This is Rachael, who just turned nine this weekend and received a beautiful smocked dress lovingly made by her very proud grandmother – with a matching dress for her American Girl doll Molly. Aren’t they beautiful (both the girl AND the dresses!) ?

And a fun Storyboard:

( Anderson SC children’s photographer, Clemson baby photographer, Anderson SC newborn & baby photographer )

It’s that time of year! Spring has sprung, everything is new and fresh, and little girls and boys are making their first Holy communions.  I love these sessions, because these children look as sweet, pure, and innocent as can be. Here is little Mia…can you catch a glimpse of what she will look like as a real bride?

Clemson SC photographer, Seneca SC photographer, Lake Keowee SC photographer

My 9-hour drives to PA are made a lot more enjoyable by my satellite radio. Last week as I was driving home I was channel surfing and came across a talk show where they were discussing how to avoid the high cost of professional photography for a wedding. Basically the dilemma was how to get high quality, artistic, out-of-the-box different, reliable service…without actually paying much for it. Callers talked about their experiences using a friend, an art or photography student, a hobbyist, or someone who does it on the side without a registered (ie, tax paying) business. Several said they were thrilled with their choices, and some said they were sorely disappointed.

Let me say that I am in a fairly contemplative mood nowadays, as I just had another birthday and we are preparing to move into our dream home in just over a week. But I feel like I just have to share my thoughts on this topic, as it is a question that I myself struggled with as a young mom – why custom photography?

I have always loved photography, even more so when I had children and wanted to capture my wonder at their beauty and their personalities. I knew I didn’t want to forget any of it. I spent so much time trying to breathe in the moments, burn what they were like into my memory forever. I seriously did not believe that I would ever forget the way they looked, sounded, smelled, laughed. I almost didn’t even bother labeling the backs of photographs with dates and ages – I knew that I would instantly remember what age they were in those images, and where it was taken and why.

I was pretty good with a camera, and I was proud of a lot of the images I captured of their sweet faces and expressions and little outfits. I got lots of fun photojournalistic shots that I thought were very cool. I didn’t feel like I needed to spend money on custom photography when I took such great pictures, and besides, there were cute outfits to buy.

Well here it is, nearly thirty years later. The girls are grown, and I’m a nanna. I have been packing up old photo albums and scrapbooks for our move and have had some very sweet moments looking through them. But my underlying thought when I look at them is a feeling of a job not quite complete, and certainly not worthy of its goal of capturing my children completely and beautifully.

What I didn’t realize is that my “mommy goggles” colored the greatness of those pictures I took. At the time, my heart filled in the slight blur, the poor color, the over or underexposures. All I could see were my kids, like a mom views a child’s crayon drawing with pride because her darling produced it. And guess what? The memories do fade. I have to try to decipher an unmarked photo – sometimes I can’t even tell which baby it is!

I want to encourage all of you to take lots of photos, learn all you can about photography, document every happy moment. But I also want to share my experience with you in the hopes that you will not repeat my misguided mistakes. Especially in this economy it is important to cut back on unnecessary expenses, and certainly custom photography is a luxury. But I will tell you that it is one luxury that I wish I would have dedicated more resources to. I always managed to buy them cute clothes that are now so forgotten that it isn’t even funny. I took them to chain store studios to save money, but those images of them with giant bunnies for Easter are not something I would display in my home as art now. How I wish I would have supplemented my own pictures with professional ones!

Over the next few weeks I will be writing about all of the things that make custom photography worth it – and why it costs what it does. I don’t want to convince you just because I’m now a professional photographer (!). It’s because I want to make sure that you don’t have the same sense of loss that I do when the day comes that you have to pack up your own albums. And that day will come faster than you can believe possible.

(Anderson SC photographer, Lake Keowee Photographer, Washington PA photographer)

I think all of you know that great images of my Granddolls are what really makes me happy, and I think you know that they happen to be two of the most difficult children on the face of the planet to photograph! Their mother and I  are both pretty handy with a camera, so you would think that between the two of us we would have a boatload of great images, right? WRONG! It seriously is so, so hard to get eye contact with these two. I suppose its because they have beeen photographed literally from their first breath, and they know exactly how to foil us. Thankfully, as they get older it is starting to get a little easier…and at my last visit I got this:

Clemson SC photographer, Seneca SC photographer, Lake Keowee Photographer

…for a little while. We are in the final few weeks of finishing our house and moving (during the last weekend of March) so the Blog may be quiet for a while. Jim and I are working on finishing the lower level at every available moment, and the workers are everywhere finishing up all of the last minute jobs in the rest of the house.  I will be in PA this weekend (after making a brief stop to see the Granddolls!) to do communion shoots, meet with wedding clients, and visit my family – then when I get back next week it’s time to PACK! The house exterior is painted, the floors are done, the cabinetry and counters are in, the appliances are installed, the garage doors are on, the plumbing & lighting fixtures are installed, the stairway is being built – almost there! Just need the final painting done and driveway put in and some minor last-minute stuff.  I’ll try to post some pics when I get back. It’s more perfect than I could have hoped for, and I’m thrilled with how it has all turned out. I’m REALLY sick of painting though, and all I have to say is that all of you better get your butts down here to visit me!!!

This session was intended to be a surprise Christmas gift for the grandparents of these twin girls, and no one (including their parents!) thought that they would actually be able to keep it that way. But lo and behold, neither of these sweetie-pies uttered so much as a hint, and their proud grandparents received a wonderful Storybook and dvd slideshow on Christmas that thrilled them to pieces! Btw, grandma made the little ponchos and jackets that you seee in these images, and that makes these even more special!

( Anderson Sc photographer, Washington, PA photographer )

This little sweetheart has been in front of my camera almost yearly since she was a tot, and it’s always such fun to see her grow and change. The camera just loves her, and so do I! Just look at what we got this year:

Clemson SC photographer, Anderson SC children’s photographer, Mt Lebanon PA photographer