There is so much to take in.

So much has happened in this past week or so in our lives.  There have been hurricanes, loss, surgeries, elections, recoveries, and new hope.  Life changing technology sits unopened in a box on my kitchen counter.  Early this morning I sat at the edge of my son’s bed with a cup of coffee in my hand and the fog of this week in my head.  I just sat there and soaked up the peace on his sleeping face.  It took a few moments to get my fill before clearing my throat and crowing “COCK-a-doodle-DOO!!!!”  Instead of thrashing and screaming “nooooooo!”, a form of protest he inherited from two parents who don’t care for roosters either, he just looked at me with wide eyes.  He was completely still and he said, “I wondered when you would come.”

My mother clicks her tongue and begs me to get off the computer and lay down, fearing I will get too sore if I sit up for too long but she knows I am pig headed.  I need to continue editing so that I can peek at the small miracles revealed in photos.  Its a healing exercise.  I see the complexities and joys of our life mirrored in the relationships within the families I shoot.  The pile of posts continues to grow with each passing day but I know that I will be able to share these stories in a more profound way if I take the time to sort through all these happenings and find the connections.

Please pardon my pause until then.  Keep emailing me, keep calling me, I am still here, I get better every day and continue to fall deeply in love with all things light and lens.

Posted by Mel @ 3:18 pm, in Uncategorized | No comments | Permalink

Well we knew it was coming but now its official… Brayden is a big brother!   I caught up with the family to meet their newest addition when Reese was just two weeks old.

We started out with some family cuddle time on the couch.  So who is cheesing harder here… Brayden or Sammy (dog in lower left)?

You know you are an expert mommy when these photos don’t make you nervous in the least: seeing a two year old hold a newborn still makes my heart flutter but Brayden is so gentle and careful and sweet.  At one point Amy asked him to kiss the baby and he licked her head, maybe not what we had in mind, but very sweet all the same.  He was very surprised when she yawned!

Then Brayden took us on a tour of her finished, rosey nursery.  He still likes to hang in her crib so I asked if he could show the baby how to sleep in a crib and this is what he did.

Reese is so gorgeous with a full, silky head of dark hair… already so different from her brother when he was her same age.

When I first saw this photo I thought to myself, “so this is what it looks like to have it all….”  I’m sure that there are moments with a newborn and toddler in tow where life feels more overwhelming than perfect but I was definitely getting the satisfied, very happy, very at peace, super grateful vibe from this newly expanded family.  If its true that the birth of a second child is where parenthood really begins, this family is off to a great start.

Everything wonderful and magical about motherhood is in this photo for me…

Here’s a slideshow from the session and the online gallery.  Amy and Jeff, congratulations on your beautiful daughter.  I’m so excited to watch her grow!

Posted by Mel @ 8:19 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Uncategorized, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink

This blog post is more for my benefit than yours, that’s for sure.  I’m having one of those weeks where I need to feel… no, I need to know that I am making progress on albums.  Which is why I sure am happy that I took this photo of Sam with holiday delivery albums that we had just packaged for shipping mid December.

I had the camera on the table from taking photos of some of the books (which I will share…eventually…at some point… I promise).  Doesn’t he have the slightly crazed smile of a man fully aware that he is about to brave the post office during the holiday season?  How’s that for realism?

The stack he’s holding excludes two books set aside for pick up, the two books that were scheduled to ship the following week and the two orders I have placed since this photo.  I don’t know if I really buy the whole story of the turtle winning the race but by golly, I am getting there.

For those of you still waiting for your design, I fold my hands in a humble namaste and bow to you in earnest thanks.  My baby is 16 months old and still I am digging myself out of a maternity leave, we’ve lived and learned.   There’s never been enough of a lull since then to fully catch up, and for that I am grateful.  There will be late nights until the backlog is through and I’m pronouncing my intentions here so that you can hold me to my words.  Again, I thank you.  I have the coolest clients in the whole wide world.  And a pretty good hubby too…

Posted by Mel @ 9:31 pm, in Uncategorized | No comments | Permalink

I love shooting but designing might be my favorite part of the job.  Maybe its the chance to pour over all the old memories again, maybe its the challenge of visual story telling, or maybe its the freedom to get out of the office and sit in a busy coffee shop with a lap top and a latte and just let the world buzz around me while I play with pictures.  Baby books are especially fun since there’s so much creative latitude: we can easily add text, quotes, or other memories to augment photos if we want to.  Catherine and John decided they wanted to keep the book straightforward and all about the photos and it worked out lovely.  Sometimes photos say it all.

The book was designed around 5 different sessions that we did with Caroline ranging from two weeks of age to sixteen months.  The family chose a Paris style Museum Art Book for Caroline.  The formidable 14″x10″size of the book allows photos to be large and powerful in a way they can’t be online.  100 pages of design space is luxurious, giving me plenty of room to play with sequence and rhythm without having to rush or crunch.  The Paris style book is a modern choice that comes with a printed vellum dustjacket as well as printed end pages for a finished, classic touch.

Next the family chose linen paper for the printing and binding: a heavy stock, textured paper that renders soft color and a dreamy feel.  If you look at the foreground of this photo you can see the subtle, linear texture of the linen paper.

I love how the book itself can really bring a sequence to life.  The computer preview of the following layout is flat but, as a book, the open doors of the playhouse make “big” Caroline appear to pop right off the page!

I love making favorite photos extend in a panorama across pages, making a super detailed print size of 14×20!  This was one of my favorites shots:

And one of Catherine’s favs.  She loves remembering that Caroline was only 3 months old when she insisted on holding a bottle by herself!

I’m looking forward to making another book for Caroline’s baby brother Michael but I won’t rush him through his sweet babyness.  I’ve got plenty of design work on my plate so I will patiently wait.

Here are a few more shots and if you would like to see the entire layout preview, click here…

Posted by Mel @ 7:22 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Uncategorized, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink