happiest of holidays...

... to all of my wonderful clients! In the insanity of the holiday season, I had to let my blog take a back seat. I have so many un-blogged sessions that I'm going to have to break my posts up over the course of several days.

To all of you who invited me into your lives to photograph your families yet again this year, I thank you. I can't wait to see your kids again in 2009.














(more to come soon!)

comic relief

What do you get when you cross a fun, 6'6" dad with a spunky 3-year old on a trike?

The best laugh I've had all week:-)

well, hello fall

Brr! Okay, maybe not quite "brr"... but fall is definitely here. Chilly mornings and tepid days mean jack o' lanterns and turkey are right around the corner.

Things have been oh so busy here... I've decided I'm just a bad blog updater. And I guess that will have to be okay, since I'm always working to get everyone their pictures:-) But I did want to take a few minutes to share the little ones I've had the pleasure of photographing recently.



First up is Cole, and boy was he a DOLL! He was about 6 weeks old when I photographed him and he was already smiling and happy. Such a precious boy!


This is my beautiful client (and now dear friend) Elizabeth's dad, Cliff. We recently did a session with their family. You see, Cliff is battling cancer and of course we needed an opportunity for him to wear his Life is Good "Half Full" shirt! And let me tell you, Cliff personifies that saying. Seeing their family together and how much they truly love each other was as much a gift to me as the pictures will be for them.


Two of Cliff's grandkids, Eli and Owen, wearing their age-appropriate wear! (I've been photographing Eli since he was still in his mommy's tummy!)


Luke and Isabel. Last time I saw Isabel, she was about Luke's age. And now she is FOUR... she went and grew up on me! Truly such a fun session for me.


And Ben. Ben went from newborn to one year old almost overnight, it seems. Now he's a big boy, and he made sure to show me all of his cool stuff, like his blocks and his wagon.


This is Ian, and this little guy has the biggest, most adorable eyes you'll ever see. Such a sweet boy!


And Sophie. Sweet Sophie makes my Top 10 Smiliest Babies list. What a happy girl she was. Her parents came to my studio to get some opinions on their wall portraits and I am afraid I was of NO help because I loved them all!


This little chunk-a-munk is named Grant, and belongs to my friend Shannon. Her third boy, which made her my soul sister for sure.



Baby Campbell and her lovely mommy. (Does she not look just FANTASTIC for having just had a baby!?) Campbell was the cutest, tiniest little peanut.



And another beautiful mommy and baby. This is Caroline and her mommy. I've known Caroline's dad since he was 12 (he's the younger brother of my college roommate.) What a lucky baby to be born into such a wonderful family!



This picture of Lindsey and her little sister Remy just about sums up our session... they were SO fun and, of course, adorable. Mom ordered a large wall portrait of this one and I think it is going to look just gorgeous in their home!



And precious Whit, who happens to be baby Oakley's cousin. (you can see baby Oakley in my last post) It is baby season for this family... lucky grandparents! Whit was such a calm baby for our session. I wanted to pack him right up in my bag and take him home with me!



This picture makes me laugh out loud... I love it so much! This is Landon and he is very much a 3-year old boy. I loved it - and felt right at home since I'm used to the boy mania. Picture of his cute little sister will be coming in another blog post:-)



And last but not least, Henry. He was so sweet and we had such a nice morning together!

So as the holidays quickly approach (at least for me... whose holiday season starts in August/September), I will not promise to post more, but I WILL promise to at least try. I have many more pictures to post that would not fit into this one... so much cuteness, so little time!

life's sweet reward

Ahhh... such a busy season means I'm SO behind on the blog postings! I hope to find a few minutes again this week or next to update with more of the cuties from this summer. (Speaking of which, today is the LAST DAY of summer! Jeans and sweaters are just around the corner.)

My pre-holiday calendar is almost at capacity... if you're interested in a fall session, please send me an email ASAP. I also have one day of mini-sessions in the works for the many that have asked.

Today's pictures are beautiful mama Jana (this was her THIRD maternity session with me - doesn't she look fantastic!) and her sweet new girl Oakley. They have a gorgeous family that I have so enjoyed documenting over the past four years. Congratulations!!

busy, busy summer!

Why is summer never quite long enough? I feel like the summer has flown by, especially since my oldest two kids are already done with their summer breaks and back in school! And August is in less than a week.... how in the world did that happen?

I wanted to share some shots from a few summer sessions. I swear, I am blessed with the most darned adorable clients.

That cutie on the left is Brantley, and wow was she a smiler! It was impossible to not leave that session in a good mood... what a gorgeous, happy baby she is!

Next are Ella and and little sister Maya. I've been photographing them both since they were babies. They moved last year, but managed to fit in a session with me while they were here this time. It was so fun to see how they'd changed since last year!

Sweet boy Atticus, aka "Doodle" to his mommy. This was our second session in just a few months... during the first session, he did not have his special blankie, and his mom decided she just HAD to have some of him cuddling that blanket while sucking his thumb. So she came back a second time:-)

Mercer and Jim, aka: The Future Heartbreakers. They are fraternal twins and both SO HANDSOME. (And sweet, too:-)

Katherine and big sis Elizabeth. These girls could be on some sort of hair product commercial, because they have both had the most gorgeous hair since birth! It is always a joy to photograph them.

