Shannon Holden Photography

The Hipstamatic iPhone App. I first saw it on a friend’s Facebook page. I downloaded it yesterday and drove my family nuts for the next two hours as I chased them with my iPhone. This app is addictive and so fun!! It turns boring old camera-phone pictures into funky, vintage snapshots that remind me of the pictures in my family photo albums from the 70’s.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my iPhone?

Much love,
Shannon

“When a baby is born, so is a mother.” One of my favorite quotations. It’s so true. Once a child enters your life, you are never the same.

And now, one of my dearest friends in the world has become a mother. Peggy and I met in college, and our friendship grew closer in the years after that. It was Peggy who held my hand at 4:30 a.m. in a hospital room, as I held my mother’s, as Mom left this life behind for Heaven. I told Peggy that night that she was no longer just a friend to me. She was a sister.

Life gets hectic though, and living in different states can make it hard to stay in touch. I don’t get to see Peggy nearly as often as I’d like. But to get the chance to celebrate with her as she welcomes her first child into the world … well, that’s something that I wouldn’t miss. So with our other dear friend, Melissa, we got to spend a weekend catching up and meeting Miss Addie.

Addie was 6 weeks old when I met her. Normally that is an age that can be difficult to photograph, which is why I generally recommend that my clients schedule their newborn portrait sessions between 6 and 10 days after the baby’s birth. After the first couple weeks of life, babies learn that they can wiggle and stretch, and posing for portraits is not high on their list of favorite things. But obviously in some circumstances, it’s just not possible to schedule a portrait session in that early window. Miss Addie proved me wrong on the timing, and she was an absolute delight. She even agreed to a quick snooze during her portrait session. She might truly be one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen. With a mother like Peggy, I know she will have a lifelong beauty that radiates from within.

Welcome to the world, darling Addie. What a blessing you are!

Much love,
Shannon

Miss Ella is two! Ella was a Milestones client in her first year, and her parents and I became good friends over the year’s sessions. I was so thrilled to see her again for her Two Year Portraits. It’s wonderful to remember that darling, blue-eyed three month old I first met, and to see the vibrant young lady she is now becoming. I can’t wait to see where life leads this little girl.

Ella is all toddler, on the go and independent. Sitting still was not on her agenda for the evening. No worries … my ultimate goal as an artist to capture the child as she is, even at high speed.

Ella, you have forever captured a very special place in my heart. You are beautiful, strong, and sweet. Kirsten and Scott, thank you for the chance to know your amazing daughter, and to call all of you my friends.

Much love,
Shannon

As I mentioned in my recent post here, we have a new baby cousin in our family! Precious Hudson Robert arrived just after Thanksgiving. My cousin’s family lives in the Washington, DC area, and their favorite photographer recently moved out of state. During our Thanksgiving visit, as Heather and I browsed some local photographer’s websites, we decided on the spur of the moment that I would just fly back to DC after Hudson was born! How thrilled I was to be his first photographer! Unfortunately, my ticket was booked for the weekend that the DC area with hit with a massive amount of snow, and sadly that same day, my husband’s grandmother passed away. Heather and I agreed that it would really be best if I postponed my trip rather than get snowed in, especially at a time when my family here needed me.

Thus, Hudson was already several weeks old by the time I got to DC just after Christmas, so he really wanted no part of the sleepy, curly, newbie baby shots. Nonetheless, we had 36 hours for this session, and in that time, we finally talked him into a snooze or two! I couldn’t resist a few more images of Riley and Jake while I was there. These two just grow more stunning every year. And they are so in love with their new baby brother. What an honor and a blessing it was for me to get to spend this weekend with them. I only wish we lived closer, so it wouldn’t have to be months in between our visits!

Welcome to our family, sweet Hudson!!

Much love,
Shannon