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. )

back in october, i took off for 2 weeks.  i went to florida for a week to spend time with my friend gina and her two little girls, and then i went on to m-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i to visit bek-the-sister and josh-the-brother-in-law and baby-nephew liam.  i already showed you liam in all his scrawny cuteness, but i finally finished up with the photos i did with gina and the girls.

(pro of having a photographer for a friend:  cheap as free family session…con of having a photographer for a friend…she processes the photos at her leisure.)

we just went for a quick walk around the neighbourhood…hitting kids moods right is…a very…delicate…art, but we lucked out with some AMAZING light.

this is baby lily…who makes the very best faces.

and here’s clahra (yes, that’s spelled right)…who, instead of answering affirmatively, “yes”, says “right”.  it’s really adorable.  “clahra, are you hungry?”  “right.”

rocky the dog came with us on our walk…he was a pretty regal (and incredibly well-behaved) dog.

you’ve always gotta get the one requisite family portrait…this one took some doing.  (i won’t give everything away, but, uh…let’s just say PS helped me make sure everyone’s attention was on me.  or nearly so.)

clahra was NOT having it…i’m sure you see why i am happy with “sort of vaguely looking in my direction”. 

and finished up with a few rounds of “mommy-is-the-merry-go-round”.  (nb:  there was no photoshopping done to this image… )

please contact me if you’re interested in a family portrait session!