WHEW!

It is almost Christmas! Can you believe it? The older I get the faster it seems to come. When I am sixty I probably will be made dizzy by the time zipping around so quickly!
Many of you have asked about my Christmas Card session. Believe it or not, for the first year EVER in the history of the Rich Family Christmas Card Festival of Tears, NOT A SINGLE PERSON CRIED! Believe me, I am as shocked as you are. They even suffered through having photos made with my mom! I cannot show you the photos yet as they will be on my Christmas Cards so they have to remain a secret until all of those go out. That is what I HAVE to work on tomorrow. I am including one of the photos from that day.
For those of you wondering, it is NOT too late to have photos made for Christmas. We are rapidly running out of time though. I can even still do Christmas Card photos for you! I no longer have time for my custom designed Christmas Cards but I can still do the flat ones from a template.
Hope all of you are doing well and have completed your shopping. That way maybe it will not be so crowded when I finally get out to start mine! LOL
amy

Tis the Season!

Can you believe it?? The holidays are upon us and I am not ready! Of course there is NOTHING unusual about that..lol! I could have sworn that we just did all this about a month ago. But the air is getting colder, the nights are getting longer and my kids are starting to prepare their lists. The older they get the more expensive they are. I remember when they were little and I could get them a whole room of junk for $50. Now the items that cost $50 will fit in their pockets and often cost much more.

Don't forget when preparing your very own lists that photos are a great gift and my new "Wear Your Love" jewelry line is the BOMB!! You can view the catalog in the photo jewelry section of my website: www.AmyRichPhotography.com. What do you get that always hard to please mother-in-law? How about a necklace or bracelet of your little darling(s) or a nice photo to put up in her house? She may even forget that you are not good enough for her son...lol..

Speaking of photos, I have had some darlings in the studio lately! I am including a few photos.

By the way, I will be having a contest the first week of December. Be sure and be watching out for that!

Oh yes, if you hear any sirens today, don't panic! This is the day I will be taking our annual Christmas Card photos. They will probably have to call out the swat team. Every year I torture my children and make them suffer through the session. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this will be the first year we can get them done without all of us crying!

Hope your Sunday is relaxing! Keep your fingers crossed for me!
amy

Where did my photos go?

Hmmmm....here goes again....

October

October is my probably my favorite month. I love how the leaves start changing and it gets a little cooler. Everything seems so crisp and poised on the edge of change. It brings back memories of leaf piles and hotdog roasts, hayrides and football time in Tennessee. I love it!
Thanks to all of you who came to visit me at my booth at Oktoberfest at the Wilson Bank in Lebanon. I think that thing gets bigger every year. It was great seeing all of you. I cannot believe how much your children are growing! I will be at Rutland Elementary School on November 1st for the Rocketfest. I would love to see all of you so come on by if you are out that way.
October has been a very busy month! I have been photographing like crazy and loving every minute of it. I am sorry that I have not posted in a while but it has been difficult to find the time.
My son started their hockey season this past weekend. We got to play our first game at the Sommet Center. I think I will brag just a little and say that my son scored three of our four goals! And guess what? I got a photo of all three! WHOO HOO! I am posting one here.
I am including a couple of photos from past shoots. The first little baby just looked like a little angel on a cloud and the second photo is of a 12 month old by an old carriage. The carriage is my most recent addition to the props at the studio.
BY THE WAY! Call now to start setting up your Christmas photo shoots! I have the sleigh in and I am ordering the background this week so I will send out a sample! I am very excited!
Talk to you soon!
amy

Cakes and Photography

I met this family at the fair this year. She owns a cake and catering company called Wildberry Cakes and Catering. Check them out at www.wildberrycatering.com. I had her make me a cake in the shape of a die for my Bunco night. It was sooooo cute and very very delicious! I ordered a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing. The strawberry cake was her grandmother's recipe and was the best I have ever tasted! Look her up if you need anything!
I have included a couple of photos from the shoot. What a beautiful family. My daughter helped out on the shoot and she just could not quit talking about how nice they were.
Have I mentioned that I love my job???
amy

Babies Everywhere!

