"Four" on the Green!

One of the things I LOVE about Facebook is that it reconnects you with friends!  Gail and I were friends in high school and reconnected with one another on Facebook. After taking pictures of her sister Amy and niece and nephew, Gail contacted me to take some of her family.  We meet at the country club and found the perfect place on the "green" for the four of them for me to capture some special family portraits! Here are some of my favorites!

We started at the clubhouse for a quick family portrait. This is where Camryn noticed her mom's necklace!

 I love this picture!

Camryn's going after the necklace now!

And, she got it!!

Another favorite of mine!  This is such a happy family.

Camryn is a living doll! Look at those curls!!!  The colors in her dress really pop against the green grass.

 

 

Alex is such a sweet big brother!

  

And a handsome fellow!

 Beautiful eyes....

I absolutely love this picture! Such love!(Note who is wearing the necklace now!)

Gail, thank you so much for asking me!  It was great to see you again and meet your beautiful family!  

-Enjoy!

Lydia

Sweet Sweet Baby.......

I was thrilled when my good friend Tiffany, called and asked if I would take some pictures of her newborn, Addyson.  This was a secret session since the pictures were a Father's Day present for her husband.  During the session I got to hold and cuddle with Addyson.  Oh how I miss those days!!!  (Except at 2 a.m.)  Here are some of favorites from the session.

Tiffany is such a good mama!  During the session we talked about how dark Addyson's hair is and how much of it she has.  Later Tiffany's mom brought over some of Tiffany's baby pictures and guess what?  Addyson looks just like Tiffany did!  How neat is that? 

 This picture is sooo sweet! 

Here's Addyson's stats!  At the time of our session she was 3 weeks old.  I have to give a shout out to my good friend Sandra at Signarama.  Sandra and her crew are the ones who made this sign for Tiffany and Stephen.  Isn't it the cutest?  They do great work and are awesome to work with.  Check out their website!

I love baby's feet!  I guess I look at them and think, one day these feet will be wearing high heels and flip flops.

We tried for almost 30 minutes to get her to fall asleep.  We both wanted to get a picture of her sleeping.  But, she had other plans and intended to stay awake since she had a guest.  Just as I packed up my equipment and was telling Tiffany bye, we looked and she was sound asleep.  I think it's one of my best pictures of the day!  

Tiffany, thank you for having me capture these sweet precious moments of Addyson's life.  What an honor!  She's beautiful!  

-Love,

Lydia

Happy Father's Day!

With Father's Day approaching I thought it would be neat to pay a special tribute to our Father's by posting some of my favorite father pictures from this past year.  I wish I had thought of this for Mother's Day but, there's always next year.  There were so many shots that I adored but, couldn't post them all.  Here are some of my favorites.  - Enjoy!!

Fathers lead by example and show his children the value of hard work, responsibility and dedication. Pictured here are the Harper siblings pay tribute to their dad, Mr. Harold Harper, on his 80th birthday. 

A father's love is patient and kind.  Blake Steel proudly poses with his three children.  

Fathers are born with a sense to protect what is theirs.  I loved how Patrick keep kissing on his newborn, Paxton.

Once a Daddy's Girl.... Always a Daddy's Girl.  When taking pictures of Kristie and her family you could feel the love she has for both her parents but, you could tell.... she's a Daddy's Girl!

Dad's will do anything to entertain and please their little girls!  Including walk around with a pink flamingo in their pockets!  Matt proudly walks with his little one.

Dad's are always there when you need them.  Including needing a kiss in the middle of the photo shoot!  I cracked up as sweet Emilee leaned over to kiss her daddy when I was taking their family picture with new sister Adlee.

Dads are there to help carry our burdens.  I thought this picture was so precious.  Robbie is making sure Celia doesn't step on any rocks or thorns during her photo shoot with bare feet!  This is why little girls fall in love with their daddys!

The love a Dad has for his girls gives him the power and strength to one day walk her down the aisle and into the arms of another man.  But, their love remains.  I love the emotion and look on Jaimee's dad's face as she tenderly leans over the kiss her dad on her wedding day.  This kiss was as if to say, "It's o.k., I'll always be yours!"

