The days are long but the years are short
The days are long but the years are short...
My latest session with the Whiting family was a lifestyle session in their beautiful new home in Milford Michigan. In the stage of final touches, it was a definitely a gorgeous setting for an indoor shoot.
According to Wikipedia, lifestyle photography is "a style of portrait / people photography which aims to capture and document real-life events, situations, or milestones in an artistic manner and the art of the everyday."
I am truly starting to love lifestyle photography more and more. And while my passion has been outdoor location sessions, there is definitely something to be said for capturing the beauty of a 'day in the life' of a family in their own environment.
Always one of my favorite families, I have been photographing the Whitings since 2 year old Ashton was just an adorable little baby bump in Kiersten's slim frame.
Fast forward to the last time I photographed the family and it was around this time last year. Ashton was a sweet 16 month old, still very much a baby.
This year I found a little boy, just as sweet and adorable but definitely in the throes of what is commonly referred to as the 'terrible twos' lol!
When he is not mimicking and idolizing big brother Paul, age 7, he is antagonizing him. Of course, Paul, as a typical older brother, antagonizes right back! Such is life with multiple children--you may have 2 minutes of peace followed by 500 minutes of crazy. ;)
The days are long, but the years are short :)
When I first arrived at Paul and Kiersten's new home Ashton was just waking from his nap. So the session began with my documenting the ever so fun task of trying to dress a squirming 2 year old. There should be some type of parenting award for this, just saying!
From there we had our ups and downs, from little Paul wanting to be anywhere but taking photos, to Ashton wanting to run, and throw, and eat, and cry, and yell, and be two years old :D
And yet a couple of days later, when I sat down to go through the images and flag my faves for this blog post, I had an incredibly hard time eliminating photos, I wanted to post so many!
Real life, with it's good and bad moments, is truly a beautiful thing.
(Of course, throw in a gorgeous home filled with natural light and a family that looks like they stepped off the pages of a magazine, doesn't hurt either) ;)
Thank you to Paul and Kiersten for always welcoming me into your home, and lives, and allowing me to witness both the joyous and the not so joyous moments.
You are definitely a photographer's dream :)
“If John Lennon was right that life is what happens when you’re making other plans, parenthood is what happens when everything is flipped over and spilling everywhere and you can’t find a towel or a sponge or your ‘inside’ voice.” ― Kelly Corrigan,
Every ending is a new beginning
Every ending is a new beginning..
Last September I met Erin Cantrell, owner of Erin Cantrell Fitness, when I photographed her oldest son's Senior photos. It was a gorgeous sunrise session out on Huron River documenting Ronnie's talent and love of rowing.
(Make sure you check out the blog post from September 2016)
I also had the opportunity to take some family images that included Erin's other son, Nicky, and her boyfriend of 5 years, Jay. Every time I look at this photo of them it makes me want to smile and buy whatever it is they are selling in this picture perfect ad :D
Now, nearing the end of Ronnie's Senior year, Erin finds herself preparing to see Ronnie graduate and go on to his next adventure-- experiencing college life in the oh-so-faraway-Oregon.
For anyone who has experienced the moment when your first child leaves home, you will recognize such a life event as both poignant and heart-wrenching.
But every ending is a new beginning, and never more so then in Erin's case, because as she readies her mind to bid farewell to her oldest child, Erin is also preparing to welcome her third child into the world and their family dynamic, this June.
As someone who personally had my fifth child 16 years after my youngest, I can completely relate to the concept of starting a second family as your older children have left the nest or are in the process of doing so.
And while many will shake their heads and say 'no way, not I!' I can tell you unequivocally that experiencing a second stage of motherhood is one of the sweetest joys you could ever be blessed with.
It is at once beautiful as well as bittersweet.
This time around you have learned to revel in each and every moment, even the not so perfect ones, and to appreciate them all.
Bittersweet because of the now constant reminders of all the moments that you cannot repeat or relive with your older children, moments that passed in the blinking of an eye.
At the end of the day, you will feel awashed in the glow of the joy that this second round of motherhood brings.
While some things will definitely be familiar, this is still a time for so many firsts.
This will be Jay's first child, Erin's first girl, Nicky's first younger sibling, Ronnie and Nicky's first sister...
what an exciting time in this family's life!
Getting lots of advice/horror stories from friends on the dynamics of raising a girl versus boys, Jay and Erin seem nonplussed by it all and ready to handle whatever comes their way with their newest addition.