I just want to say "awww!" when I look at sweet Molly with her new baby brother Sam. (Molly is on the front page of my website right now, too... the happy, smiling baby in the gingham dress.) Molly was really into the newborn session, and was more than happy to be included in pictures with her baby brother. Even though she's now taken a role as big sister, I love how her own "babyness" still shows through in this shot.

And last but not least, Turnage and little sister Anderson. The last time I saw Turnage he was just a little guy, and it was fun to see him in the almost-3 version! He was such a talker and unlike some kids this age, was totally into getting his picture taken. This was the first time I'd met Anderson... isn't she a doll!

sugar and spice, twice

Meet Kendall and Lilly.

When I got an email from a long-time client filled with news of two very sweet new additions to their family, I was so excited to go and meet them. There they were - two tiny bundles of cute little fingers and cute button noses. They're fraternal, but at least for now look an awful lot alike. I was in baby heaven!

Congratulations Steph, Dave and big brother Noah on these little lovelies!


I love this kid. The first time I took his pictures, he was only a few months old. Now he's about to round the corner on 4! Such a grown-up boy and seriously one of the sweetest, most well-mannered kids I've ever met. And so proud of his new little sisters.

happy 4th!

I wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe Independence Day... I hope your day is filled with food, friends, and fireworks! And for those of you here in the Triangle, don't forget Festival for the Eno, which is a 3-day festival with lots of food, music, and arts & crafts. Always hot (it IS North Carolina in July, after all), but always lots of fun!

(Today's picture is my youngest son donning his patriotic swimwear at Fripp Island, Sc.)

the all-boy club

I always arrive at sessions consisting of all boys with a combination of excitement and trepidation. Excitement because, as the mom of 3 boys, I'm in my element and I know boys. And trepidation because, um, I KNOW BOYS.

These three were so good and so much fun! They showed me their toys, jumped on the bed, took a ride on the hammock, and at the end of the session, took turns dressing in various pirate/knight/race car driver costumes for me.

Thanks, Caden, Beau and Avery!! I hope you invite me over again sometime:-)

kate & andrew

I recently traveled down to Pinehurst to photograph beautiful new Kate and her big brother Andrew. I'd photographed Andrew when he was a baby - he was SUCH a doll that I couldn't wait to see him again and meet his new little sister.

Imagine my delight when Kate's mom pulled out this hat she'd purchased from Etsy. I loved it so much, I bought one for myself to take to newborn sessions. I thought it made such a perfect addition to Kate's newborn photos. (If you'd like one for yourself, here is a link: lamb hat)

On an unrelated note, I'm back from vacation and working as hard as I can to return all voicemails and emails. Whew! I think one more day and I'll have gotten back to everyone.



(Of course I had to share one of big brother, too. He was every bit as adorable as I remembered... just in the 2 year old boy version of the baby he once was!)

the lovely vanessa

I love my job.

Several weeks ago I was contacted by an Australian publication, "Good Weekend" to photograph an Australian author living in Durham. Photographers are often sent fake scam inquiries from foreign countries, so I turned to my favorite source - Google. Through my search I was able to discover that not only was the publication completely legit (for us here in the U.S, I think it is very similar to "Parade" that comes in the Sunday paper), but that the subject of the photo shoot sounded totally cool.

She's a writer and a bonobo (which, from what I understand, are much like chimps, but nicer:-) researcher. Every summer she goes and spends several months in the Congo studying these amazing creatures. She's also an author who has published several books, and has another in the works.

And not only was she as cool and interesting as I figured she'd be, she was totally photogenic and one of the most fun people I've ever worked with. And her accent! I'm such a sucker for accents. Maybe she'll let me hop in her suitcase next time she goes home.

You can check out Vanessa's website here:
www.vanessawoods.net

nicholas & molly

You may remember the sweet picture of newborn Nicholas and his mommy from last year. I recently went back to do Nicholas's one-year pictures, and was so happy to have captured a few of Nicholas with Molly, his family's black lab. We were all in disbelief that not only did Nicholas sat still, so did the dog! Just goes to show that it never hurts to give it a shot:-)

baby season

Whew! It has been a whirlwind month of newborn sessions!

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm an absolute baby fanatic, so these sessions are always a little treat for me.

Introducing:

Ben (on left), who had a fabulous head of hair. My two-year old watched as I edited part of Ben's session, and is enamored with Ben's "caterpillar" belly button (the cord stump that had not yet fallen off), and ever since has requested to see Ben's pictures whenever I'm on the computer. Ben is now famous in the Mathison house:-)

Mollie, below, who was so calm for the whole session. She was just a tiny, adorable little peanut who also had a great head of hair (and a very sweet big brother.)



Graham, who had the most scrumptious cheeks. His little smile here makes me smile every time I see this picture!


Will's little brother, Charlie, a mere 15 hours old. It was very hard for me to hand him back to his mommy... he had that unmistakeable newborn scent that I love so much!


Owen, my newest client ever at about 2 minutes old.


And Courtney, who was about 6 weeks old here and gave me the sleepy newborn curl (a little miracle for babies over a few weeks old!)