I am processing a bumper crop of newborns, seniors and families that I photographed in September, but Amanda and Jose are headed out of the country shortly, and I wanted to get the tiniest of sneak peeks up for their families as soon as possible.

Their lovely wedding had a fabulous combination of perfect fall weather, abundant roses, and a fun and happy family ~ in short, it was a real celebration. Thank you so much for letting me share in your day.

I promise a full blog post soon (and lots of posts for my patient September families), but I wanted to share just one of my early favorites with you as you head to lands far, far away.

By the time that I sat down at D+R’s kitchen table to plan Mr. Personality’s one year portrait session, I knew that theirs is a family that has its priorities in order. I got to meet several generations within minutes of getting to their house, saw military honors tucked neatly into discreet displays, and noticed that Grandpa’s first year series photographs and an array of other family snapshots were on the walls.

So it wasn’t any surprise, really, that Mr. Personality very cooperatively walked, ran, smiled, giggled, and then smashed a cake in a photogenic way.

I’ll say officially that I’m jealous of the day-to-day that W has with his (doting) grandparents and aunt, and of the fun and easy way that you all have with each other. That kind of love is a treasure, and enjoying it every day is priceless. The love that you have in your home is obvious, and it is a privilege to document it in portraits.

I have to give a quick shout out to D, who planned W’s birthday party, celebrated a b-day of her own, and hosted a baby shower all at the same time that she was the mastermind behind getting great outfits (and the awesome smash cake) together for Mr. Personality’s one year session. It’s a testament to your work beforehand that the session was so much fun to photograph.

And so, for those of you who are scrolling, Mr. Personality’s one year session…

When your mom looks like this

And your dad looks at her like this…

The odds are that you are going to be part of a pretty happy family

Where people cheer your big moments

Enjoy the little moments just being with you

And will always offer a shoulder to lean on

And an introduction to the best things in life

Happy first birthday to a very lucky little cake-faced angel boy.

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

I had the best time photographing this family. A local group of photographers that I’m part of got together to play with off-camera flash in an urban setting ~ two things that I don’t often get to combine in my sessions ~ to create portraits for this family. I always gravitate to the kids, and these two were completely adorable. Very engaging, cooperative, and totally entertaining to chat with… They were pretty much my ideal subjects. Mom and Dad were very fun to photograph, too!

Thanks, Z Family, for making this such a great session and for giving me the opportunity to make some family portraits in downtown Raleigh. I know that you braved some bugs and debris, so hopefully the final product makes it worthwhile!

As always, you are welcome to copy and share these images via email and Facebook. Please leave the studio logo intact. They are sized for fast loading on the web and will not make acceptable prints.

When we first arrived, the sun was filtering through the clouds and hanging low in the sky, so I waited a bit on the flash so that I could photograph this…

I love what a hint of flash can do to open up a portrait as the sun is setting…

Or to allow me to shoot basically in the dark with a gravel path or a bumper crop of weeds for a backdrop…

Because you never know when adorable is going to turn a bit ornery and need its picture taken.

With the benefit of knowing that Hurricane Irene was less devastating than was forecasted and that we are fortunate just to have some brush and limbs in our yard, it was really kind of nice to have a day inside with nowhere to be and nothing that really had to get done. And with electricity, which we luckily kept with just some flickering.

There are things that I love about every season, but fall is my favorite, and even though this week is supposed to be hot (again/still), it is starting to seem like fall to me. It might be my amazing success buying fall clothes for D at Buttons and Bows, or it might be that I just added Sweet Potato Day at the State Farmers’ Market to my list of things I’m looking forward to in the next few months. The list already included The State Fair, wearing sweaters, chilly air, *some* football games, the start of ACC basketball season (!), leaves-turning-colors, trips to the mountains, and David’s birthday. And of course the height of portrait season.

AEWP Fall Portrait Schedule:

I’m taking a cue from a photographer friend who has simplified radically (she gave up Facebook!) as we head into the “busy season” for portraits so that I can savor photographing every session while also being more intentional about enjoying time with my family (some of whom have accused me of running upstairs to work before the last supper crumb has hit the floor ~ and been right).

