Scene 3: “The Field”

ADDENDUM since posting: Some of you asked for full lyrics. Here they are. Song written by Dennis Jernigan.

I bless you with joy and peace and love that won’t let go. I bless you with grace and faith and fire in your soul. I bless you with dreams and visions most men don’t know of. i bless you with a deeper knowledge of our Fathers love.
I bless you with strength and power, grace through any trial. I bless you with wisdom and with comfort in your smile. I bless you with great adventures, journeys yet unknown. I bless you with hearts gone wild because you are His own.
I bless you with the heart of a warrior, grace to stand and fight, I bless you with brothers who will stand right by your side. I bless you with courage till the battles have been won, I bless you with the faith to hear your Father say “well done”.

CHORUS:
I bless you with joy and laughter, I bless you with a steadfast faith, I bless you with the hopes and the dreams that your heart goes after, I bless you with amazing grace.

This next one cracks me up….either we are really funny or we were confusing them with directions.

Beatrice was making her presence known.

These girls are amazing at pulling out vulnerable, beautiful looks.

A little out-take. Getting in this position for Lauren was a logistical feat. She had to balance against Kristin’s thigh which Kristin was a little too zealous to lend; tipping her over.

Much better.

Before we end with the adorable watermelon eating I just want to break to our two prop wenches that helped load and unload all over the property for us. These are not flattering shots but alas, we want to give honorable mention.

This is Kristin’s Adam working the pinwheel while frolicking with the horses.

and Lauren’s Adam taking a quick shot for Kristin’s sister.

These watermelon shots absolutely crack me up. The girls were starving by the end as it was a HOT, long five hours from start to finish. They devoured these watermelon slices in seconds.

Le sigh…..

Girls, I have said it a million times but THANK YOU! You exceeded each and every expectation I had for this shoot. We are so proud of the images and we are so pleased that these remind you of the blessing of pregnancy and friendship. We can’t wait to meet Violet and Beatrice in the upcoming months. Blessings!

So for a brief history of this shoot because it really came together in a few weeks….let me share. Ryan and I have known the extremely talented Adam Barnes for many years. Those of you long time fans may have seen the vintage editorial shoot we did of Adam and his wife Lauren about a year and a half ago. There is no denying Lauren’s incredible beauty, poise and style in photos. She was a DREAM to shoot. She took my ideas and RAN with them while purchasing her clothes and accessories….the shoot would not have been half as impactful without her eye for style and her incredible talent at hair and make up. It can also be noted that Lauren has the most beautiful heart too.

Fast forward to the present. Adam has a very talented and very beautiful associate photographer working for him named Kristin. I have gotten to know Kristin over the last year loosely through the internet and because she worked part time at the salon I get my hair done at…score. Talk about another beautiful woman both inside and out. Kristin and Lauren also happen to be great girlfriends AND they are just 5 weeks apart from having their first babies together!

So a similar itch started about a month ago to create a stylized shoot, rich in details, themed, but this time with women. We don’t boast that we are maternity photographers, in fact we tend to shy away from anything family, maternity or baby. But as a woman, mother and now an expectant mother again…..I am in total girl mode. I think I pondered the concept of this shoot for about a minute when Lauren and Kristin popped in to my head. Two great friends, similar stature, naturally photogenic, stylish, and TOTALLY into details……oh yes….this was it! I fired off an email to them both asking if they wanted to do this shoot with Ryan and I for funsies. I explained how I saw three different scenes in my head. One was going to totally be bright, kitchy, summertime…borderline gaudy bathing suit scene. The second scene was going to be more “glam”, an outdoor living room scene with stronger poses…more serious. The last was going to be at sunset…dreamy, soft, lots of back-lighting, sundresses, quilt-on-the-grass sort of deal.

Well they jumped right on board, a flurry of emails ensued, they went shopping, I went collecting props and well…..there you have it. A hot July evening on an abandoned farm, two gorgeous pregnant women, two husbands named Adam that did the heavy lifting, one husband named Ryan that was along for the ride to shoot and execute what was in my brain and one GIDDY Kelly watching it all come together.

Enjoy Scene One….”Summertime”

As far as props for this scene. The lawn chairs are ours. Those amazing pinwheels were a last minute find at Big Lots $7.99 each!! Mini pinwheels and popsicle bubbles are from Joanne Fabrics, straws are my children’s, and little stool is mine. I think I spent about $20 for this simple set up!

So the LIFE game was a little epiphany I had a few days before the shoot racking my brains about how to show they were having girls without all the stereotypical ways. We already owned the game so it was a free addition to the props pile. To my knowledge, I have not seen this before but I do know there is nothing new under the sun….so maybe you have. I don’t really hang out on maternity blogs!

Scene Two…”The Living Room”

Props were scored from two sources. One…Ryan’s full time job as a commercial photographer at Moore and Giles leather. The chairs, the full hide, even the distressed door and mantel are all props from his workplace..MAJOR SCORE! The vintage calendar pillow, some bottles, vases, candlesticks are all from my dear friend Sarah who refurbishes and sells at Solace Restoration. The ladder was found on the property.

Part Two coming soon…..

Both ladies are expecting “pink”! Little Beatrice will be joining Lauren and Adam in September. Little Violet will be joining Kristin and Adam (different Adam..I know it is confusing!) in August.

My friends and renovation specialists at Solace Restoration, loaned me this sign. This is a portion of a song of blessing we sing at our church. Ryan and I sing this song to our kids every night before bed. It is incredible.

The Mill at Fine Creek played host to their elegant, summer affair. We were especially pleased to work with our friend and very talented floral designer, Janie Medley. You may know her more commonly by her extremely popular wedding planning blog, The Brides Cafe

Beautiful bride and her stunning orchid bouquet. Love this Janie!

The handsome groom. I loved Mark’s engraved cufflinks with each of their initials.

Heading to the church.

I love this shot of Katherine’s dad praying for her before walking down the aisle.

Siblings!!!

Private session time.

We decided to take advantage of the creek, not only because Mark was dying in his black tux…but this preggo needed to cool down as well. The water was perfection on our hot feet.

Time to celebrate!

Speeches and toasting….

There was a lot of razzing of Mark in which he vehemently defended his honor.

Mark’s face makes me chuckle in this one.

I think this is the first plate smashing I have seen.

Guys, we hope Mexico provided ample rest and relaxation as you both have worked so hard in graduate school this year and planning your beautiful wedding. We had a wonderful time. Your bridal party was so much fun and so incredibly warm and friendly. We hope these pictures remind you of how beautiful your day was and not how insanely hot it was! Blessings as you begin your marriage.

The four of us fell into rhythm in no time and giggled our way from downtown out to Sweet Briar College and back again. They are so easy to be with, they thought we were mildy amusing which always helps, and they had some sweet style that they brought to each “scene”. I will say, her dress stole the show and my heart. I love it so much that I think I quite possibly smiled every time I edited a photo with the dress in it. Let’s get started on their little feast for the eyes.

Downtown chic meets Traci and Greg.

HOT MAMA ALERT!!

I’m sorry, WHO brought sexy back? Greg…that look….(insert cat meow!)

Ummmm…Ryan, what are you doing? I can’t defend this.

Transitioning to a little more rural location as well as stuffing our faces with some Taste Select deliciousness! Make sure you check out their new site and logo courtesy of my husband with mad skills and the photography was done by us too (minus cakes). There is nothing like shooting and then eating your subjects. It was hard guys, it was hard….but we did it for Beth!

Traci and Greg really wanted to bring along their dog, Mason, for a few shots. Mason could have fit in nicely with our family session we had done. He was as cooperative as our two toddlers. Seeing as we were in a horse training field his little senses were going bananas. The last thing he wanted to do was sit still for a photo. We managed to grab a couple of the happy family.

Who’s psyched about getting married?

We caught the last bit of sunlight on the other side of Sweet Briar campus at the horse stables. Traci and Greg are currently residing in Philadelphia, PA. Part of the theme of their wedding includes the Love Park sculpture. Traci brought a long a mini version for a palm sized shout out for Philly!

Greg was looking mighty handsome in his fedora.

This photo is for funsies. We joked about the classic prom pose. This is their interpretation.

and I believe Greg was ready to hit the dusty trail as they say.

