introducing max habeger!

WELCOME, MAX!

Our good friends, Tim and Shelby, finally got to meet their little boy the other day. Maximillian Joseph Habeger has officially entered this world, and he's about as perfect as can be.

Shelby is my new hero. I won't go into all the details, but she had to work extremely hard for nearly THREE DAYS before getting to hold that little fella for the first time. I hope she reminds him of this every Mother's Day and every time he refuses to clean his room.

Much love to the three of you! I can't wait to watch as this little guy grows up!

Here are some photos of Max at the ripe old age of 13 hours!

I adore this next shot. Matt says he looks like an Edward Gorey character. I'd have to agree.

Max is getting a nice view of his first storm. When the boom of the thunder sounded, Tim would say to Max, "I invented that".

Just after this photo was taken, a nurse rushed at us a bit crazy-eyed, like she might have to get all ninja on us. Apparently when we left the room, we set off an alarm sensor on the baby. We didn't realize that Max was on lock-down, and Tim was about to get body-slammed for stealing his own child. Oops.

A little quality-time with Grandma...

To see a slideshow of more images from Max's first day, click HERE

sheila & todd!

When I first met Sheila and Todd, I knew they were planning a wedding with unique details that would truly reflect who they are. The big day took place at a quaint church with beautiful windows and rustic charm. All the special elements they added were evident to all who attended. There were decorations and adornments everywhere, and glimpses of medieval flair.

Sheila and Todd's friends and family all pitched in their skills to add to the celebration. It was clear how much everyone cares for this happy couple, and how much they wanted this event to be a memorable one.

Their day included many moments of joy, romance, laughter, and love. I feel really privileged to have been chosen to capture this important milestone.

So, I'll quit my babbling and move on to some of the photos....

They decided to see each other before the ceremony (you know how much I LOVE that!). There's just nothing like capturing that first glance moment. And don't they look smashing?

Sheila is a gifted pianist and teacher, and she treated Todd to a little serenade. I was lucky enough to hear it too!

At one point, the rain started pouring down. The wedding was indoors, so it just made for a neat atmosphere and an extra dose of good luck!

At the reception, they treated their guests to a duet. They sang a tune from "A Mighty Wind", and it was awesome. How cool is that?

The cake was created by one of their guests, and I have to point out that those delicate butterflies are hand-made from sugar. Now that takes some technique!

I had the pleasure of having my hubby's company as my second shooter. Sheila and Todd opted to have a photo "booth" set-up at the reception, and the bridesmaids knew exactly how to work the sassiness!

Thank you Sheila and Todd! All my best to you in your exciting future together!

To see a slideshow of more images from their lovely wedding, click HERE

john & rhi!

I'm so excited about this post! John, one of my former work pals recently got married to the super-sweet Rhi. When I was at the biomed company, Rhi also worked there, but sadly we never crossed paths (big company). I saw John a lot since he worked in Quality Assurance and I managed a laboratory. You do the math. Let's just say that I knew all the folks in Quality really well. I think my wrists are still sore from all their slapping. Good job, fellas! I'm just glad that nobody ever wrote me up for performing show tunes while performing heart dissections.

John is about to start medical school in a couple of weeks, so send him some good vibes and calming thoughts. A while back, I took a quick headshot for him to use on his application. Now I like to take full credit for all of his success.

It was such a happy surprise when John called to say that he and Rhi got hitched in Vegas! They wanted some "bride and groom" portraits here in Atlanta with them all gussied up, and I was beyond pleased to oblige.

In between some sketchy weather and even sketchier downtown construction and detours, we met up at the park to capture them in all their married glory.

It was cool to see John all tuxed-out, and Rhi is one truly stunning woman. Photographing this handsome couple was like, well, a walk in the park! They have such a beautiful affection for one another that the shoot felt more like watching a romantic movie than posing people for photos.

Here are a few samples from our late afternoon stroll...

She has the face of an angel!

Hanging around two people in love is a pretty wonderful way to spend an afternoon

To see a slideshow of more images of the fabulous newlyweds, click HERE

the sharp family!

It was so great to see Travis, Stephanie, and Rowe! They are friends who used to live in Atlanta, but are now way up yonder in New York.

Travis is a jack of all trades: comedy, music, writing...the list goes on. The size of his ideas are equal to the size of his heart. He'll probably think I'm a dork for writing that, but it's true. Stephanie is smart, stylish, and me and the other gals who know her often wish we could break off a little piece of her firecracker personality and make it our own.

And Rowe is growing up so fast!!! Thank goodness we got to take some family photos before she starts driving and voting! They also said that there are NO photos of the three of them together! Definitely time to remedy that!

In case it's not obvious in recent posts...it's summer time, which means I am currently obsessed with sidewalk chalk!

I hope it's not too long before the three of you head down south again!

To see a slideshow of more images of the gorgeous Sharp family, click HERE

ayesha!

The first time I met Ayesha, I sat across a table from her and stared with total cow-mouthed disbelief. The reason for my lame behavior is that I was truly that struck by how gorgeous she is.

As I got to know her, I quickly discovered that she's far from just a pretty face. She's a multi-talented lady with a larger-than-life personality who I can only describe as a beautiful supernova.

I wish I could be Ayesha when I grow up. This won't happen though because she already does a fine job of being herself and surely doesn't need me added to the mix, and there's the SMALL fact she's also younger than me. Sigh.

She had some time to get together and "play photo", which made me do a little happy dance. The crazy thing is, we both had a hard time coming up with specific ideas to capture. She's super creative and I usually have a million ideas playing kickball in my brain, but our ideaometers were set to "dangerously low". So we just played around with whatever scenarios we could shoot at her apartment. Turns out, we didn't need anything fancy...just two wacky gals and a camera. Who knew?

Here are some pics of Ayesha and her adorable pet mouse, Mousey

And here is Ayesha doing her series of "Mouse Faces"...

Here are some more of her many, many expressions...

How can you not adore this girl???!!!

She has this fantastic blue chair with a mirror behind it. That spot was just beggin' for some photos!

In this next one, it looks like she was hit in the right eye with a baseball. I promise that I did not, in fact, throw a baseball at her to achieve this effect. It's simply how the shadows ended up falling. However, it adds just the right dose of creepy that I love in images.

Thanks SO much, Ayesha!