So, in order to tame the chaos that seems to overtake me annually around Thanksgiving, I’ve decided that this is the year that I’m really going to set a schedule for myself and stick to it. And so (drumroll please):

I have one session left in September and a handful of dates each in October and November. Please shoot me an email to beth@aewileyphotography.com or call the studio at 919.624.1633 to schedule your 2011 session. If you are expecting, we will put your due date on the calendar and adjust based on your baby’s birthday choice : )

52 Project ~ The Letter K

It ain’t a good blog post without some images, so here are a few from what I mistakenly thought would be the toughest letter yet. Amazing what you see when you’re looking for it. These are all from the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, scene of the Wedding Photographic Society convention earlier this month.

Contest Update

I think that my love-hate relationship with Facebook might show : ) We are inching closer to the 400 mark, and I’ll give away a session to a contest blog post commenter chosen at random when we get there. I have also figured out a simpler, Facebook-approved way to host future contests where you can vote on submitted images directly on my FB page, without multiple steps, etc. and also without being spammed by a third party. Thank you so much for suggesting my page to your family and friends, and especially for recommending me personally. I know that I consider carefully the businesses that I recommend, and there is no higher compliment to give or get in my opinion. I am looking forward to sending my son off to “school” in about a week (one morning a week, anyway), I still find it a little bittersweet not to be headed off to a classroom myself, and I’ll really enjoy giving away that session when we hit 400.

Jonathan and I went to DC in June, and we made a point of going to places that we hadn’t been before. Being political science majors and living fairly close, we both used to have reasons to go to Washington fairly often, but we realized that it’s actually been years since we went, and there are many new or seriously renovated attractions that we had never visited. We could easily spend a month there, but three days and zero toddlers made us marvel at what we could take in even during a short visit.

I couldn’t pick just one Written Word ~ in DC it really is like shooting fish in a barrel, and even more so in the Newseum ~ so here is my absolute favorite from an exhibit about the role that journalists played in getting help to NOLA residents after Hurricane Katrina. A man painted this warning to looters on the plywood that covered the outside of his storm damaged home. I think I like it because it speaks to the desperate conditions while reminding me of something that my dad might do:

And a close second ~ the operative page from the “Colbert Report” script that brought truthiness into the lexicon:

Followed by a quote from photographer Eddie Adams introducing the exhibit of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs:

And finally, a sign from postwar Berlin:

In contrast with the abundance of opportunities to photograph the written word (which I might revisit, because it is probably my favorite theme so far), this week’s letter seemed to be hard to find, but I spent perhaps a total of 10 minutes finding both J and K while sitting outside the Wedding Photographic Society Convention last week. Here’s my favorite J. I found three without looking too hard. Try not to be too anxious as I hold off on K for another week (or so):

August and the start of a new school year always feel like the real “new year’s” to me. It’s the time of year that I reflect, assess, make plans, and begin things anew. 2011 has been a big year of transition, personally and professionally. I’m so grateful for the clients who have become friends, for the friends who have become clients, and for everyone who has trusted me to photograph a moment that is important.

Last August, my personal life centered around my son, who was crab-crawling through the house and was still 100% my baby; professionally, I felt like a schoolteacher with no classroom to go to, no students to teach ~ frankly a little unmoored. This year, my son (though he will always be my baby) is a boy who runs everywhere and has just this week started using “I” to refer to himself as the independent little guy he is becoming; he heads to one-day-a-week preschool after Labor Day; and I am starting to feel like a photographer who truly loved teaching high school.

In the past month, I have photographed two precious newborns; I have heard my son say, “I play ball” and “I shoot basket” for the first time; I have lost a cousin who functioned like an aunt and lived like a feisty Southern woman; I have talked with a PhotoLegend about losing it all, making it big, and having a vision for one’s work and life; and I have photographed my mother being a grandmother.

So it seemed like it was only appropriate to do something kind of big for this year’s contest, because it has been a big year.

Those of you who know me well know that I love Facebook but am nearly confounded by its rules for contests. I think I’ve managed to stay on the right side of the rules again this year, with almost no administrivia for you and for me ~ except maybe cutting up the names to go into a drawing, and I secretly love stuff like that.

{The Contest}

Please “like” A. E. Wiley Photography on Facebook, ask your friends and family to “like” the FB page as well (to increase the value of the prize), and then comment on this blog post to be entered into the drawing (prizes outlined below).

The # of AEWP Facebook fans by 7:25 AM on August 25th (LRHS start time on the first day of school) will determine which of these prizes I give away. The winner will be selected randomly from comments on this blog (not from Facebook wall comments, though I love those).

