Shannon Holden Photography

I admit, I was very stressed about this session. Not about photographing it, because I knew from our pre-session chats that the mom was fantastic, and I was quite sure the baby would be adorable. I was stressed because they predicted rain the day of our session. No shock there, right? A forecast of rain in October, 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia … hardly breaking news! But rain would have really impacted this session because this sweet baby was traveling all the way from Eastman, Georgia to meet me! (That’s south of Macon, and an almost 3 hour drive.) I knew they were driving up the night before and had hotel reservations to be here in time for our 10 a.m. session, so there was no last minute cancellation option if the weather didn’t cooperate.

Thank goodness, the rain stayed away! It was very cold that morning, so we kept little Tres wrapped up in a blanket between shots. He was such a trooper, and such a friendly baby. Quite the little flirt! He was precious, and his mommy was just as much fun as I’d expected from our conversations.

Brandi, I am so thankful and flattered that your traveled so far to see me, and I hope we’ll get the chance to work together in the future … maybe next time when I’m visiting our family in Tifton! Thank you for sharing the chilly morning with me and for the chance to meet darling Tres. He is an angel!

An afternoon with ideal weather, gorgeous light, delicious color … and no sessions. The perfect opportunity to play with my kids!

It has been a year since I saw Hank for a portrait session, and when his mommy helped him out of the car, I hardly recognized him! Now two years old, he has changed from Baby to Kid! He was absolutely adorable for our session! He flashed an instant and precious smile every time I pointed my camera at him. Usually a two year old session involves me chasing a toddler all over a park, and getting lots of shots of the back of his head. But Hank was having a ball having his portrait made, and his parents and I couldn’t help but laugh at how much he enjoyed his modeling job.

Even at the end of our session, when we all thought he was “done” as we say, and as we were heading back toward our cars, Hank started saying, “More cheese!” (Now, please let me clarify that I do not encourage my subjects to “Say Cheese!” … so don’t even get that thought in your head!) It turns out “More Cheese” was Hank’s code for wanting more pictures. So he chose his own little spot to sit, and once again, flashed that picture perfect smile! I clicked away, and he even said, “One more time!” and smiled again!! I’m smiling as I type this, just remembering his cute little face. What an awesome subject he was!

As much as I enjoyed those joyful smiles, as I edited the session, I found that I loved many of his non-smiling portraits just as much. There is just something so captivating and heart-stirring about the innocence at age two, the curiosity, the depth of their souls in their eyes. Images like those truly move me as an artist.

Kevin, Heather, and Hank … it was wonderful to see you again. And Hank … keep smiling, handsome!

We were playing Weather Roulette for this session! Beth and I were watching the weather minute by minute in the days leading up to our session. Finally the night before, we saw that the forecast called for “Mostly sunny with a slight chance of showers in the afternoon.” With plans to meet at 8:45, we thought we would be in the clear! So I was not happy in the least when I woke to cloudy gray skies that morning, and even less happy when I arrived at the park to meet Beth and her children, only to find myself under a sprinkle of rain. Nooooo!!

We decided to forge ahead, and I’m so glad we did. The trees at the park provided the shelter we needed for the first few minutes of our session, and then the skies began to clear and the light began to shine through. The session went great!

With the exception of newborns, it is rare that one of my portrait sessions lasts more than an hour. I don’t put time limits on my sessions and I don’t watch the clock. I just find that usually my young subjects are … shall we say … DONE at an hour. They are no longer amused by my silly jokes and songs, and they are ready for a snack and/or a nap.

These sweet kids were on their way to the beach after our session. So I felt so bad when I got back in my car and saw that we had been shooting for nearly TWO hours! I admit, I just got a little carried away. These two kids were so cute, so photogenic, and I was just having too much fun. And they were such troopers! They were fantastic for our session, and though their mom and I noticed they were “D-O-N-E” near the very end, they just kept playing along up til that point. I think I would have been much too excited about my vacation to stay focused on some silly photographer! Editing their session has been a challenge because I just had too many great shots to include.

Matthew is 8 years old, the same age as my oldest son, and I found they had a lot of similar interests. He is an avid reader and was excited to share with me many facts about the trees and bugs we saw around the park. Kate, or Katie-Kate as she has nicknamed herself, is 2 and 1/2, and so darling. She was a little shy at first, but we became friends soon enough.

Thank you, Beth, for choosing me as your photographer. Matthew and Katie-Kate are fantastic kids! I’m sorry I delayed your vacation departure!