Now that the proverbial cats out of the bag and they've seen their images tonight at their viewing session, I'm stoked to share the Pearson's family images here on the blog.  Stacey and Paige came in tonight, and we munched on some cookies (and some cookie dough for me before they got there - shhh...), sat back and enjoyed the show. Paige and Stacey are truly the reason I enjoy what I do so much.  Just. Good. Peoples.  Big hearts and even bigger faith.  Due to some truly heartbreaking circumstances where Stacey lost his brother Gregg to cancer in 2003 and Paige unexpectedly lost her best friend Jenny to a sudden illness just a couple weeks ago, they are so genuinely appreciative of what these images mean for their family now and in the years to come.  I love people who get it, and Stacey & Paige get it.  These are precious and fleeting moments in their lives - in all of our lives - and they now have some memoirs to remember this time in their journey.  It's certainly a sweet moment for Paige because being a photographer and, of course, the designated family photographer, she's rarely in the photos with Stacey and the kids. Sorry for the trip down Sentimental Lane... maybe it's the sappy music playing on Pandora as I type this post. I can't say enough good things, though, about this family. We had beautiful weather, beautiful light, and a beautiful time just playing outdoors at historic Chestnut Square in McKinney on Saturday.  Here are some of my favorites from our time with the Pearsons.

Sweet moment with Stacey and Emaline.

I was having a staring contest with Parker.  Look at that face.  I had no chance.

Love the expression on Paige's face in this Spanish lesson with little Bowden.

Emaline's a natural in front of the camera.  She could bust out a few princess looks on command... or not on command.

One of my favorite images to go along with the black and white image from yesterday's post.

Did I say we had amazing light??  While I emphasized the color in this image, the light and shadow on Parker's face and the catchlights in his eyes are all natural.

Emaline's eyes are uh-may-zing.

Such a quirky image with Parker's dead pan look and Emaline's expression... priceless.

Parker's got his serious, GQ look nailed.  And I love the golden sun backlighting him as it was setting.

I didn't realize it at the time I took it, but this serendipitously turned out to be such a meaningful image for Paige.  Her friend Jenny's daughter, Malaya, was given a buterfly necklace by her school, and Jenny was so touched by the idea and what it repressented that she bought a butterfly necklace for herself, and she decided to wear it to brign a little bit of Jenny into the session.  Parker was also very close to Jenny, and at some point after she went home to Jesus, Paige explained to Parker and the kids that the butterfly necklace was symbolic of Jenny being in a cocoon for now but that one day when they see her again in heaven she will have blossomed into a beautiful butterfly.  Paige teared up when she saw this image and how sweetly Parker was holding the butterfly so sweetly.  I feel fortunate to have been in there in that moment to capture it.

A little off-camera flash to wrap up our session

Thanks, Stacey and Paige for allowing us the opportunity to create these memories of you guys and the kiddos!

This past Saturday we met up with the Pearson family to create some memories for this super fun family.  Paige is another photographer, and I'm always honored - and a bit more nervous - when one of my peers asks me to photograph their families.  I tend to idle just a little bit higher in sessions like this 'cause I spend half the session wondering if they're wondering 'why's he doing that?' or thinking 'I wouldn't shoot that way... with that lens."  The reality is I think that's all in my head - or at least I hope it is.  And I remind myself of a quote I heard a long time ago... "You wouldn't worry so much about what others think about you if you realized how little they did." With Paige and her family, though, oddly I felt right at home with them from the start, and we had a great time at historic Chestnut Square in McKinney.  BTW, Paige's husband Stacey winds the Husband of the Year award for getting his wife the gift of photography.  He contacted me while back about getting a gift certificate for Paige last year, and whether they had done photography with me or someone else, I just think capturing the history of your family is one of the coolest gifts you can give.  I'm excited to post the rest of their images after they come in to view their images tomorrow evening, but for now here's just a quick peek to build a ittle suspense.

Occasionally I get a question asking about Mia.  She's been sorta missing in action from the blog lately, and well, frankly, so have I.  We've both been around.  She's been staying with my brother and then my mom for a few days while Kylie and I were out of town last week, but she's still holding the fort down.  She seems a bit bummed this spring since we - and by 'we' I mean Kylie's dad - removed a couple of her favorite finch-hunting bushes in the back yard last fall, and as a result her favorite bird cuisine has been hard to come by. I'm getting ready to head out to a family photography session here shortly, but here's a couple quick images of Mia keeping the rug in my office from moving around.

Stay tuned for a workflow post coming up on the blog.  In that episode, I'll show my process/action for taking an image from final edit to blog-ready in just a couple seconds.

I'm in Atlanta this week and had a little free time yesterday afternoon and was able to break away and check out the fishies at the Georgia Acquarium downtown.  $27 seemd a bit steep for a lok at a few of our fish friends, but it was a nice little getaway.

Here's my buddy Robin with a little dramatic overhead fish tank lighting.  ISO 5000.

Here's a fun new product I'm excited to offer to clients as of today.  Customize your phone with a favorite session image and add another to your phone's display background.  Then be prepared for an onslaught of phone envy.  Don't have an iPhone?  No worries, we can pimp out almost any of the newer model phones, so make sure to ask about your phone at your next session!