400 Fans ~ Complimentary Session + 8×10 Signature Print
500 Fans ~ Complimentary Session + 11×14 Signature Print
And because I’m feeling crazy…
600 Fans ~ Complimentary Session + 5×7 Session Album
800 Fans ~ Complimentary Session + 16×20 Gallery Wrap
1000 Fans (!) ~ Complimentary session + 16×20 Gallery Wrap + 5×7 Session Album

{The Image ~ Because a blog post isn’t fun without one }

Fine Print: The complimentary session is subject to availability (I have just a few weekend sessions left in time for Christmas). You may schedule your complimentary session to take place any time between now and December 2012, subject to my availability. Your complimentary session may be done anywhere within 30 miles of Downtown Raleigh (unless you want to fly me somewhere, which is cool, too). If you are not in NC, you may give your session to someone who is local to Raleigh, or schedule it when you are visiting (again subject to availability). The complimentary session is for one nuclear family. No cash value for any of the prizes. Expires December 2012. Just to be super super clear, I will give away ONE of the prizes ~ the one that corresponds with the # of Facebook fans shown.

It is a privilege every single time that someone recommends me to a friend, and when said friend happens to have a home filled with love, antiques, a brand new BOB, and a visiting grandma who grows her own fruits and veggies, well, that’s a really good day before the first shutter click.

My grandmother used to have a sign in her kitchen that said, “A good hostess is like a swan ~ calm and serene on the surface, and paddling like h*ll underneath.” Being a new mom strikes me as presenting a lot of the same challenges. (Did I mention that this snuggly little bundle is less than two weeks old? Which, for those of you who aren’t into math, means that her mama delivered her less than two weeks ago.) But if this mama is paddling, it doesn’t show. Little Miss Sweetness is a happy, sleepy, thriving newborn whose mama has great timing and a reassuring calm that seems to pervade her home.

S&K, thank you so much for trusting me to capture Little Miss S’s photographic debut. She is simply wonderful. I have so many more, including quite a few in your lovely ivy, but these two just begged to be blogged.

~Beth

As always, please feel free to share these images via email, Facebook, etc. Please leave them as they are, with the watermark intact. They are sized for fast loading on the web and will not make acceptable prints.

This wedding was full of wonderful: Fun, artsy couple, beautiful dress, to die for venue, and a chance to second shoot for a photographer I’ve long admired — Allegra of Allegra’s Studio in Lynchburg, Virginia. Kate and Mark had both their ceremony and their reception at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, which has a special place in my heart, as Jonathan and I spent part of our honeymoon there as well. Any couple that begins married life at The Jefferson is automatically off to a good start as far as I’m concerned.

I learned in chatting with Kate that she and Mark met when she took accordion lessons from him, so I was delighted when he not only produced a vintage, fully restored accordion, but proceeded to pick it up and play a bit as he was getting ready. Great music was a theme woven throughout their wedding, so it seems appropriate to begin and end this first blog installment with images of him relaxing before his wedding and then serenading his new wife.

It was great to see the relaxed, happy relationship that the two of them share, and the appreciation that each of them has for the other’s creative talents.

Here are a few of my favorites from getting ready through M&K’s first moments as Mr. & Mrs.

All of these images are (c) 2011 by Beth Wiley for Allegra’s Studio in Lynchburg, Virginia.

This week, I came across my “Reflections” shot somewhat by accident. I’ve had it on my list forever to do a self-portrait, and procrastination has ruled quite a few days. But last week I decided to put on my Dairy Godmother t-shirt — more on that in a future Mother Wit post, if I’m brave enough — and to make an attempt at capturing an image of myself. I did add one of them to my bio on my main website.

What began as a little experiment after my first run at a self-portrait became my favorite 52 project shot so far… one of a series of my son as a photographer. On a whim, I put my camera on a tripod, adjusted the settings to maximize his chances, and attached a remote trigger for D to play with. That boy loves anything electronic (the more buttons the better), and the 5D’s shutter is pretty loud in close quarters — so he had a blast.

The thing that I love most is that I caught his total concentration in his project, and he caught my joy at watching him work. To me, these images look like our real life. The resulting shots also show our shared habit of chimping a bit : )

Here is my favorite Reflection, all grained up since I’m shooting for me (and I do love some grainy b&w):

And, wincing slightly, my favorite shot that D took of me. You can see that I’m a doting mama for sure. I even let him have my favorite camera, while I used the backup : )

And finally, the letter I abounds in this shot taken downtown near VCU in Richmond, Virginia on my trip to second shoot with Allegra’s Studio (post about this gorgeous wedding coming soon):