Holland Photography The Blog

Savannah will be turning two in a couple of weeks! It’s crazy to me to think that her newborn session was one of the first ones that I blogged! All of these little kiddos are growing up way too fast!!! Happy 2nd birthday Savannah! Hope it is a wonderful one!

If  you’ve been following my blog for awhile you may remember THIS post about an organization called The Littlest Heroes Project. Well tonight I had the honor of shooting my first session for LHP! Today I met a wonderful family with an amazing little boy named Lance. No one can tell you about Lance as well as someone who is very close to him so I will give you a little “Cliff Notes” version of his story as told by him mom in his LHP application. You can also read more about Lance’s journey on his website: http://www.cotaforlancew.com/

“Our son Lance was born 7-14-2003 with hypoplastic right heart ventricle, ASD,VSD. At the age of 6 months he had his first open heart surgery. We then had a somewhat calm 5 years. We had doctors appointments but we lived a normal life. Then Dec 2008 Lance started getting sicker.

We scheduled his second Heart surgery and he had this surgery in April 2009. After this surgery his heart function went down hill and his kidneys shut down. The doctors tried everything, but after 2 months it became apparent he needed a new heart

After we got over the shock he was listed ,and five days later received his miracle heart. He was in the hospital 3 months, and it was a very scary time for us all. He came home in August 2009 and he was still very weak, but with time and love he is now thriving.

He does have a lifetime of care and statics say that there will be future transplants. We are staying optimistic and with prayer and medical research we focus on the positive. He is about to be 7 and is now playing baseball and a fearless base runner. We are so Thankful to the donor family that gave so many people a second chance. “

Check out this “fearless base runner”…

He has an amazing family to back him up!

This is big brother Emory. He was happy to make sure I was well versed in the art of buying Silly Banz…

Obviously this family has been through A LOT! But their love and support for, not just Lance but each other was apparent and heck, the fact that they hung out with me for an hour and a half in the Georgia summer heat and humidity says a ton about their spirit and resolve! Lance is obviously doing great right now but I’m sure they would appreciate if you’d send up a prayer for him, next time you are sending them up! One of his interview questions was “if you could have one wish what would it be” and he said “to stay out of the hospital”! That says it all right there.

So Lance, (and family), may God bless you and lift you up! I sincerely hope to see you all again sometime!

This morning I met up with Carter – the winner of my Fresh Faces, kids, contest. I have to admit, I was a little nervous. My little boy is around Carter’s age and I know what a struggle it can be to get not only decent shots but heck, any shots at all of him!! But I quickly realized that my fears were way unfounded. Carter loves the camera and the camera loves him back! I got a lot of really cute shots of him. Maybe he could come over one day and give Gabe some pointers on sitting still for pictures!!! Carter, I’m really glad you won my contest and I can’t wait to see you again later this year with the rest of your family! Enjoy the previews!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!! Please remember the reason we celebrate!!!!

Also, remember that the digital sale ends tomorrow! It’s for a really great cause!

This is Jasmine. She likes horses, cats, dogs, milkshakes (pink ones!) and Backyardigans. She is going to give her mommy and daddy fits one day!! She’s a beautiful little girl, full of spunk! She is going to grow up and break some hearts one day, but until then, she’s happy to hang out in her PINK cowgirl boots and offer up all kinds of sass! Jasmine, I was happy to meet you today and hope to see you again very soon!

Little Heroes are everywhere around us. Some are more obvious than others. Some have no hair – they lost it during chemo. Some hide scars under their shirts from heart surgeries. Some are in wheel chairs. Some prick their fingers after every meal. Some live in your house. In your life. In your heart.

Littlest Heroes is an organization that allows photographers to give a priceless gift to the families of the littlest heroes and to the heroes themselves. They give them the gift of memories. Holland Photography is proud to be a participating photographer in this organization.

LITTLEST HEROES

You can read all about the organization on the website linked above but I am here to announce to you my participation in this worthy organization and encourage anyone out there that knows and loves a little hero to contact them and apply for a littlest heroes session. Holland Photography would be HONORED to photograph your hero!! You do need to apply through the website and state your location as “Athens GA” and you will be more likely to be matched with me. Once you are approved and accepted, we will get together and hold a session, free of charge, featuring your hero. You will receive a min of 10 prints from your session that are yours to keep – again, no charge. Should you apply and for some reason get denied (sadly they are not able to accept all applications due to the sheer number that apply) please contact me directly but please make every effort to apply through the organization first.

