Merry Christmas from Darling by Design

I just wanted to pop in and say MERRY CHRISTMAS.  I am so grateful for all of the incredible people we have been privileged to meet this past year as Darling by Design got off the ground. I feel so blessed to have worked with people that recognize the importance of capturing memories of their families not to mention how fun it was to meet so many awesome families that just loved having a good time together.   I believe that getting family photos done should be a fun experience and our client's proved they know how to laugh and have fun.   

We have some exciting things in store for 2009 and I can't wait to share some of those.  I can't thank you enough for making 2008 more successful than I could have ever imagined. God has truly led me in this process and blessed us immensely.  I am so grateful for his guidance and have been reflecting on that in the last few weeks.  I hope that you will all take time to hang out with your families and recall the ways He has blessed you this year!

I am planning to take the next few days off to hang out and enjoy family so if you email please be patient as I may not be able to answer as quickly as in the past.  We already have many things on the horizon for January so make sure to check back often.  

However right now I am going to go play.  Our precious niece is here and we can't get enough of her!  (since I hate to post without a picture here is one of her from October...)

Gorgeous....

One simple word describes the last shoot of the year that I was privileged to do..... Sarah was absolutely gorgeous. At the perfect place in her pregnancy to get photos done, so easy going, and willing to do anything I asked on a pretty cold morning. We borrowed a friend's field and woods and went to town. I LOVED several of these images and feel they are awesome memories to capture. If you are interested in a maternity shoot please give me a call. I can't wait to do the newborn photos as soon as that sweet little girl is born.

Take a look at these....I mean she just laid down as soon as I asked.



Warming up for a moment...


To me this image just looks so peaceful and serene.


A favorite black and white....




Thank you so much Sarah for trusting me and being willing to step it up a notch. I think it definitely shows in all the pictures. I can't wait to meet your precious little girl!

Meredith

This sweet little girl and her parents came all the way from Nashville to see us this weekend. She was born last year just before Christmas and was one of our first newborns to photograph. I feel honored that they would make the trip to see us again. Of course we got the pleasure of catching up since they went to church with us when they lived here. I hadn't seen her since they moved in March so needless to say she changed A LOT. As I mentioned in the post yesterday it was COLD on Saturday and I was worried about how she might do. One year olds can be a tough age because they are so curious about everything, don't want to sit still, AND we were dealing with the cold. My fears were put to ease as they got her out of the car and she was ALL smiles. The cold wasn't going to phase her one little bit.

My friend Heather has become quite the seamstress. All weekend she would pull something out to put on Meredith and she would have made it herself. Her mother-in-law has been teaching her to sew and they are making some cute stuff.

She's got her two bottom teeth and if you look close you can see two more about to pop through.


We have the best church that I can imagine. We went to a Christmas party Friday night and I saw this on our friend's porch.

I joked that I would love to have one to use for photography. They were so generous to lend it to me and offered it whenever I needed it.

This is exactly the type of photo I envisioned!



When Heather described this next outfit to me I was so excited. We thought it was so fun and cool. Who says it's to cold for a tutu?

If you are interested in recreating this photo in your photoshoot I actually have the exact same tutu (12-18 months) if you want to borrow it.

Thanks for coming to see us Meredith. We LOVED getting to have you stay with us and it just topped things off to take your one year pictures!

BRRR.....

NOTE: Don't forget that if you want photos in time for Christmas I need your orders ASAP.

Saturday had to be one of the coldest days so far and as things would go I had several sessions scheduled. Two of the families were willing to brave the cold so we went ahead. The wind was the real problem so I tried to find us a place that might block the wind a bit. We were able to get behind a building that helped us find a little relief. This little guy hung in there with the best of them. He didn't get a nap and it was cold. We would take a few photos and then snuggle him for a few minutes to get warm. It seemed to work pretty well. His mom had the greatest hats but we were trying to be quick and didn't get to try them all out. I hope we get another chance at some point because he was stylin.




