August 10 on 10 >>> Knoxville Lifestyle Photographer

This summer has been so much fun at our house. I have always wanted a pool. Our kids love to be in the water. It has taken me 3 years to convince my husband to let us get a little temporary, super classy ;) above ground pool for the kids, and this year I finally succeeded. Yes! This thing has brought our little family so much joy and good times together for the past month so I wanted to do this months 10 on 10 post of images in and around our pool. Make sure you make your way around the circle by heading over to my talented friend Allison of Poetry and Prose Photography's post. :)

Kicklighter Newborn >>> Knoxville Newborn Photographer

If you know this family, you love them. Pat and Gianna moved to Knoxville and started ministering to our church through worship right before they got married about 3 years ago. They are both incredibly talented and have become so precious to our family. It has been such a blessing to see them enter into parenthood with such grace and to see their hearts explode with love when they look at their sweet little Norah. Congratulations Kicks! I knew you guys would rock parenthood and it has been so fun to see you guys blossom into this new season. We love you guys!

Olinger Family>>> Knoxville Family Photographer

This family. Oh my stars. 

They contacted me to photograph them since they were expecting their third baby. Another precious girl who would complete their family. They hadn't had family pictures in years and really wanted to remember how special this time was together. You guys. This Daddy. He was made to be the daddy to girls. He was also a photographers dream family session dad. haha! He was so sweet with his girls and telling them how pretty they looked and helping fix their hairs that might be out of place. And when I took mom's photos, he kept telling her how beautiful she was. It was seriously one of the sweetest sessions I've ever been a part of. I am so honored that this sweet family chose me to photograph them this spring. Congratulations Olinger family. What a blessed little girl to be a part of your precious family. <3

Martin Family Newborn >>> Knoxville Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

I just love getting to watch a family grow. When you have your first baby and you experience love like you've never know before, it's hard to believe that our hearts and love can expand even more as our family grows, but it does! In new and beautiful ways. Seeing your baby become a big brother and seeing them fall in love with their sibling is one of the sweetest things on this earth. I loved documenting this sweet family's newborn session for them and seeing them as they experience this very thing. A brand new love. Congrats Martin Family!

Reidy Pie is 2

I can't believe my Reidy is 2. Even though you aren't the baby of our family any more, for some reason you still feel so little to me. Maybe that's because you were created to need more snuggles than your siblings and we spent LOTS of time holding each other this past year. You light up our family with your sweet smile. You take being carried around and told what to do by your older siblings really well and now we are getting to see you grow into your newest role in our family....being a big brother. I've seen a new gentleness come over you as you spend time with Corinne. I am so thankful to be your mama and am so excited to see the little boy God grows you into. 

Happy Birthday baby, Mama

July 10 on 10

I can't believe it's been a month already since our last 10 on 10! This month has just flown by but that's probably because we've been busy! Our summer days have been filled with swimming lessons, reading, blackberry picking, lizard catching, staying up past bedtime to see lighting bugs and eating popsicles. Not gonna lie, mama is tired but I'm so thankful for these days. Thankful for a house that's full of love, forgiveness and grace upon grace, cause Lord knows we need it around here. Continue on around the circle to see my friend Emma's post. Enjoy!

Birtsch Newborn >>> Knoxville Newborn Photographer

I absolutely love photographing a family as they become parents for the first time. The love that is literally beaming out of them is unmatched. I had the privilege of meeting this sweet family several weeks ago at their maternity session and then just recently after they had their sweet girl. I love this mama's words as she reflected on the past few weeks as a new mother.....

"I was so nervous and unsure of myself when we brought Anniston home from the hospital.  I had no idea what I was doing.  My grandmother told me that all a baby needs at first is to be changed, to be fed, and to be loved.  So I changed her when she needed to be changed, fed her when she needed to be fed (no matter what time of day or night :)), and I loved her fiercely.  Soon it felt like I had been doing this mom thing for forever.  

No one can prepare you for motherhood.  No one can prepare you for the loss of sleep and the uncertainty that comes with taking care of a baby, and no one can prepare you for the immeasurable amount of love that you feel for a tiny little person.  I have only been a mother for a short time, but I am already certain that being Anniston's mom is my greatest accomplishment. She is such an undeserved blessing and has shown me a love that cannot be described, only felt."

