gwyneth colleen photography » portsmouth, nh wedding photographer

billi is in the army.  she’s been in iraq for the last several months, but in july she had r&r scheduled.  the army gives certain people scheduling priority.  i would say billi was one of those lucky few, but it’s not really lucky that she’s missed half of lauren’s first year.  but that’s not what they were thinking about when i spent time with them.  they were rejoicing that they could be together for lauren’s first birthday.

i met billi & lauren (and billi’s best friend and her son seth, who flew up from fort bragg for lauren’s birthday soiree) in kittery on a HOT july day.

i’m not a mom, but if i were, i couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be being separated from my baby for a year. billi, thank you so much for the enormous sacrifices you’ve made (and are still making) to serve this country. i appreciate your service, and it was an HONOR to capture this time in lauren’s life. i hope the pictures can in some small way make the rest of your separation easier.

(if you’re a photographer or military family interested in documenting the unique struggles and rewards of family life and military service, check out www.oplove.org)

back in june, i traveled down to charleston, sc to shoot with the fantastic tomme hilton. (yeah, um, i still need to blog about her…because this post isn’t about that.)
i went to charleston via fort bragg, nc (apparently kids these days call fayetteville “fayette-nam.” i’m not sure what connotation it’s supposed to carry, but i’m pretty sure it’s negative, and i’m CERTAIN it’s earned it. it’s not what anyone would call a “garden spot.” anyway…) my good friends roger & gina live there. you’ve seen gina and their blue-eyed daughters before, but now the fam is all together (!!), so we took the opportunity to do a photo session celebrating that.

gina and i did some scouting earlier in the day…and then, in the way these things go…didn’t use ANY OF THEM. but it’s ok! that’s one of the things i really like about this job. learning to let go of the ideas i had and take the situational lemons and make some ROCKIN’ lemonade. or lemon sorbet, or italian ice…or LEMON BARS. mmmmm. (and if it’s morning, i wouldn’t say no to a batch of lemon poppy seed muffins.)

(can you tell it’s almost 1am, and i am…distractable?)

r & g…you know i love you guys, and your little childrens…and i’d even let you set me up again. (but roger, let gina get to know him first next time. )

these patriotic holidays always get me…i was a military brat, and i will maintain till i’m old and crotchety that it is NOT just the service members who wear the uniforms who serve their countries…there were long stretches as a child where all i knew was that daddy was in a giant tin can under the sea. thanks to “blind man’s bluff” i now know he was pretty much a SPY, which, while kind of awesome, still meant we had zero contact with him for months on end.

i was in north carolina a few weeks back visiting some friends on fort bragg (with a side trip down to south carolina to shoot a wedding with tomme hilton). my friends are finally reunited, but they were apart for nearly nine months…

serving this country isn’t really something the faint of heart sign on for…but i’m grateful to all of the men and women who take up that mantle (and for the families who stand behind them and support them through it all.)

here’s a sneak peak from my session with my friends on fort bragg…i told them to pretend they were reuniting after being apart for a long time…i love that little 3 year old c is trailing behind in all of them.

(check out how strong he is! he’s holding her with 1 arm! i mean, sure, she IS a toothpick of a woman, but still! big tough soldier-man, he is!)

i really can’t emphasize enough how important this is to me…if you know someone in the military, PLEASE tell them about oplove.org

there is no cost to them…just people wanting to give something back to those who sacrifice so much.