S'mores | Northwest Arkansas Lifestyle Family Photographer

When Alicia and I were brainstorming about locations for

their fall family session,

I suggested that we use their own backyard.

They had recently built their house, it is gorgeous,

and they have an amazing backyard.

I also said suggested that we do a 2-part session. 

The first part being a traditional fall family session and

the second part being more lifestyle, capturing them doing

something that they love to do.

I knew that Steve had

spent many hours making a cozy little area at the

edge of their property for gatherings, complete with a fire pit,

so s'mores seemed like the perfect thing to do!

They worked so hard on that fire. 

Poor Steve only ending up with one s'more

because his family ate them all as he fought to keep it alive.

Her quick little hand kept sneaking bits of chocolate.

She adores the camera.

She would light up whenever she realized I had it pointed at her.

Photobombing sisters are the best!!!

I love how she is looking at her oldest, her only boy.

This one is growing up so fast.  She is just a wee bit older than my oldest daughter.

She is such a sweet girl.

I love this one.

Together and enjoying the evening.

And chocolate.

:)

Sweet Baby | Northwest Arkansas Newborn Photographer

Shortly before Christmas I posted on facebook
searching for newborns.
I had decided that I missed documenting families and their
new little babies, so I needed
new babies to photograph for my portfolio.
Rosie, a really talented clothing designer,
answered the call. 

I am so glad she did.

There was a calm but creative energy when I walked into their house.
Fabric swatches, dress forms, and other sewing notions
were scattered about and a sweet four year old with amazing
curls was drawing next to the window. 

I just knew it was going to be a great session.


Baby yawns. 
Seriously.
Can you ever get enough?

These two may be my favorites from the entire session.

Big sis Ezra was not very happy that we wanted photos
of her with her baby sister.
She confessed she was really disappointed
that the baby was actually a baby
and not a kitty. 
:)

I love this family photo!

She's so sweet.

Nothing like a little wild swinging to put a
smile on your face, right?

My Family! | Northwest Arkansas Family Photographer

  You often hear about photographers' families getting the shaft when it comes to having their own portraits taken.  I'm so guilty of this myself.  Our first real family photos with a hired photographer was back in 2012.  I LOVED it.  I'll have to share some of those photos on here soon, too, because they were so amazing. 

One thing I do force ask my family to do often is take group photos using my trusty tripod.  As a result, we have tons of family portraits over the years.  Some of them are casual, some are dressier, and sometimes you can tell that one or two of the kiddos are just SO OVER it, but I don't care.  I have yearly photos of my entire family and that is all that matters to me.  ;) 

I had been telling everyone that yesterday was going to be family photo day for a long time.  I prepped outfits and gave several warnings that it was going to be an early morning since we were taking photos at sunrise.  Even though I got a lot of resistance, the results are a handful of photos I adore.

And yes, one of us is not smiling, but that is pretty much a standard thing for her when we try to get her to go with the flow, so it is very fitting!  :) 

PS, be on the look out for some new posts really soon as I post all the awesomeness
from the fall busy season!

Life at Seven Months | Northwest Arkansas Lifestyle Photographer

I love little babies. 
And I love little babies at this stage.
The just starting to crawl stage.
Super cute, not too fast,
and just so curious about everything.
Put that together with the fact that this beauty's momma is
one of my really good friends and you
have what I consider the perfect session.
♥

I spent a morning with them and just documented how their day unfolded.
After wake-up changes.
Cuddles.
Play time.
Eating.
I love these types of sessions. 
Lifestyle/storytelling whatever you want to call it,
it just speaks to me.

Jodee + Chris | Northwest Arkansas Engagement Photographer

Whoa. 

Where did I go, right?? 

This summer was my last summer before all my kiddos were in school, so I took a really nice break.  It was lovely.  And now that the kiddos are all nice and settled with the first week of school out of the way, it is time for me to put the focus back on RLP! 

Meet Chris and Jodee, an incredibly sweet couple who will actually be getting married in a matter of days.  I'm really excited for their wedding.  They are so in love and are two of the nicest people I've met.  It's going to be beautiful!!

Since the wedding is so close and my summer break started close to their engagement session, I thought that today would be a perfect time to share their gorgeous images on my blog. 

Enjoy!

Gorgeous.

I adore how they look at each other. 
It makes me smile.

We got to experiment and play during their session, which I love. 
It's always great when clients are willing to trust your vision!

I do a lot of conceptual type photography in my personal work, but never tried it out with an RLP client until Chris and Jodee.  :)

Summer Time | Northwest Arkansas Photographer

Oh, the school year is winding down, my husband started a new job, and a bunch of little things have been happening that have filled my days and kept me away from the ol' blog.  And now summer is just around the corner!

If you've been following RLP over the years, you may know that in addition to my client work, I am also a conceptual photography artist and work mainly with self-portraits.  I've been doing it since 2006 and while I started with a 365 project, where you take one photo a day for a year, I've never ever ever finished.  Ever.  It's actually sort of sad and a little funny how many times I've started and then stopped.  But, I keep creating the portraits and maybe one day I'll start and actually finish. 

Maybe. 

I've had enough requests lately that I'm now offering conceptual photography to my clients.  I'll be posting more details later, but if you are interested, send me an email and we can chat!

Here are some that I've been working on the last couple of weeks. 

Cassie and Ryan | Northwest Arkansas Engagement Photographer

Ooooh, this couple.  I had so much fun with them and I can't wait for their wedding this fall!  And I also love that their engagement session was in the middle of spring loveliness and their wedding will be in the luscious color of fall because those are my two favorite seasons.  :)

Sunrise sessions, how I love you.  The light in these are killer, guys! 





Drop dead gorgeous. 











I love how she adores him.





I always try to experiment a bit at one point during sessions and go into it knowing full well that it may not work out AT ALL.  This was one of those experiments.  I'm digging it. 
And I also have a not so crazy version of this sweet kiss, too, just in case they don't dig it. ;)



My fave!



After the session, we went to the Farmer's Market for a bit and had some really tasty goat cheese and some good eats from Kind Kitchen.  And then my family and I had a picnic at another local park.  It was just a perfect Saturday!  :)