I am loving all the red and Christmas colors lately. You know these boys… my sweet neighbors! It is hard to believe how much the baby has grown. These are the 9 month portraits and of course, we had to make it a family session and get a few shots for the Christmas card! Big brother is smart, smart, smart… ask him about the presidents on Mt. Rushmore and at 3 years old… he can tell you! I am so in love with the eyelash picture of the baby. You can count every single lash… and check out the brotherly love in the pictures of them together.

P.S. Another couple married at Samford (10 years ago!) so we had to go back for a family session!

These two are such a big part of my heart. They are my nephews. I can’t even tell you what awesome boys they are. They are funny, silly, smart, crazy, amazing, young men. It is such a joy for me to be a part of their life. These pictures are a little different for me. They seem too old… it doesn’t seem possible that my oldest nephew is in middle school. It doesn’t seem possible that the baby… well, isn’t a baby. But, they are so handsome. What I love most about these boys is how much they love their cousins (my kids!). They take little Elijah along wherever they go and love to make the funniest faces at Sarah. Elijah lights up anytime you mention his cousins. This is what life is all about. Thanks for letting me share part of my family…

Mom is from Louisiana and decided that this year on vacation, they were going to have family portraits! She looked up Alabama photographers and ended up on my site. She didn’t know how far Birmingham is from Mobile Bay, but it never hurt to ask. Turns out we were scheduled to be in the area and could extend our trip by one night. I was extra excited about this location because just a week or two before another family booked a session here for October. I had heard so many beautiful things about The Grand Hotel in Point Clear, but there no describing this place. Beautiful huge oak trees with draping moss, manicured lawns, ponds, fountains… and the beach… beautiful white sand and rocks. Just perfect. I want to live here… really.

And what a perfect family for a perfect setting! They loved crawling on the trees, talking about the ducks, throwing the sand. We talked about all the fun things the resort had to offer and how it was the perfect place for an end of summer get away.

He was looking for the bug in my camera… he found him.

Look at those incredible eyes!

This one just screams wall canvas to me!

This reminds me of the East Coast beaches but no, this is the Mobile Bay. Beautiful family portrait!

See the sand falling out of his hands, he was running towards me! Fun!

This picture just draws me in. What is he thinking? He is completely at home in dad’s arms!

He was just dancing the “Hot Dog” dance. Any parent of a preschooler will probably know that dance. He was quite the dancer.

Love the coloring on this one! Very vintage!

Here is that stare again… his eyes just draw you in!

So much that I love about this one… the lines, the sweet smile from big brother, and the gaze from little bro, the colors… I could just go on and on…

A little background about this one… the sun wasn’t really out for our session. It was overcast and perfect weather for a portrait session but everyone wants a sunset on the beach. We were completely done with the session and mom and I were talking about the next step in the portrait process and the sun came out bright, orange and perfect. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and I had to ask for one more picture. I am so in love with the result! Perfect!

I love to photograph a boy that is ALL boy! I love it when he can talk tractors, dump trucks, trucks, monster trucks, etc. This new big brother was certainly all boy! He had no problem telling me all about tractors and what they did and all the names! I love it! And do you see little brother? I am so in love with the picture of him smiling at me. He loved the outside so much that wasn’t interested in smiling but he did this one time and… I got it! Look at him looking right at the camera… handsome fellow! Mom had the idea of big brother telling us to be quiet around brother. The question is… is he wanting us to be quiet so the baby can sleep or so he can sneak up on the baby? hmmmm…..

P.S. The flower in the picture, he picked for me. He put it in my camera bag. And the awesome hat??? Mom brought it along! Great choice!

Today I love…

15th anniversary sessions where they are still very much so in love….

A bride in her wedding dress 15 years later…stunning…

Real, closed eyes, smiles…

when the light falls perfectly on a face…

Beautiful eye lashes, sweet smiles…

Sunflares and family portraits…

and looks at the camera without smiling….

I will never tired of taking pictures of this incredible family. During our session, we figured out our first session was exactly a year ago from this session. Big sister and brother are at the edge of being teenagers and have changed so much i nthe last year. And little brother is no longer a baby. I love that my job is meeting families like this one. I hear updates from mom through faceook and they are just amazing kids! Smart, funny, incredible kids!