Mother's Day Portraits 2012

This year, to create some special Mother's Day gift portraits, I arranged three separate secret photo shoots with my two daughters--one with both of them, and then one each alone. Here are some of my favorites from those three sessions:

Mommy and Elyse

Here's Mommy in the reading chair with Elyse on her lap, having a 'tend conversation with Granny and Pa:

2012 Easter Portraits

This afternoon I made some Easter portraits of the girls. Here are five of the best of them:

Loeffler Family Portraits

Today I had the pleasure of making some portraits for my second cousin Rebecca and her family, including their four-day-old baby. Here are some of my favorites:

Stone Mountain: Plantation Pictures

Today we went to Stone Mountain, as we often do when we have some time on a nice day. Here are some pictures I took in the Plantation area:

Sunday Afternoon Portraits

Today I made some pictures of the girls:

Jessica wasn't in a very cooperatin' mood and the shoot didn't last long, so I wasn't able to get a good pictures of all three girls together. Jessica was responsible for the first picture of Elyse above, however; she brought the chair over and had Elyse sit in it, and handed her the yellow plastic watering can, which was a really good idea. Today she was more interested in being the art director than the model, but unfortunately that attitude didn't encourage her sister to be very cooperative either. I'm happy with the few good pictures I did get, though.

Playing in the Backyard

Yesterday afternoon the weather was beautiful, so we spent some time playing in the backyard:

Jessica at Stone Mountain

I took this picture of Jessica this afternoon at Stone Mountain:

Portraits at Fort Yargo State Park

Here are several sepia-toned pictures I took yesterday during our visit to Fort Yargo State Park:

Lone Fisherman

I took this picture this afternoon of a lone fisherman at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder:

Appreciate This Gift

I met my brother, Jeff, for lunch last Friday at Jade Dragon in Lilburn. My fortune cookie said:

I hope that is true. So much of what surrounds us in our culture these days is ugly, and too loud, and too fast--but still, there is much that is beautiful all around us. Finding it is indeed a gift.

Scary Faces

The girls love to make scary faces. I love to take pictures. And thus, this past weekend's Scary Faces photo shoot was born:

(Okay, so this one isn't so scary, but she was trying!)

Not-Scary Faces

Here are some pictures of the girls I took between the scary faces pictures:

Retrospection and Introspection

Here's me, back in 2002:

In this picture I am ten years younger than I am now, forty pounds lighter, and have very little discernible gray in my hair or beard. Anna and I had been married only a year, and we were still five years away from having our first child. I was only thirty-five, older than many newly-married men, true, but still young by many standards.

When I look back on pictures like this, I often think, "Wow, I wish I had realized then how wonderful my life really was. I should have appreciated it more at the time. I should not have taken it so much for granted."

And then I realize: My life today contains so many moments that someday I will look back on and realize were wonderful. Among the best things I can do for my wife, for my children, for myself, then, is to try and appreciate how wonderful my life is right now, while it's actually going on, to not take it for granted but to know it for the gift that it is.

I am blessed. But then, we all are.

Elyse's Hands

I took this picture of Elyse's hands a couple of days ago: