My sweet girl, my littlest love, my Mina Bean; as I sit down to write this, my first letter to you, words are failing me.  How do I describe to you how I feel?  Which words will be powerful enough to convey what you mean to me?  How wonderful you are, how precious, how strong.  I will simply write what is in my heart and hope that someday, when you read this, you will feel it in yours.

Your energy and spirit delight and captivate me; I watch you grow, play, sing, laugh, learn, cry, change, evolve, love; and I feel deliriously blessed to have been chosen to be your mother.  What an honor, what a gift I've been given.  When you touch my cheek and press your face to mine, when you whisper "I love you my mama", when you beg me, giggling like crazy, to kiss you "100 times", I make a silent promise to always drink you in - every ounce of you, every little bit of the essence of who you are.  I see you, I see your light; it is brilliant, and blinding, and magnificent.  I dreamed of you, but I never knew, how sweet...how lovely.

I love you Wren Alice

Love, mama

~

I hope you'll follow along our circle of letters, starting with the incredibly talented

Stephanie Beaty | Lifeographer | Tampa Bay-Area Photographer

Thrilled, honored, excited, overjoyed, humbled, nervous, giddy; this is how I feel about being invited to join an amazing group of fellow photographers on a personal journey called "Letters to Our Daughters". Recently, I was invited by Amy Lockheart, of Amy Lucy Photography, to embark on this wonderful monthly project dedicated to our daughters. Of course, I answered immediately with an emphatic "YES!!!!". Each month, we will write a letter to our daughter(s) and share it, along with photographs, on our blogs. We will also share a link to other participants in the group so that you can follow along. I am truly humbled to have been asked to join this wonderfully diverse group of incredibly talented women. I hope you'll take some time to check out their work and follow us along as we begin this very special project for our girls. Look for our first posts on the 25th of this month!

Amy Lockheart 

http://www.facebook.com/AmyLucyPhotography

http://www.amylucy.com

Jess Sandager 

http://www.facebook.com/oliveavenuephotography

http://www.oliveavenuephotography.com

http://www.oliveavenuephotography.com/blog

Sarah Lynn Cornish 

http://www.facebook.com/myfourhens

http://www.my4hensphotography.com

Kirsty Larmour 

http://www.facebook.com/KirstyLarmourPhotography

http://www.kirstylarmourblog.com

http://www.kirstylarmour.com

Val Spring

 http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-red-balloon-photography/168468423191170

http://www.theredballoonphotography.com

Emma Wood 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/EmmaWood-Photography/156674371043751

http://emmawoodphotography.com/

Jody McKitrick

www.jodymphotography.com

www.jodymphotography.com/blog

Rashmi Pappu 

https://www.facebook.com/RashmiPappuPhotography

http://www.rashmipappu.com/ 

Stephanie Beaty

http://www.lifeographer.com/blog/

http://www.lifeographer.com/

real.  natural. true.  A little peek at a wonderful newborn session I did yesterday.  

Finally getting around to posting this wonderful Imagination session I did in the fall.  These two, R and J, were incredible to work with.  She is an artist with a twinge of a dark side (LOVE that) and one of her signature pieces is of an owl.  For her portrait, she wanted to be in the midst of a great storm, her owl perched strongly on her arm.  J wanted to be in outer space and took great care with his renderings of the planets.  They were creative, fun to work with, and delightfully engaged in the project.  They remind me why I love to make these portraits!!

As a photographer, I love making portraits. It's a wonderful challenge to find beautiful locations, set up sessions and plan out what I might want to capture.  It's just as wonderful (and much preferred by me) however, to just throw out any formality and just shoot.  Sometimes, something as simple as kids playing outside on a couple of beautiful fall evenings...right in our own little yard, makes for the most cherished of images.

My daughter, my muse.  She is growing up faster than I can stand and remains one of my favorite (and most difficult!) subjects to photograph.  I don't normally process a whole session in one tone but as I went through these images, the look and feel of this particular black and white really spoke to me.  

I love newborn sessions and my time with baby E was no exception. There's something about capturing this time that draws me in; the newness of this little person, their soft, tiny bodies, their sweet little sounds, the way their parents look at them as they start to get to know each and fall in love.  It's a part of life that I feel privileged to be asked to capture.  Thank you S family, for a wonderful session.

Finally, after three weekends of rain, a perfect evening for my session with these four gorgeous kids.  We had a blast!  Mom and dad took advantage of the beautiful grounds at one of my favorite locations and took a walk while the kids and I stopped here and there to shoot away.  These kids were AMAZING subjects; they were happy, sweet with each other, excited about the session, full of great pose ideas, and as respectful and polite as you can possibly imagine.  I love the images we ended up with and hope to work with this wonderful family again and again!!  Many thanks for such a fun session Z family!

You've asked, and I've listened!  I'm proud and excited to introduce my new Portrait Collections!  With three types to choose from, there's sure to be a collection that will be perfect for both your portrait needs as well as your budget.  My collections are a wonderful way to satisfy the "I love them ALL!!" dilemma that so often happens after a session, while still providing you with the same luxury quality and customer service that I'm so proud to offer each and every one of my clients.  With the gorgeous spring weather fast approaching, now is the PERFECT TIME to schedule your portrait session.

PLUS

Schedule your spring session (April through June) before April 31st and receive a 3x3 mini accordion album with any Portrait Collection order!  These fun little albums are a perfect way to show off up to 12 of your favorite images from our session and makes a cherished gift for someone special.

Portrait Collections begin at $630.  Please contact me for detailed pricing information and to schedule your session.

It's that time of year again; shining sun, singing birds, a hint of green...spring is in the air.  It's a time for warmer winds and soaring imaginations!  Now is a perfect time to book your Imagination Portrait session; the season for making these amazing art pieces is upon us and before we know it, the time will come to put our chalk away again until next spring. 

During an Imagination session, your child is fully immersed in the experience; laughing, creating, dreaming, and becoming part of their own art as well as mine.  Each resulting image is met with wonder, pride, and, on many occasion, a resounding "This is the COOLEST thing I've EVER seen!!".  The ultimate compliment.

Here are a few Imagination sessions I did at the end of last season; Flower Fairy, Explorers, and Dragon Slayer.  Contact me, or visit my Imagination Portrait website (link in the menu to the right) to book your session; it will likely be the coolest thing you ever did...  :)