Kendra + Tyler Maternity Session- Welcoming a Daughter and a Sister

Blessings to you both on this wonderful news! A beautiful little girl will be coming soon to join your already amazing family. Little Thaiden, born just last year, will have a little sister!

It’s funny that both your maternity sessions were in the colder months. I was sure that we were gonna freeze our little behinds off when I woke up and saw that our 7:45am photo session was in 25 degree weather!! Surprisingly, with the sun shining and almost no wind it was quite pleasant. We really lucked out. It was so wonderful to get to see Thaiden too, since the last time I saw him was for our newborn session and he was just a tiny little thing.

Can’t wait to meet little Freya. Such a beautiful name too. And thank you guys for coming back to work with me for you second pregnancy!! I always do first time maternity portrait sessions but rarely do seconds and thirds. I think it’s just as magical the second time around and what a wonderful opportunity to get some family photos in, not only for the momentous occasion of a new baby, but also to capture, in this case, a soon to be Big Brother while he’s at such a cute age! I’m so delighted I got to share in the beauty and joy of this moment. Thanks for making my first portrait session of 2021 a blast!

A Maternity Session Bursting with Urban Colors - Candice + Charlie

Some of my favorite people in the world are welcoming their baby into the universe, and I got to work with them to photograph this sweet and beautiful moment. They wanted color graffiti as their backdrop, so out we went to find the plethora of Asheville graffiti hot spots. So many to choose from, so many that were painted over, and an entire building with one we wanted wasn’t even there anymore; a testament to the ever changing landscape of our fair city. But we still got some great ones!

Candice and Charlie have a magical chemistry between them. It’s never hard to photograph them; just point in their general direction and shoot! Seriously! They just gravitate towards one another and look gorgeous in anything they do. And to top it all, they have a quirky and funny side as well. Case in point, the many antics that ensued while visiting our many locations. After being married almost 13 years myself, humor is a blessing in any relationship! A great spice to life. Thanks Candice and Charlie for letting me into so many wonderful and important moments in your life.

Can’t wait to meet the little one. I am going to get all my baby cuddle time in, so watch out guys. It’s on! Many happy wishes and loving prayers comin’ at ya for your journey ahead.

Hair and Make up - Whitley Hunter

Who says all maternity photos have to be sweet and romantic and serious. When you have a super fun couple, you capture the quirkiness and fun as well as the beautiful.

Brianna + Zachary - Maternity Session in the Winter Garden

Bri and Zach wanted something outside with a woodsy feeling, so we explored the Arboretum and some of their beautiful trails. A little sister is already waiting to greet her baby brother, and this little one has the coolest name! I won’t say until he’s born since they wanted to make sure it stayed a secret, but it’s totally awesome. Pretty sure it’s going to be the ONLY baby with this name I will ever photograph. Pretty cool. I will update the blog with his full name after he’s born for our newborn session. It’s almost time guys!! Your baby boy is coming so soon.

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Kendra + Tyler - Maternity Session In The Morning Light

I drive by places all the time that spark my creativity, yet I rarely get to shoot in them. Well today I crossed one off the list! I got to work with Kendra and Tyler to capture a beautiful maternity session in the misty morning light in Arden, NC. There’s a beautiful field with wispy tall grass and in the distance you can see the mountains. Luckily they were adventurous enough to want to explore it with me!

The colors they chose, autumnal reds and creams and browns, looked gorgeous with the grass in the field. It was the weirdest weather!! The sun was sort of dancing through the clouds, coming in and out, the sky behind them was very stormy and dark at the start, with a little bit of misty rain falling. However, it’s my first photo shoot where there was a rainbow right in the frame of the photo I was already taking. Pretty cool! It was really faint but we got to enjoy it for about 10 minutes before it moved on. Can you spot it in the second photo down?

Wishing Kendra and Tyler all the very best for this special life moment to come. I’m so glad that we got to sneak in a maternity session before he comes. Especially since I think it’s so important to capture this beautiful memory. Can’t wait to meet him and do a newborn session with you all!