Any and all heroes are eligible. Let me help give you something that will last a lifetime. The gift of hope, strength, and courage through the art of photography.

I would like to personally wish each and every one of you a VERY Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2010!! Thank you for all you have done for my business in 2009. It’s your happiness and joy over the ways I have captured your memories that keeps me going and I am truly blessed to have clients/friends/blog readers like you!! May God bless you! From my family…

To yours…

SEE YOU IN 2010!!!!

So you booked your family session. Inevitably, the next question you are going to ask me is: “what should we wear”. Coordinate – definitely a must. Be exact matches of each other, well, not as  much, but it works. Try this instead…

This family is a perfect example of what to wear. See how everyone’s colors tend to radiate off of sweet little Lauren’s colorful sweater? Her sweater is bold, but not overbearingly so and the coordination of all of her family member’s clothes go perfectly with her trendy little outfit. Of course it doesn’t hurt that her mommy is an interior designer and I know for a fact that she has style because I used to roomy with her and borrow her clothes! And you guys will definitely be seeing this shot on my client site under the “what to wear tab”!

A few of my favs of the beautiful kids. This was officially Lauren’s 1 yr session, just a little bit late! You met Lauren twice earlier this year – at 3 months and again at 6 months.

She has two handsome brothers that she shared the stage with this time: Garrett

And Ben:

I pity the first guy that tries to break Lauren’s heart!!!

And one more of the whole handsome bunch of them…

Tune in tomorrow for a Holland Photography Black Friday Sale announcement!!

So, I had a pretty crazy weekend!! I ended up shooting 5 sessions which is a gracious plenty for me!! Two were for family members, two for coworkers, and one for a wonderful past client. Three of them I previewed on Facebook so they have all seen those, but if you are a blog reader but not a Facebook friend, YOU haven’t seen them!! So here they are…

First up, my cousin, her handsome beau, and two out of three of their beautiful girls…

On Sunday morning I headed over to Founder’s gardens and met up with April and Ty and Theron and Maggie. You may remember Theron as a newbie… well he is growing like a little weed! Can you believe how much he has changed? And his big sis Maggie is so busy busy, but I think we still got some great shots of her!!

So as they were pulling out, ANOTHER Ty and April were pulling in. This one happened to be my brother and sister in law. I know! How crazy is that? Not only do I know TWO Ty and April’s but I shot them back to back this weekend!! They also brought along my beautiful niece and nephew, Jessie and Eli.

Whew!! So add Kason, and Tom and Jamie into the mix, and there’s my weekend in a nutshell!! It was fun times though and I enjoyed each and every session!! Everyone be patient w/me and I will try and get your galleries up asap!!

My good friend and coworker brought her beautiful kids out tonight for a session. Kayla is knocking on the door to adulthood or at least teenhood (sorry Steph, but you know she is…) and Tymon is a wonderfully typical little boy, who is also cute as a button (and even sweet when he wants to be). I was really honored when she asked if I would do these pics for her (although, ahem… someone… that stayed at home… well, we missed you ok!?!). I hope that I captured the beauty that is her kids (and that she doesn’t kill me when she sees how many really good shots I got!!). So here you go girl, here is a sneak peek for ya!

I love meeting new people. That is one of the fun things about my job. But I also love doing sessions with people I know and this family is no exception. It’s fun and relaxing (well, I think so, sometimes the people in front of the camera don’t always agree – esp the dads… just sayin…). I had a great time with these guys last night. These two boys are SO cute and SO easy to photograph. They are close in age to my two kids and I would photograph them any old day over mine! Easy peasy! And cute to boot!! And their parents are so nice – just the kind of people you love to be around! Thank you guys for doing this session with me! I had a blast and hope that you get some good shots that you will love! Here are a few to hold you over…

This cracks me up! He picked them for his mommy. This was right as they were loading up to go home so yes, he made her take them home with them. I love how he got the roots and all. And yes, his mommy is of course allergic…