The world is coming up babies! I could not be happier. Nothing is sweeter than that darling little new one. This week I was lucky enough to shoot a newborn and a maternity session in the same day. Celebrations abound!
I need to get my little one to bed but I wanted to put a couple up really quick.
Remember to book your holiday sessions early as I am rapidly filling up the calendar!
Smile,
amy

Thinking about the NILMDTS...

I don't know how many of you know that I am a member of the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep foundation. It is a group of professional photographers who go to the local hospitals and conduct sessions for families dealing with infant bereavement. I think it is the most important work that I do.
Two nights ago I got a call from a photographer in Clarksville, Kandice, who had gotten a call about a baby at Vanderbilt. She wanted to come along and shadow me as she had not done a session before. I agreed and we met at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital.
Baby A. was still on life support at the time. The hospital staff did not think she would hold on much longer. She was a beautiful baby. She had a head of curly hair and the most perfect tiny features ever. I met with her family. They were wonderful and really supported and held one another up. I took the photos of the baby and we discussed my coming back if Baby A. passed. The family had hope as did I that the baby may pull through. There have been other babies on the NILMDTS forum who were not supposed to make it and then they would post up a notice that the baby was fine and went home. Baby A. seemed alert and strong. She seemed like a little fighter and I hoped that I would never have to see this family again.
Yesterday went by and I never heard anything and I was so hopeful that she was still hanging in there. I got the call last night about 11:20 that they had removed the life support. I told them I was on my way.
I have been on several of these shoots now. But every other shoot I did was with an infant that had already left us. This was so much harder. Now, I knew the baby and the family. I had seen the baby clothes they had bought her, the bonnet and the tiny shoes. I had witnessed how much they loved this little one during her life - now I had to witness them grieving her death.
So much love, so much pain. We did the photos. Now their baby girl was free of all of the wires and tubing that covered her the day before. This precious little lamb dressed in her coming home outfit hugging the angel that her Grandmother had purchased for her. I tried so hard not to cry, to remain detached. At one point they were dressing her and I turned my back and wept. The grandmother noticed and came over and asked if I was okay. Can you imagine? The grandmother comforting me? I assured her I was fine and finished the shoot.
People ask why or how I do this. How can I not? These are the only photos they will have to remember her by. They won't have her first birthday, sports, first day of school - any of these. They have this brief moment in time. This one chance to chronicle her life and tell the world, "She is here. She is here and she is loved and we will never forget her.". That is why I do this. I do this to honor Baby A. and all those others. To give the parents the photos, taken in a brief moment, that will give them a lifetime of the memory. I do this because I have no choice. I have seen their faces. I have heard their hearts.

With the Month of October being recognized as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month, The Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation holds its Annual Fund Drive for six weeks starting in mid-September and ending in October.

President Ronald Reagan enacted Proclamation 5890 in October of 1988 to recognize that each year, approximately a million pregnancies in the United States alone end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of a newborn child. Reagan stated, "A national observance offers us the opportunity to increase our understanding of the great tragedy involved in the deaths of unborn or newborn babies. It also enables us to consider how, as individuals and communities, we can meet the needs of bereaved parents and family members... "

If you are in a place to make even a small contribution to NILMDTS, please know that doing so will continue to allow the organization to provide improved resources, training, communication, and other tools necessary in support of their amazing contingent of professional photographers who provide the gift of free remembrance portraiture to families in need.

By supporting the continued education of our volunteer photographers * By allowing us to further our outreach to hospitals and hospices across the world * By offsetting the costs associated with outreach efforts including Formal NILMDTS Seminars * By supporting the Family Forum which creates a productive and supportive haven for healing * By supporting the Photographers' Forum which provides a helpful environment for our member photographers to express their feelings and receive advice on the various issues that they face in this noble work * By supporting the day to day operations of our Headquarters Offices

If you would like to make a donation, please visit the website at:
www.NILMDTS.org.

Smile,
amy

Another one about time.....

