Teasers from November 13th!

On Saturday, November the 13th, I decided it would be a good idea to do as many photo shoots as I could fit into a single day... And I almost did. I chose a park in Williamsburg, Virginia for a few reasons, 1. I have 2 friends that I went to church/high school with live in Virginia but one in Richmond and the other in Norfolk. So I tried to find a central location for them. and 2. The park looked so pretty on the website and it sounded like it would have a lot of options. So, I told my friends to meet there and they said they had friends that wanted to join in on the fun. So, I created a schedule and told them to work out the details and let me know. I had 6 people sign up.

The park opened at 8 am and closed at 5 pm. I knew since it would take me 2 hours to drive there I was NOT going to be able to do an 8 am shoot. Nor did I feel up to a 9 am shoot. I had slots every hour from 10 am to 5 pm. Luckily for me and my assistant we got 6 sessions 3 back to back with an hour break and 3 more back to back. I decided to go to the park an hour early and set up.

I woke up at 6 am and got ready to go. I then got my daughter up and ready to go. By 7 am I dropped Abigail off at the babysitter's house then rushed over to pick up my assistant, Kenzie. We hit the road and went in the opposite direction of traffic. Score! I sported my shades and sipped an energy drink (not recommended since they are so bad for you!). It was a clear beautiful day! I forgot to check the weather before the trip but I was blessed with a perfect day. Thank you to my Heavenly Father for watching out for me. He must have heard my prayers.

Kenzie and I got to the park at 9 am and we were taken aback by the breathless beauty of the nature scene before our eyes. Gorgeous trees with vibrant colors of leaves everywhere. A shimmering lake as still as glass, reflecting the vivid colors. Melt. I was in love. We picked our favorite spots, we hiked and marveled. We talked about books and the latest things we have read.

Our first appointment showed up a few minutes early to go over the paper work. What a beautiful family the Wilkinson's are! Everyone had such warm and inviting smiles the whole time. They chose the 10 am slot because of events going on later. Gorgeous. We chatted and got ot know one another a little bit before we got started and then it was pictures for an hour. Maybe they felt it but for me it flew by. Before I knew it I had taken 550 images. Yikes! I told Kenzie I was going to have to slow down or else I would run out of memory cards. I packed a 32GB, three 16GB, 4GB, 2GB and a 1GB, but with my 21 megapixels it will eat them up in no time. By the way, my assistant Kenzi was thrilled to find out that the daughter's name is Kenzie and they spell it the same way. It is not short for anything, it's just Kenzie. We had fun with that. Anyway, it was fun and invigorating.

Before I knew it our time was up and my friend Kasey and her family we driving up. She informed me that my next appointment after her cancelled due to a sick baby. Well, that meant that Kenzi and I got to take a 2 hour lunch break, sweet! So, we took the Tross family hiking up the the lookout. That was a bit of a challenge since they were all in nice clothes and Kasey had high heeled boots. She is a champion though and we made it up and got to take a moment and enjoy the view. Tyson kept us entertained with his imagination. Well, we took a little more than an hour since we went hiking and we didn't have an appointment right away.

Here's a view from the lookout...

Then Kenzie and I went to the Premium outlets where there was a sushi place. Kenzie tried sushi for the first time. I told her unagi was really good and even after telling her what it was she wanted to try it. She is a fan. We enjoyed lunch then headed back to work some more. I lost almost all of my energy and motivation during lunch. I felt like I was going to just crash. Boo energy drink. I dragged myself back to work. Luckily I got to see another friend right after lunch.

The Miller family showed up looking super cute! Amber is expecting another cutie pie this next year. Now, working with children about 3 and under can be a challenge. I tend to like to just let them do their thing and eventually they will look at me and smile. Sometimes the parents get frustrated with their kids but it always works out. So I got to visit with Amber and her family and we had fun. Brianna had so much energy but was so cute, I loved the challenge of trying to get her to look at me and smile. I found that when we asked her to do so she would do the opposite. hahaha. So cute.

Next up was the Hansen family. They confessed that they had never had professional portraits taken. I hope they enjoyed their experience and I am glad I could be their first photographer! The kids were very quite but so cooperative and very sweet. I admit by this time I was exhausted and my brain was a little frazzled. I did get some great shots of this cute family! We went so fast we were finished early and it worked out since the final appointment showed up at that same time.

Finally we have the Lopez family. They were a lot of fun. Attitude. I loved it! I thought, we could totally do some attitude shots and they pulled it off really great! I loved the challenge of getting the son, Gilbert to smile. It is probably a good thing they came early because I am not sure how well the lighting situation would have been if we waited. Well, the lighting was perfect and they were very fun.

we were finished an hour early so we took off. We said good bye and headed on our 2 hour drive home. We miraculously missed traffic again and made it home in good time. I got home and felt like I was going to die. I was so tired. I snuggled with my baby and hubby and went to bed early after I put Abby down for bed.

I love the results!