Despite the frigid temperatures I enjoyed seeing you again!

Holiday Deadline!

If you are planning to place an order and want the photos back in time for Christmas you MUST place your order NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 13th in order to have them back in time. I will not be able to get them for you before Christmas Day if I don't have your order and payment before then. So please get them in as soon as possible. It would even be best if they could be in by early next week!

But since it isn't any fun to have a post without photos, we spent some time with a family we have known for several years last weekend. Melissa (in the red) has worked at our church for many years and has been wonderful to Mike since he has been there. I remember the first day we met her when we were just here to visit Paducah and see if it was somewhere we might want to live. She has been wonderful to Mike and goes above and beyond to make sure things run smoothly. The other family is Eric's brother and we had a good time cutting up and acting silly.

We squeaked out the last semi-warm day we had recently and I know they were grateful to not be frozen. The clouds were rolling in as we got started but we worked fast and finished before it was too dark.

They tried really hard not to smile but it didn't work so well....





Hope you enjoy....I think you will love the rest!

Giggles

I can't tell you how cute these two were. Giggling. Sweet. Smiling. They were a lot of fun to spend an hour on a Saturday morning with and they were lucky to get a beautiful day! We enjoyed lots of silly songs and sounds but I know that their mom and dad are going to love the images they got. Here are a few and they aren't even my favorites!

Tori - Reidland High School Senior 2008

I feel sorry for Tori and her mom because I don't know how they will ever narrow down their favorites from her senior photos. She is a beautiful girl inside and out. She is a great student yet still knows how to have fun. Tori is a leader and respected by her peers and looked up to by many younger students. We are privileged to have her a part of our youth group. We did her shoot in several settings. First, we spent a chilly afternoon in Paducah and then we finished up at the bible camp that our kids go to in South Carolina. We were both going to be there for a retreat and it is a very special place to her so we spent a few hours traipsing around camp. I can't even begin to narrow down my favorites.

More Christmas Cards

After a month of constant traveling I took a few minutes tonight to sit down and put together a more comprehensive assortment of Christmas cards. These have been such a hit this year. I love personalized cards .... they are my favorite to receive! As you will see there are three different sets with 7-8 cards in each one. All are sized as 5 x 7 inches except #7 of the Vintage series and it is a 5 x 5. The cards come with envelopes so all you have to do is address them, stamp them, and stick them in the mailbox! They come in sets of 24. Call or email us today if you are interested in cards from your session!

My Niece

I made a special trip a few weeks ago for a extra special little girl. I don't get to see her near as much as I would like but we make the most of the time we do get to spend. She just turned one year on Halloween and she is already walking, I mean RUNNING, all over the place. We didn't have much time during the weekend but we pushed our luck when she was already exhausted. I have fallen in love with several of these photos. They aren't necessarily the most posed but they really capture Karmen.





Something about this photo just grabs me. I love how her daddy's hand is in the photo as well as part of mommy.


My sis is really trendy so she had awesome dresses planned for photos!




I am already looking forward to Christmas when we will see her again!

This awesome family met us a few weeks back on an unseasonably warm day. Mom decided to make a special day for them and they got to leave school a little early in order to come from Illinois to take photos together. They were a little shy at first but then we found out that they really like the movie Madagascar 2. They have an especially favorite song that we took full advantage of - "You've got to move it, move it!" Anyway, we had a lot of fun. They were all good sports and I hope you had a great dinner together afterwards. Thanks for your patience as you've waited to see your photos!


Isn't this an awesome family photo? I love how much fun it looks like they are having. Poor mom was smashed on bottom but still was all smiles!




Such a beautiful girl....




I LOVE these awesome fall colors!





Sometimes we forget to take photographs as our kids get a little older. We have lots of photos when they are small but gradually forget as they start school and such. You will want to remember these times in their lives and photographs immediately take us back to our memories!