Every once in a while you will run across a picture that will bring you to your knees. This is one such picture. It's not a very great one. It is just your typical Easter photo - I probably didn't think it was anything special at the time. Just the kids on the swing at Grannys where we held our annual Easter Egg hunt. Now I look at these bright smiling beautiful young faces and wonder where the time went.

Has it really been that long ago? So much has changed. Granny is gone, Chelsey is in college, Alex shaves, Evan is in third grade and the smiles seem so much harder to come by.

Stumbling upon this picture after a particularly agonizing month of homework, attitude and teenage angst brought me to tears.

I hope I cherished this moment seven years ago. I wish I could go back. I wish I could go back just for a minute and kiss those sweet brows and hold those dimpled hands. Oh God, how I miss them, loved them, love them still and always. My sweet little babies - my joy and my life.

"WE'VE HAD SUCH BAD LUCK WITH CHILDREN, THEY'VE ALL GROWN UP."

~ Christopher Morley

Don't forget....

Hey all!

Don't forget about my Halloween Shoots! I will have two different set ups from which you may choose to do your photos. I will also photograph your pets at this time. Call for times!

Another reminder is that I do panels. I am including a couple of samples here. You may view more on my website: http://www.amyrichphotography.com/.

Fall is fast approaching and this is the perfect time to schedule your family photos. It is also a great time to start thinking about your Christmas Cards.

Don't wait until the last minute! Don't procrastinate! Call me! Call me right now! (unless you are reading this at 3am...then just email me...lol)

amy

September 11th

I watched the coverage this morning and remembered seven years ago when the world changed. My friend woke me up and told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center and we were on the phone watching that when the other plane hit. As the events unfolded throughout the day I remember how shocked and grief stricken I was. How could this be happening here? I remember how the skies were so silent because all of the planes were grounded. We live close to two airports so we see planes all of the time. You just kind of take them for granted but now there was nothing, no sounds and no jet trails. Occasionally you would see fighter jets fly by in formation and that would scare you even more and you would rush back into the house to see if something else had happened.

Two weeks after 9-11 we flew to New York. The airports had heavy security and we were apprehensive but determined not to let fear control our lives. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that we took that trip. I remember hearing the term, "hallowed ground" and knowing what it meant but not really thinking about it that much. I totally understood when we went down to the site. You could not get very close. There were fences blocking off the whole area. You could see the wreckage though and occasionally when the wind would blow your way you could smell the smell that I hope is unique only to this place for it was horrible. There were thousands of people standing there. Just looking. No one was talking. Most were crying. Thousands of people breathing in air filled with the dust of the buildings and the dead. Thousands of people and you could have heard a pin drop.

I did not take a single photo of the site. Somehow it just didn't seem right. It seemed invasive and intrusive. Instead I just stood there with my fellow Americans and grieved for our innocence, lost that day amongst so much rubble and so many dead.

We could see the huge trucks rumbling through the streets laden with their cargo of huge beams twisted beyond recognition. We stood and cheered when the firefighters or policemen would walk by. We looked at all of the memorials and read all of the flyers that were placed everywhere begging, hoping, desperate to find their loved ones.

It was the most moving experience of my life.

I am posting a photo of one of the flyers and another of a close up of a statue of a fireman. This statue was supposed to be going somewhere else but was sent to New York instead when they heard what had happened. It had become a makeshift memorial. Many put rosaries in the fireman's hand.

I just wanted to share with you my recollections of that horrible day. Never forget.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

amy

PS... The flyer reads:

"My name is Marc and my friend Joey worked on the 105th floor of No. 1 World Trade Center. After September 11, I put his "missing" flyer all over the streets of this changed city, choosing my spots as if I were painting graffiti, looking for the best light, the easiest places to see my friend's face.

At 26th Street and Lex, next to the Armory, strangers were nice to me, saying: "Hope you find your friend." I just thanked them and kept looking for more places where Joey's smile would catch people's eyes. It felt good to be doing something, not just sitting and mourning.

Joey and I met when we were five. His mother watched us every day after school before my parents came home from work. We went to school together for 11 years, and all those years I watched him. He was the coolest guy. I felt like the dorky kid he took under his wing. He showed me a lot of things, how to look cool, how to talk to girls. His father, a Vietnam vet and a retired FDNY fire fighter, helped me learn how to ride a bike. That was the first thing his dad asked me when we hugged each other, "Can you still ride a bike, Marc?"

