My Family Is My Favorite Subject…

Something a little different tonight.

First, Tabitha…My Light…My World…

My goodness how time flies.  It’s hard to believe that fourteen years ago I was a scared teenager fresh out of high school taking the very first pregnancy test of my life.  Don’t worry, Tabitha knows the story.  That day was the scariest day of my life…but as soon as I saw the two lines on that test, I knew I could be a mom.

I don’t know how to quite explain it, other than a calm washed over me, and I just knew.  Yes, I was still scared…who isn’t when you find out your having a baby…but she was mine and in the moment I knew I would fight tooth and nail for her…I would protect her at all costs.

I still remember going to the doctor the first time, and seeing her little blip on the ultrasound…166 beats per minute. That little blip on the screen was and still is my world (along with her brother).

Don’t get me wrong there are days when I would love to ring her little blonde head…she talks back on a daily basis, and thinks she knows everything, (you know like all teenagers) but she is mine…and now she is 13.  I am proud and sad at the same time.  I am proud at how smart and talented and yes beautiful she is, but at the same moment I long for my little blonde headed baby girl that used to cling to mommy.  It’s bittersweet.

About a month ago, I took my daughter and my baby sister (whom I will introduce in a little while) out for an impromptu photo shoot.  It really brought home the fact that my baby definitely is not a baby any longer.  Enjoy a few of my favorites from that day.

Harleigh…The Baby…

A little more about me…I have three siblings.  One is four years older than I am, I have one that is nine years younger than I am, and one that is sixteen years younger than I am.  Yes, our parents liked to space us out.  My baby sister is about to turn sixteen (so yes, if your doing the math that makes me 32)…I still remember the day she was born.

We got up early, because Mama had to be at the hospital by eight in the morning for a scheduled C-Section. Well, when we went to check her in they told us we were in the wrong section of the hospital. So, we went to the section they told us we were supposed to be in…then when we got there they said, “no, you should be where you were at.”  So, we walked back to where we originally were, then someone completely different told us we needed to be in an entirely different section than either of the previous two people had told us.  Long story short, we finally ended up in the right section of the hospital however all the walking had sent mama into active labor (she still opted for the C-Section).  A couple of hours later Harleigh was here.

You would think that with the age difference we would not have much in common, but the truth is, all of my sisters and I have a wonderful relationship.  We are best friends…including my baby sister and I.  She truly is like a little mini me…she likes a lot of the same things that I did..and still do today.  She has a lot of the same quirks I do…which should really spell disaster lol but its the opposite.  Again, time waits for no one…because what feels like yesterday when I met her for the first time was actually sixteen years ago in little under a month.

Here a few of my favorite pictures of Harleigh… And almost lastly…here is a photo of the my daughter and my baby sister (who have honestly grown up more like sisters than Aunt and Niece) together…

Ok…now lastly…I have to share a picture of the other man in my life (other than my hubby)…he kind of photo bombed my photo shoot…and even though the picture is not “posed” (half the time the best ones aren’t) it is just way too cute not to share. Enjoy this cute, cute, cute (no I am not biased) photo of my little boy!

Independence Day!

Well, better late than never! Happy 4th of July…even though it’s July 8th.

My husband’s daddy passed away back in March, so we spent our Independence Day with my Mother In-Law. We had a wonderful time window shopping in Myrtle Beach, and then of course ended our night with fireworks at Barefoot Landing.  I did manage to get a few pictures taken to celebrate the day, even if they were taken a couple of days late.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!!   Until next time!!!

Feeling a little nostalgic…

Cleaning up my hard-drive can be tedious…well…distracting is probably a better word.  I tend to develop an attention deficit problem when I charge myself with this task; especially when I see old photos that I have long forgotten about.

A few years ago we took a weekend trip to Washington D.C. and Gettysburg.  While we did not get to see nearly as much of D.C. as I would have liked (barely a glimpse really) I did get a chance to snap a couple of pictures. I had long ago forgotten about these pictures.

We have all been there, you come home remove the shots from your memory card, and format the card so it’s ready to be used again. All the while you have plans on getting to those shots you were so eager to take…then they sit in a folder on your hard-drive frozen…still in RAW format, you didn’t even bother with converting them…or looking through them for that matter.  LOL! Oh well…better late than never!

I took this first shot as we were walking back to the train station. Keep in mind I was with seven other people…so it wasn’t like I could take my dear sweet time setting up the shot that I wanted to get. I had to pretty much snap quickly or be left by the others. Never the less, I love what I ended up with! The Washington Monument lit up in all its glory and the capital building blazing like a star in the background.

