recent sessions

For those who aren't fans of my facebook page (Chap), I thought I'd share some photos from recent sessions. A friend of mine made me a BUNCH of fun giant letters, as well as some awesome symbols (think heart, peace sign, ampersand), so you'll be seeing these letters pop up a lot in subsequent shoots. I have the letters to make a few different words, depending on the size of the family I'm photographing. Just wait til you see what I have planned for the Amyses/Youngs/Souths over Thanksgiving!

Mary Claire and Will are Alabama fans....obviously :)
This kid just gets cuter and cuter!

The smiles coming from Wake in this photo are due to the cat that was waving it's tail in my face.
How awesome is this family?!




We shot at a few different locations, one of the beauties of being friends with your subjects is they have the patience with you to let you drive all over the place and change your mind quite frequently!

Now, on to Jesse. The cutest curly-headed kid I know. I've had the honor of taking pictures of this kid every six months since he was born, and it doesn't get old. But, looking at this cutie, how could it?! He's SO much fun to photograph. My camera loves him!
It's crazy to me that sometimes my strongest photos are the ones where I just plop a kid in a chair near a window.
I just love Jesse's curls (duh!) and his super duper long lashes. I was so glad I was able to capture at least one photo that focused on both of these.

Thanks for looking!

lately

One of the best things from the Clark's birthday care package.


Lots of Sunday Jeep rides.


Fall showers.


Leaves changing.


Lots and lots and lots of time outside.


Petals falling.


Many Fall Photo Shoots




Shooting stupid guns.


Instagram photos


Getting over sicknesses and getting lots of use out of my "alien boots"


A new batch of fall wildflowers


Candy season commences.


My current accessories I never take off (book included.) I am obsessed with the Song of Ice and Fire series of books by George R.R. Martin. If any of you saw the Game of Thrones series on HBO, it is based on these books. I am currently 300 pages into Book 3, and have read a total of about 2,000 pages of these books since mid-August. The Hunger Games was awesome, yes, and I read all three of those in two weeks, but this series is different. It takes me back to Narnia, to Lord of the Rings, to the Merlin Trilogies. It's amazing. I am so excited about reading again. I feel like six-year-old Libba who discovered the Little House on the Prairie Books!

artsy fartsy in the forest

Since joining Pinterest, I have been itching to have a craft night once a week and invite some friends over. Since Mary Claire, Aimee, and I all live in a one mile radius of each other, we decided it would be fun to have craft night on a revolving schedule, visiting different houses each week, the hostess to pick out the project and provide the materials.

Last night was my night, and I had decided on a melted-crayon-on-canvas project I'd seen on Pinterest, one that Melody had already tried out so I could pick her brain for tips.

It turned out to be super easy, even after Sipsey attempted to sabotage craft night by eating all but three of the first batch of crayons I purchased.

We laid out our crayons.

Then hot glued them to the canvas.

Then we ran the hair drier over the crayons til they started to melt and drip. This part was SO much fun, because you could control the direction of the drip with the drier.

How neat that we all did the same project but the results turned out so differently! I still have more canvases, and may try this again using different color schemes at some point.

feeling whimsical

Melody and I downloaded a new action set this morning and I am so jazzed about these edits that I'd thought I'd share. Try to pick a favorite. Triple dog dare ya.

I swear I'm not bi-polar.

I realized yesterday that Just a couple months ago I was posting entries about how I was determined to put myself out there more and say "YES" to whatever opportunity came my way, and now it's a bit ironic how all I want to do is say "no." I wanted to assure you that I am not bi-polar. I blame it on the changing of the seasons, which I can view so easily from my front porch. I blame it on all the new awesome shows starting back up on TV. I blame it on this amazing series of books I'm speeding through. I blame it on Pinterest, which has inspired me to craft and decorate and cook more. I blame it on finally feeling somewhat adjusted with Dirk's work schedule, and instead of seeking out ways in which to occupy my time, I'm back to practicing the art of doing nothing {I'm really good at it.} I'm so good at it in fact, that lately I've had daydreams of the four of us sticking for sale signs up in the yards of our houses, cashing out our bank accounts, buying an airstream trailer, and hitting the road. Taking whichever road we feel like in whatever direction. Finding some sort of little store or station for sale and just living a simple life. {sigh.}

So no, not bi-polar, just someone who enjoys their own company, a little too much at times, perhaps, but I know that some day, or so I hear, when the Souths decide to procreate, I will be very nostalgic for these quiet evenings on my porch. So I'm going to take advantage now as much as I possibly can.

connecting the dots - isn't the universe hilarious sometimes?

There were many familiar faces at the wedding I photographed over Labor Day weekend, including Justin G. I always like to kid around with the groomsmen, to get some genuine smiles {I don't know of ANY men who enjoy getting their photo taken, ever. I mean, you'd think you were asking them to have a baby or something.}

So I started kidding Justin about how we used to "go out" in junior high. For like, a week, keep in mind. This meant that instead of being friends and goofing off, we ignored each other and avoided each other at lunch and recess like the plague for an entire school week. We couldn't, for the life of us, remember how or when we broke it off.


Fastforward to last weekend, when I was finally cleaning out our old dresser. I like to keep one of my allotted drawers for treasures. Gloves from Gomar, love notes from ex-boyfriends, etc. I came across a single school photo, of a classmate I wasn't particularly best friends with, and I thought to myself, "huh? I wonder why I held on to this specific photo?" Then I read the back.

That boyfriend of mine that Sarah made out with in 8th grade was nonother than Justin G. And Sarah, wherever you are, I am pleased to say that I never "got you back."

Just Say "No"

This has been the most difficult lesson of my life to learn, something I struggle with a lot, this ability to say "no." It may stem from my role as the middle child, always wanting to please, always wanting everyone to be happy, but I always immediately say, "Sure!" when asked to do some sort of social obligation or whatever. Freelance jobs, etc. Then my friend Kate imparted some wisdom (as she is wont to do): "let your 'no' mean 'no' and your 'yes' mean 'yes.'

So I stopped saying 'yes' when I really feel like saying 'no' so that I can stop making excuses last minute to bail out of plans. I've come to realize that my favorite plans are cancelled plans. I am such a hermit. Because I love my time alone. I love my hobbies, my books, my front porch. I work better on a spontaneous schedule, and with Dirk's new job and hours, our only plan on our day off is to NOT make plans.

Lately, I've been getting overwhelmed with committed plans. I feel like every minute of my day and after has been planned out for me, and this is when I start to get the cold sweats. I wake up in the middle of the night and start thinking about all the things I 'have' to do and then I work myself into a tizzy and can't get back to sleep.

It's not that I don't like having friends who invite me to participate in activities, I know that I am fortunate (everyday), I just have issues with over-obligating myself. And some weeks I just want to reserve the right to hibernate. I'm definitely having one of those weeks. A park-myself-on-the-porch-with-my-book kind of week. A lay-on-the-couch-watching-awful-tv kind of week. An edit-photos-taken-last-month kind of week.

What are some ways in which you, my blogging buddies, deal with over-committing your spare time? Am I the only one who ever feels overwhelmed by too many extra-curricular obligations?

xoxo