Joey leaves behind his beloved family, girlfriend, and friends like me, lots of us. He will never know how many lives he touched. I have cried so much that I have become empty inside. My childhood hero has been stolen from me, and I will miss him forever."

Never forget...

Hey Guys!

Hey all!

I hope all of you had a great weekend. I went to White Bluff, TN for a family reunion celebrating the re-opening of the Deal Family Sorghum Mill. It was alot of fun. We wandered around the old cemetary where many Deals are buried and we then went over to the mill to see how they make sorghum. The kids all got to try out sugar cane. It was a hit with some and others found it really nasty. They were not all that impressed with the sorghum itself...lol...

While there I found a great railroad track and so of course I made my two little ones get out and walk down it for a photo op. I could not pass that one up! I have included the photo here.

Being at the reunion definitely made me think about family and the importance of keeping up with them all! I had never met many of the people there and it is funny to think we are all related. My cousin, Chris, keeps up with all of our family history. He is the one who can name everyone in the old photos. It is so great to have as many photographs of our family as we do. Remember, long after the TVs are obsolete and the furniture has fallen apart, your photos will remain and be cherished for generations to come! Make sure your story is told!

I am also including a couple of photos from an engagement session that I shot. They were a very cute couple and obviously very much in love.

Be watching for the email coming out this week. It will include a contest!

Have a great week!

amy

Hey all!

Whew!! I am sorry that I have not posted here in the longest! I was so busy getting ready for the Wilson County Fair, hosting my booth at the fair and then playing catch up that I have been running around like crazy. Thanks to all of you who came by my booth to see me! It was alot of fun seeing you and meeting all of you new people! Congratulations to Christy Wilson. She was the winner of my door prize of a free session and a 16x20 print. Whoo Hoo!

What else is new?? Storybook Albums are new! I can now create albums for you of all of your photos from your session. These are wonderful ways to chronicle your baby's first year. I just got in a new template set called, "Generation Teal". I am including a photo using one of these templates on this page.

I have been swamped with photo sessions too! It is so exciting the way my studio is growing. I want to do even more! Spread the word! You get a credit for a free 8x10 every time you refer someone who books a session and places an order!

I am including a couple of photos from various sessions I have been doing. I hope you like them. Please excuse any typos you may find in this letter. It is very late and I am falling asleep in my chair! LOL

As soon as I figure out how to use my new email service I will be hosting another contest so be ready!

Night,

amy

Sweet Little Newborn

Hi!

This past week I was honored to take photos of this sweet little lamb. She was not quite two weeks old yet and was just so precious. I wanted to keep her! Not only was she cute, she behaved herself very well. I hope all my newborns will be this good.

I have been very, very busy this week. You all would be very proud of me! I have been trying to get my new business cards off to the printer and have finally accomplished this task. I think they turned out really nice. I spent a lot of time designing them so I hope they turn out like I expect.

Guess what I did today? I took my son to the dentist but his appointment is not until tomorrow! Sometimes I think maybe I should just commit myself to an asylum. sigh....

Anyway, I am including a newborn shot and another photo from a different session. I call this photo, "Butterfly Baby" and must admit it may be one of my very favorites!

Call and book your sessions now!

amy

Hello!!

"What you do today is important because

you are exchanging a day of your life for it."

Wow! I mean if you sit and think about that quote it really can change your life. I started thinking about all of the days I have spent fighting with my husband or fussing at my bratlings. Just remember all of the times you have spent a whole day (or a week! or a month!) sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. You exchanged a whole day of your life for that! It really can humble you. We are given a limited amount of days on this beautiful earth. We don't even know how many. They are each truly a precious gift and I am going to start trying to appreciate them more. I hope you will too.

I went to the Bellies and Babies Seminar last night and I am excited, energized and ready to take some baby photos! The seminar was given by Sandy Puc who is one of the top maternity and baby photographers in the world. She is amazing and must make more money than Oprah...LOL....She gave me a lot of marketing tips and photo ideas that I can not wait to start implementing here at the studio.

