!

For Leslie

Before our session Saturday morning, Leslie said, "I'm scared that we're all going to look like dorks just sitting there in our pictures."  In my mind, I thought, "Seriously?  Because I think y'all are one of the most personable families I've met...you won't have a problem being natural in your photos."  I tried not to build up the pressure before the shoot...the more natural I can act, the more comfortable my "subjects" (can anyone think of a better word?  it sounds like I'm about to inflict pain on them when I use that word) will be.  

So the Brown's photos ended up being really sweet and endearing, just like they are.  Leslie, I haven't gone through all of them yet, but I wanted to post a few just to ease some fears...

*A special thank you to Jeff, who encouraged us all to brave our fears of bad weather and continue with the shoot, despite the ominous rain clouds looming above us. We had good light and free reign in Botanical Gardens-almost unheard of on a Saturday in April!!

Sweet Weaver Gray

What a blessing little Weaver has been to our family.  I have always had a distant fondness for babies, but I've never really been around one this tiny.  I love everything about him, down to his tiny toenails.  I really could sit and watch him breathe all day.  I never thought baby watching would be this fascinating, but the fact that he is my nephew changes everything.  I can't imagine what being a mother is like.  Katie and lee are such naturals with him.  What a beautiful little family they are!

I almost threw out this last photo when I was editing...I thought it was too funky for a baby photo.  It grew on me, though.  Now I love the flare and sun rays and warm tones and all that makes it funky.  What do you think?

Welcome to the world , Baby Weaver!

Adam's older sister Katie had a sweet little baby boy on Saturday.  He's just perfect and we are all head over heels in love with him.  Weaver Gray Caldwell came into the world weighing 9 lbs and 8 oz, and he and mommy are doing great.  Just look how beautiful he is!

Uncle Adam:

Aunt Erin:

Proud new grandparents!

Sweet mommy and baby: