Their mommy gave me the ultimate challenge for this session:  to photograph the twins “together” in her great-grandmother’s christening gown.  Since there was only one gown and two twins, we had to get really creative to make that possible.  So, with a little planning and with the help of photoshop, we were able to achieve our goal.  I don’t get into doing composites a whole lot (mainly because I’m lazy), but in this instance, it was worth my time.

I had a blast hanging out with these gorgeous girls!

Two different gowns here:

Just as I was starting to fall asleep around 1 a.m. (it takes me awhile), I heard the familiar screams coming from the room next door.  Campbell (my seven-year old) was having her usual night terrors.  Hoping they’d pass as usual, I waited it out in my bed and tried to go back to sleep…. until I could hear her whimpering at the side of my bed.  Ordinarily, I would have put her in bed with me, but both Jason and the dog had claimed over 80% of the bed, and frankly, there was nowhere for her to go (plus, she’s kind of a tornado in her sleep).  I quickly told her that it was just a dream, that she’d be okay, and to go back to bed.  I was exhausted and just ready to go back to sleep.  When Campbell went back to her room, she was sobbing because all she wanted was to crawl in bed with us.   Well, the sobbing led to an asthma attack.  This meant I had to get out of the bed, retrieve her nebulizer and find some Benedryl (don’t hate) so that the poor child would sleep.  This led to my spilling the Benedryl twice AND knocking her cup of water to the ground in the process of trying to get back to her room.  At this point, I was INCREDIBLY annoyed and all of my “niceness”…..well, it no longer existed.

That’s when I stopped dead in my tracks and thought of Andrew’s parents.  Andrew has a rare progressive and life-threatening movement disorder that causes him to have little control over his tiny body.  Because of his constant moving, he rarely sleeps….and typically only when he is being held by one of his parents…. which means THEY rarely sleep.  When Andrew’s mom contacted me about getting some family pictures with Andrew, she stated that she wanted to capture him while he was still a happy baby and that we needed to do it quickly as his abilities had decreased a good bit in the last month.  Needless to say, I was very apprehensive about our time together knowing the state of emotion and exhaustion the family was in….not to mention that it would be a difficult session simply because of Andrew’s constant moving.   Despite the fact that the session was a bit of a challenge, I walked away from it feeling blessed that I had met two wonderful people who believed in cherishing every single moment with their child….despite their exhaustion and frustration.  I can’t imagine the struggles that they face…..from the lack of sleep to the multiple doctor/hospital/physical therapy sessions to the fear of what lies ahead for Andrew.  But for now (and for the time I was with them), they are cherishing him and loving him unconditionally in a way only a parent can do.

Which brings me back to my annoyance with having my sleep interrupted.   Sometimes I take for granted how easy I have it.   Yes, I like my sleep….but I love my children so much more.  And I need to cherish them more…..hold them tight every day….live in the moment a little more…carpe diem….allow my daughter to claim 10 of the 20% left of the bed.  We only have them for so long.  Thank you to Andrew’s parents for reminding me of that.  I am blessed to know you.

So, without further ado, I would like to say congratulations to our winners:

First Place:    Picture #5 Twins in a Bucket (or as one commenter pointed out, it should have been “Twins in a Washtub”!)

Second Place:   Picture # 6  Little Miss Serious

Third Place:   Picture #58 Red-Headed Kiss

And our lucky commenter who will receive either a complimentary session (no prints included) or the two Organic Bloom frames is Diane Phelps.

Congratulations to our winners!  Winners, please contact me at hswanner@charter.net to arrange to receive your prizes!

Exactly two short years ago, I was taking newborn photos of Emily’s older brother.  My, how time flies!  I must confess that Emily did not give me quite the run for my money like her older brother did at her age….she slept through her whole session.  She was an absolute dream to work with!  I had so much fun dressing Miss Emily up while she was sleeping!

