Who: Mia
What: Bridal Session
When: February 14, 2007
Where: Family home in Sandestin, FL

Let’s start with Mia’s favorite from the session:

Now one of my favorites:

Charles’ favorite (yep, he shot it! LOL):

Two more for now:

After the shoot we went and had an awesome dinner at Cuvee Beach in Destin for Valentine’s Day! YUM!

Who: Natalie & Justin
What: Mini Newlywed Shoot
When: February 11, 2007
Where: Downtown Pensacola

Natalie & Justin are back now as Newlyweds! Ya’ll had been married - what - a week? two weeks? - when we shot these downtown.

Who: Abigail & Lilly - with appearances by Mom (Rachel) & Dad (Stephen)
What: Kid session
When: February 2, 2007
Where: Grandma’s House

A little history to start:

Last August Charles and I shot Brittany & Tom’s beautiful wedding in Gulf Breeze where little miss Abigail was the oooh-too-cute flower girl. I remember snapping off a few frames of Abigail racing down the aisle toward her then-very-pregnant-mommy and thinking “I know that mom!” But before I knew it, we were full swing into the reception and there never seemed to be the ‘right time’ to go over and (re)introduce myself. You see, Abby’s mommy is Rachel R - now Rachel M - from my Booker T Washington High School, my alma matter. When I was a lowly freshman, Rachel was a mighty JUNIOR and I thought she was totally cool. She was an awesome actress/singer/dancer - heck, probably photographer too! - and I *so* wanted to be just like her. She was, of course, the lead in every show those next two years - we even shared the stage a few times before she graduated. Definitely the “it” girl for a theatre geek like me.

So anyway, a few weeks pass and then I get an email from Rachel that reads something like:

Hi Meg,

My daughter, Abigail, was the flowergirl at Brittany & Tom’s wedding in August. I love their photos - was wondering if you would be available to do a family session for me after our second child is born.

- Rachel

… heh. I really used to believe that I was over all of those little high school insecurities - that I had moved past those “are they going to like me?!” feelings I felt as a military brat bouncing from school to school. Now that I am a little older - some might even say wiser - and definitely more established, bumping into a classmate would be so … I dunno … uneventful, maybe.

No - you’d think I had just received an Oscar the way I anxiously dragged Charles to the computer - pointing to the screen ” DO YOU KNOW WHO THIS IS!?!?”

No, he says, should I?

YES! THIS is Rachel R! Well, Rachel M now I guess… but STILL! This is Rachel!

And thus began my panic attack leading up to this shoot

So, now that you know who Rachel is - meet her beautiful family:

Like any good musical theatre mom would do, Rachel had already started Abigail on Annie (the musical), seen playing on the TV in the background when we arrived:

Abigail played a little shy at first (who was she kidding? SUCH a ham!) and went to sit with Mommy - notice the rainboots?

I dig her style. Tinkerbell costume + boots at the grand piano. Of course, she can’t read yet - much less read sheet music - so I couldn’t help but smile watching her thumb through this Broadway Anthology piano book.

Mom coerced her into changing into her pink dress - but Abby wanted to wear pants - so she pulled on both.

Singing to her babydoll.

Lilly practicing her model face in the mirror:

A nice moment with Grandma:

Lilly wide awake:

Watch the tongues in these next two

I guess she gets it from big sis!

A personal note here - I think too often parents are never pictured in photos WITH their kids. Think back to your childhood snapshots. I have one really great photo where I was riding on my dad’s shoulders when I was three - a real moment that I will love forever. But mostly, there are photographs of me alone or me with my mom - and my dad was always the one BEHIND the lens. So it was important to me to make a little time to show Stephen with his daughters, too.

Here are a few of father & daughter at play:

And then it was time for Abigail’s Tea Party:

Mommy & Abby

And I’ll leave this post with the face that makes Charles say “we should have one of those someday”:

Who: Susie
What: Bridal Session
When: January 28, 2007
Where: Eden Gardens State Park

Just a quick pull to share a handful of images from Susie’s bridal session. She makes my job too easy…

Jessica might remember this ‘pose’ which she came up with at her bridal session! (I told you then Jess that you were making me look good!) < --- Susie saw the resulting shot on the blog and liked it so much that at the end of her session she says to me "Meg, can I have a shot like you took of Jessica where she's on the ground - like on your blog?" (I thought her mother, who was there for the shoot, was going to faint at the thought of Susie sprawled out on the porch in her wedding dress!) Here's take two with Susie:

Check back soon for more with Susie when we introduce her fiance Lee to the blog for their engagement session!

Who: Natalie & Justin
What: Wedding Day
When: January 27, 2007
Where: Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
AND Apple Annie’s Courtyard in Seville Quarter

Natalie & Justin had a beautiful wedding day - despite the not-so-beautiful weather - in Pensacola, Florida.

We often get asked “what happens if it rains? How will that affect my wedding photos?” Well, it did rain in Pensacola on January 27th - and hard - throughout the day. So I figured I’d share some images from their entire day - including some of our outdoor but still-under-shelter formals, so that you can see the results for yourself!