Ireland Day 1: Worth the Wait

Our very first introduction to the country was landing on a runway fenced in to keep out the cows not 20 feet away. That was a new one for me! We made a beeline for the hotel where Dad and Jake stayed (and Jake slept for the next 6 hours until dinner) and I set off in search of transportation to my shoot an hour away. I'd worried most about the flight delay because I'd scheduled a family shoot for Sunday late morning, thinking that would give me plenty of time to adjust and get my bearings, but having to learn on the fly was just as well.

Creating Your Photo Album

Next to capturing your big day, creating the photo album to memorialize your special moments is my favorite part of the process. To aid you in our creation process, I've put together some step-by-step directions for choosing the specs of your album.

Mudiyanur Family Photo Album

Every album comes with its own set of storytelling challenges and for family albums, that challenge is generally making sure each person has their fair share of page space. For this album, we used a mix of sibling photos, spreads with all three girls (the sisters plus their cousin), and a few individual pages and spreads to give each sister the spotlight.

The Dolon's Biltmore Maternity Session

As it turned out, Lauren and Chris were the perfect couple for me to make my entré into the maternity world! Down-to-earth, open for whatever poses I wanted to try and completely comfortable with each other and the camera. Though it was the "dead of winter" in theory, we actually had a pleasant 50 degree morning with clear mountain views and a lingering sunrise. This provided the perfect backdrop for our first set of images on the overlook beside the house. I like to start each session shooting from a distance to ease my subjects into the idea of being the stars of the show and the Biltmore always provides beautiful architectural and natural details to frame these wide shots.

Portland: The Rest

While I try to stay pretty on top of my blogging and social media, there is certainly something to be said for putting away the technology (except my camera, obviously!) and enjoying the moments, so that's what I did for the rest of my Portland trip. Though I arrive back in Asheville a couple days ago and am now headed to Columbia, SC to shoot the first round of the women's NCAA tournament, I had too much fun in Portland not to share.

Portland Day 4: Sunshine, Blue Skies and Happy Tears

I used to tease people who cried at weddings or movies - here's lookin' at you, Mom - and especially those who cried happy tears at things, but now I've become one of those people myself! Yesterday's forecast was more forgiving than any of the other days this week but still looked bleak, yet by the time Jen and John picked me up from my morning coffee to head over the Mt. Tabor, the sun was shining brilliantly. I've seen this happen many times, pouring rain during wedding day preparations only to miraculously turn into blue skies just in time, but the phenomenon never ceases to amaze me. That was the first ingredient of the recipe to make me cry.

Portland Day 2: Networking and International Women's Day

I had originally planned on writing two separate posts for today: one for my second day in Portland and one for International Women's Day. But because the celebration of feminism is a lifestyle and not an annual festivity for me, I thought it more appropriate to combine them. Now, if you're thinking of closing this post because I just said the word "feminism," perhaps keep an open mind here for a minute and see what I have to say.

The Importance of Laughter

All the time I get the question "What is your favorite subject to photograph? For the first couple years of my career I would waffle between "Oh, I just really like photographing people" and "Well, I don't think I can choose - I love everything I shoot!" But that's not entirely accurate. I shoot everything from weddings to athletic events to product shoots to landscapes to maternity sessions professionally - sometimes all in the same week - but over and over again the shoots that I enjoy most and specifically the images I am happiest with are those that include laughter.

The Hecks || Family Photo Album

While this album is perfect for leaving out on the coffee table now and looking through anytime someone walks by, I can just imagine the family years from now looking back at the images and reminiscing or even retelling baby stories as Abby looks through the photos with a child of her own.

The Hecks Home Session

One of my very favorite subjects to photograph is love and what epitomizes love better than two parents with their 10 day old newborn? A few months ago two of my good friends brought their beautiful daughter into the world and instantly fell in love with this sweet bundle of joy. Because we all know that kids grow up entirely too fast, Parker and Kendal wanted to capture this first part of their journey so that when Abby takes her first steps or goes to her first class or has her first child of her own (Parker and Kendal - don't read that part, it's years away, don't worry!), they can look back and remember this quiet (or not so quiet?) time with her.

Goals for 2017

We're a week in to the new year so it's about the time that outrageous new year's resolutions have run their course and realistic goals begin to take shape. For me, I spent the week (when I wasn't working on clients' work) crunching last year's numbers, analyzing what worked and what didn't and especially journaling about the direction I would like my company to go. As this long term vision is starting to take root (I'll keep the details to myself for now, wouldn't want to spoil the fun!) I've narrowed down a few of my goals for 2017 to get me on my way:

Reflecting on 2016

If there's one thing we can (maybe?) all agree on it's that 2016 has been a rather strange year for the collective public. I could say more, but I'll leave it at that. But, in a nice twist of fate, for me personally, 2016 was actually quite a successful and enjoyable year. For instance, 2016 was...

Montgomery Family Photos

As my family lives as missionaries in Guatemala, it had been at least three years since I had seen them, so I shouldn't have been surprised when the girls had grown about a foot each. At 5'6" I'm not entirely vertically challenged, but I must say it is a bit disconcerting when your cousin six years your junior towers over you. It also makes it a bit difficult to take flattering photos since I prefer to shoot from a level or high angle. Thank goodness for foot stools!

Family Vacation on Black and White Film

When most people hear vacation, they think "break from work," but for me, I always think "photography adventure." The annual Etheridge Family Beach Trip is one of my favorite times to explore new ways of documenting daily life since my family is now probably numb to me sticking a camera in their face.

Love West Asheville

Last weekend I had the opportunity to work with a community organization called Provision Asheville. Provision, whose mission is to "create community through service," held their first community event, this one called Love West Asheville. The idea behind the four-hour-long event was to provide various services to community members that they would otherwise have to pay money for, money they may not be able to spend on such services, which included medical screenings, dentistry, massages, and family photography (as well as bounce house and painting activities for kids.)