robin gale cornett (a photographer for babies, children, and families in fort myers, florida)

I went to New Orleans and all I got…

robin cornett — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:28:13 +0000

I actually didn’t get a t-shirt if that’s what you were thinking. Mainly, I came home with pictures, and an awful lot to think about and contemplate. The kids, my dad, and I tagged along with Andy and a bunch of his awesome high school students on their summer work trip to New Orleans, Louisiana. We worked through Son Servants, and spent the week with three other churches’ youth groups. The students split up and worked in teams all over the city (and some outside the city, too). My job (I really had a job!) was to spend the week documenting the trip. It was a blast, and I got some really fantabulous images from it, both of New Orleans and of the students. I thought I’d share some of the New Orleans pictures with you here because I like you.

One thing that surprised me about what we saw is how much remains to be done, nearly four years after Katrina blew through. I know it was a big storm but the amount of devastation hadn’t really clicked with me until actually after this trip… driving around the city, both in the Ninth Ward and elsewhere, there were still many homes with obvious and massive damage, padlocked, some open to the elements, some overgrown, and many that appeared to be simply abandoned. There are a lot of reasons why, and maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was. When we got home, my dad pulled out some pictures from a work trip he took to New Orleans six months after Katrina, which really put things into perspective. What we saw is actually a herculean amount of work. But there is still so much left to do.

This is on one of the houses we worked on. You can see these signs still spraypainted on many homes all around the city, four years later. I know I said that already, but FOUR years. Our students were gutting this house down to the studs. I wondered if I would want to paint over this, or if I’d want to leave it as a testament to my surviving an incredible storm. The owner said the water was about nine feet high here (my head if I were standing on the porch). Isn’t that amazing?

Normally I don’t put captions on the images in my galleries, but there are stories behind each of these pictures, so I took the time to give you a brief explanation for them. (That means: please take a minute to read the captions under the images.) Thank you for sticking with me!

look! (jenna)

robin cornett — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:09:38 +0000

Jenna and I had a quick mini session to celebrate her pearly whites–that’s right, no more braces! She is always gorgeous, but it was so fun to hang out with her to celebrate this milestone. She thinks I’m a little crazy, but that’s OK by me, as long as I can keep taking her pictures!

look! (jodi)

robin cornett — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:45:24 +0000

It is always fun to meet a family, wherever it is, but there is something really special about being invited into a home and getting to peek into a family’s life. This family is one of the sweetest I have had the privilege to meet in a long time. I love how looking at these pictures tells me a story… about the family dog, about being a little brother of a big sister (necklaces, not trucks), reading with Mom, even farmer’s tans for Florida babies. The love in this family is really palpable (there’s your word for the day, go look it up if you don’t know). Oh, and they are super cute, too!

ballet: my girls

robin cornett — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:52:27 +0000

Yes, I have been a bad blogger lately. I have an excuse, I promise! I have a couple sessions I want to blog, and will, but June has been an event month more than a session month. I just finished a solid week of VBS at our church and right before that was my girls’ ballet studio annual Festival of Dance, which I had the privilege to shoot. I’ve been putting pictures on the dance studio website (click on news), but wanted to share two of my girls here, because I’m a proud momma and I can.
My youngest is the siamese cat there at the end of the line.
That’s my girl, there on the right, with the big grin. She struggled a bit all spring with her attitude towards dance, but this weekend, she was firing on all cylinders. Maybe she is a performer at heart.

If you want to see more of the studio, visit their site.

look! (erik & sarah)

robin cornett — Sat, 30 May 2009 21:10:30 +0000

I have known Erik for a while now, and have him to thank for tweaking the code on my site to make my sister in law me happy about how my post galleries get to my subscribers. His day job is working in my husband’s office doing fabulous design work and running their website, but he has his own company as well and does great stuff. I finally got to meet his beautiful wife, Sarah, and we headed out to the beach to take pictures. It was so much fun for me, and kind of surreal because I’m not used to taking pictures which don’t have small children in them. Plus, they were just fun people to be around, and didn’t care how many pictures I took of them, so I love them forever now.

sanibel sunset

robin cornett — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:25:57 +0000

Just one for y’all today… we’ve gotten out to Sanibel a couple times recently with the new puppy for an evening picnic and have really enjoyed it. Both times it was low tide and the water was so calm, leading out to kind of a sandbar that was just the right depth to walk on or sit on. I loved the sky on this night last week so I made the kids plop down for a shot. My only disappointment with this beach is that it faces more or less east, so the sun sets behind us.