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Forest Goddess Maternity Session with Avyanna + Phoenix

Avyanna and Phoenix were blessed with their little “blueberry” to be born this November. When we chatted about locations for the maternity photo shoot they knew exactly where they wanted it to be; Big Ivy Pisgah National Forest. It was a magical place that they felt a strong connection to. So Big Ivy we went!

The mossy rocks and cascading river creating little mini falls and pools, and the beautiful trees created a sunlit canopy with shafts of light breaking through. In fact when we got there, one beam was lighting up a large rock right in the middle of the river. I urged them to jump in quickly so we could grab a few shots while the beam was still present. We started shooting, and about 15 photos in, the beam disappeared behind the mountain in the distance, and all that was left was the memory of it’s beauty. Thanks beam of light, for visiting us even for that one,short moment.

It wasn’t a challenge to get Avyanna and Phoenix to cuddle and love each other. It was such a beautiful day and such a precious moment. Just swimming in a sea of endless love for each other. And for an unexpected funny moment, I had climbed up on a rock and had a little fight with a small bush trying to get into just the right position. After getting some amazing pics of them they looked up and started laughing. Avyanna said she had to take a picture of me with my phone so I could see for myself. See for yourself how the foliage and I had a little cuddle moment, LOL. Whatever has to be done to get the photo, right?

Here’s to the future day when you bring little Blueberry there to frolic in the river and experience the joy with all three of you.

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Jamie + Rob with Baby Kyllian - Revisiting Memories at Fletcher Park

My favorite thing in my profession is that I get to re-visit with people throughout their lives. I get to be there to witness and capture some of their greatest moments. Jamie and Rob worked with me as their wedding photographer back in 2017. And now, two years later, I am photographing their maternity session with baby and family photos to come. It almost feels like I just saw them yesterday! Time passes so quickly.

It’s such a beautiful moment to capture a little one while they’re still with mom, nestled inside and just waiting to spring forth. And it’s super important to schedule maternity sessions early! LOL. It has happened more times than I can count that the maternity session never happened because baby came early. And baby Ky was no exception.

We went back to Fletcher Park where we had done the engagement session. It was fun to revisit those memories and do another river shoot just like their previous one. Unfortunately it wasn’t in the same exact location. It had rained A LOT and the river was so high and fast it would have been impossible. But through exploration we found a little side river that was almost the same, BUT SAFE! One shouldn’t endanger their couples during their maternity session.

Can’t wait to meet baby Kyliian, or baby Ky, at our session next week. I need my baby fix :) Congrats to these amazing parents as they begin their next life journey together.

Here’s a look back at our engagement session from 2017. This specific river spot was full of rushing, brown water from storms, however we lucked out with a side river, and we accomplished our goal! Who knows, maybe we’ll have to bring baby Ky here too!

Candice and Charlie Maternity Session- The Hunt For Flowers & Ferns

Candice and Charlie are some of my favorite clients and people!  From head shots, to wedding photography, to maternity photo shoots, and soon....baby photography!  I've photographed their lives and watched as it's all progressed.  I feel so honored to have been there for these momentous occasions and captured it for them to relive forever.

Candice knew she wanted flowers and ferns.  Having pre-hiked Pink Beds in Pisgah and seeing field upon field of wild flowers and sunflowers, we planned to go there the following week.  Unfortunately in that time all the flowers got murdered!  Actually mowed down, you could see nothing but empty, mowed fields.  It was odd!  We continued hiking for about an hour finding some ferns and made the best of the natural forest. 

Just so happened that it's sunflower season at Biltmore!  So when I saw these amazing fields during a run I knew we had to do a whole new shoot just for fun.  I just knew she wanted flowers, especially sunflowers for her vision.  And so we got our flowers, finally.

The world is about to be + 2 amazing, caring and super loving parents and +1 lucky baby boy.  I can't wait to meet him.  Congratulations on your amazing next chapter you two! 

We finally found a small patch of ferns that was just perfect for this forest mother