This next picture in all honesty as far as my photography skills is nothing compared to what the stars on this wall represent.  The Freedom Wall in Washington D.C. holds 4,048 gold stars.  Now here is the kicker…each star represents 100 American service personnel (yes I wrote that correctly, every 1 represents 100)  who have died or remain missing from WWII.  WWII was the second in the number of dead and missing next to the Civil War. To put that in a little better perspective, 405,399 were dead or missing from WWII…for the Civil War the numbers were more that 620,000 Americans lost. This picture is beautiful if for nothing more than what it represents…OUR freedom…YOUR freedom…MY freedom.

The WWII Memorial had a gorgeous fountain that is lit up at night…and well you know me and lighting…had to take just a few minutes…plus mom needed to sit and rest a few minutes (even if she didn’t want to admit it) so why not use me wanting to get a picture as an excuse?!

Now, back to that Civil War. We were all taught in school that the Civil War was the war with the most lives lost…and that the battle of Gettysburg was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Well, for this family trip we spent most of our time in Gettysburg, visiting the battlefield.  While I personally would have loved to spend more time in D.C. I have to admit…there was definitely something hauntingly beautiful about being at the battlefield in Gettysburg.  Just to add the icing to the cake the morning that we visited the battlefield it was foggy… How spooky is that?

It is really hard to believe that the rolling acres of what was once farmland was the site of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.

That darn ADD kicked in again…for this next one, I simply liked the way the staircase looked. LOL Told ya, I get distracted easily.

Now these next photos are honestly my favorite.  I hate to admit I did not get the name of the cemetery we were visiting.  It was cold and raining, and at this point I think it was just my parents humoring me because I am the photo junky that I am…

It was right before Christmas when we took our trip, so they have adorned each headstone with a Christmas wreath.

So there you have it…some of my favorite photos from our D.C. / Gettysburg trip (that was three years ago).  Yes, I know I am a little bit of a slacker when it comes to my personal photos. With that being said I should really stop editing old photographs and finish cleaning up my hard-drive…although now all I really want to do is go watch Sleepy Hollow (yes I know completely different war lol)…hmmm what should one do…

Until next time!

Operation Onslow’s Masquerade Ball – Charity Event

I have to be honest, before this event I had never heard of Operation Onslow.  Even after I was hired to photograph the event I was not entirely sure what the organization really was.  Towards the end of the night after I had loaded my camera back in its bag I had struck up a conversation with one of the original members. I asked her what exactly Operation Onslow was, and she explained that they were a Non-Profit organization that helps families in crisis.  She explained that whether it was an act of God, such as a hurricane or a tornado, or something like a fire Operation Onslow stepped in to help its residents.  The Masquerade Ball was an attempt to raise money for the organization so that they could continue helping families.  The Ball was a success and everyone had a blast.  Enjoy a few of my images from that night!

 

The cake was absolutely amazing!  I’m a sucker for masquerade masks anyway…I have collected them ever since I was a little girl, but this cake was beautiful!

 

As for the decorations, they were done by a good friend of mine Hilary Kelly owner and operator of Behind the Scenes Event Design and Party Rentals.  She is a party decorator and volunteered her services for this event.  She held nothing back, she brought her usual dramatic style with her on this night.  I can tell you honestly she is the hardest working decorator I have ever met.  Even though she was doing this event at no charge she was still extremely meticulous about the placement of everything. Even switching out light bulbs for special effect bulbs to create even more dramatic lighting. If you are planning an event and need a decorator you should really check her out!

Hilary also has an awesome selfie station. I have to admit I even had fun playing with this thing.  It is awesome! It works just like a photo booth, however not only can she print the pictures, she can text them to your mobile device and she can even create online albums and upload them directly to twitter of Facebook. Pretty Cool…and she is the only one on the East Coast with this machine!

And, here she is folks!  She was presented an award for volunteering her services to Operation Onslow’s event.  I was so happy to see her acknowledged!

I had a blast taking pictures for this event…and what a wonderful cause Operation Onslow stands for! Below are a few more images from the night!

I had two overall favorite pictures from this event.  Whenever you photograph weddings or events like this you do not get to take a lot of “posed” pictures, but every now and then if your lucky a couple of good ones fall into your lap.  The first picture is of a couple that showed up wearing really pretty golds and blues…honestly it was like they stepped right out of an old photo or movie.  On top of that the bar was vintage looking as well, when I saw them standing at the bar I just had to snap a photo.  I have edited it in sepia tone…enjoy…

My second favorite was of a Operation Onslow member who sang the National Anthem.  First of all she did an amazing job, I really feel that should be said, secondly the band enjoyed her singing so much that later in the evening they invited her up to sing with them.  I took a few moments to play with the band’s lighting and ended up with a dramatic picture. I love it!

So that’s all for this post! I hope you have enjoyed my photographs, and please feel free to message me with any questions!

Hello world!

Please be patient as I get everything up and running…this is a work in progress. 🙂