And since Ronnie has one foot out the door to college, it will be Nicky that will be at home year round playing big brother to their new baby sister. While he is a little nervous about handling a small infant I am pretty sure he will make an awesome mentor to his new sibling and teach her lots of cool stuff-- from playing hockey to how to use hair styling gel (did I mention 12 year old Nicky is obsessed with his hair, as of late, haha?).
No images were taken unless Nicky had perfected his cool hair swoop ;)
Congratulations to parents Jay and Erin, and to big brothers Ronnie and Nicky, on their impending arrival. I cannot wait to meet her and document all of her newborn sweetness and witness the joy she is sure to bring your family.
Thank you for including me in another wonderful life changing milestone!
Much love to you all xoxo!
Makeup by Nicole Elizabeth www.makeupbynicoleelizabeth.com
Today was a fairy tale..
Today was a Fairy Tale
If there is one thing a photographer loves to do, it's something they have never done before. So you can imagine my excitement when I received a phone call from Abu Yousafzai asking me to document a surprise proposal he had planned for his girlfriend of 3 and half years, Ashley Guidroz.
My very first surprise engagement!!
Abu and I met early on the big day to go over our game plan at the Nichols Arboretum in Ann Arbor Michigan. Abu had everything all planned out, the ring--that he had kept hidden from Ashley in different spots for weeks (!), the perfect location: the place of their first date, the photographer (me haha!), and even Ashley's best friend Sarah Lesch and her husband Wesley to arrive after the proposal with celebratory champagne, and oohs and aahs for the gorgeous ring that Abu had chosen, to celebrate his and Ashley's love for one another.
Watching this video it's hard not to cry along with Ashley, because to see the look of genuine love and happiness on their faces is truly overwhelming.
Thank you so much for including me on such a special day Abu...I hope the rest of your life with Ashley is as perfect as a fairy tale.
Nancy Roxanne
Sisters share memories and grown up dreams..
Sisters share memories and grown up dreams.
And so it is with sisters Sarah Benich and Heather Mallard. Born just 1 year and 3 and half months apart themselves, the girls were extremely close in age and despite their different personalities they remain close today. So close that they have shared being pregnant at the same time, not once, but twice!
When Heather, the younger sister, found out she was pregnant with her first child, Sarah found out 5 weeks later she was pregnant with her first as well!
Today their now 3 year old boys, Xaiden (born February 1st, 2014) and Bodhi (born December 25th, 2013) are not only cousins but best buddies :)
In between then and now Sarah also gave birth to baby Freddy, named after his father Fred.
Baby Freddy came just 18 months after Xaiden. And now 18 months later BOTH the sisters are at it again!
Both 36 weeks pregnant, this time they are only 3 days apart! Heather, once again finding out she was pregnant first, is scheduled for a C-Section on February 24th to give birth to her second child and first little girl, Kiah, while Sarah is planning to be induced February 25th (unless she goes sooner!) to give birth to her third son, Lucas.
I am thrilled I was able to document this special time in both these young mothers' lives. This is the last pregnancy for Sarah so this is the last time the sisters will share such a special and beautiful moment in life.
Here is to a LIFETIME of future memories for these gorgeous sisters and their beautiful children. Much love to you all!
Love and Hope
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all.”
― Emily Dickinson
The first thing I noticed about Gabriella Ford was how upbeat and happy she sounded. Granted our first 26 encounters were all via email haha, but still, I definitely felt I knew what type of person she was even before I first set eyes on her.
And when I met her in person she was just as I had imagined her--cute and bubbly and full of positive energy. She was so adorable with her husband Curt. They definitely radiated that newlywed vibe, which makes sense, since they celebrated their first anniversary June 20th, 2016.
Curt and Gabriella met through Beachbody and after knowing each other for 6 years have been together a little over 3 years. Gabriella has also stepped into the role of stepmom to Curt's sons. Jacob is 14, Ethan is 12, and together the 4 of them are picture perfect. :)
You would never know that this happy couple had suffered a sad loss this summer. This past June, Gabriella experienced a miscarriage at 11 weeks. Though they did not know the sex of their child, they always referred to the baby as she and they feel strongly she was a little girl they call Hope.
It was important to the couple that they remember their child in this session and Gabriella wore a necklace with the name Hope on it as well as an anchor ring.
After reading Gabriella's beautiful blog post on their experience I knew I wanted to share their story and her post.
http://www.teamaddictedbb.com/2016/06/our-story-of-hope.html?m=1
I know others will find her story as beautiful and as uplifting as I did and I want to thank her for sharing it with me and for allowing me to share it here.
I wish the Fords all the best and many years of happiness in their new lives together.
At the end of the day they have each other, they have love, and they will always have Hope.