I am including a photo of that darling baby that I told you about in the last post!. He is six months old now. All of these babies are growing up too fast and causing me to have even more gray hair. Thank goodness I went to get my hair colored today because if any of you have seen me lately you know I was looking about ninety years old!

I am also including a photo from my new line of jewelry. This necklace is sterling silver and you have your choice of chains or a black cord. I wear this on a black cord and I get complimented everywhere I go! I also have rings and many other styles of necklaces. This one retails for just $48 and is sterling silver and waterproof. Give me a call if you would like to come by the studio and see my other samples. I can make these with any photograph, it does not have to be one taken at the studio.

Well, I think that is it for now. It is after 1am and I believe I hear my bratlings running wild upstairs in the den. I must go tame them and tuck them into bed.

Have a great weekend and check back on Sunday and I will tell you how the wedding went!

amy

New Shoot

This past Saturday I did a bridal shoot with my friend Janice, a fellow photographer. We shot for Faces By Whitney. Whitney is an incredible hair and make-up artist. She brought two model in bride gowns to my home for us to shoot! It was alot of fun! Thanks to Janice and Whitney for including me. Here is one of my shots from then. I will post more later and I will also be posting some from a six month old shoot....my goodness this baby is too cute!! I can't wait for you to see him!

I will be going to Sandy Puc's Bellies and Babies seminar on Thursday night. I am looking forward to this seminar. I hope it gives me alot of new ideas. I will also be helping to man the NILMDTS booth there.

Don't forget this Saturday the studio will be closed because of the Kennedy-Capps wedding and then next weekend the studio will be closed because I will be in Atlanta with Kamillia's pageant. This is the national competition and we spent a whole day shooting more photos for her book.

amy

As Promised...

Hey guys!

I just got back from Atlanta's market and I made several purchases for the studio! I got another line of jewelry that I think will be very popular. I also purchased a life sized sleigh to use in my Christmas photos! It is so very cute! Another purchase was oversized flowers to use in my fairy photos. I cannot wait to use them! I have also purchased some other wings.

In this blog I am including the photo that I promised. It is of Kamillia with the 1928 Studebaker. This car is awesome!

Anyone that needs to pick up photos may do so on Saturday before 4:30. I am doing a bridal model shoot after that and will be running around crazy!

I have so many exciting things getting ready to happen at the studio. One of them is my new customer loyalty program. Be watching for more information to come!

Have a great weekend and I will write again Sunday and show some of the bridal photos!

amy

Hey!

Hi all!

Yesterday was a very fun day! I was doing a shoot with one of my favorite little girls and I decided to get this old trunk and teddy and go down to the RR tracks to do a shoot there. That was fun and the photos turned out great. Even better, on the way back we see this very old Studebaker (I am not sure if I spelled this right) from 1928. I pulled the guy over and asked if I could do a shoot with his car. He was very nice and came to the house. I will post that photo later on as it is still a work in progress. It was just the coolest car ever! It was rusty and had more character than a novel by Charles Dickens!

I ordered a new set of fairy wings for all of the fairy photo shoots I have been doing. I can not wait until they get here. I also have a new line of jewelry that I am carrying in the studio. You are going to love them!! I will post photos of that soon too.

I am shooting a wedding here at my home on Saturday and then I am off to Atlanta for market!

In the meantime I am posting one of the RR track photos. I hope you enjoy it! Have a great weekend!

amy

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

Hi Everyone! I hope all of you had a fantastic Fourth of July!

I have been very lazy this past week and I have also had a virus of some sort...ugh..no fun!

July is going to be a very busy month for me! I will be shooting two weddings, going out of town for a few days and I will be attending a couple of seminars! Sometimes it is all I can do to catch my breath! I will also be going out of town again the first few days of August.

Today was a good day! My mom made homemade ice cream and we sat out on the porch swing with the kids eating ice cream. It reminded me of simpler times.