And before you ask, yes, this is what my children wear for most of our family pictures. Finding shots where everyone has clothes on is actually quite a challenge! The trials and tribulations of a Florida mom…

easter sunday: paid in full

robin cornett — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:02:28 +0000

Spent last Sunday morning running around our church with camera in hand for Easter Sunday. It was a lovely service, packed pretty full (let’s just say there’s not a lot of room up front and somehow they squeezed in space for the choir, handbells, organ, three trumpeters, a tympanist (is that the right word? one who plays tympani drums), and space for a small “contemporary” ensemble with singers, guitar, and string bass. I was pretty impressed.

On a techier, but very exciting (to me) note: my friend Erik has written some snazzy code for me so that my faithful blog subscribers are getting the big images again instead of the silly little thumbnails! That was my biggest hangup about using the gallery plugin that I’ve adopted and now that he’s fixed that for me, I am one happy woman. See, Rabia, now you don’t have to come visit any more (but I wish you would!). For those of you who have asked me about this plugin, you can contact Erik about his code… if the interest is high enough he may submit it as a new Wordpress plugin (if my terminology is correct). Erik is also a talented graphic designer in his own right–I’ve seen a lot of the work he’s been putting out and it’s all really fabulous, so if you are needing a designer (graphic or web), please give him a shout!

look! (mylissa)

robin cornett — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:24:22 +0000

Mylissa and I have known each other for years now–our babies were in diapers together and we traded baby clothes (since when I was having girls, she was having boys). She is just a fabulous woman. Her hubby, Mark, is pretty fantastic as well. They left Fort Myers almost three years ago to start this incredible ministry called Habitat for Hope, which offers support and care for families who are dealing with the traumatic illness of a child. They’re based in Memphis, TN, which draws in families from all over the world seeking care for their kids at St. Jude and Le Bonheur. One statistic I remember Mylissa sharing is that there is an average of 350 families every single night who are in Memphis specifically for this reason. Can you believe that? They come from every state and all over the world. For the past three years, Habitat for Hope has been standing with these families, offering love and support–spiritual, emotional, and even financial. They’ve watched children get better, and they have sat with families when they’ve lost a beloved child. They are incredible.

Mark and Mylissa and their family came back to Fort Myers for a short visit with friends and family. We took Saturday morning to have donuts together at Bennett’s (heavenly) and then wandered around downtown for a bit to take pictures. The kids have all grown up looking so different from each other but wow, aren’t they beautiful??? And I loved seeing Mylissa… I think she just glows with that special radiance of a woman who is deeply loved (good work, Mark)!

look! (ellen)

robin cornett — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:34:12 +0000

I met this beautiful family out at the beach this weekend for a fun session. Both kids are swimmers (this awes me because although I can tread water and get from one end of the pool to the other after a fashion, I really can’t swim). This was a fun session because everyone listened to me and when I suggested “let’s sit here and try this” they did it. I didn’t have to chase anyone, either. And oh yes, they laughed at all my commentary, too!

Thank you, Ellen!

look! (susan)

robin cornett — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 22:29:22 +0000

It’s been a little while since I had a beach session… I think down here in Florida we think it’s cold out there this time of year. Well, I do–shows you how far I have fallen, doesn’t it? I met this family out at the beach this past weekend and had a great time. Everyone listened to me when I asked them to “stand here” or “go chase those birds” (oh wait, everyone likes to do that, no matter how old they are!). And aren’t they a good looking family, too?

Thank you, Susan!