Congratulations Birtsch Family! Anniston is so blessed to be a part of your family! <3

Luke 3 months >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

Oh goodness. All the love for this session. Love watching this sweet family grow and know them more. They love each other well, it's easy to see. <3 Happy 3 months baby Luke!

Neal Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." -Audrey Hepburn

It is always a pleasure to meet up and photograph this sweet family. I love just getting to hang with them and see them love on their little guy. Camden you are so loved. <3 Enjoy Neal family!

Whitt Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I have photographed this family for 3 years now and I always love catching up with them and spending the evening with them. We met up early this Spring and had such a great time picking flowers and running through fields. Enjoy sweet Whitt family!

Geist Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I love it when sessions end with me chatting with my clients for the longest time about how they are about to become a family of 4 and how the Lord is preparing their hearts for this new and exciting adventure. I can't wait to meet this family's new member just any old day now. Soooooo, I figured it was time to blog their spring/maternity/18 month session. I just love you guys and look forward to seeing your family grow!

June 10 on 10

I can't believe it's been month already since our first 10 on 10 project. This month has been super busy with us preparing for and having our 4th baby a week ago. I'm excited to share a few of my favorite lifestyle images with you from this past month including a few of our brand new little Corinne. I'm hoping to put together a post here in the next week or so of some of my favorite images of our family since she's arrived but ima need some sleep and a little editing time first. ;) I hope you'll make your way around the circle of these incredibly talented photographer mamas and see how they photograph their days. Continue on around the circle by heading over to my friend Sarah Garcia's blog to see her June installment of our 10 on 10 project. Enjoy!

Derenski Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I loved meeting and photographing this wonderful family this Spring. We met up at one of their favorite places and had a great time roaming around and exploring together. Enjoy these photos Derenski Family!

Fay Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

There is nothing quite like getting to see a family grow. I have been so blessed to see this family do just that, since they've been with me since the very beginning. I just love you guys Fay Fam!

"Family isn't an important thing. It's everything." Michael J. Fox

Wahl Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I had such an incredibly sweet time photographing this adorable family at this sunrise session earlier this spring. I love when clients email me telling me how much they love their baby and they want that captured. Enjoy these sweet photos of this gorgeous family. <3

Birtsch Maternity >>> Knoxville Maternity Photographer

I can't wait to meet and photograph this sweet baby girl coming soon! She is already so loved. You can see that all over this mama and daddy's face when they talk about her. Congrats and so excited for your guys! Enjoy Birtsch family!

10 on 10 >>> May 2016

It has been way too long since I've blogged and I'm excited to share a new project I'm involved. This year has been such an incredible year for me so far. I've had the opportunity to develop some incredible relationships with other photographers. I've been able to mentor with 3 of the most amazing and talented women in the industry and gotten to know so many incredibly talented artists along the way. One of those ladies is my friend Sara of Sara Garcia Photo Art. We met at Joy Prouty's Wildflower's workshop a couple of months ago and she recently invited me to join a monthly blog circle with some other seriously talented women. So every month on the 10th of the month we'll share 10 of our favorite lifestyle images and at the end of the post you'll see a link to go to the next post and see that artist's images until you make the full circle. I can't wait to get to know these ladies through their images over the next few months and I hope you'll join us as well! So grab a comfy seat and enjoy so beautiful imagery! I haven't shared many personal images on my blog in a while so I decided to share a few favorites from 366 and a few that I haven't shared. Enjoy! 

Continue on around the circle by going here to see Kristi Burton's post!

Kicklighter Maternity >>> Knoxville Maternity Photographer

I'm a little behind on blogging my sessions from this spring but wanted to jump ahead today and share these photos before this beautiful mama has her babe any day now! What an incredible blessing it has been to get to know these two over the past few years. I cannot wait to see them enter into parenthood here in the next few weeks and meet this sweet and already very loved, baby girl!

