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Azelie and Cami | St. Louis Newborn Twin Photographers

Posted on September 29, 2010

To say Nikki has her hands full is an understatement! Between her two year old and her new twins… I’m just not sure how she does it! AND her husband travels for work a lot! If it were me, I’d be complaining CONSTANTLY! But very much like Kim, she takes it all in stride. I love that about her and somehow am totally jealous too! HA! I wish I didn’t complain so much!

She also had to endure our last studio session in our old house with no tv or radio or even furniture hardly to keep her company! Although maybe a quiet house with two people keeping the babies busy was a nice break!

Thank you so much Nikki for coming over and bringing Cami and Azelie! We loved meeting them and they were so good! And Cora is an amazing big sister already!

Love that we got one sweet smile!

Thanks OCH family!

the Jeanmougin family | St. Louis family photographers

Posted on September 27, 2010

Saturday Kim and I had a bit of a disaster! We had a session planned out in St. Charles, where we rarely shoot, and who knew on the last weekend in September they’d have their Octoberfest! And who knew that meant there would be a parade going through town that would totally block the area we were going to be shooting in! Do you ever check the city’s parade schedule before picking a location? HA!

Immediately Kim and I panicked b/c we DO NOT know that area at all and had NO idea where else to go! But a quick phone call to my mom and the day was saved b/c not only did we find another location but we found a BETTER location! Thanks mom!

And thanks to the Jeanmougin family for being flexible and laughing with us about that darn parade!

It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day! The weather was incredible, the family was perfect and we even found a treasure at an antique store we passed while shooting! Check back tomorrow to see what we bought for newborn twins to cuddle in!

Thanks Ginny for starting our fall family season off in such a fun way! It was great to see you again!

gayle. | St. Louis Hospice Photographers

Posted on September 24, 2010

A few weeks ago I met my friend Nancy at her mom’s room in a local hospice house. Because she wanted me to capture her new son, Alex, and her mom Gayle.

But you see, Gayle was dying. So it wasn’t just a normal Grandma/new Grandbaby photo shoot. It was different. It was harder. Sadder. And yet, more joyful.

Which was good because Gayle was full of joy. And life. And humor.

A couple of years ago when Gayle was diagnosed with a brain tumor she asked me to capture her family one day as we were leaving church. Did I mention I’ve known Gayle most of my life? That I grew up with her daughter Nancy at Emmanuel? And did I mention that Nancy ended up, randomly, being Grayson’s delivery nurse? Or that we recently got to photograph her new son? Which was actually my fourth photo shoot with this family in the last two years!

Anyway. Gayle asked me to capture her family just before she left for Duke to get her first chemo treatments because she knew her hair would fall out. So I met up with Gayle, her two daughters, her husband Jerry and her niece and nephew down on The Hill for some photos. For what I thought would be normal family photos but turned out mostly to be about cheering on Gayle. She actually bought the four “kids” Duke t-shirts so that she could take these photos with her to each chemo treatment… so her cheerleaders would be with her during the hardest days.

I loved that.

(photos taken during my Jodified days a few years ago)

Over the last couple of years I watched Gayle get thinner and fight harder and enjoy life to its fullest. I watched her youngest daughter graduate high school and blossom into an amazing woman. I watched her oldest daughter fall in love and become a mom. Whenever I ran into Gayle at Bread Co. or church she always made me laugh. I’d walk away from a quick chat knowing I was blessed to know her. And even more blessed to be a tiny part of her journey. Because Gayle LOVED photos. LOVED THEM. From what people have said she was still concerned about her camera at the very end when she could barely talk. She didn’t want a moment to pass without capturing it.

But at the end, when she was lying in bed, fighting for life, with friends and family surrounding her, she couldn’t capture any more memories.

But I could.

I could capture her smiles.

And her Grandson Alex’s smiles.

I could capture four generations.

And my favorite image, which captures two mothers looking at their child.

I could capture a conversation between mother and daughter.

And a sister-in-law lovingly feeding cranberry juice through a syringe.

And a new aunt doting on her nephew.

And a husband getting quiet support from his own mother.

But truly, I was able to capture the love and joy that filled that small hospice room. Listening to stories and memories and laughter. The love was palpable. As they all celebrated Gayle’s life and sat by her side as she died.

gayle. from Fresh Art Photography on Vimeo.

