All the way from my dear Provence, I though I would share a couple pictures of one of our favorite baby sitter and her fiancé. As long as we’ve known Jessie, André has been in her life, and it was pretty clear they would become husband and wife eventually. In the military for a few more years, there is a great big chance they will travel the world, enrich their lives with different cultures. We are sad to see her leave, but are excited for them to start on this wonderful adventure together.

They just needed real quick a few pictures for their “save the date”, but I would really like to have a “real” engagement session when I come back from France.
In the past years when I return to THE homeland, I’ve been filled with ambitious projects to blog about France, and it seems each time I’ve done less. I’ve come to understand how sacred this moment spent with my family in my birth town is to me, and have lowered my expectations tremendously. This year I would like to make a special effort to showcase the legendary landscape while on my vacation. However, after talking to my friend Daniel Ewert, a landscape photographer expert, I realize this may very well be a very ambitious project still. As he explained to me, one of the secrets of landscape photography is like always in the photography world, LIGHT. Not just any light mind you, but sunrises and sunsets, those small windows of time during the day are your best best to catch some gorgeous imagery. But, in this part of the world, in this time of the year, that translate being set up in a great location at 5:30AM, and 9PM. The first being prime sleep time, the second during the most important meal/gathering of the day, the dinner! So, the task will be challenging, but I may manage a few shots, that I will be sure to share here.
By the way, you must take a minute, to click on the link above to check out Daniel’s work, it’s breathtaking. Be sure to visit in the “gallery categories” (under image), the Landscape and Nature Photography, and in there his recent body of images of Mallorca (an island near Spain)

A fun family, willing to brave the fierce ants of Fort Pickens with me for some pictures. The ants weren’t the only creatures hanging around, we saw severals (3) friendly (by that I mean, they weren’t the least bit frightened by our presence) mice. It was also nesting season in our National Park, and a variety of birds were circling the skies. After the Fort’s relentless ants, the children asked if we could stop by the beach. I hadn’t been since the whole BP disaster, have been avoiding news reports, and wasn’t sure what to expect. I can only report what our naked eyes could see: our world famous beautiful white sand beaches, as beautiful as ever, no tar balls in sight. As everyone on the Gulf Coast, I’m devastated and appalled by the horrid negligence of the big money making gas company. It is clear to all that the wild life is and will be terribly affected by the spill. Sadly, local businesses are also already suffering from the spotlight of the media. It’s a shame we can’t be delivered honest news, instead it seems to be a fight for the most sensational story, at the expense of our communities. Our Gulf Coast communities, who have been repeatedly hit by ravaging hurricanes (Ivan, Katrina, Dennis..), who proudly pick up and rebuild, who like the rest of the world try to overcome the “bad economy”, are now hit as badly by the spill as by sensational reporting! Seriously, don’t abandon us now, we live off tourism.
Well, I certainly got carried away and lost track of introducing this nice family. Theresa came with her 4 children and her niece.

Carson and Cecelia have the best sibling relationship I’ve ever witnessed,

Known as the Q crew (from left to right), Cecilia, Jake, Matthew and Carson.

And here is Cooper, their cousin, but they’re all so close, she may as well be a sister (I love tight families),

The best group jump picture ever: everyone getting some air (way to go Carson!) and all faces are clear of arms,

All has been a little silent on my blog lately, I haven’t left just yet, only getting ready… Provence, here I come!
Let me share Anna’s session. Anna is no longer a senior, but already well into college. She finished her first year at UF, and was thrilled to receive her letter of acceptance into Sewanee very recently. So mature and eager to live the ambitious life she has mapped out for herself, Anna “croque la vie a pleine dents”. It’s only fitting to use french to describe Anna, as she’s a francophile and has already visited Normandie this summer by offering her aupair services to a french family. Soon, she will return to Paris with her mother to discover our beautiful capital. We had different location ideas for her session, and Anna suggested her grand parents farm, which holds a special place in her heart, and turned out to be a wonderful backdrop for her many outfits and gorgeous evening gowns. We had to reschedule once due to bad weather, and as we drove into Alabama (on a clear day in Pensacola), the skies shifted… Anna settled for her first picture, and it started to rain. It rained just about the whole time. Challenged we got a little creative, I pulled out my flash, the duck tape, and it all turned out perfect.

Check out Anna’s dancing shoes! And she knows how to tango with her magic slippers, it’s one of her passions.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful memorial day weekend. The weather in Pensacola was delightful amidst a few showers, which helped in keeping the temperatures down. The kids are out of school, and summer is just starting.
For McKenzie and Gary this will be a memorable summer, with the arrival of their first born, little Miss Grey (I love the name). You know, I’m a big advocate of photographing newborns early on, but really I think, all stages of our lives should be documented. When a women has her body so radically transformed by pregnancy, that’s one of those very special “stages” worth safekeeping with the magic of photography. We may not all gain just the few recommended lbs by our practitioner, but nonetheless, the transformation is spectacular, a rare moment in life, a new life growing inside, a miracle of nature, that will only last a few months…
Thank you for allowing me to celebrate the joy of your new life with images.

These 2 are so in love, one little kiss was all it took to have them relax in front of the camera.

