I met this sweet little baby girl in September, Lillian. Some of you already know her, and adore her. Before she was even born she was already my client! Her mom, Debbie and I spent alot of hours talking about when Lillian would arrive, long before she actually arrived. We planned out her session to be shot when Lillian was brought home from the hospital. And, after all the preparations and planning, Lillian came into this World and then had the distinguished pleasure of meeting me!
Newborn sessions are the sweatest to shoot, as you want to keep it warm in the room so that the baby will stay asleep. Let me tell you about the troopers I work for! Debbie, her husband, Nick and her mother Mary all of us in a house with no air conditioning but a soundly sleeping baby girl. Lillian did so well on her first photo shoot it was amazing. She stayed asleep almost the whole time and we were even able to capture her with her new big brother, Logan.
Such a sweet family. So much love and consideration was put into these images and really all of Debbies sessions are no different. The rresulting images are just amazing. So much planning and preparation went into to Lillians newborn session and we were even able to squeeze in a few shots of her with her big brother. This little girl is surely loved by far and by many. I hope everyone takes a look at Lillians session and truly enjoys each image for beyond face value. Newborns are more than cure little babies, they are precious and delicate souls, and we should never forget that.
Being that it is Thanksgiving, I thought today would be the perfect oppertunity to tell you about Lillian and the gift of life and love that we all take advantage of everyday. It is not until those things come into jepeorady that you realize how precious they are. Shortly after Lillians newborn session her parents became concerned that she was not gaining weight. Several trips to the doctor later it was discovered that Lillian had a hole in her little precious heart and would need to have surgery to have the problem corrected, I dont think she was even two months old yet.
It was also around this time that Lillians mom, Debbie and I were in the works of planning their Christmas session, which, obviously was put on hold due to the circumstances. Once the doctors had a better grasp on the situation, the family just had to wait until the surgery. Waiting, they say, is the hardsest part. This waiting propmted Debbie to go ahead and schedule their Christamas session, as an excellent distraction from the agony of the situation.
A situation such as this is a reminder that life is too short, and to take too many pictures. But, I will admit, it puts alot of pressure on the photographer to produce the picture perfect picture. Thankfully, Debbie is always very honest and involved with planning her sessions and we had everything planned to a T. Come the before her session though, we were suddenly well aware of the irratic weather in Florida and the fact that it may be too cold for Lillian to be outside, but, the weather turned out perfect, it was a beautiful day and the park in riverside that we selected was well lit and lovely. Even the oldest of the Fritts babies was on point at the shoot. Logan, now a very loving big brother has not always been known to be the most willing at shoots, but I did plan ahead and brib him with twisslers.
Needless to say, their session was amazing, probably their best to date, no, it was, no probably about it. Fast forward to Sunday, I had a session with Lillians grandmother, equally fabulous as Debbie. We were talking about Lillian and how strong her parents are and thats is when I found out that Lillian had her surgery scheduled for the following day. Being that I don't have kids, I cannot imagine the things that a parent would feel about any of this, but, since Debbies first session in March or April, I have grown so attached to her whole family, I knew she was strong, just as her child is.
It was on this day that I became aware of the attachment I have to my clients, I was kept up to date with the surgery, threw many of my clients, but, I was the most distracted that I have ever been. I barely got any work done at all. And when news came that Lillian was out of surgery and was okay, I know I felt better, so Debbie and Nick and all their family must have just been overwhelmed with relief.
But, just as soon as she came out of the operating room, she went back in due to bleeding. In all honesty, I have no idead how parents handle these situations, at all. It was discovered that Lillian had an additional hole in her heart and it was fixed and she was out of surgery again. From there, I promise there is no more heartbreak, Lillian is a fighter and being only two months old, she is stronger than most people I know, she is recovering so well. Already off her oxygen and making a very speedy recovery.
If you take anything from this, take this, life is a gift at any age. There are so many petty things that we take for granted and complain about everyday, don't do that anymore. Take too many pictures and remember that everyday you have is a day that you should take advantage of.
It is very rarely that we in our society come across people that have that genuine kind of love that you see in movies, henceforth why someone has coined the term, movie moments. Well, meet Megan and Gary and we can talk about movie moments, magic and love. I have to also admit that in all honesty, I didn't meet Megan face to face until her wedding day. I was contacted by one of faithfully loyal clients, Julie one day and she was telling me that her sister Megan was set to get married sometime in October and asked if I would be interested in the that at all. Uhm.....yes!! Now, I only shoot a certain number of weddings a year as to not overload myself with work I cannot handle. So, the end of the year was coming and I knew I could tackle this wedding and all the processing pretty quickly. So, talks began and continued for a while and I think the first time I spoke with Megan on the phone it was about a month before her wedding day. 
See, Megan lives in St Petersburg, which made me auto-love her, it's the best city in Florida for art culture and happiness. They have the Dali Museum, that alone makes it more than worth it. Anyways, so on the phone with Megan, we talked about her wedding obviously, and when she would be in town and what her and Gary were like as a couple, and she was just so nice, one of my favorite things about Megan is she talks alot!! And so do I! Its like I have found my talking soul mate!!
Oh, so back to the actual couple, me and Megan discussed on the phone that they were very low key type of couple and that they applying that to their wedding as well. I have to say I love the approach and I think that more and more brides are doing this. The days of the big platinum weddings are dying! And let me just say, it worked because on the day of her wedding Megan was ready before anyone else was.
