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**Disclaimer : there is a whole lot of cuteness in this post. Be prepared to say the word "awwhhhh" at least 37 times.**
Dear Ben,
After hanging out with Callie today, I have two words for you; BABY. FEVER.
Love,
Your easily-persuaded wife
I seriously can't handle all the cuteness.
Holding hands with mommy.
In the running for my favorite of the day. I just love how little and delicate she looks sitting on that bench.
Happy baby. :)
LOVE these two.
'It's my party and I'll chew on this balloon if I want to.'
A little dress up.
That face is awesome.
p.s. I made the wardrobe selection for this part of the shoot. Hello - boots and leggings? Done. This is a glimpse at how my future child will dress.
So Cami (Callie's mommy) was staying out of photos for the most part, but when she crawled into the tunnel with her, I couldn't resist snapping a few. I adore this shot.
I feel like this is a perfect pair of images to leave you with. :)
Cams, I'm so glad we made this impromptu shoot happen! Happy birthday to Callie! Auntie Amy loves Little so much. You and Clinton are good at making cute kids. :)
*This is the week for sneak peeks and full posts! We have nine shoots on deck that need to be edited, so check back often! :)
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little callie : just because [she's having her first birthday!]
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98
In photography (much like anything else), we have days that are a little more challenging than others. The lighting is inconsistent, we're struggling for creative ideas, we get stuck in traffic, our jokes just aren't funny. On days like those, we simply have to take a few deep breaths and push hard to make our shoot successful.
Those days are balanced (fortunately) by really, really great days. The location is beautiful, our client is up for anything, our creative juices are flowing, and the sunshine comes out to play.
Last Saturday, we had a great day. :)
It was windy. Ok. It was whip-your-hair-in-136-different-directions windy. But we still had an amazing time. All the components lined up: downtown Kissimmee was beautiful and serene, Carly was up for anything, our creative juices were flowing, and the sunshine came out to play for a little while.
It's days like Saturday that make us love photography. And it's clients like Carly that make the 'job' part feel non-existent.
Carly - we had such a great time with you this past weekend. You are truly one of the best, most easygoing people we've ever photographed, and we really enjoyed getting to know you. Your smile is contagious, and so is your compassionate spirit. Seriously - you're awesome! :)
Like I said, it was windy. But apparently, the wind loved Carly.
Carly is really photogenic. So photogenic, that if she wasn't also super sweet, you may just have to despise her out of jealousy. ;)
Love this.
Hello, sunshine.
I LOVE these next two. Though they look similar, I love them for completely different reasons. I also love that Ben snapped one of them, and I snapped the other. Team effort. :)
Um, yeah - so we just painted this mural on the wall real quick for the shoot. No biggie.
Gorgeous.
:)
Megan:
AH! Carly is so awesome. I'm really glad she got to do this with you guys! You did a great job!
(02.09.10)
Carly :
You guys did an awesome job and it was great hanging out with you! SO much fun =)
(02.09.10)
Nana:
What a cutie!! Really "alive" pictures. Great job!
(02.10.10)
tina morrow:
Really great pictures! Very pretty girl.
(02.13.10)
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carly : love through the lens
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97
...and here's part two of our LTTL Saturday in Ft. Myers!
A little later than I originally planned, but I was dealing with this for the past few days:
I hate being sick. Besides feeling physically terrible, it throws off how I function and messes up my routine. Wah.
Ok let's move on. :)
The Mezger family is a really fun group to hang out with. Ben and I aren't used to really large family sessions, but this family of 9 definitely made our job easy and enjoyable. They have a blast together, and share a lot of love for one another. :)
Since there are quite a few members of the Mezger crew, let me do a breakdown for you:
The whole clan.
Kent and Jenny. a.k.a. Mom and Dad. :)
Tyler and Kari. Kari is the daughter of Kent and Jenny, and Tyler is her husband. P.s. Kari is the one who contacted us to get this session lined up. :)
Kevin and Lacy. Kevin is the son of Kent and Jenny, Lacy is his wife.
...and they have two adorable girls, Lanie and Addison. Seriously, how cute are they?! I love this photo. :)
We broke the group up into several smaller groupings to get some of these shots. This one is a sister photo. :) Jess is on the left, Kari is on the right. Jess is Kent and Jenny's youngest daughter. (Have I sufficiently confused you with this dialogue about the family tree??)
Another big group one. Good looking family, right? :)
She's so precious!
I'll wrap this up with my favorite. :) (P.s. I need to point out Kevin in this photo - he is holding Addison while jumping, and managed to get pretty high off the ground, make an awesome face, and not drop her. AND she didn't cry at all. That's skills.)
