Recently my husband suggested that we take a trip to Quebec over our son's January school break. Normally, I would say, "are you out of your mind?", but after seeing pictures that he and my son took last year on a school French trip, I just found myself wishing that I could have gone. So here we are a year later, and we were on our way to Quebec, Canada. Following the good advice from my son's teacher we packed the proper gear, and clothing. Did you notice I said gear first....that would be camera gear in my world. So a recheck on the "snow gear", and clothes we were set to begin our 14 hour car journey to Quebec.

It's cold in Quebec. Some of these folks don't seem to realize that as I saw some running around in shorts....on snow, on ice, and they were getting around like there was nothing to it! Me on the other hand, I was surprised I could walk after my 20 layers of clothing. No, not really, I did layer but it wasn't 20; I just used it as an excuse for the reason that I could hardly walk around on that ice and snow. After two days there and walking around like a granny on a carpet of banana peels I was totally humiliated by an older guy (like 95 maybe) passing me by with cane in hand, walking on the stuff like it was green grass. That did it; and I walked on ice like the locals, thanking the Lord that I didn't bust my butt for showing off my new found confidence and skill.

Now, if you have never been to Quebec, let me tell you, you have to go. What a gorgeous city! What friendly people, and they were all speaking in French! I loved it, even though I couldn't understand a thing they were saying! One thing I heard right away was "Bonjour!" Everywhere I went I was greeted with a lively "Bonjour!" Bonjour, bonjour!! I loved it! My mind immediately commenced to singing "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast...over and over again; every day! 

We toured the fortified city, visited landmarks, did a few recreational things (to keep our 14 year old sane and dying from boredom), and met a lot of nice people. We even ran into some kids from one of our local schools, who were there on a trip themselves. I will share some highlights from our trip. There is one or two parts of our trip that I want to share separate from this blog, and it is the dog sledding, and the "Sugar Shack". Those will get their own special post, and you won't want to miss it! For now, I hope you enjoy these pictures from our trip!

Bonjour! :)

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This sweet little girl came to our studio for her newborn portraits, and what fun we had with her! She was such a little sweet baby, and I got to enjoy feeding her and talking with mom before the session. We had such a great time getting her newborn portraits, and you couldn't ask for a better little baby! So sweet!

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Recently I photographed a wedding with my daughter (who by the way is an outstanding photographer) http://kristenlynne.com/, and oh what a BEAUTIFUL December wedding that Sarah and Chase had! The wedding and reception were held at the historic and very picturesque Belle Grove Plantation nestled in the Northern Shenandoah Valley near Middleton, Virginia. http://www.bellegrove.org/  What a beautiful place to have a wedding! The entire 1797 Manor House was decorated with beautiful Christmas decorations, and with live Christmas trees all throughout the house.

What a perfect day for Sarah & Chase's wedding! The weather held, and wasn't so cold that we were able to get some gorgeous outdoor pictures for them. Of course every spot inside just lends itself in backdrops for beautiful wedding pictures. Quietly playing acoustic guitar music in the background set the very quaint and romantic mood for this wedding, and Christopher Wyton is very, very talented. http://christopherwytonmusic.com/christopherwytonmusic.com/Welcome.html

Weddings are such a beautiful event to witness as the couple come together to promise one another their love and devotion for a lifetime, you can see the pure love in the expressions on their faces. Families come together, and some dear sweet moments are bound to happen. There were plenty this day, and as usual I find myself wiping back tears. It is fun and amazing to see the look on the bride and groom's face when they see each other for the first time as they are about to marry one other. Mamas looking tenderly at their beautiful daughter starting her life with the love of her life. And the mamas as they adjust the tie while tenderly looking at the young man in front of her who once was (and in some ways always will be) her little boy.  Those quietly weeping daddies, and daughter get me every time, too!

What a blessing and privilege it is to be allowed to take part in photographing this very special day. Enjoy the pictures!

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Recently I had the pleasure of assisting Kristen Lynne Photography (also my daughter) with an engagement session in Georgetown. Rudy and Megan are very nice people, and just as cute as they can be! We got an early start to the day, and our first location was where they had their first date, Kramerbooks & Afterwards Cafe & Grill in Washington, DC http://www.kramers.com/index.html. We had a lot of fun in the bookstore getting pictures for them.

