K, her mom, and I started planning this session over the summer at one of my favorite places ~ the Starbucks at Crabtree Valley Mall. We decided to wait for a little cooler weather for our photo shoot and were rewarded with a great day at the Raulston Arboretum. K and L had a great mix of ideas and goals for the session and allowed me plenty of creative freedom in photographing K’s senior portraits ~ one of those truly collaborative experiences that you just feel great about before, during, and after.

I have to give a nod to K about choosing fantastic outfits that photograph extremely well ~ a great mix of colors in well fitting clothes that really flatter. And awesome red shoes. Possibly I need to have her come and make over my wardrobe. And here’s what I love about K’s mom, or two of the things at least: 1) she has raised two daughters who are great students, incredibly polite and pleasant to be around, and who act like being all of that is No Big Deal; and 2) she has found a graceful place where she is the mom but she doesn’t have to make all of the decisions. I saw a lot of kids and a lot of parents in my “former life,” and what you guys have is a Very Big Deal. Hat’s off, plain and simple.

So, I know that K and especially her dad are excited to see some of her senior portraits. Thank you for being patient ~ I hope that you enjoy a few of my favorites (and K’s) from her session, and thanks so much for the opportunity to make these photographs.

{As always, please feel free to use these images for email, Facebook, etc. Please leave them as they are, with the watermark intact. They are sized for efficient loading via the Internet and will not make acceptable prints.}

Well, this is a bittersweet post to be sure. I have known Little Miss Sweetness’s parents for quite a while (again, B, thank you for not being in any classes that I taught), and I have been photographing her since she was born. These are her one year portraits ~ which means that we have the fun of going through a year’s worth of sessions and designing her one year album ahead, but also that I will probably get to photograph her a little less frequently now that she is a big girl. Which I’m a bit bummed about ~ not the big girl part, but the less frequently part.

Maybe the most fun in doing baby’s first year plans, to me, is getting to watch what changes and what is constant. Babies hit the developmental milestones in a blur, going from wrinkly newborns to sitting up to walking so fast that it is hard to catch a breath. But it never ceases to amaze me that so many of their facial expressions remain constant even as their baby faces give way to toddler faces. (And if you want to speed that transition up, get them a hair cut. Unbelievable.)

So, I know that Little Miss Sweetness’s mama is waiting to see a sneak peek, and you guys were so patient to handle not one but two hurricane-induced reschedulings. Here is a little glimpse into LMS’s one year portraits, complete with a little look back.

Little Miss Sweetness was a beauty when she was teensy

With a name full of meaning

Who grew into a china doll and posed perfectly for one of my all-time favorite portraits

And is now a gorgeous little girl who knows where her toes are, loves “Twinkle Twinkle” and still has parents who seem to kind of like her

E’s mom and I have been plotting her portrait session since last fall, when K won a portrait session at a Raleigh Jaycees event. I love donating silent auction items to worthy causes, but I especially like to help out the Jaycees in small ways, since I spent many a fun and worthwhile weekend working on the Turkey Shoot and other service projects when I was a member. They truly do a ton of good in the Triangle, and it’s a great way to meet people in the area as well.

So, basically K and J and I followed E through the J. C. Raulston Arboretum as she investigated the trails, rocks, benches, raised beds, and newly hatched fauna. It’s a joy to photograph such a happy child, and I think that E may have set a record for the stamina, as she walked most of the gardens with only a quick banana break.

To summarize: Take NC springtime, including an abundance of blooming trees and flowers, green everywhere and 77 degree weather; add one delightful toddler, and you have this sneak peek plus a good many more that I’m still editing. As always, please feel free to share these images digitally with the logo intact. They are sized for web use and will not print acceptably.