Shannon Holden Photography

I was so excited to see the M family again. At our last session, we focused on portraits of their four children, each of whom is so unique, and so photogenic! Yet they share so much in common. Each is very bright, impressively polite, and very devoted to one another. Their bond is so special to witness.

I was especially glad when Mrs. M told me that she and her husband would be joining in our session this time, with the goal of creating a portrait of them as a family. Even though I know first hand how difficult it can be on that side of the camera … I know us Moms are stressed enough getting all the outfits coordinated, the haircuts precisely timed, and getting everyone dressed and groomed the day of the session, much less the thought of actually being IN the photographs … but years from now, decades from now, I also know how much the children will cherish this image of their family. What I would give to have a portrait of my own family from my childhood! The memory of love and laughter …

Much love,
Shannon

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!

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!

Two weeks since my last blog post. Shame on me! Life has been a little nutty in our household. I had some minor surgery, and 6 days later my husband had a less minor surgery. Then I got hit with the Sinus Cold from You Know Where. And a weekend trip to visit our new niece (images to come soon!), and school kicking into gear (I’m Room Mom again!), and double my normal session load through all of that. Oh yeah, and I somehow got sucked into the Twilight books and lost many an hour of sleep because I couldn’t put those books down! I read the whole series in two weeks!

Now it’s time to catch up and share some of the fantastic sessions I’ve had lately. I’ve met some adorable kiddos and delightful families. Even when life feels chaotic, I still love my job so much. What a blessing!

Meet Ava and Chloe. These sweet sisters live in the Washington, DC area, and their parents are good friends with my cousin’s family. After learning about me through my cousin, they contacted me to book a session on a recent visit to Atlanta. What a treat to meet them! And thank goodness, we had awesome weather on the day of our session, because rescheduling would have been very difficult. Beautiful Ava is so natural in front of the camera, and she is such a loving big sister. She really looked out for Chloe while we were shooting. Darling Chloe was also a doll. She was curious and a little shy at first (I believe a little stranger anxiety is always healthy for a young one), but we got some great giggles out of her soon enough. She also loved the ducks at the park.

Jay and Susan, Ava and Chloe, thank you for taking some time during your visit to play at the park with me. I loved meeting all of you, and I hope we’ll see you again next time we are in DC!