Look at these adorable little sandals Mc Kenzie found for Grey, she’ll be so stylish!

Because I wanted to prove my point, photographing a very young new born is best, I’m posting many images from this session. There are plenty more for Jenni to choose. We calculated that Anna Grace was only 60 hours when she came into my studio, and it made a world of a difference. I was able to get just about my whole repertoire of poses. I’ve said it before, this family is very special to me, we’ve been friends for a long time, and I’ve photographed all 3 babies. Walton, their oldest, was my first newborn ever, I remember that session like yesterday. I had butterflies in my belly going bananas, I ran out of memory card half way through and had to rush home to stock up (good thing I live close), that was embarrassing… I’m so glad to have my studio now, it makes it so much easier, no more packing bags after bags of blankets and props. My poor clients must have wonder upon opening their door to find me with loads of equipment, if I wasn’t moving in.
Jenni, thanks for giving me a chance with Walton, and for trusting me again and again

Before and after,

With her grand mothers,

Wednesday probably, I should have Anna Grace on my blog. She was my youngest newborn up to date, only 60 hours into our world. Seriously, just a few days at that tender age makes a world of a difference for me. They sleep a lot and much more soundly in their first 4-5 days of life. Everyday, they develop and become more alert. When you think of it, at 6 days they’re already twice as old as at 3 days. I was so excited to have Anna Grace so early in my studio, that Jenni suggested I request my future clients to just stop on their way home from leaving the hospital.. We’re setting a new trend here.
In the mean time, I’m sharing a few images taken for Charleston’s first birthday, and of Jenni’s belly.

Charleston, in a little Buddha pose,

In great conversation with her grand’ma Soozi,

She loved me, and was very excited when the session was over, because she could blow me many kisses good bye…

Last week, I got to meet this wonderful family. Alex came in with 6 days old MacKinlay, who was a very hungry little angel. Alex was very inspiring to me, so in tune with nature. She’s an emergency room PA, and wanted to experience a natural birth, while still benefiting from modern hospital technology. And she did just that, in the delivery room, she delivered her baby herself, under the watchful eye of her OBGYN, not your everyday occurrence… Alex and Randy, it was a pleasure to meet you, and one day I would like to meet all your pets (the 30 something chickens, the miniature horse, Comet, the dogs…).

Towards the end of the session, Randy and big sister, Susanna joined us. We had to wake her up from her car nap, and trick her with a little ice cream to get her in the right mood for pictures. She’s taking her big sister role very seriously, being already a great helper.

“Please can you kiss your baby brother?”

And here, she’s letting us know, it’s time to wrap it up. But really it’s MacKinlay’s expression that’s priceless. Doesn’t it look like he’s doing that kid’s trick, where they pull on their ears, to stick their tongue out at you?

With only one more year of high school to attend, Ansley is ready for the great college adventure (seriously after visiting a few campus, I want to go to college in the US!). Whereas most of her friends are still wondering what they’ll want to master in, she sees drawings, intersecting lines, and numbers with architecture. We had a fast pace afternoon, with my very ambitious numerous locations, spread out around town.
I would also like to brag about Ansley’s mother, Yvette. Yvette is celebrating her shop’s, Belle Amé, first anniversary this month. Several years ago, she was selling out of her house her soap creations. Now, she has a wonderful little store on 9th avenue, where you’ll find the best product on earth, and she makes it all. Her fragrances are delicious, lasting, her body lotion is the only one that can make my alligator skin baby soft (fo real!). Aside from selling some of the best merchandise in her industry, her store deserves to be featured as highlight in today’s economy. Her story is one of success. Yvette has exploited every modern network (from having some world famous utube sisters review and recommend her body treats, a presence on every internet network, to even sending a gift basket for mother’s day to major celebrities). Just a year after opening her store, she’s sought after around the world, shipping her goods in all continents. A very successful and inspiring story indeed.

Before I move on to a new session, I had to post of few of this wonderful family together. Now, it’s obvious to all, the good looks run in the gene pool.

Happy mother’s day to all, even if I’m a little late.
Introducing today a very well “rounded” family. By rounded, I mean a lovely family, with a rich life. With my french upbringing, I’ve always been impressed with the way Americans raise their children. We, in France, have our children spend their childhood in school, classes last all day, and there isn’t much time left for extra scholar activities. In the US, early school release leaves afternoons free to practice sports, music… Americans are raised “complete”, our (I mean our, in the US) colleges and degrees are sought after all over the world, and children are developed in sports, they’ve had a chance to try out different ones, and find a favorite. It makes for well rounded people. Christine and Scott embody the american dream family, aside from all being insanely beautiful, they are accomplished in all field. Their children, Jacob (11 years old), and Gwyneth (6 years old) have already been exposed to many different team sports, individual sports and are both learning to play the guitar. Early in their life they are taught the discipline of daily practicing, to be rewarded I’m sure, with excellence. I can only imagine a bright future for this handsome boy and gorgeous little girl, armed with such precious values, and skills. Gwyneth was an angel to photograph, comfortable in front of the lens, so fun to work with and clearly the camera loves her! She has just amazing features, her generous (and I mean generous) gorgeous hair alone could win her the front page of any fashion magazine.