I study faces. Hair first, and then a deep examination of the face. We might be talking intently about our children, but in the silence I am wondering how I would apply her eye shadow. The reality is, the season in which i live is shared by women who wear little more that mascara and lipgloss. We are working hard. We are raising children. We don't give much time to primping and prepping, except maybe on Sundays.
J and I met during a book study, and I caught myself inspecting her deep-set eyes while she was speaking to someone else. I don't believe makeup is necessary for looking beautiful (as I probably wasn't wearing any at the time, either), I just like to imagine what I would do with someone's face if I had the opportunity to make it up.
A few weeks later I met her stunning daughters, each one with hair nicer than the next, beginning with stunning; ending with exquisite. I asked her if she might give me the opportunity to work with them, and they agreed. The result is what you see here.
Hair and makeup by me and Lindsay. Wardrobe by me, captured by Patrick.
A little time to showcase the ladies. We took a little jaunt off to a local parking lot to play around for about an hour, and as usual when dealing with kids, just let the shudder fly ‘cause you never know what you are going to get. But, when dealing with this crew you know you are going to get a dose of silliness mixed with cuteness. So what you see below is a mixture of hitting it just right and the spots in between.
Completing the set, the eldest of the siblings gets his time to shine as we travel to a many visited site by the Fury’s Ferry boat ramp. Our man turns 12 this year, a time for me that was roughly 32 years ago, so there is a lot of learning going on between the two of us. As I like to tell him and his sister, he is walking a tough path being our first, as he encounters the world for the first time and ldoing double duty earning just as he is teaching us how to parent in many situations. At times you can see it in his face and mannerisms what it is like to be a developing young man in this world, but give him some time and the true essence of his sweet personality will shine through lighting up the world around him. And if you’re lucky, you might just get one of his signature dance moves from him. He is our first, and oh how we love him so.
Not to leave Lilah out of the mix after the last impromptu Collette session, I decided to take advantage of a lovely cloudy day give Lilah a little time after I picked her up from school and we walked back to the car. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, kids are so much easier to photograph because they give you so much of themselves, they are not restricting themselves because of how they think they might look. Funny faces are par for the course, awkward smiles, and just genuine being who they are is what makes shooting kids fun. So take a gander below and enjoy a young girl who can a lot to smile about in life and it shows.
I should be working on some edits. I should be going to the grocery store. I should be cleaning something. I should get her out of the house before her nap. Before long it will be time to get Lilah from school. Emails, emails, emails. But I do have a new portable background I haven’t played with enough yet. The lighting is good in the playroom. My reflector is just right over there. My camera is juiced and ready to go after my photo shoot last night.
15 minutes later and 2 hours after that, well, here we are.
I had the absolute pleasure of having another go round with the Park family several weeks after Rachel and I were chosen to work their wedding. That was my first introduction to their wonderful world, capturing some tender moments during the ceremony between Holly, Jesse, and Avett. We had spoken during the wedding day about setting up a family photo shoot after the shenanigans had died down. And that is what we have here. We took a little trip to Phinizy Swamp, a place I had not been to in several years, and took a short walk around the main area, battling other photographers and their clients for space in certain places. Luckily enough, many of the places I looked to use as backgrounds many people just walk on by or don’t go into because, well, you’re not supposed to. Shhhhh. But do be wary of the poison ivy. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, and without further ado, here is our Half-Shot results.
I have had the honor recently to work with the Augusta University Pediatric Unit in photographing some of their patients with amazing stories and the Eubanks family and Lion’s story was the latest. You can read more about it here on the Pediatric Triumphs page for Augusta University Health. The session was our Half Shot Session, our version of what most call a mini session, and run about 45 minutes with the goal of highlighting Lion and the support from his lovely family. With a limited amount of time we stayed right on the campus outside of the Pediatric building, but tried to utilize the uniqueness of our environment to the best of our abilities. We started out on the street side of the building…
I hate the "About Us" portion of website work, entrepreneurship, promotion, whatever you would like to call it because I basically don't like to talk about myself, hence one of the reasons I like to "hide" behind the camera. Which, when you are a transplant to a community and trying to build a business, brand, and reputation, can cause you some issues.
So, as we are currently working on a website revamp (I totally realize how bloated and convoluted the site has become, and I am sorry) and I have come to that period in time where I have to formulate the About Us section in a way that is clear and concise (not my strong suit as you will find out), why not use the blog as a way to explore our photography, ourselves, our philosophies, and use it as a tool to tell you a bit more about us and how we view and do what we do. Then, maybe I will be able to condense something down into a quick tidbit suitable for all the website developers that constantly contact me about my "web presence."
Four months after the fact, here she is.
It isn't that we have been reluctant to share her with the world, but it is simply that time has flown. She is... everything.
Patrick and I are expecting our second child this fall, and we could not be happier. Six years will divide the two of our little ones, and as far as we can see: our second child will complete our family.
We bustle around the house in preparation, once again imagining all of the primary colored apparatuses that will fill our living room. We will move the love seat out of our bedroom to accommodate a crib, and we still haven't decided whether cloth or disposable diapers will smell up our existence. We are excited, anxiously waiting the day an 8 lbs. child will once again wreck "our" lives.
The Biestmans are home after the loveliest vacation at Hilton Head Island, and for proof we can produce our Instagram account (@acuityphotography)! It has been a wild and wonderful nine months since our youngest was born, with our first shoot only 48 hours after her arrival. We were grateful for some time away from the computer, but of course we return with a lot on our plates (and nothing in the refrigerator).
Journey with us now as we share some of the gems we have stored in our hopper, the first set of images boasting of this fascinating couple.