I heart families

I absolutely LOVE it when a family calls and wants pictures together...this is definetly my forte. I love the challenge of capturing a family being, well, a family...snuggling, laughing, playing, teasing; all the fun that makes being together so special and cherished.

After multiple attempts to get together and make this family session happen, we finally had THE perfect morning, and all the stars aligned for this:

***Announcement: I am currently searching for Mommies of all shapes and sizes for a big project I am starting work on. More details later but if you are interested please send me an email at deanna@devine-memories.com . DFW area is preferable but not mandatory.

Sneak peeks coming out of my ears

Mom and I have been planning this session since, oh, January? It has been a long time coming and I know how excited she is about this sneak peek! Brittin is the owner of Sweet Peaches Interiors, which is an awesome online children's bedding boutique, and I was so excited to work with her extended family and her absolutely adorable kiddos:
With her aunt:
I could have done an entire session just of the sisters, so much fun!
And the entire family:

The session that made me want a fourth child..

...but that idea was quickly shot down by my husband :)

I LOVE big families, especially now that I have a semi-large group myself. I know it's not easy (as of right now, my oldest child has strep and my baby girl has strep and a stomach bug) but I absolutely love the chaos of a large family. I kept telling Mom that but I don't think she believed me as the kids ran around us; but I loved every minute of it. To me the more chaos, the more love and fun and friendship, and that is what life is all about!

Big brother: Big sister:
Precious younger sister:
And baby:
As I mentioned above my kids are very sick and I am unabable to get much work done, but hopefully we are now on the rebound. The doctor yesterday said they had seen a ton of strep and viruses the last two weeks so if your kids are in school, look out!

Pray for Gibby

I wanted to share one of my latest sessions for the Emily Project. My friend Krista, whose daughter is one of my daughter's school buddies, mentioned awhile back that her mother was undergoing major surgery to remove a mass. I, along with many of Krista's friends and family, offered to pray and added myself to an email list keeping up with her mom's progress and prognosis. Unfortunately, right after the first surgery, we received an email with some not-so good news-liposarcoma cancer, a very rare form. Nancy (or Gibby as all of her family and friends lovingly refer to her) underwent very difficult radiation treatments for some time, and just recently learned that the treatments had not helped and in fact, the cancer had grown. The family was very shaken by this news, as you can imagine, and as Krista's friend I felt so helpless for her and for the family. I was thrilled that they accepted my nomination for the Emily Project and hope that these images can be a bright light in a dark time. Nancy and her husband have made the decision to keep fighting this cancer, and she begins chemotherapy tomorrow (Thursday) morning-please, please pray for her, for her husband, and for her children and grandchildren as they come together to provide her strength.


If you would like to continue to pray for Nancy and follow her story, you can visit her Caring Bridge page here.

As you can see, Nancy is incredibly loved.

Three generations of beautiful women:
Their strength and love has humbled me:

A candid shot after the session was over with Gibby and her granddaughter:

Edited to add: I just received this email from Krista this morning and wanted to ask all of my readers to please help me pray for Nancy:

Dear Friends,

I really need you to stop what you are doing after you read this and say a prayer for Gibby. I just got off the phone with her and they are on their way to check her in to the hospital for chemotherapy. She is very scared and was crying. This totally breaks my heart that I cannot "fix" it for her. Pray that she some how find peace through all of this and pray that she doesn't get too sick. I love you all and please forward this, as I know I have forgotten many. Thank you all for everything. I am so grateful to you!
Love,
Krista

A Family You Need to Know

I first met this family last year about this time when Mom called me for some maternity pictures, and again when the little guy was just a couple of months old. Back in May, Mom contacted me again for one year portraits, but unfortunately, had some upsetting news. Dad had just been diagnosed with colon cancer, which had spread to his liver. She wanted to have another photo session, not just to mark her baby's first birthday, but also to bring up her husband's spirits and bring some joy to him.

If you want to know how to beat cancer, spend a day with this family. They know he will beat it. They laugh as much as possible, they love, they cuddle, they do the things they love, and only speak of how well he is doing and how he is beating cancer. It amazed me. I have no doubt in my mind after spending the day with them and keeping up with their blog, that Dad is going to beat this disease with flying colors.

Please if you could take a moment to pray for this wonderful family as they face this scary time, I know they would appreciate it!

I know Mom checks my blog every morning so I wanted to surprise her with an extra big sneak peek from our day.