The Schoolfield Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I am so excited to feature these photographs of a family that is near and dear to our hearts tonight! They have been friends of ours for years and I am so thankful that they entered into our lives. I've learned so much from them about parenting and seeking the Lord as we raise our children and it was so much fun to put some of these memories into photographs for them.

I love that Christa, the mama to this beautiful family, shared some words with us after her session....

“It has been years since we have had the opportunity to have family pictures done, so this evening spent together and the memories that were captured are indescribably special to us. Each picture really captures the personality and essence of our individual child, and our family as a whole. Having a larger family is sometimes, as my husband says, “like a circus full of rabid squirrels,” but we wouldn’t have it any other way. The house is continually filled with laughter and crying, smiles and tears, running and crawling, peace and chaos, but we never grow tired of the faces and the presence of these Blessings the Lord has given us. And, as time will surely march on, and these Blessings grow older and march out of our lives, and into their own families, we will look at these pictures with laughter and crying. And through these pictures, these precious moments in time, the echoes of their running and crawling across the floors of our home, and the times of peace and chaos in our life will be forever etched in our minds and hearts. It is said that, ‘time waits for no one and it won’t wait for you, so use it well, and use it wisely, for who can tell when time will turn into eternity. So use the time well, teach them and instruct them in the Lord, pour into your children’s lives, love them without condition, and STOP, often, and spend time with them; fill the pages of your memories to the fullest, so when you look back on your family’s life they will be filled with tears of joy and not regret. They are the truest, purest, and most eternal Blessings the Lord has given you.”

Wildflowers Workshop

"Some journeys are direct, some are heroic, some are fearful and muddled. But every journey, honestly undertaken, stands a chance of taking us toward the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need." Parker Palmer

For years it has been a dream of mine to go to an in person photography workshop to learn from one of my favorite artists. After a few years in the business and my husbands sweet encouragement, I searched for the perfect one to meet my needs and landed on the Wildflowers Workshop led by the incredibly talented Joy Prouty. I have followed Joy's work for years and it has always resonated with me. Her ability to evoke deep emotion in her imagery is really incredible and I love her complete honesty and transparency in her personal work. I identified with her so much as a believer, mother and wife that I knew it would be a good fit. And it was. I went to this workshop really seeking insight on balance as a creative, a business owner and a mother and left challenged and stretched in all these areas. Although we had two shoots while there, this workshop wasn't very much about the technicalities of shooting but more focused on our artistry and developing that, which was exactly what I needed. I was challenged to shoot the things that make me feel alive as an artist. And although, I feel like over the past year or so I've begun to focus my work in that direction, my time at this workshop really breathed new life into this pursuit in my work.

My time with Joy made me look a bit more closely at what I love to shoot. What makes me love to pick up my camera and in turn create beautiful imagery. My photography journey has evolved quite a bit since I started my business 3 years ago. I have figured out that I am passionate about shooting families, but not always the perfectly posed traditional family portraits. Rather, I love to spend time with my clients, connecting with them, learning their stories, and photographing the season of their family, no matter what that may be. One of the things I wrote down in my journal that weekend that Joy said that I have gone over and over again to myself is that you cannot compare one persons beautiful with another person's beautiful. Sometimes life is not always golden sunlit fields and perfect smiles(sometimes it is!). Sometimes life is a sink full of dirty dishes and a tangled mess of hair and to me that is just as beautiful and equally deserving to be captured. So, as I embrace that, the joys and messes of these beautiful, imperfect lives we live, I hope you'll join me as my business grows and changes as I develop as an artist.

I am so thankful to Joy and the 16 other photographers I met for shaking up the creative in me. For encouraging me, challenging me, and giving me so many things to think about. Over a month later, I'm still mulling over all the things we discussed. I am really excited for all the wonderful things that are ahead for my work and for my clients. A few changes are already in the works and I'm excited to share them with you in the coming weeks. If you are a photographer considering Joy's workshop, DO IT. Just do it. If you aren't a photographer but love beautiful photographs, you should really follow her work. Here is her website. Go get a cup of coffee, a warm blanket to snuggle up to and enjoy. :)

Here are some pictures from my weekend in Austin....

And here are a few iPhone snaps of my weekend...