Thanks Mezger fam! We had a great time with you all! :)
Windy:
This is my favorite post ever! I knew this awesome family when I was younger and my brother in law was the youth pastor at CCC in Ft. Lauderdale. Absolutely gorgeous family! Great photos!
(02.05.10)
Kari:
Ben & Amy,
Thanks so much! These pictures are amazing. We had a lot of fun doing these photos. Thanks for your great work! Can't wait to see the rest!
tina morrow:
Love these pics! The little ones are so beautiful! :)
(02.05.10)
Kristin:
These pictures are soooo cute! My favorite are the last two! Looks great!
(02.08.10)
Jenny:
Thank you Amy and Ben! These pictures are great and we had so much fun. Sorry you've been sick. I think about half of us have had something this past week too. Hope you are feeling better! Thanks again for a job well done!
(02.10.10)
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96
I sometimes have days when it seems like everything is fighting against me. My bangs look funky. I dropped my toothbrush on the floor. Putter puked. Twice. I lost my LipSaver. I have no gas in my car. And I hit a bunny. (*ok, I've never actually hit a bunny, but hypothetically speaking) Days like that make me want to throw on sweatpants, climb into bed, and sleep until I can start over tomorrow.
I had a day like that on Saturday. No dropped toothbrush or low gas tank, but we had a different issue. The weather. Leading up to Saturday, weather.com was predicting 30% for Saturday. Ok, well that's a 70% chance that it won't rain, my optimistic side was cheering. But my realistic side argued, It's Florida. It will change. My realistic side is such a Debbie Downer sometimes. Saturday rolled around, and alas - it had increased. A lot. By 50%, to be exact.
We had two LTTL shoots lined up in Ft. Myers, and against our better judgment (and that huge green blob sitting over the state of Florida), we decided to risk it.
AND WE WON.
We beat out the weather by about 15 minutes (torrential downpour ensued as soon as we pulled into Chick-fil-A for a post-shoot meal). Our victory made me want to channel my inner 5-year-old and stick my tongue out at the meteorologist, but I contained myself.
The sessions on Saturday were rain free, and really fun. I couldn't be more excited about Love Through the Lens, and the joy that it has brought us over the last couple of months. It's truly been an inspiring experience, and we are so thankful for the response that we've received about this opportunity. It will be back in the future. That's for sure. :)
Our first drizzle-free Saturday session was with Levi, Jessica and Matt. Levi's first birthday was in January, so the shoot was a celebration, and Levi was definitely the star. If our future child can be ANYthing like this baby, I will be happy. THRILLED, in fact. He is adorable, happy, and full of personality. And he can work the camera like it's his job. :)
Enjoy a few from the day!
Let' start with my favorite from the session. Ben was holding Levi's juice cup, so even though he's not walking by himself yet, he was determined to make his way over to claim his prized possession. :) (I love Matt and Jessica's expressions in the background!)
A little fun in the air with Daddy. Matt threw him in some crazy, spiral motion and I was seriously impressed. I was also impressed that Levi didn't throw up in the process.
I mean, how can you not love that face?!
Ben and I have known Matt and Jessica for awhile, and it was so cool to be able to hang out with them and watch them interact with Levi. They are seriously amazing parents, and Levi is loved tremendously.
Jessica and Matt - if Levi signs with Baby Gap as a model and becomes all famous, just remember us little people. ;)
Mommy and Levi time.
I can't get over the cuteness. He was probably about to give someone that pile of leaves in his hand. He likes to share.
If you aren't this excited on a slide, you're doing it wrong.
I think swinging was the highlight of his day. :)
*Stay tuned for the second LTTL shoot we did on Saturday - it will be posted tomorrow!
Jessica:
LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. You guys have done it again...I never doubted you. :) Thanks so much for taking the risk and coming down for the pictures. We are so thankful for both of you.
(02.01.10)
Nana:
Oh, my, what an adorable child!! Those eyes!! Great pictures!
(02.01.10)
Grandpa Dan:
That kid must come from good stock!! - I think there's both beauty and genius in his lineage...
Great pics - you guys do good work!!
(02.01.10)
Cousin Kandi:
You've done an amazing job capturing Levi's spirit! He's such a great kid. I can't wait to see more pics!
(02.01.10)
Karen Todd:
He's such a beautiful ,happy little guy. He makes me smile every time I see his pictures. Great pictures!
(02.01.10)
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levi : love through the lens
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95
I'm condensing today. 3 sessions into one, massive, photo-packed post. This way, I'll get all of these sneak peeks up for our clients to see, and I won't seem overwhelmingly redundant on Facebook and Twitter (Check out our blog! New post up! *5 seconds later* Check out our blog! New post up!).
