Viewing archive: February 2010 - View all recent posts
I have to preface this post by saying that these are NOT my niece's official first portraits yet... while I REALLY wanted to do that in the first 5-10 days of her life (the ideal span of time for newborn portraits), it just wasn't the right time for all the parties involved. So, we will do them next Friday before we leave. But for now, I will just share a few pics from our brief first meeting yesterday.
Meet my sweet sweet BEAUTIFUL niece Eloise... she is so precious! I am so incredibly excited to be an aunt and to watch her grow and spoil her in ways I can't spoil my own daughter. But, even more so, I am really excited to watch Claire and Eloise grow up so close in age. Claire wasn't super interested in her this trip (though she did give her a kiss)... but that could be because my brother and sister-in-law have DOGS (claire's current obsession). Anyway... Congrats to my brother and sister-in-law, and happy viewing to the rest of you! |
| Claire loves her Uncle Dave and Aunt Katy... but she also loves my old-school phone and a classic remote (note dog toy in hand, also) |
| sweet baby girl! (a lot of these look alike, but who can get enough of a newborn?!) |
| she's holding her daddy's thumb. |
| makes me melt to see my brother love his daughter so... |
Saying Good-bye for now... |
W ell, we officially live in the suburbs of Philadelphia now... it is surreal, but I can feel that it will be good. But, before we left, the good-byes were not easy. We have lived in Saranac Lake for five years, and in that time, we got engaged, married, got a dog, built a business from next-to-nothing, bought a house and had a baby... in addition to all of the life we lived in between. The unique thing about our community was that, for the most part, Chris worked and played with the same people. Most of our best friends were also Chris' co-workers. Of course, I keep saying most because we did make great friends with a handful of people from our church and community. But, even then, they were all so intertwined. Everyone knew everyone. Everyone we knew was friends with everyone else we knew (or at least, went to church with or worked with, etc). We lead a very quiet lifestyle, which was very different than what we had always lived. We became homebodies, and we LOVED it. We loved just having friends over for dinners and games. We loved that we saw the same wonderful people week-after-week. We loved the support we felt when we lived SOO far from our families. And really, it was a blessing in many ways to spend our newlywed years on our own away from all that was familiar.
Leaving was so incredibly bittersweet, feeling more heavy on the bitter to be honest. I love the community I served while we lived in Saranac Lake. The clients I have had have been so unbelievably supportive and grateful, and I would work for those kinds of people any day! It does just blow me away that it didn't even take me a year to book 17 weddings from only having 2 the first year we moved here... and then the next years that followed (save this last year when I tried to keep the numbers down), I had 22+... in a season that only runs from mid-May to mid-October. I can't deny that God TRULY blessed me with this gift. I thought I was sacrificing a good career for as long as we lived in Saranac Lake; I thought that there was nothing there for me... no school to get my masters (as I had planned to do before I fell in love), no work for me to accomplish... I thought I would be just passing time in a job that just paid the bills. But, it is clear to me that there was a different plan for us. And, I am blessed. And, I feel SO grateful for everything that has happened in the last five years.
Of course, this is our transition year... we have wedding contracts to honor back in Lake Placid/Saranac Lake (and Plattsburgh), so I will be back. And, I am still accepting portrait commissions for the weekdays in between the weddings we have booked up there. (Dates are filling up, if you are thinking about it). So, this year, I will wear down the trail between Philadelphia and Lake Placid. I will put A LOT of miles on my car. It does make the good-byes a wee bit easier, knowing I will be back for half of the summer. But, we already miss you, Adirondacks. I miss the simplicity of the streets with just a few stop lights. (It is going to take me a WHILE to know my way around this city). I miss seeing tons of trees, mountains and (frozen) lakes... but I am learning that convenience is nice, too! There is a store for everything within just 10 miles or less! Anyway... this post is getting a bit wordy. I just have to say "THANK YOU" to everyone in Saranac Lake, Lake PLacid, Tupper Lake, Plattsburgh, etc... everyone who has loved our little family and/or supported our business. You will NEVER be forgotten.
So, for now, I want to share some pics from our last days there... enjoying the Winter Carnival in Saranac Lake (the locals' cure for cabin fever). Happy viewing, friends!