Here is our little one year old - check out his AB/CD shirt! I want one! Isn't he adorable!!! With Daddy, eating Daddy's "Living Strong" bracelet
Part of the fun of the day was that Baby's Godparents came all the way from Alaska to visit, and got in on the fun!
Notice his wardrobe change..."My Dad is My Hero"...
Taking a timeout to take a few steps with his godmother.

After the outdoor shoot, we did something really fun and went back to their house for a big Louisiana tradition: cooking red beans and rice! I am told that this is an all day process, and I was lucky enough to get some red beans and rice for my own family that Mom had cooked up for us ahead of time. And it TASTED as great as it SMELLED cooking that day!! WOW!!! Thank you again D!!!

Just a reminder--don't forget to nominate your friends and family who are in need for The Emily Project. We need nominations for August and September.

Those of you who haven't seen me in awhile may not know that since late April I have been in a splint for my ankle. Not exactly the most mobile device for someone who needs to get around quickly to chase her subjects. So I was very relieved to walk(limp) into this little guys' house and see that unlike my own baby, he sits exactly where you put him! Woo hoo! Not only was he easy, but his gorgeous family made the session easy as well.

Doesn't he have a great smile?

He and Daddy are big buddies:
The adoring parents:
Aren't they a beautiful family???!!

I'm still taking bookings for Fountain Sessions, call today if you are interested!

Deanna

Baby Feet, Family so Sweet

One of my favorite families had their baby!!! Here she is, here and telling the world all about it...
The sweet family-adoring each other...have I mentioned that I LOVE my job???
Melain, are you ready for this??? Ta-da!!! I've got a few more, too! :)


I heart baby feet.
This baby has the most beautiful coloring--look at those blue eyes!

A new family

I have to admit (and maybe I've admitted this once before)...I used to absolutely dread family sessions. Even after I had developed my own style, and steered away from the typical family photo, something wasn't right and I wasn't enjoying myself. I actually considered advertising that I only photographed children, no families. Man, I am so glad that I didn't go that path.

I vented my feelings to another wonderful photographer, who so generously advised me to keep trying until I found "it". Make it my goal to master the family portrait.

I was talking to one of my clients one day who so wisely commented on her picture, "I may cringe at the way I look, but my children love me and will someday be so glad that I loved them enough to take a picture with them." That, as Oprah would say, was my lightbulb moment!

I quit trying so hard. If you let them, a family will give you what you need for the perfect family photo all on their own. You just need to sit back and let it happen. The love will come searing through the camera lens without any hesitance. I can now say that family portraits are my absolute favorite thing to shoot, and relationship shots are my strength by far.

This is a wonderful new family that I just met, and their absolutely to-die-for new baby boy. I just can't tell you how sweet this little guy is. Newborn sessions normally take up to 2.5 hours, and I think we were done in 45 minutes (or maybe less!) He was expressive, calm, and just a joy to photograph. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

Yep, I do that too!

I get asked all the time about the ages I will photograph. While I absolutely love and adore working with little ones, I have so much fun with teenagers and their families, too. I'm not going to pretend I am some awesome Senior Photographer who knows how to make you stand the perfect way and make you look like a total supermodel. But I can do the same with teens that I can do with little ones and their families: and that is show a little insight into your personality, and capture your relationships.

This absolutely gorgeous family was here visiting from waaaaay up north (and they thought they were getting away from the cold weather, ha!) I had forgotten how giggly you are when you are a teenage girl with other teenage girls. It was so fun!!!

I also had to share a couple from this session, and I've been dying to since early December when we actually did the session. However, Dad is like the greatest husband in the world and did these as a surprise for Mom for Christmas! (let me hear it ladies, "awwwwwwww, why can't my husband do that?") He framed the contact sheets and presented her those and the online slideshow as a gift. I thought that was pretty cool and my only regret was that I wasn't there to see her face :)

And...can I just brag for a moment....I did a big photoshoot with my three kiddos last week in between illnesses and got this one, that I ordered today as a giant 20x30 canvas to put over my fireplace. Can I get a WOOOO HOOOO!!!

Don't forget-send your nominations for a complimentary photosession/package (see post below) to nominations@devine-memories.com !

Also, be sure and subscribe to my blog and have your friends subscribe by clicking here so that you can be informed of sales, contests, and specials that are coming up in the next couple of weeks.

Long overdue

Hi guys.

I am so embarrassed at how long this poor family has been waiting to see these pictures. They have been so understanding of the calamity that is my life with three children, who were all sick at the busiest point of the year. M&M, I really appreciate your patience with me!! Here's a sneak peak...I'll be calling you very soon!




Mirror, mirror on the wall...who's the sweetest baby boy of them all...