It’s CONTEST TIME!!!  It has taken me a couple of weeks to pull this together, but it is finally time for the Best of 2011 Contest!  I cannot tell you guys how difficult the selection process was!  Somehow I have managed to narrow the selections down to 70….it was impossible to have any fewer than that!  There were just too many good ones.  I honestly have about 300 favorites, but I had to finally draw the line somewhere.  I wanted to show a variety of different images/ages that I felt represented who I am as a photographer.  To be fair, my family members and close friends do not have entries in the contest, although I have to admit, that many of those pictures are also among my faves.  And if you are a family that I’ve seen more than once this year, I only included ONE image from one session to make voting a little easier for YOUR fans.  So, now it’s time to cast your vote for your favorites!  :)

CONTEST RULES:

(Please note that the rules for this year’s contest are different than last year’s, so make sure to pay attention so that your vote gets counted.)

1.  An individual person may vote for one photo only once…just once (not once a day like year…too difficult to count!).  We will be paying attention to IP addresses, so please don’t cheat.  If you want your hubby to vote for you, ask him to do from a different computer if possible.

2.  To cast your vote, leave a comment in the comment section below THIS post (comments left on other posts will not be counted).  Make sure to give us the image number and name, as well as your email address.  This is very important as you may potentially win something, too!  (More on that later).

3.  Facebook Fans will get an additional vote, so if you are not a Facebook Fan, head on over, and become one by “Liking” my page.  Be sure to indicate in the comment section that you are a fan, whether new or old…but beware, I may check to see that you are!  :)

AND, FOR THE PRIZES…

1st place – One weekday session for up to four people with full set of high resolution images on a disk (Must be completed by 6/1/13).

2nd and 3rd place – 1 11×14 print of the 2nd or 3rd place photos or of another photo from that session.

One random commenter will be selected to win a complimentary weekday session for up to four people (image rights not included).  If you live outside of a reasonable travel distance to Birmingham, and you don’t want to travel in for a session, we will substitute the session for two lovely 8×10 frames from Organic Bloom (black).  You must have a mailing address in the continental U.S. to receive the frames!  :)

CONTEST ENDS at midnight on Wednesday, January 11th, so get the word out to your friends and family to VOTE!!

Now, for the pictures…..ENJOY!

1.  Snow Bunny

2. Where the Wild Things Are

3. Suspended

4. Chunky Cheeks

5. Twins in a bucket

6. Little Miss Serious

7.  Sister Love

8.  Bunny Baby

9.  Sister & Brother in the Flowers

10.  Hat Girl

11.  Horse Love

12.  Bicycle Sisters

13.  New Brother

14.  Little Holly Hobby

15.  Tricycle Kiss

16.  Butterfly Dreams

17.  Under the Canopy

18.  Post Card Baby

19.  Peek-a-Boo

20.  Baby Boy in Basket

21.  Sweet Dreams are Made of This

22.  Family Walk

23.  Tent Family

24.  Laughing Brother & Sister

25.  King of the Jungle

26.  Beach Sisters

27.  Brotherly Love

28.  Curly Fireman

29.  Say Cheese

30.  Up, Up and Away

31.  Family Love

32.  Future Anthropologie Model

33.  I can SEE you!

34.  Frolic in the Flowers

35.  Sunflower Girl

36.  In Daddy’s Hands

37.  Airplane Boy

38.  Truck Girl

39.  Family Love

40.  Naptime

41.  In the Vineyard

42.  Wagon Pull

43.  Little Miss Blue Eyes

44.  Apple Harvest

45.  Red Boots

46.  Life as they know it

47.  Cotton Sisters

48.  Crazy Cousins

49.  Sister Kiss

50.  Sisterly Love

51.  Bike Ride

52.  Lollipops and Teepees

53.  Best Birthday Outfit Ever

54.  Balloons in Cotton

55.  Littlest Princess

56.  Queen of Hearts

57.  Branch Baby

58.  Red-headed Kiss

59.  Gorgeous Family

60.  Bonnet Baby

61.  Coca-Cola Kisses

62.  Angels in white

63.  Really, you think I’m cute?

64.  Under the tree kiss

65.  Ready for flight

66. Stop and Smell the Roses

67.  Birthday girl

68.  Double Twins

69.  Butterfly Baby

70.  Sailing Away