We got outside and in the streets of Georgetown to get the rest of these fun photos! They looked fantastic, and we certainly had a lot of fun! Check out Kristen's work too, here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/set=a.432407763556075.1073741860.249740681822785&type=1.

These two will be getting married this summer...in a most gorgeous place! I can hardly wait!

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With winter here, a chill in the air, and Christmas just around the corner it is a perfect time to do a Winter Styled Shoot, and that is what I had the great fun of doing last week. I attended a styled shoot designed and hosted by Kristen Lynne Photography http://kristenlynneblog.com/, and what fun we all had! Thanks, Kristen for putting this together, and giving us the opportunity to try some different things, and the chance to meet some other photographers in the area! I know I had a great time, and I think that we all did.

It was a gorgeous day even though it was a bit chilly and windy, but it is December after all! The models were very gracious and allowed us to take pictures to our hearts content! Thanks to each of you: Liz, Brittany, Katherine, Sarah & Chase! You all did an outstanding job, and your pictures are just GORGEOUS!!

Styled portrait sessions are a lot of fun, and something that I like to offer clients that are interested in this kind of portrait session. With a little extra effort you can have a very nice themed portrait session and end up with some spectacular photos that will for sure become a treasured heirloom for generations to come. I particularly like designing children's styled sessions as well as newborns and babies.

This styled session focused on beauty, fun, and couples. Thanks to some very thoughtful planning by Kristen, and all of the vendors who helped make the vision a reality she ended up offering to us photographers a dream photo session! From the facility, the furniture, flowers, wardrobe, hair and make-up we had the pleasure of getting some absolutely gorgeous portraits of everyone. To finish off the evening we  were all treated to a wonderful dinner and great conversation.

Here is a list of the vendors that provided the items, and services for the styled shoot. Each one did a superb job in making this a success!

The Inn at Vint Hill: http://vinthillvenue.com/

Holly Chapple Flowers: http://www.hollychappleflowers.com/

Crave! Event Rentals: http://www.cravevintagerentals.com/

Drop It MODERN: http://dropitmodern.com/

Enlightened Styles: http://enlightenedstyles.com/

Thanks also to the sponsors for this styled session:

The Law Tog: http://thelawtog.com/

Professional Photographers of America (PPA): http://www.ppa.com/

ProDPI: http://www.prodpi.com/

I had a lot of fun, learned some new techniques, and made some new friends! What a great day! Here are a few highlights from the day!

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This year I am offering snow day mini sessions for families, couples, kids, or just yourself! I have already had a couple, and they are a lot of fun, not to mention that the pictures are GORGEOUS! This is my most recent session, and right before Christmas! How perfect is that? We had a lot of fun capturing these moments for Anna and Darryl. It was a joy to watch them relax and enjoy the moment, and the snow of course. Right when we ended the session they decided to get into the snow to make some snow angels, and of course you know I just had to get a picture of that!

Give me a call if you would like to be on the call list for this very fun  snow day photo session.

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It is hard to believe that about one year ago I was taking newborn pictures of this sweet little guy. These were captured right before his first birthday, and just in time for Christmas! We enjoyed going to a local tree lot sponsored by Grays Creek Fire Department https://www.facebook.com/GraysCreekFireDepartmentStation24 near my sister's house. Thanks for allowing us to get these fun images of Caleb for his children's Christmas portrait session.

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Recently I had the pleasure of visiting my sister, Anna Lester who also happens to be a photographer in her area https://www.facebook.com/AnnaLesterPhotographer. She took me on assignment with her to photograph her city's annual "A Dickens Holiday", which is sponsored by the Arts Council and Downtown Alliance of Fayetteville, NC http://www.theartscouncil.com/dickensmain.php. Dave and I had a great time being a photojournalists for the day with my sister, and I am thankful that Cityview Magazine http://www.cityviewnc.com/ allowed us to go along with her. 

What a fun evening! The citizens of this town enjoy getting into the era's fashion attire, and playing the part of the story. There are carriage rides, a jail house, and Scrooge himself walking around!. Vendors line the historic streets of downtown Fayetteville, and people come from all over to take part in this festivity. All of this day's events cumulate into and evening of fireworks to kick off the Christmas season.  I will be going to this great event again next year.  I had so much fun capturing these images, and wanted to share them with everyone! Enjoy!

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