In Full Swing

If you are considering setting up a shoot before the heat and mad rush of summer starts, you may want to call and book right now. I am currently booking sessions for the end of April.

On a different note, if you got down to see me today at the Art of Fashion show while I was signing books, thanks for stopping in. The show, which was an amazing fund-raiser for Covenant Hospice, was a pleasure to participate in. My two daughters modeled again this year and they loved it. If you haven’t gotten your book yet, go to covenanthospice.org and click on Faces of Life. You can order right from their website. If you want me to sign it, just book a session and I’ll sign it when we meet. I’ve done that a couple of times now.

Here a photo to make you smile.

 ~Trista

Timeless

This little girl and her new baby brother could have lived in 1950, there was a timeless, elegant way about them. They and their parents were a pleasure to spend the afternoon with. Aren’t they beautiful?

 ~Trista

Spring Break

Just back from spring break vacation. We went up to a friend’s cabin and spent the 75° days sitting on the second-story deck overlooking the waterfalls and spring-fed lake. We took hikes and rode around in the paddle boat. At night, after putting the girls to bed, we sat by the fire and just relaxed. My husband w/the stack of Wall Street Journals he hadn’t been able to get to over the last week and me with the book Cosmos (by Carl Sagan) which I’ve been wanting to read for years.

I was able to spend some time giving my six year old daughter lessons on seeing light. I showed her how to draw the shapes that the changing light created on the rocks and flowing water. She wants to be a photographer like me and I’ve said that before you can pick up a camera you must learn to see and understand how light paints a landscape. The fridge is now decorated with Picasso-esque sketches of the water and of mommy sprawled on the rocks.

I too, exercised my artistic muscle and headed down to do a photographic study of a single camellia. I watched it interact with the water and the bugs crawling over it’s surface. The light danced through the beads of water I splashed on it’s petals. As I mention time and time again on my blog, enjoying the simple things is the best way to regain clarity. I came back refreshed and ready to take on a very busy spring with many scheduled shoots. Watch for many sneak peaks to come.

~Trista

Fleeting Moments

Your walking down a dark street in a bad part of town and someone taps you on the shoulder. Your walking down the road and a rush of cool air sweeps by your face. Your 9 month old says mama for the first time. Little things in the scheme of things, but nonetheless very potent to your physical and emotional response. If you sit and think about it, life is a series of fleeting moments that impact our being. Can we slow down and savor the response from our bodies to these little things? What will we end up missing if we don’t?

 Here is a 2 year old responding to the fleeting moment of a soft, silky flower petal against her cheek.

2007 Beach Photo Contest Winner

I appreciate all of your patience this week. I ended up with the stomach flu and spent most of my time in bed. Now to what you’ve all been waiting for. After checking the IP addresses, names, and choices, the winner is:

#6

The winner will receive a beautiful pearl necklace with a pendant of the above photo on it. More info on this to come. In the meantime, congrats to the L family from Mississippi!

Trista

Beach Photo Contest Voting Ended

Thanks to everyone who voted in the Beach Photo Contest. I have been under the weather the last two days and unable to post. I will be tallying the votes after I go through and make sure that there were no double votes from the same ISPs and announcing the winner within the next two days. Thanks for your patience.

Trista

Beach Photo Contest

Please vote for the best photo to represent my 2007 Beach Photo Session Campaign. The family of the subject of the winning photo will receive a surprise gift package! The gift will not be a gift certificate from me, however, it will be something every parent LOVES with a value in the three digits, I promise.

Click on the ”comment” link right below #11 photo and share which number you vote for. Only one vote/person please. Votes will be accepted until Mon. 3/12/07 at 11:59 CST. I will announce the winner the following day right here on my blog, so make sure to come back and check if your choice won! Feel free to invite family and friends to vote too.

All of these photos were taken on the beaches from Perdido Key, through Pensacola Beach and all the way over to Destin and Seaside. As an artistic, on-location photographer, each one of these photos represents the unique elements of the child or family in the portrait, thus the natural and beautiful expressions. As you can see, I photograph all ages and stages: maternity, babies, and children.  Enjoy and thank you for voting!

~Trista

Haling from Gulf Breeze, 1…

Navarre Residents, 2…

Down from Boston, 3…

Over from Dallas, 4…

Right from Pensacola, 5…

Mississippi visitor, 6…

Another Boston family with roots here, 7…

Another Navarre couple, 8…

Pensacola, 9…

Pensacola, 10…

And rounding out the group, Tennessee visitors, 11…

Stepping out from behind the camera

Today’s client wanted to make sure to have photos of her and her son together. She, like most moms, is the one who is taking most of the photos and therefore has very few with her in the frame. I know how tough this is. I can count on my one hand the amount of photos I have with my girls. I know I’m probably partially guilty of not asking my husband to take photos, he though, hates taking them.

 Here is an admonition from a professional photographer and mom, ask others to take photos of you with your children. So what if you don’t look your best or you feel you could shoot it better. If you don’t do this, you will regret it when you look back through the photo album and find yourself missing from the pages.

 Here is the mom and child I mentioned at the outset.

Spring is here

Ahhh, spring is finally here, the surest sign of it’s arrival here in the south is the blooming of the azaleas. The azaleas are starting to spring up on every lined street, driveway, and sidewalk, hot pink being the most popular color with red being a close second.

 This yearly harbinger signals the time for me to get ready for my little girl’s birthday. She turns 5 on April 5 this year; her golden birthday! She has been dropping major hints that she desperately wants a princess party. Not that I didn’t see that coming; this is the daughter who insists on putting on her jewelry and “lipstick” before she leaves the house. Let the planning begin.

Here are a couple of photos of her taken recently. These first two were taken in our church’s courtyard.

 

And I will be remiss if I didn’t include a photo of her sister:

Happy Spring~

Trista

Eager Anticipation

I always enjoy watching, through my lens, the excitement of a couple expecting their first child. This couple is expecting very shortly and as the clock winds down their anticipation grows exponentially.