Plus, I'm about to go to the gym, and I have a limit on how long I can be wearing athletic attire without actually doing any sort of physical activity. It's a very small window. If I wait too long, all hope is lost and I will submit to watching Law & Order: SVU in workout clothing.
So without further adieu...
Up first is Michael.
He's a Senior at Mariner High School in Ft. Myers, and played football for their team.
We are really close to his family (his dad, Jeff, married us!) - they're awesome.
Michael has been through a lot of challenges at his young age, but he has a bright, incredible future ahead of him and we are excited to see what's in store for him after graduation!
***
The next two sessions are from Love Through the Lens. I know I've said it a thousand times, but I'm so glad that we are able to do this. It's given us a chance to meet some amazing people, and give back to a truly fantastic cause. If this is your first time hearing about LTTL, check out the blog post here for more details. :)
Meet Kendall, Cody, and Brooke. Brooke and Cody are twins, and Kendall is the oldest. Cody wasn't as thrilled to be in the photos as the girls, but he was a good sport. :)
This was our second sister session, and I'm absolutely in love with this type of shoot. Probably because I have a fabulous sister of my own (hi Callie! :)), but there's something about photographing the bond between sisters that makes me super happy.
Gorgeous!
LOVE this. And I feel like it says so much about their relationship! :)
***
And last, but certainly not least, is Ashley. Well, a portion of her, at least. ;)
Since Ashley has a modeling background, she was incredibly easy to photograph. I also adored the fact that she brought so much to the shoot to showcase the football-loving side of her personality (future clients - take note! :)).
She's truly just as sweet and fun to be around as she is beautiful! :)
I couldn't decide between this one and the last one, so posting both seemed like the best option. :)
We had such a blast at all three of these sessions - thanks to all of you guys for hanging out in front of our cameras! :)
(*We have 2 LTTL shoots left - they are for January 30th in Ft. Myers, FL. If you are interested, shoot me an e-mail! :))
Ashley Camblin:
Thanks Ben and Amy for an awesome afternoon!! I had a blast! Ya'll are the best! :)
(01.25.10)
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a three-fer.
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I don't blame you for having baby fever after this shoot! You can't help it! Callie is just wayyyy too cute! Love these pictures. When Kyle and I have kids, we are sooo calling you and Ben for pics!
(02.22.10)two things: 1. i may be a bit biased but i am pretty sure she is the cutest smartest baby EVER! 2. Amy i am impressed how quickly you got these up! i was wondering how long i would have to wait!
p.s. cami david says she looks just like you!
(02.22.10)Every single one of these pictures is amazing and precious. You guys are very talented, although I'm sure with a beautiful subject like Callie, it is also a blast! LOVE the leggings and boots. :-) I'm pretty sure I need to schedule a photo shoot with my little guy now... :-)
(02.23.10)oh these pictures are soooo amazing! Callie is so adorable! Oh and I also love those boots!
(02.23.10)ooooooo eeeeeeee awwwwww oooooo oooooooo eeeeeee I just don't even think I can handle this right now! Thank you so much for capturing my everything in still frames of adorableness that I can blow up & cover my house with! This really is the most priceless gift anyone could ever provide! You're the best Ames!
(02.23.10)OMG, these are the best!! Thanks so much for taking them and getting them on here so quickly!! Wish I could have been there to see all the fun!
(02.23.10)Ummmmm oh my gosh. Cutest. Pictures. Ever. In the history of pictures. She is sooooo stinking adorable! And now I can't ever wear those necklaces or shoes again b/c they look so much cuter on Little! :) Love them! Amazing!
(02.23.10)I cannot believe she is one year old!! Absolutely adorable baby and unbelievable pictures!! Great job, Cami and Clint! Great job, Amy, Ben, and 'big' Callie!! She obviously knew she was the center of everyone's attention that day!!
(02.23.10)I love seeing your photography, and the most recent shoots are especially good! Keep up the good work!
(02.23.10)It was great seeing you all--Hugs
She is so cute, loved every picture
(02.24.10)What a little cutie-pie! Aimes you captured her cuteness perfectly. And I'm not even gonna comment note to Ben at the beginning of this posting...I'm just patiently waiting...nuff said. :)
(02.27.10)are you kidding me with those high heels and necklaces?...precious!!!
(03.02.10)I was out of town when you put these up and had to view them on my phone...i couldn't handle them then and i have looked at them numerous times and each time they bring a tear to my eye...they are just as precious as she is! I might need a copy of that disc too!
(03.05.10)These are probably the cutest pictures ever!..and the boots and leggings outfit is the best! :)
(03.08.10)