  

Dad's are little one's best friends.  Spending time with their children teaches them they are important.  This is my husband and child walking hand in hand discussing the boats, fishing, and life.  

All of the above qualities certainly describe my dad.  Here's a recent picture of Daddy and me.  Yes, I'm a Daddy's girl, always have been and always will be.  I love you!

Happy Father's Day!

My How Time Flies.....

I met Charlie when he was 3 years old!  His dad was a coach with my husband and we all lived in a huge historic home that had been split up into apartments.  I've watched Charlie grow up before my eyes and find it hard to believe he has now graduated from high school.  I was thrilled when his mom asked if I would take some senior pictures of him.  Here are some of my favorites.

  Charlie played baseball in high school. Here he is pictured in the dugout. 

I love this serious look here.  He has always been quiet and laid back.

His mom, Tammy, wanted a picture taken with their church in the background.  I couldn't think of a better backdrop for a senior picture.  When life gets tough God along with your church family will keep you grounded!

Love this smile!

Thank ya'll so much for asking me to take these pictures.  I've watched Charlie grow up from a blonde curly-headed cutie pie to a smart, respectful, handsome gentleman.  Charlie- we wish for you life's very best.  You are an awesome fellow with a bright future ahead of you! Take Care!

-Enjoy,

Lydia

"When I Survey....

...the wondrous cross" is one of my favorite hymns. I have to admit that I totally "borrowed" this idea from another photographer's blog.  When she posted the crosses she sees in her daily life it reminded me that as Christians we are to be pointing others toward the cross.  I recently shared with my Sunday School class  how the cross was once viewed as a horrific symbol of death but, now as Christians we have them in our homes, as charms on our bracelets and necklaces and, in our churches. For us it is a symbol of freedom and a reminder of the price our Savior paid for us.  So, after seeing her blog my eyes were open to the crosses around me and here are some of my findings.  This challenge also gave me a wonderful opportunity to play with my new lens!!

The three crosses here are on my back splash in my kitchen.

I recently went out of town to a conference and here is a cross in the tile work in the bathroom in our motel room.

This cross was obvious.  It's part of a birdhouse that sits on my window sill in the kitchen.

And another one in my plant as an ornament.  

This is an interesting one.  This is the fabric on a chair in the motel room.

My shower curtain.

The end table in the motel.

And, this picture was taking months ago at Easter at my church.  This cross has become a  tradition for family pictures at Easter and for those of us (like me) who were married at Easter it served as a backdrop for our wedding pictures.  And, yes those are real flowers!

I hope you enjoyed this.  Maybe I'll have a sequel to this blog someday. Hopefully you will see the crosses that around you each day.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, 
demands my soul, my life, my all.

-Enjoy,

Lydia 

Love in Downtown...

I met Stephanie and Jimmie through a mutual friend and I'm so excited about photographing their wedding this fall.  They choose downtown Valdosta for their engagement shoot.  We had a blast even with the heat and threat of storms on the forecast.  Here are some of my favorites.

Stephanie and Jimmie's story reminded me so much of my husband and me.  They were high school sweethearts!  This next picture took some time to get.  We had some guy stop us and share with me where he felt I needed to be taking pictures and offered his advice on photography to me.  I was gracious and listened. As he was going into great detail with us we noticed he was holding a folder for his Probation Officer and then he turns to me and looks at my camera and says, "Oh I see what's wrong, we don't have the same kind of camera.... I shoot with digital."  At that point and bid him goodbye and continued to do my job.

-Enjoy!
Lydia

Miss Priss

You may remember my little friend Gracie from her 1st Birthday party last fall.   We recently had another photo session and boy did she keep me on the run.  She's more active now and such a prissy little thing.  I love watching her facial expressions.  Here's some of my favorites! 

I love this one of her parents.  The next photo will explain what has their attention.

Miss Priss!

This one is so sweet!

Daddy's Girl

Sorry Matt, I had to post this one.  Notice his pocket.

And, sweet Mama's Girl

Isn't she adorable???

-Enjoy

Lydia