Holland Photography The Blog

I have been looking forward to this session for several weeks now – for many different reasons! Cherie contacted me and reminded me that our families used to go “muddin” (and “snowin” I think!) together in the mountains in our jeeps when we were younger. She mentioned that her kids were very young the last time they did family pics so she wanted some of those but she also wanted some shots of her teenaged children and as much as I love babies and toddles, teenagers are tons of fun to work with!! Here is a shot of their beautiful family all together:

And the beautiful kids:

Madison:

And Lane, who is a senior this year at North Oconee High School. I will admit, I was a little worried about what I was going to do w/a senior guy at Founder’s Gardens, but I think everything turned out A-OK. What do you think?

Thank you guys for braving the heat and the dreaded Founder’s Gardens’ mosquitoes!!! I really enjoyed it and hope you did too!!

Tonight I had a great time hanging out with a longtime friend and her beautiful family – both the two legged ones and the four legged ones. Lori and I have known each other forever – I think we went to preschool together – and I was honored to capture her and her kids and one of her nieces with their beautiful horses on their farm. Thankfully the rain held off and we got some beautiful shots! Here is just a small sample:

Tonight I had another wonderful session with a Little Hero and her family. Addie Grace was adopted from China when she was 20 months old but before that, she had to endure a heart surgery at only 8 months of age to repair a moderate sized hole in her tiny little heart. Her mama commented on her application about how sad it makes her to know that she had to do that without loving parents to hold her and tell her everything would be alright.  She has overcome so much in her short little life and now she is blessed to be part of a wonderful and loving family! She is also a trooper to have endured the humidity tonight – you can see we were all starting to sweat before it was all over with. But no matter, she is an awesome and courageous  little girl with a bright future in front of her! I feel very blessed to have met her and her wonderful family!

For more information on a wonderful organization that offers complimentary sessions and prints to families with children like Addie Grace, please visit the Littlest Heroes/Inspiration Through Art website. If you are local, put “Athens, GA” as your location to increase your chances of being matched with me.

Today I did some pics of sweet Declan and his mommy. You may remember him from his newborn pics HERE. I can’t believe how quickly he’s growing! And still cute as a button!! I hope to see him again very soon as he is THIS close to being able to sit up on his own! I can’t wait!!

I’m so happy for this sweet couple! They are friends of ours and just this time last year I was shooting the very soon to be big brother. Not too long after that they were emailing me with a “guess what”… They are planning to welcome their 2nd boy at the end of July. Big brother Ashton is excited about it, but he “says” he’s more excited about his 4th birthday that is coming up in August! Here are a few previews from our fun session on Sunday. Best of luck to you guys and I can’t wait to meet him!!

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!

I had the pleasure of visiting one of my friend’s and coworker’s farm on Sat to shoot sweet Morgan again. She’s really grown a lot since I last saw her when she was just so brand new!! This time we included some shots with mama and daddy out at their beautiful place. If Miss Morgan doesn’t grow up a country girl I’ll be shocked! She wasn’t all about smiling at me, but that’s ok, we still got some really cute shots of her anyway!

We even got the horsey in on the action!

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.

Happy Valentine’s Day from my family to yours! May you find love and happiness today and everyday!!

Remember, the voting ends tonight! Winners will be announced tomorrow! Good luck to everyone!

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!!!!