One of my favorites things to do is meet new people! Get out of my comfort zone and experience new cultures, environments, ways of living, and just learn about different places that I have never been. Mattie and her mom helped entertain that idea for her senior session! Mattie came ALL THE WAY DOWN to good ole Mississippi from Chicago, Illinois for some senior pictures. Chicago isn't THAT far but compared to population 6,000 Amory, it's a jungle. Having never been to Chicago (I know... I know... I know... It's on my to do list) I loved just chatting about the differences in life from here and there like...
•Traffic (it doesn't exist in Amory)
•Weather (Mattie had school canceled once because of temperature. not because of snow but because the wind chill was NEGATIVE 50.
•Plants (not as strange of a subject as you'd imagine... Mattie's parents own a plant nursery)
All in all Mattie was a trooper and battled the cold (granted it wasn't negative 50) and we made some beautiful senior images for her, and more importantly for me, I met some really awesome people. I was glad to show them around my town and just hang out and talk about life. Days like that day are the reason I love my job so much.
Shannon and Paul | Wedding /
Shannon and Paul! Such a great couple that I was able to make some great memories and stories with. I have watched these two come together over the past year from meeting at the wedding consultation to engagement photos (great story there coming soon) and their wedding day! Their wedding ceremony was at Manning Gardens in Guntown, MS (a photographer's dream if you are a fan of natural light like myself). The weather was perfect and so was the wedding day!
As far as that great engagement session story that I mentioned above. We (myself, Shannon and Paul) had moved to a location about 15 minutes outside of town to finish up engagement photos and had been shooting for about 20 minutes when my battery completely died (not the power level but the battery R.I.P. died) NO BIG DEAL! I'll get my backups out of my case (photographer pro tip... ALWAYS have backups of everything) opening my case I see I don't have a single backup battery on me. They were all left on chargers at the studio and I had accidentally left without them. That 15 minute drive (30 minutes round trip) was cut in half as I was racing the sunset.
Here are a few photos from their engagement session below.
Luckily for me I got back in time for a beautiful sunset and some incredibly soft lighting and the session ended beautifully. I placed a few images above from their engagement session after the camera mishap.
And wedding day photos below! Thanks for letting me hang out with you two, Shannon and Paul!
Ross /
This little guy though! Ross was a ball of energy to say the least. All he wanted to do was A) Play football B) Throw the football C) Try and get me to run with the football so he could tackle me D) Try to convert me to an Ole Miss fan.....
For those who don't know, I bleed true maroon and mumble the MSU fight song in my sleep so he had his work cut out for him there; however, I had a blast hanging out with him and his family at their home and telling him (secretly) how much better Mississippi State was than Ole Miss.... he wasn't having it.
He was a natural in front of the camera and picked up on my line "Just one more" didn't really mean just one more! Excited to watch this little guy grow up like I have his big sister (whom I have had the pleasure of photographing over the years)
Amory Humane Society Fundraiser /
I did something out of the norm for me and my style of shooting this past holiday season...... and loved it! For those of you who do not know me, I have always been an animal rights supporter and always tried to do my part to help support the local Amory Humane Society. I was asked to do "Pet's Pictures with Santa" as a fundraiser (the session fee was a donation of any kind to the shelter) and decided to dive in head first not knowing what to expect. I have personally never done any pictures with Santa.... or multiple animals.... so there was an extremely large learning curve for me. It was a great day (minus the rain) with a great turnout. Thank you to all that came to see Santa and help a great cause. Glad I could be a part of this event (be on the look out for it again next year!)
Thanks to Joyce Li for the video and Sheila Johnston of the Amory Animal Hospital for all the animal handling expertise throughout the day.
Thanks to you all we raised a total of 8 bags of dog and puppy food totaling 105 pounds, 5 bags of cat and kitten food totaling 36 pounds, 30 pounds of cat litter, 3 rolls of garbage bags, 6 bottles of Dawn, 7 blankets, 8 rawhide bones, 5 leashes, 2 tie out cables, 6 bags of treats, bundles of towels, latex gloves, 2 bottles of laundry soap, 1 bottle floor cleaner. Along with another $300 to be donated along with the supplies.
Wes /
It's fall ya'll! Well at least it was when Wes came by for his senior session recently. Here in Mississippi the "pretty leaves stage" last about 2 weeks at the most so we were basically obligated to use them. Wes was such a laid back and easy to work with guy! He reminded me of myself in high school except Wes is bit more of an academic all star than myself... okay a lot more of an academic all star than myself. ALSO...... Lo mejor de las suertes en el resto de su último año de secundaria y pasar un buen rato en Ole Miss próximo año. (Wes plans to major in Chemical Engineering and Spanish next year..... so that's a test for him)
