Yearly Grand Kids Photo Shoot for the Atteberry Family!

Here's the scenario......place me in a room photographing six grand kids under the age of eight with their mom's and grandma in the same room and you have yourself an explosion of various emotions, as well as, all sorts of different directions. The answer..... the beginning of the shoot you are offered a mimosa. 

You may be wondering, well duh?! As a constant teachable photographer, I am forever learning the do's and do not's of photographing young ones. Each shoot is different. I have heard from the best of photographers, there is no master plan. Only a master idea. Cool. Right?! Well, my master idea and what I was hired to photograph, was six grand kids in a lifestyle session, and my main goal was to have FUN! I definitely had fun as did every one else, but I learned that perhaps trying to photograph six young ones, with a total of four adults in the room, may not be the best for 'the shot!' We all laughed, believe me, but we all had the same interest of wanting what was best for the photo. Looking back now, I would have only had me in the room, so the kids could focus on just my direction. Although, I am not sure that would have happened either. Its funny because I have known this family since I was 13, so to me I was among family so of course we would all be in the room together. 

I'm merely mentioning this because one of my intentions for this blog is to share in my experiences and strengths I've learned as a photographer. Well, this experience allowed me to learn a new strength while having fun {not to mention the 'must have mimosa' for the photographer!}.

We started with a little bit of brotherly love, followed below, with sweet Avery showing me her favorite toy.

This shot below cracks me up. Every single personality at its best! 

Here's another photo below where 'directions' were coming from all directions. 

Got a great shot, below, of a very sweet moment with Cindy and her son, Brett.

Here's Keri {yup that was confusing in the room too!}, wonderful mom to the four boys around her and amazing aunt to Avery and Brett next to them. 

Gotta get Grandma DiDi in this shoot too.....

Marshmellow time......

Seriously, we all suited up and went outside to play in the snow. I. Was. Covered. From. Head. To. Toe. And LOVED every minute of it!!!

.....and baby Bunn makes four!

What an amazing honor to photograph one of the most amazing and creative families I know....the Bunn's, who recently welcomed Baby Boy Levi into their family. They wanted to have these photographs to give as presents to their families for the holidays, so a couple of weeks ago, we scheduled a session. We had such a fun time together and I was super excited to finally meet baby boy Levi. What a doll! 

Below, we started photographing in their living room on the couch, laughing and having fun, when all of a sudden, Stella leaned over and kissed her baby brother. I know right?! So adorable! 

I decided to bring Stella some yummy cookies when I came over, as as you can see below, they were a huge hit!

We ventured outside, amazingly, the weather was pretty calm and somewhat warm, considering a couple days after this shoot Asheville got 5-6 inches of snow! This is in front of their house.

Such a big sister showing the love to her baby brother.

I love photographing little details and thought baby Levi's hair pattern was adorable!

Big yawn, for such a little dude!

Sweet baby Levi sleeping in his mothers arms.

Family reading time.....one of my favorites, and Stella's too....The Sound of Music Pop-Up Book! This quickly turned into a sing along {Even I couldn't help myself behind the camera}!

It's all in the details. My, how quickly they will grow to be size 12 feet.

Looks like somebody tried the cookies.....

 

My dog, Lucy's, first SNOW!!!

I woke up at the crack of dawn yesterday morning to my sweet dog, Lucy, hopping her paws on my side of the bed, wanting me to take her out for her morning 'ritual.' When I opened the front door, I too, was amazed at the sight I encountered. Six inches of snow! Lucy hadn't experienced snow before and she wasn't too sure how to proceed. With a lot of encouragement {mainly cuz I was freezing my hinny off!}, she reluctantly walked down the first of six stairs on the front porch. Sniffing and looking back at me, making sure she was o.k, I continued to say "It's o.k. Lucy, go potty." Within a split second, her instincts set in and she was literally hopping off the stairs, eating the snow, while taking a giant leap onto the grass with bunny-like capabilities! Amazing. So, in a matter of approx. 4 minutes, I went from sleeping, to zombie like movements, to freezing my ass off to laughing OUT LOUD at my dog. And by this point I had the front door wide open, not even caring what the neighbors saw or how freakin' cold it truly was. This is the wonderfully immense joy I received yesterday morning. 

I knew then, I had to grab my new point and shoot camera {Canon Power Shot S95} and my iPhone to document Lucy's first snow. Here are two photos from my point and shoot:

Woman's History Publicity Shots for Bright Star Theatre!

 The above shots, with the very talented actors, Carin and Erica, are from a play called We Can Do It...Woman in American History which recently launched this past fall for Bright Star Touring Theatre.

I love this shot above. Bright Star wanted a shot for their upcoming brochure for the 'Contact Us' page! I love the 60's vibe and the multitude of phones {mine is the cute yellow iPhone!}. Thanks Carin and Erica for suggesting we turn on my iTunes while shooting this. The club music sure did add to the atmosphere of getting into 'model shoot mode!'

It's a celebration at Party Blvd in Asheville

PARTY BLVD. celebrated their 3rd birthday bash just before Halloween {yes, I'm aware its taken me awhile to update this} and I had the privilege to take photos for the very fun event. We all had a blast! Pictured above, is David, who is on the side of the road on Long Shoals bringing in people by the masses. Below is a great shot showcasing Party Blvd's Halloween costumes, modeled perfectly is Maddison and Jason.

Above is a father daughter team, McKenzie and Mike, who posed for me between handing out hot dogs and nachos.... a huge hit by the way! And below, something struck McKenzie where she obviously got the case of the giggles.

Above: Superstar Jason busing out a beautiful balloon order for a costumer to decorate for a birthday party.

Below: The adorable Maddison, working the cash register....always with a smile!

Here is the sassy couple.....once again!

Party Blvd is a family owned local business.....cannot get more American than that. Only person missing in this family photo is Colby. We missed you buddy!