Drumroll please. It's a big week for this uber-fabulous fledgling company - Towne & Reese - because they are making their debut at ATL market and their products will be hitting stores/boutiques across the Southeast this spring! I'm excited to be partnering with them for their branding photography. Inspired by high-end looks from Anthropologie and J.Crew, but with a overall brand mission like this one - "You shouldn't have to spend a fortune to look stylish. Towne & Reese is dedicated to designing jewelry that is fabulously fashionable but effortlessly affordable." - what's not to be excited about?

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new.  ~Rajneesh

Last week I had a really fun one-on-one teaching session with a client/friend, and I arranged for little man Eli to come model for us!

Over the course of the past few years I've watched several of my best friends become new mom's and I have to say that it truly is a marvelous transition. Watching them guide and help grow a new little life, well it sometimes makes a happy little lump in my throat. Angie, Eli's mom, is certainly no exception... she is an amazing mother to both Noah and Eli. But honestly, just look at Eli... how could you not be head over heels for those dark eyes and velvety cheeks? Not only is this little guy growing like crazy (this was just him a few short weeks ago), but I think he just might be getting more deliciously handsome with each passing day. Thanks for sharing him with us Angie!


 

As it may be clear I've really taken some time off this holiday season. I've been so busy (man oh man, I'm good at making myself busy) that I've almost been dumbfounded at how good it has been for my soul to intentionally NOT be busy. I've taken time to step away from my camera, from my computer and just re-charge. It's allowed me to reflect a little more clearly on the whirlwind that was 2009 and think, ponder and dream about what 2010 might look like... what do I desire in the upcoming 12 months? What do you desire?

A lot can happen in 12 months. Let's see... let's take a stroll down memory lane shall we? I parted ways with my "work family" at BooneOakley and started my own company - an entirely scary and thrilling endeavor. Ross made his decision to leave private veterinary practice and start a career with the Air Force doing Public Health work. We moved from Davidson, back down to Charlotte, then were stationed at Pope AFB and moved again to Fayetteville. We bought our first house together. I've enjoying living right around the corner from family for the first time in my life. I had a big time wrestling match with the emotional and physical implications of my recent Type 1 diabetes diagnosis - and I mean serious wrestling. I got to travel all over the country shooting some really awesome weddings. Numerous families welcomed me into their lives and their homes to capture their relationships, their new babies, and their laughter. I've taken on some significant editorial projects and seen my work published. And our big great dane pup, Bristol, has been there through it all. I've laughed, cried, been happy, anxious, content, frustrated and thankful.

But even now as I look back over this summary of the year, what I pluck out of it all is that this year I have been "known"... and that is a deep, rich and beautiful blessing. I feel like my marriage was taken to a whole new level as we charted new waters with career changes (for both of us), a move out of our comfort zone (literally and figuratively) and being truly intentional about investing, serving and loving each other. It's pretty wild to have someone love me the way he does - it's truly through the good, the bad and the ugly. It's truly God-given. (Plus I would have never EVER even pursued photography if it weren't for Ross' encouragement and belief in me.) I've also been forced to know myself as I've worked to understand what it really means to be in tune with my body and learning the best ways to care for myself (goodness this is a hard one!). Creatively, I've also been challenged to learn/know myself and my style, and although I still wouldn't say that I've "arrived" in any way, shape or form... I have tapped into this beautiful truth that photography is an amazing gift that has made me come alive in ways that I only dreamed possible.

This year I want to re-connect with the giddy, adventurous, keep-me-up-at-night ideas that were so much a part of my early love story with photography. I am returning to the truth that my journey with my camera is completely my own, and that it will thrive the most when I stay true to my core passions. So, one way that I'm getting back to my core will be embarking on a rather significant personal project that pays a tribute to the legacy of Lost Valley Ranch, and the numerous lives it has profoundly impacted (and hopefully takes me on a wild whirlwind tour around the country).  The other step in that direction will be attending a workshop lead by Deb Schwedhelm and Leah Zawadzki, which I feel confident will both inspire and enlighten me about photography and so much more. I want to return to the truth that I have a unique story to tell, and that with my camera, I can have both the opportunity and privilege to tell the stories of others.

So cheers, to what lies ahead in 2010! I'd be so honored to have you follow along for what lies ahead, and even hear more about YOUR adventures in the next 12 months.

Every time you photograph someone, you tell them, "You're important enough to remember." Make the most of it.

When you point your lens toward another person, you are telling them that they noteworthy; that of all the people in the world, they alone have your attention at this moment in time. You have the golden and rare opportunity to transform the simple act of photographing a person, into the forming of a human connection that didn't exist before.

--  Cheryl Jacobs
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I feel like my nephew's shiner is noteworthy. I love how this shows off his rough and tumble personality. I feel like documenting these little elements in his life serves as a celebration of who he is, and that makes me happy.

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by size, do you?" -yoda

I've be learning a lot about Star Wars and light "saver" battles lately from my nephews. They are pretty fierce warriors...