Beautiful Bows

With Thanksgiving complete, I can now allow myself to decorate for Christmas (I don't allow myself to do so before Thanksgiving). And this year, I was able to help those in need while doing it. A member of a local church is making beautiful bows - and even wrapping gifts, decorating your house, etc. - with all proceeds going to their Families in Need fund. I cannot make a bow to save my life, so I certainly took advantage of her talent!

I had fun shopping for sparkly wrapping paper to go with my sparkly bows. I wrapped up some old boxes I had laying around (yes, I keep every box that is every shipped to me), added my bows and voila! Christmas decor for the mantle, sofa table, etc. etc.

I also had a few pink & blue bows made - so I now have picture-perfect bows for all those newborn sessions!

You're Famous!!

While I was shooting this brother and sister, I told them they would 'be famous' since I would be putting their pictures on my blog, website, facebook, etc. So, kids, you're famous!

I'm sure mom won't mind if I tell this story (at least I hope not).....the little girl's room has this great window that gets amazing natural light. And the room is a pale yellow, so it was just filled with beautiful light, the kind that makes photographer's drool (as long as no one sees the drool, we're OK...). So when I said to mom "oh, I would love to start shooting in here!" her response was "are you kidding?? It's such a mess!!". But I knew that in the end, we wouldn't see any mess, just beautiful children in beautiful light.

This Old Saddle

At a recent session, out in 'the country' (as I call it), even though I was actually shooting the 2 children (their pictures coming in another post), my eye was caught by a saddle. The mom (and a dear friend of mine) told me it was her saddle, she had used it lovingly for years on her sweet horses that have since been put down. She could tell in an instant that I wanted to shoot it....I loved trying to capture all the little details. So, with some beautiful natural light, here's something a little different....

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Two Peas out of their Pod

You may remember awhile back I did a maternity session for a mom-to-be who was having twins. Well, this is their big debut! These little teeny ones really were happiest being fully swaddled. So the lesson at this session was - the value of a good and proper swaddling fabric. They endured a little bit of 'nakedness', but they really feel deeeeeep asleep once swaddled (and cuddled, of course, my favorite part!).

Thanks to the twins, and mom and dad for letting me into your home during this busy (and sleepless) time!

Cades Cove

Recently, we enjoyed a nice weekend in the TN mountains, near a little town called Townsend. This place is near and dear to my heart, as I spent some time there every summer at leadership camp in high school. I think it's when I fell in love with the mountains....crickets chirping at night, clean crisp air, wooded forest paths, sitting around a crackling firepit singing songs in the evening....ah, memories.

Anyway, one day during camp we'd all pile into buses and drive the scenic Cades Cove, a beautiful 11-mile loop of pastoral landscape. There are refurbished original buildings there, too. someday I'd like to bike it (which apparently they reserve for Saturday mornings).

I enjoyed getting outside my comfort zone, and shooting something other than people. Interesting how differently I see the place now. It also has revealed my strange fascination with old buildings, fences and wood....

I"m getting caught up on a lot, so check back!

Fashionista

I went shopping recently (which is kind of rare, as I hate shopping) and found these fabulous red cowboy boots! At first I thought I'd buy them for Sarah, as after all, every girl needs her own cowboy boots. But instead I snagged them for some photo prop usage - if your child has size 13 feet, and you'd like these in your session, just let me know!
I also have this great blue boa. Hey, why not wear them together? Childhood is all about play and dress up, right?

Sweet Expectation

I love how every session is completely different and unpredictable. You can never know for sure exactly what shots will 'work', and what won't. This mommy-to-be let me play around with all kinds of props and poses, with some great results.
I was SO glad the rain held off for us. I didn't think we'd be able to go outside, but indeed we did; and as a bonus, the major cloud cover proved a fabulous light diffuser :)

Check out my Facebook Fanpage (Laura Alvis Photography) for more images from this session!

Daily Candy

Hey blog followers, check out Daily Candy website (an insider's guide to your city)! You may remember that awhile back I took some product shots for a wonderfully creative Children's Stationary artist. You can see an article about her business - and 1 of my photos - here: http://www.dailycandy.com/kids/atlanta/article/75664/The-English-Pea-Childrens-Stationery .

More posts coming soon, I've been busy!!

Sassy Senior

I don't know about you, but I remember Senior pictures being pretty boring, stuffy and 'posey' (think mirrors, robes and roses). I have been excited to see that the world of Senior Portraits has evolved into SO much more! Nowadays, Seniors can choose to get their portrait session done on location, with a multitude of outfits, accessories, etc.

And as I was processing this session, I realized why a great Senior portrait session is so important. Most Seniors probably haven't had the typical 'kid' portraits done in awhile (as they go thru that awkward middle school phase). And they likely won't have good pictures again until they get married. So this is an important time for Seniors (or rather, their parents) to get a killer photo session that's all about THEM!!

And that's exactly what we did here - this fun and sassy senior brought all her tack and lots of personality! It was lots of fun, and I"m looking forward to doing more Seniors next year!

Mommy's Sweet Girl

Sometimes we are blessed with a friend not just thru a time, or a season, but for a lifetime. No matter where our lives have taken us (and it's currently several states apart), K and I have been friends since we were 3 years old. We met in dance class, and have many memories of classes, costumes, recitals, practicing (or not practicing). If our dear teacher were still alive, she would adore the sight of us with our sweet baby girls. Maybe someday our little girls can get together and dance to the music :-)

Anyway, I traveled home to see her and little Miss L for some newborn shots. Although, Miss L was about 6 weeks old, so she was out of the 'sleepy and curly' phase already. So she did much better with mommy holding and snuggling her. Which is great, because I adore mommy-and-baby shots, and here's a couple to enjoy....

Snuggly Little Sweetie

This little guy is the youngest of 7 children, and is every bit as relaxed as he can be. He literally slept thru the entire session, which is fabulous because then I can get all those sleepy-curled-up newborn pictures. That's why it's SO important to get your newborn session done within the first 14 days of life (the sooner the better). after 14 days, they start to wake up, 'uncurl' and get stretchy, and it becomes more difficult to prop them into all the sweet newborn poses

Every newborn session is different, as different setups or props strike me at the time. Today was a 'big basket and white fluffy blanket' day. He snuggled riiiiiiiight in.....can you stand those big scrunchy cheeks??

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4 Happy Cousins

These little guys (and girl) are cousins who live in separate states, so they were together for a week of Camp Granny! I asked beforehand if it was OK to use the lollipops as props (because I reeeeally wanted to). I wanted the wrappers off because hey, I wanted it to look real. Hehe, did I get real....I quickly realized that the suckers would leave quite the brightly-colored mouths on my little subjects. HA!!

In order to prevent them from running around with huge sticky suckers (and the ensuing sugar high), after the pictures were taken, we told the kids that I needed the suckers back "because I had to use them again". The older ones were a little suspicious, since the suckers had been de-packaged and licked....hehe..

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