our friends met up with us outside our house to walk to the parade... |
| these are the "Lawn Chair Ladies"- they are kind of a big deal... a real highlight of the hour+ parade every year. The theme of the carnival was "adirondack cowboy" (hence the get-up). |
| ... just some local flavor... |
| that night, Chris and I went out to get some night shots of the ice castle and the town... |
| i love the winter scene of Main Street in Saranac Lake... the snow coming down... the stillness of the town. |
| the next morning, we took Claire over to see the castle... |
| they actually tried to carve out a piano inside the castle this year. Chris was trying to teach chop-sticks to Claire. :-) |
| Chris' mom in the crawl-hole for the kids. Claire loved it, too! |
| thanks to Chris (who was more appropriately dressed to lay on the ice to get this shot!) |
| she LOVES all things cold! (might be due to the fact the high was -5 the day she was born). the ice palace was right up her alley. |
| hmm... what's this stuff? |
| Thanks again, friends! Keep checking us out. I am traveling down to NC this week to visit my niece Eloise! She was just born yesterday!! So, we will have some true newborn pics of her to share... and then an engagement session in Chapel Hill. |
T oday was a very bittersweet day. Our last full day as residents of Saranac Lake (for at least a little while- maybe until we retire anyway)... :-) True to form, just as the week I moved up here five years ago, we enjoyed the bitter cold during the Winter Carnival festivities, well maybe just the parade. But, I couldn't leave town without one last shoot before we return this summer... I met up with Sarah & Dan in Ray Brook for some woodsy pics, and then we headed over to the VERY crowded Ice Castle for a few rare shots (I mean, who gets engagement portraits in an ICE CASTLE?!!). We had a great time, and this couple is super sweet. Looking forward to their August wedding, when the weather is a bit warmer. :-) Happy viewing, friends!
just a little "hike" |
| this next one was with my f1.4 lens... i like to joke with some of my photog friends that so many of us say the wide aperture is "like butter"... well, most of the time, when you blow up those images, it is more like melted butter. this is a prime example of this, but i am learning to embrace an occasional blurry image, especially ones that evoke such joy as this! |
| sweet. love winter scenes here! |
| and off to the castle... Sarah was actually sitting on ice. yes, she was. |
| this has to be the quickest kiss on record, but there were (what felt like) a MILLION people and kids running around... we didn't want to make a scene. thank you, fast shutter speeds. ;-) |
| i managed to convince the happy couple to take off the coats and hats for a few... but just a few... |
| ... it began to snow in those moments. LOVE this one! |
| a candid moment where i felt like the creeper peeping over the ice wall. ha! |
| and, of course, it wouldn't be an Adirondack engagement without some birch! |
| thanks, guys! and for all of you loyal blog fans... there will be more posts on our last day/s here and the Carnival very soon (as soon as I get out from a few boxes). The official move to Philly is tomorrow afternoon... but i promise it won't slow us down much! i have two shoots this next weekend! (one engagement and one newborn!) |
T he Bonham family has been a favorite of mine for a few years now... Exactly two years ago, I photographed Meagan & Chase's engagement portraits during the Winter Carnival... later that year, I photographed their wedding on Chapel Island. A few months ago, Meagan contacted me and told me that the last time they had family portraits done was about eight years ago, which (obviously) was too long ago, especially with a few new members now! So, we narrowed down the best date to just a few days before our big move. Perfect timing, really... just reinforcing how much I am going to miss this place and all the clients I have served here! So, without further ado... Happy viewing, friends! |
| and the soon-to-be-wed (you will see some more of them this summer!)... |
| just a quick friendly pic. what a nice looking bunch! |
| this is Rainbow Lake... we walked on it to get to their boathouse (it still baffles me that you can do that here without fear) |
| we went inside their boathouse to warm up a bit, and I thought I would grab some individual casual portraits while we were warming up! |
| Thanks so much! I am looking forward to the next time! |
I have never been the type of girl that lives so in the moment that I can't realize the consequences or the potential effects that my decisions may have on my future. However, I am the type of gal that TRIES to soak in moments and live right in them without thinking of what is next. I try. I try and try and try to be this way. I try to really appreciate every little moment because I know I will miss them when they are gone, no matter how content I am in the next day. But, sometimes... things pass by too quickly, and I somehow forget to truly treasure the gifts that I have been given. I feel like the past week and a half has been a great mix of emotional moments, and I think the next 2+ weeks will only accelerate. If you have no idea where I am going here with this post... in case you missed it on twitter or facebook... my love has been offered a great job in the Philadelphia area, and he starts in 2 weeks. ... and, I suppose, I am moving with him. :-) But truly, not without kicking and screaming... or at least, on the inside.
It is such a funny thing to reflect on the past 5 years here... I moved here, and I honestly hated it. I couldn't wait to leave this tundra. Of course, it doesn't help that I moved up at this exact time of year (winter carnival 2005!). Buuuttttt.... I gave it a chance, and I fell in love. I truly adore this place... every piece of it (okay, maybe not the subzero temperatures), but everything else! Anyway, I could go on and on and on about how much I will miss the Adirondacks, but that will be saved for another post. This post is dedicated to my sweet memories of one of my most favorite times of the day... watching my love give my little love a bath. Chris loves the water. I would live happy if I could wake up clean and only have to see and drink water, so naturally, Chris does bath time. :-) This is me TRYING to soak in some of our last moments living in our first house as a family... Happy viewing friends! |
| *chris is teaching claire to blow bubbles in the tub. i have seen her do it twice now, but usually chris just gets real wet and claire drinks bath water. |
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