Category Archives: Portrait Sessions

{Golden} Oh Take Me Back to the Start

April 29, 2012 10:02 am ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅

Consider this a pre-cursor to a more extensive blog, wherein Mallory and I took a few of my cameras for a jaunt downtown. The ones I’m sharing with you today were taken with the first pack of film I used in the Polaroid Sun 660 Autofocus I just acquired.  The film was the Gold Edition of the Impossible Project‘s PX 680 Color Shade. I wish my scanner could convey the sheen of the gold frames on the photos. It’s really lovely. As each photo developed, getting better as the minutes passed, Mallory and I were unable to take our eyes off them! I’d put the photos away, and Mallory would ask me to bring them out so she could see them again. Or I’d pull them out of my camera bag and say, “Look! They’re perfect!” There’s a reason instant photography has the hearts of so many people out there. It truly feels like a little bit of magic at work.

Since we were listening to Coldplay throughout the afternoon and evening, we thought it’d be fitting to post some of that band’s lyrics along with these photos. Maybe when I get the other photos we took yesterday developed (viva film!) ,I’ll be inspired to pair them with more Coldplay lyrics. Until then…

Come up to meet you, tell you I’m sorry
You don’t know how lovely you are
I had to find you, tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart

Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions
Oh, let’s go back to the start
Running in circles, coming up tails
Heads on a science apart

Nobody said it was easy
It’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh, take me back to the start

I was just guessing at numbers and figures
Pulling the puzzles apart
Questions of science, science and progress
Do not speak as loud as my heart

But tell me you love me, come back and haunt me
Oh and I rush to the start
Running in circles, chasing our tails
Coming back as we are

Nobody said it was easy
Oh, it’s such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I’m going back to the start

Polaroid Sun 660 AF • PX680 Color Shade, Gold Edition

Posted in: friends, Polaroid, portrait sessions, The Impossible Project ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

Family Photography: The Jackson Family

November 2, 2011 1:16 pm ⋅ 5 Comments ⋅

Squeeeeeee! This is one of my very favorite type of photo sessions to do: Photos of  parents with their first baby. I call it the “You and Me and Baby Makes Three” session. This photo session was with the AWESOME Jackson family – Mike, Meagan and Baby Ezra.

I just love little families, and there’s just something really sweet about being able to document them in the early part of their lives together as a family.

One thing I like to do when making photos of a family is to get some shots of them at their home. I like to think they’ll be able to look back at the photos one day and say “And this is when we lived on so-and-so street,” reminiscing about that era of their lives. It doesn’t hurt that the Jacksons’ home could be described as “way cute and way cool”!

Other than grabbing some photos of the Jacksons at their home, I had spoken to to Meagan ahead of time about other possible locations for our session. She is also a photographer, and clearly has a great sense of style, so her input was really important to me!

One spot Meagan wanted to hit up was the I ♥ Memphis mural in Cooper-Young. The pictures turned out super cute! I thought the mural was made a perfect backdrop for this little Midtown family. It’s bright red and has a huge heart painted on it. What’s not to (wait for it…) LOVE?!


After we finished in Cooper-Young, there was a quick “wardrobe change” then we were on to the next location: Overton Park.

I was so happy that the afternoon turned out to be simply beautiful. One thing I haven’t mentioned about our session that day is the fact that it had initially been a rainy and dreary morning in the Mid-South. I thought we were going to very literally have to take a “rain check” and reschedule for another day. I was astonished at the gorgeous day it turned out to be! Really couldn’t have asked for nicer weather for photographing this little family out and about in Midtown.

I had tons of  fun with the Jacksons. Mike and Meagan are great folks. And goodness, who could resist that little Ezra with his sweet cheeks and those gorgeous blue eyes! I’m very happy I had the opportunity to photograph this sweet family.

Posted in: family photography, portrait sessions

You and Me, We Make a Pretty Good Team

March 16, 2011 11:05 pm ⋅ 5 Comments ⋅

Two Sundays ago, Mallory and I did some photos in her apartment. I knew I had an amazingly stellar camera, which was on loan from a friend. I knew Mallory had a pretty dress, which she had known was “just the one” when I mentioned we should get together to play with the camera I’d borrowed. What I didn’t know is that playing dress-up on that rainy Sunday afternoon would produce such beautiful images.  I think Mallory, a Contax 645, and I make a pretty good team.

Posted in: film photography, friends, portrait sessions

Baby Photography: {Surprise!} Silas Edition

January 14, 2011 1:41 pm ⋅ 3 Comments ⋅

Today’s edition of Babyyyyyy Photography: It’s Silas  again – aged almost 12 months!

Location: Cooper-Young, Memphis

I was not able to blog these photos before Christmas  because they were, in fact, taken as a surprise for Silas’ mommy and daddy [who was on leave from Iraq for Christmas!] I met up with Silas’ Nana for lunch and a little “Silas’ First Christmas” shoot. It was a ton of fun!  Silas was being a real pistol that day, so much so that a woman at a nearby table even came over to tell us how much she was enjoying watching us play with the baby.

By the way, I have it on good authority that the photos Silas gave his mommy and daddy were a BIG hit on Christmas. I was so happy I was able to help make that happen!

Posted in: baby photography, portrait sessions