I won a contest with a scrapbook page that I made about our swings. The contest was for a page of your favorite vacation spot and I chose to do it on our swings. Here is what I wrote:

"My favorite vacation spot is not far away. My spot is the two swings on my back porch. On spring afternoons I love to sit there and read a book. This is where I come to escape the laundry and the dishes, the petty arguments and the bickering. Swinging and daydreaming I can calmly sort through the problems that have recently crossed my path.

On summer evenings the children often come and join me and these are some of our closest moments. We swing, tell jokes and laugh, getting to know one another a little better.

Is it glamorous like a trip to Europe? No. Is it beautiful like Jamaica? Maybe not, but we have some mighty fine sunset views of our own there. Is it as fun as a trip to Disney World? You'd better believe it!

There is something about swinging, the entire group of us sitting in a circle. It is a time that the boys rarely fight, where all battle lines are surrendered and peace reigns.

It is a getaway like no other. Want to know the best part? While these vacations are absolutely priceless, they don't cost me a dime!"

I have included a photo of me winning the prize. I am the one holding the basket of goodies and the person from the company is holding my page. I cannot remember the company that gave away the prize but they were touring the country and stopping at scrapbook stores where they would hold contests.

I have also included a photo of a senior shoot I did recently. You can't tell it here but we were actually on the RR track in this photo.

Anyway, please don't forget it you have a senior it is time for taking those senior photos! Call and book now!

Have a great rest of the weekend!

Amy

Yes, I made it through....

LOL...I did not mean to depress all of you with my last blog. I guess you can tell that I was feeling pretty sad but I did not mean for it to be infectious!

I have been working very hard all day to catch up on my editing. I have good news for all of those waiting on proofs...you should be looking at receiving your proofs within a week of when they were photographed. Yippee!!!

On Saturday, Books A Million is having a big sale! I LOVE that place. I am going to go and get another book on fairies for inspiration for my fairy photos. I am working on a book, "Captured Fairies" and need some more photos.

BIG NEWS! I was able to get a booth at the Wilson County Fair this August! All of you will have to come and see me! I will be in tent 2 across from the pavilion where they have the pageants and talent shows. I don't do heat well so all of you need to come by and entertain me so I don't think about how I am surely going to melt.

I grew up on a street in Madison called Kemper Dr. There were a bunch of kids my age and we all hung around and grew up together. We called ourselves the Kemper Heights Gang. We spent our summers playing, "Hide and Seek" and "Ain't No Ghosts Out Tonight". We ran wild and had the best fun ever. Together we terrorized the neighbors with toilet paper and Ding Dong Ditching. The photo above is the granddaughter of one of my Kemper buddies. HAH! He is a grandfather before anyone else! I can't wait to be a grandmother (Chelsey, if you are reading this - I CAN wait).

Well, that is it for now!! Have a great weekend!

amy

Another Comment on Time....

I know I am being redundant but back to the time thing......

Today is my first born son's 17th birthday! SEVENTEEN!! I remember when I went into labor with him. The wait seemed to take forever. I remember thinking that he was never going to get here but get here he did and now it has been seventeen years. Morris and I were recently married and just starting out our lives. Alex was born into such love and full of promise. He was a small bald headed baby with big brown eyes and a dimpled chin. Now he is a big strong young man who needs a haircut and a shave with the same expressive brown eyes and dimpled chin. Seventeen years ago I held and marveled at his tiny little hands and now those hands are shooting hockey pucks and playing basketball and instead of my hand he is now holding his girlfriend's hand. I wonder when is the last time I held that precious hand when we were walking down the road or crossing that parking lot. I wish I had known that moment was the last time. I would have held it a little longer and given it a kiss before letting it go. Ahhhh...letting go....that is the difficult part, isn't it?

Well, before I start crying again I am going to go get the young ones to take to the movie. The birthday boy is out with his girlfriend celebrating. Apparently I am no longer needed for the celebrations. I will tell you one thing....on my way into the movies, when we cross through the parking lot, I am going to grab my little one's hand and I am going to hang on just a little bit longer,

amy

PS...here is a photo from a shoot I had today...What about those eyes???!!! Pretty soon he will be seventeen and not needing his mommy to celebrate his birthday....oh, here I go crying again....