Traci and Greg, if our session with you was any indication of how awesome your wedding is going to be then you are going to round out our 2010 season with a bang. We adored our time with you and seriously had some amazing belly laughs. We hope these pictures remind you of how awesome you are together.

Sara and Todd have become some of our favorite people to hang out with. We laugh ourselves silly and yet have always enjoyed meaty conversations about marriage, family and the Lord. We just love them and can’t say enough about the stellar character of this couple.

We knew she was up for a real challenge with our two gems. Bennett can be fairly cooperative with the camera but Chloe is flat out disinterested in anything having to do with photos. It is beyond frustrating to take photos of them. After 2 years of Bennett being around we still never managed to get one photo of the two of them together. I kid you not. You will see Sara’s brilliance literally emerge through these photographs as she worked her magic and broke through their stubborn disinterest and pulled out some amazing candids and some fabulous posed shots. Enjoy the two greatest things we have ever done.

Not the most enthused about photos being done.

The picture of cooperation.

slightly better

Success

One money shot of both looking and BOTH smiling. It is Portnoy history. I was hoping for one and we got it! Sarah and Cookie the dog on her head were a magical team.

We tried to recreate a picture that Ryan’s brother shot almost three years ago. It is blown up in our house and one of my favorites!

Unfortunately, Chloe managed to be a Class A Poophead and not cooperate. Okay, I’ll admit, it is kinda funny and really adorable.

Because we can and it is glorious.

Time to wrangle them into their next outfit change. As if it wasn’t hot enough.

I’m going to break you into the cuteness a little at a time.

Yes, she is 3.5 and her hair is that amazing. This kid is follicley blessed.

A moment of sharing, this is definitely worth documenting.

I’m obviously unaware of the next photo. This is the major inside joke between us and Sara. She used to have a Facebook profile picture that was sorta squatted down like this. When we were taking their pictures in the fall Ryan kept leaning down like this taking shots to make them laugh and poke fun at Sarah. His four foot long legs look like a praying mantis so somehow along the way of joking the move got coined as “The Pantis”. Now Sara and Todd refer to us as the Pantis’s. There, now you are in the loop, don’t you feel special?

Love this one of Bennett

I have to end with these last two because they make me smile and laugh and thank the Lord I got a girl! She is obsessed with wearing my heels and is amazingly coordinated at wearing them around even on brick!

Sara, I could never do what you do and these were my kids. Your patience, humor and encouragement during the hours we spent together were incredible. You are so insanely dear to us. We love you and Todd so much and look forward to the next double date with you guys. This time, don’t get all dramatic and break your foot again :-)

Peacock plumes were in full effect as the main accent piece along with the gorgeous jewel tones.

Nate and his grandma before the ceremony.

The moms embracing before taking their seats. Such a loving and affection crew. It was very refreshing.

One of my favorite pictures ever! Sylvettes arrival in a classic Rolls Royce Silver Cloud.

Love her parents response to the kiss!

The rain slowed enough to a drizzle that Sylvette got the group shot she wanted!

Reception time!

Let’s get partying! I wish I could make this photo come to life because I have NEVER seen someone dance with such vigor and bounce in my life! She tore it up on the floor!

Nate’s brother and best man gave the toast. He shared about his horrific car accident leaving him with permanent brain damage and yet has maintained his incredible sense of humor. It was a beautiful, raw and poignant speech of love and admiration for Nate and Sylvette and yet peppered with hilarious stories about Nate. I love learning about families through the speeches.

Sylvette and Nate insisted we clock out and enjoy the last hour of the reception with them. YES PLEASE! I haven’t danced in so long and it felt right to become part of the crowd, part of their friends celebrating their day.

You guys are so dear to us. We left with such sadness that we live so far away for I know when you got back from your honeymoon we totally would have been hanging out if we lived in the same town. You make that trip to Lynchburg happen, you hear us!

Sylvette and Nate, we love you both and thank you truly for choosing us! Blessings on your marriage.

I can not possibly keep writing words because I have been dragging out this post through a crashed laptop and my week of pregnancy/allergy woes…so without further ado, here is part one of Sylvette and Nates big day! Enjoy!

Gotta love seeing how shots are captured.

Can you tell they are sisters?