When my time with Gayle was done I leaned down to give her a hug and thank her for letting me in to such an intimate time in her life and as I leaned close to hug her she whispered, “thank you.” She wasn’t talking much anymore so it meant the world the she knew I was there, knew who I was and was happy I could help her continue to capture her family’s life.

As photographers we are paid to capture memories for families during the happiest of times. Births, weddings, birthdays, etc. But I want to encourage everyone out there, professional photographers and non-pro photographers, to capture everything. Because what I’ve found doing NILMDTS and being with Gayle especially, is that there is joy in every sorrow. There are beautiful moments you will want to remember one day in the midst of intense sadness. And there is always love.

I want to thank my friend Nancy for inviting me into this space. Into that loved-filled room with her mom. To help her remember these incredibly hard moments in her  life.

And thank you to Gayle. Who captured moments. And who allowed me to capture some of her last.

Don’t forget to book your mini sessions this fall!

Posted on September 20, 2010

getting creative on a boring day.

Posted on September 20, 2010

Have I mentioned we’re moving? We are. And yesterday we took 90% of the kid’s toys over to my in-laws along with most everything else besides clothes. We got a LOT done yesterday!

But that meant today, when I had no sitting and a sick Parker home with Gray and I, I had a little trouble keeping the day moving. We went to Target first after dropping Bails off b/c Gray’s big toes were literally sticking out of his jammies this morning! And I let both kids get new jammies b/c even though I think PJ is a little old to wear footie jammies she REALLY wanted them so we could all have a jammie day today. How can I resist that?

By 9:30am we were home with a lot of hours to kill, no art supplies, no toys, no going outside (Parker was home b/c of asthma so running outside was out!), no books and no movies! Seriously! Luckily we had balls and cars and some stray princesses. But by 10am I was bored BORED bored.

So I got creative with what I had on hand…

Jen | St. Louis Maternity & Newborn Photographers

Posted on September 18, 2010

Kim and I got to spend a BEAUTIFUL morning today with the Solomon family down on Washington Street in St. Louis. The weather was gorgeous, the light amazing and Kim got to play with her NEW camera (HERE)! Oh yes she did! And she LOVES it! Am I jealous? Totally! HA! It takes gorgeous photos but I’m good with my Nikon D300s b/c I love the video feature and we use it a lot when shooting! Anyway! Sorry, total tangent!

When we do maternity sessions we consider them mini sessions… just 30 minutes. Mainly because families really want just a few good images of that cute belly and want to save most of their photography budget on the newborn photos. It’s also a good way to get a couple images of the new baby’s siblings without the pressure of being in the studio with that new brother or sister. It ALSO is about all the walking around super pregnant moms need to do! Although Jen left us and went straight to the Kirkwood Greentree parade and fair so her walking for the day had just started! Crazy woman!

Crazy, maybe, but SUPER beautiful!

Thanks Solomon family! You guys were so great and we can’t wait to meet that baby girl!

Stephanie | St. Louis Senior Photographers

Posted on September 15, 2010

ARE YOU READY FOR PHOTO OVERLOAD???

Oh my goodness!

If you were to ask me on the street what my job was I would tell you I was a newborn photographer. Because Kim and I feel very strongly about choosing our genre and newborn is certainly where our passion lies.

However.

High School Seniors. Oh man.

If newborns are our bread and butter, the thing we want to eat every single day, seniors are our dessert! We ADORE photographing high school seniors because we get to just BE. We don’t have to shush them or try to make them smile, they don’t poop on us or run away from us and they don’t throw tantrums. They are kind of our absolute perfect subject because they allow us to push the envelope any which way we’d like! Newborn are like that too but those pesky parents sometimes get in the way! HA!

For Stephanie’s session we got to choose the location (one we’ve been HUNTING for over a year and finally figured out how to GET IN!), pick the time of day and got to select the clothes for each shot. We barely had to guide her at all on posing and she’s so gorgeous she made the entire night a breeze!

SO beware. We don’t shoot a ton of seniors and like I said, we LOVED working with Stephanie… a Kirkwood High School senior… so beware of the photo bombardment! You can thank me later!

At the very end as the sun was dipping down we FORCED her mom, Sharon, to get in a few with her. We told them to just chat and laugh and just BE together. It was amazing. And so beautiful. And from the looks of it, so THEM. Which was the perfect ending to a great evening!

Thanks for being so flexible girls and being so much fun to spend the evening with… we hope you love these as much as we do!

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