Mango Street Photography

so this session was especially a treat for me because it was with one of my best friends from high school. when we met in 10th grade, we lived within walking distance and, thus, carpooled everywhere we went. i will never forget riding around together in my first car–a ‘73 datsun 240z. no air conditioning. my window that didn’t roll up. my door that didn’t close all the way and rattled constantly. and, yes. the holes in the floor boards so big that we could watch the road beneath us. i don’t know how we made it through those hot georgia summers, but somehow we did. we have tons of great memories together, but i will save those and fast forward to life today.

bev is now married, has an adorable son and lives in florida, but when they planned a trip up to atlanta recently, they scheduled a session to capture their family in their current phase of life. i’m so glad they did.

you know i love when a family chooses a setting that has meaning to them for their photos. well, this first location is a spot that jeremiah, bev’s husband, has great memories of visiting as a child. how fun to bring his family back years later.

the day was extremely overcast, but it kept the heat off of us!

even though you can’t see her face, i feel like this pic is so beverly.

i’m pretty sure it was at this moment when i realized i wasn’t looking through the lens at just another client and said, “oh my goodness, beverly!! you’re all grown up!!”

after a quick drive and wardrobe change, we arrived at location 2: the marietta square. i shoot a lot here because of the variety of buildings and textures, but it was particularly fun to be here since it is a special place for jeremiah and beverly. this courthouse is the spot where they got married, and this is the first time they have been back!

it was so hard to narrow these down for the post–i think bev is such a radiant mother.

i thought this was so cute–johnathan chowing down on jeremiah’s ear.

thanks again, guys! i had a great time spending time with you~

rewind to my second grade year and you will find a little version of me sitting enthralled with my teacher’s rendition of the characters of strawberry girl or another of the many books that she read aloud to us at the end of each day. mrs. demar was one of those teachers who was an easy favorite. well, fast forward amost 20 years, and you can imagine how thrilled i was when her son contacted me about doing photos for him, his wife, and their sweet boy. we met up at a local park and enjoyed watching the very expressive calvin, who i need to add was an amazing trooper for such a little guy. enjoy!

i’m loving this old tree~

we did lots of photos of the 3 of them interacting together, but let’s be honest. with a face like this, calvin stole the show.

in this one and the one below, calvin is playing airplane with his mom, liz. so fun.

evening sunlight is a beautiful thing.

so is a mom and dad who love playing with their son.

david is such a great dad! i love calvin’s pure joy here.

liz loving on calvin.

father and son~

and we’ll end with some serious cuteness.

i had a great time with you guys! thanks again for a wonderful evening~

the pictures below make my heart so happy. this sweet little girl will be missing her final ballet recital as her family is heading off on a big trip, so her mom had me take some pics of her all dressed up in her tutu. we met up at their house (on a side note, one of my fav. places to document families is their house–so great to capture them in their environment.), and riley showed me all of her favorite spots. we had a great time swinging, playing, twirling, and doing all things that little ballerinas should do. thanks, riley, for being such a great sport and letting me tag along on a fun afternoon with you. i had so much fun!! enjoy your sneak peek~

showing me some graceful ballet moves~

something magical happens when a girl puts on her tutu~

easily my favorite series from the day. when i looked down at my camera after shooting these, i just knew. in the short time we spent together, riley and her mom were such a picture to me of what a loving mother-daughter relationship looks like–i loved it.

yes, her eyes are this blue!

you know i love my green grass, but i did have to include a few black and whites.

the end.~ although i kind of feel like i should end this with, “and she lived happily ever after.”

thanks again, guys. i had a great time!

~

where to even begin?? since about february, i have been craving color and the return of life that spring always promises. well, it turns out that the bergs were just what i ordered.  i did their shoot last week, and the day could not have been more perfect. beautiful sunlight, green grass, fun downtown area. ahh. my idea of a perfect day. not only was the weather perfect, this family was a true pleasure to document. their interaction with each other was great and their love for one another was so evident. i will go ahead and apologize now for the overload of pictures. looking through these, it was too hard to choose favorites!

we started the session off in downtown alpharetta and explored some unique side streets…i thought this building worked with the classy outfits they had chosen.

they were such troopers through all of the walking–thanks guys!

i have always loved this building, but was sad to see that main street art is no longer there~hopefully, something equally great will move in!

we stopped by this spot on a whim for a few quick shots before heading to our cars for our next stop~

if you can guess where this spot is (and don’t know from me or the bergs), comment and i will definitely hook you up with some starbucks goodness.

did i mention i had been craving green grass??? lying there taking these pictures, all i could think was how lucky i am to do this for my job!

these next several deserved their own spot as lynzi’s husband, lukas, is serving overseas in the army. our prayers are with their family during this season~

those blue eyes…

so while i was taking the above pic of caleb, this is what the girls were doing above him. i had to back up and take their pic–too funny. i love what we will do to get a smile from a baby!

something about the softness in this pic speaks to me…

lynzi, you are beautiful and such a gifted mom already. the way you love on your son is such an example–keep up the great work!

i had a great time with all of you! thanks for including me in a great afternoon~

i met up with the donahues over thanksgiving weekend for some family photos as their older son was home from school. since they chose to do their session at their home, you will see that their dog cassidy made an appearance in quite a few photos. i love it! here’s a glimpse of our time together~

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thank you, donahues! i had a great time with your family~