Tracy & David...

Believe it or not, there is one person out there who has been a very good friend and has put up with me for 20 years and is NOT related or married to me... go figure... :oD Tracy and I have been friends since we were teens and I am so excited about her wedding coming up in a couple of weeks. Their engagement session was so much fun and meeting David was great. I have to thank God for my very good friend Gwen who trekked all the way with me to Lancaster, SC for some much needed Carolina Blue skies. We made an awesome team and got some really great shots! For now, I just have a sneak peek... but I promise there is more to come. So keep checking with me. ~S.

Tracy, Lauren & Family...

My cousin Tracy and his very beautiful girlfriend Lauren live in Ocala with their children- now for most people reading this a two hour + drive seems so far away, but for me, they are the closest family I have in Florida- well, let me rephrase that- the only blood family I have here. One might also think that we get to see each other quite a bit, but if it were up to me we would hang out every other weekend. I truly enjoy the time that we are able to spend together and it is on my list of things to do more often. To me there is nothing I would rather do with a day off than to sit around with a good cup of coffee and good people telling great stories about family and the craziness we have stirred up in life! God knows our family is a mess.. and I mean that in the best heart felt way possible! :o) Our family is, in an essence, who we are and I miss all of my family as they are mostly in Louisiana where I was born and raised.

So anyway, getting back to my photos- Tracy and Lauren found this wonderful old abandoned fruit packaging plant where we photographed their family (Lela, Dean & Cameron) on Sunday- I had so much fun that I want to shoot there again! Love you guys and we have to do it again soon... Be sure to watch the slide show... ~S.

A Couple of fun shots...

Last weekend I second shot for a friend of mine, Meghan Stewart and although I could put an entire slide up of some really great images, for now I just have a couple that I wanted to show off for fun... The first one was a little luck to be honest- sorta like when you are pulling the trigger of a gun with your eyes closed... Not really- I just had my lens in the right direction at the precisely right moment.. and it worked... :op The second came with a little more effort and the patience of a guest who ended up holding the off-camera flash- More to come later... ~S.

Sean & Kezia: The Slide Show

OK, so please just bare with me as I am trying to figure a few things out. I am finally back up and running with CS3- it has been a long month and a lot of aggravation, er, learning experiences... but we'll get there.

Anyway, I have put together a slide show of Sean and Kezia's engagement session we had last week in St. Augustine and I have to say that it has been worth every minute of the work. (it has been work only because I have had to figure out sound slides and my FTP server again... BUT I did not delete the entire website this time so that is a good thing...) I just love the way Sean looks at Kezia- you can totally tell they are so happy being together and I could not be more blessed having been connected with their family. Thanks again.

*** Before you hit play on the slide show, be sure to turn my music on the side panel off... Nothing worse than dueling music...***

Would love to hear your thoughts. ~S.

Kezia & Sean

I have to admit that I was a little nervous... and as it turns out, so was Kezia. Not having met before wasn't the problem for me as Kezia and I (and Sean) have talked quite a bit... (gasp, that's a shocker I know- me, like to talk? The idea of it..) but I just haven't shot a lot of engagement sessions so although I have done quite a bit of peeking around for ideas it's not the same as telling people how to kiss and pose while looking blissfully in love (in public with a bunch of on lookers...). We didn't have a problem and I joked that I instantly became Sean's new best friend since he got to spend the better part of 3 hours kissing Kezia... And let me not forget Mr. Tyler... this is one little guy who loves being in front of a camera and it shows... He did beautifully and hung in there like a trooper as we trekked about St. Augustine. Can't wait for their wedding in November. Being an art teacher, Kezia has some really neat ideas for their wedding that I can't wait to photograph! For now, I have a few teasers, as my CS3 is on back order... but should be up soon...

Thanks again for letting me spend some time with you guys. See you again soon Ms. Kezia... ;o) ~S.

My Mom...

So after almost 2 very long years, I have had my mom to myself (and Ayden) since Thursday evening. It has been incredible! We have bounced around town and talked way into the morning about everything and nothing. (My very favorite thing in the world!)

This evening we decided to try to beat the storm that was creeping in on us and do a (very) mini session of Mom and Ayden down at Fort George Island. We had just enough light. Although we had to bribe Ayden with money to take the pictures to begin with, I think he ended up having the most fun of any of us! So glad the rain held out...

Love you mom! So glad you were here with us! (Thanks Charlie for letting me borrow her for a couple of days... You are the best-est ever!)

~S.

Bare Feet Babies...

Aahhhh... to be a child again... and just not care! You gotta love it! You know there is a reason I like to clean, and this just proves my point! ~S.

P.S. No harm was done to the children during the production of this photography- the dirt is real and so is the child- but gasp! the two somehow blend so well... don't ya think? :oD And.. just for the record... it was an establishment that we like getting our children together for play dates... not to be confused with anyone's home.... :o*

Trying to Catch up...

So I know I am soooo behind- but in case you haven't figured out that we always, and I mean ALWAYS, have something going on, well, you will... Life Happens is my personal motto in life, because it does. It has been the busiest holiday week I think. But if delteting my site and starting over were not enough excitement for one person's life, we had to go and get struck by a total fluke lightening bolt which fried my motherboard in my brand new computer! But it was my fault I guess- hey, at least we weren't standing in church when it struck right? :o) I didn't have my computer in a surge protector- I had bought one with the intentions of plugging everything in it, but as usual, I get side tracked... So when life throws you lemons- no, don't make lemonade- cut them bad boys up for a margarita or a close rendition- right! I will be back on track as soon as my guy Trey(courtesy of Mrs. Molly- as was the gentleman who had me fixed up within a few hours... genious!) comes and fixes me up with CS3 and lightroom I will be back in the ball game. Hey I am down in the bottom of the 9th, but I have runners on bases- ready to bring em home! So bear with me as we take it one step and one story at a time! ~S.