Hello again!

I know you are all sick of hearing me whine about time but I mean, really! Where the heck does it go??? I can not seem to catch my breath! And now I have to hurry and finish this so I can go watch, "So You Think You Can Dance". By the way, in case you were wondering, I definitely do NOT think that I can dance!

Just wanted to let you know that I managed to catch another fairy. Seems they are running around everywhere this time of year. I am also posting another photo from a previous shoot because the more I look at it the more I like it so I thought you may like it too!

Next weekend I am supposed to be going camping......shouldn't be over one hundred degrees! I am sure it will be fun?

Talk to you soon!

amy

HI!

What a lazy Sunday! I am supposed to be organizing the studio and catching up on my work but I am feeling very lazy and can't seem to get around to doing anything!

I have done several photo shoots lately and I need to post some here but I am feeling too lazy to even do that! I am posting one of Miss Belle. This is one from her nine month old session. This job makes time fly even faster! Everytime Belle's mom calls me I am shocked that it is time for another session. I also took photos of her brother, Reid, for his three year old photos. Has it really been a whole year?????

This photo shows Belle wearing her Grandmother's slip dress and a hat I had here at the studio. Isn't she sweet??

I am gearing up to start my senior campaign..so be watching out for news of that! If you have a senior I will be offering photos, composites, invitations and thank you notes.

Have a great Sunday! I guess I need to go and get some work done.....or take a nap!

amy

Hi Again!
Those of you who keep up with my blog know that I am involved with the NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep) Foundation. This is a foundation where professional photographers volunteer their time and resources to families who are dealing with infant bereavement. When we are contacted we go to the hospital and do a photo session with the baby and the family. There is no charge and we provide a CD of fully edited photos that the family can have printed.
This past week I had my first session as a volunteer and I am truly humbled by the experience. I met baby I. when I was called by the hospital at her mother's request. She was a beautiful little angel who left this world too soon. I will never forget her nor the experience that I had meeting her and her family.
If you are a photographer and would like to be involved, please contact the foundation at www.NILMDTS.org. If you are someone who has dealt with infant bereavement personally, our website has so much support and help that you are certain to have some of your sorrow lifted.
If you are interested in making a donation to the foundation you may do that through the website as well.
Please pray for the family of I. to receive peace and comfort. While baby I. is free from the pains of this world her family is left stricken and grieving. I pray that the Lord blesses them and keeps him, lifts His countenance upon them and brings them peace.

"You make a living by what you get....you make a life by what you give." - Sir Winston Churchill

Hey again! Captured another fairy and thought I would share her! Isn't she adorable? The other photo posted is of her also. I photographed her and her two brothers (third photo) this past weekend. It is a surprise for their Dad for Father's Day! Need photos for Father's Day? You had better make an appointment fast!

amy

We have a WINNER....or two.....

Congratulations to Stacy Berry for sending the winning letter in our Memorial Day Contest. She has won a complete photo package! I am honored to be giving her family this package and want to thank her family and all families who are having to make sacrifices to keep us safe at home.

We have another winner too!! As you know I have been taking photos of my friend's daughter, Kamillia for her upcoming beauty pageant. The pageant was held this past weekend and this little girl won the following: 1st Place - Photogenic (with the photo I am showing here), 1st Place - Composite (also shown here), 1st Runner Up - Portfolio, 1st Place - Swimsuit, 2nd Runner Up - Casual Wear, 1st Place - Formal, 1st Place - Model Search, 1st Place - Talent, Interview - 1st Place, Queen Supreme Over All (ages 3-4) and best of all she won a $1000 savings bond for having the top score in the whole pageant!! Not bad for her second pageant! Those of you who know me know that I have never been a big fan of beauty pageants but I must admit it was very exciting watching her get crown after crown. There were thirty-five other 3-4 year olds competing for the same titles. You can also see her swimsuit in an earlier post.

I know I have been neglecting my blog and I am truly sorry. Things have gotten busy around here with the business and the conclusion of the school year. Thank you for your patience and I will be posting more this week! I promise! No, really, I will! I really, really will!

amy