2020 was a little unpredictable...to say the least. Typically our "behind the scenes" blog post would be much longer from the year, however we weren't able to have photo sessions for a couple of months and then a lot of weddings were rescheduled. We still managed to pull together some photos so that you can see a little bit of what goes on behind the scenes...enjoy! :)
PRE-COVID Cake Smashes
and other milestone photos...
We started the year off with my little guy's taco smash! I can't believe how fast time flies...he is going to be TWO in a short couple of weeks!! (*insert crying emoji)
Marshall trying to eat the hot sauce packets - I'm sure glad they didn't pop open in his mouth, HA!
Our little girls, Mercy & Sam, hanging out together during Marshall's Taco Smash. I'm so glad our kids are friends <3
We love kids!
Sometimes they don't love us back...
We have lots of fun props to get kids' attention...one of the most popular one is the spinning Minnie...
"Minnie is mine now"
When all else fails, we bring Lucas in to try to get some smiles out ;) haha
Then COVID happened...
So in the rest of the photos from the year we will be wearing masks!
Holly wears her mask well, don't you think??
Another unexpected event that happened was having another baby!! I shot a wedding at 37 weeks pregnant...I don't recommend ever trying that...haha
Oh my gosh my belly looks HUGE! LOL
Taking a load off during the ceremony. I promise I am not sleeping on the job!
Doesn't everybody want a pregnant lady in their photo?
Enough about my prego belly, let's talk about how excited Holly gets about goats and sticks...
Holly got a fire pit for her birthday this past year...and we had a senior session at County Park and there were lots of large sticks! Holly got SO excited about how perfect these sticks would be for her new fire pit and starts collecting them in the middle of the session!! hahaha
Me as I'm trying to get candids of the couple feeding the goats: "Holly, I understand that you are excited about the goats...do you mind stepping away for a moment so you're not in the shot?"
As we are walking away to the next location, there's Holly still talking to the goats!
BABIES!
oh how we love baby snuggles...
Holly photographs them, I spot them.
We are FULL service at Mellonberry - we will even feed your baby for you ;) ***Disclaimer: this photo was taken pre-covid.
The pacifier is one of the greatest inventions.
Go to sleep, little man...
Thank you :)
Angel came in to assist Holly during a newborn session while I was on maternity leave - she even set up flower arrangements around the baby!! Apparently she did such a great job...I hope that I do not get replaced by her... ;) THANK YOU, Angel for helping out, you are amazing!
My turn to get my baby girl's newborn photos done!!! I am so thankful that I have Holly to capture these moments for me. Magnolia was born on September 2nd, 2020.
I don't think people realize how much editing goes into newborn photos OR that you can't just get the same photo with an iPhone. Here is what the shot looks like straight from my phone...
And here's the edited version from Holly's camera. What a difference!!
The Hot Chocolate shoot...very messy but it was worth it! haha!
We had the baby sitting on towels, which you can clearly see in this photo. Props to Holly for editing all of the towels out!!
Splash!!!
NOM NOM NOM
WEDDINGS
Weddings were kind of weird this year...
Most of the weddings we had this year had very few people and then they live streamed it so that others could be a part of their special day too without actually being there in person.
Holly is an such an amazing help on wedding days, whether that be directing the bridal party...
or chasing little children out of the shot...
or hanging up the bride's dress for me because she's so tall!
"Look deep into my eyes..."
And of course dress fluffing and veil throwing!
veil & mask throw haha!
Holly and I work great together because we know how to stay out of each other's way...however I did find this one shot where we were literally taking the exact same photo from different sides, HA! Even if we take the same photo, I love that it looks completely different because of our height differences. There's me in the background...
and then there's Holly in the background HA!
Here are some other shots where we are either photo bombing each other or ourselves...can you spot the photographer?
We have to be especially careful around mirrors, lol
and there's me creeping on the side.
My husband, Chris, is our videographer for wedding days. I love when he comes along because he usually packs good snacks and carries my bags for me :) OH, and he is also super talented! Check out our wedding videography portfolio when you get a chance to see some of his work!
Chris is also very good at flower holding
He is also very good at photo bombing...it looks extra creepy with the mask on!! hahaha
Aaaaand that's a wrap! As you can see, we enjoy embarrassing ourselves; one of our favorite things to do is LAUGH :) Hopefully some of these photos made you chuckle today. It's good to get a break from all the negativity on social media...
Like I said earlier, this past year was certainly unexpected and hard to deal with at times. However looking back on everything now I feel like I have a lot to be thankful for...and one of those things is our clients. We appreciate our clients SO much; they are like family to us. Whatever you are going through, we want you to know that we are here for you to be a listening ear. We hope we were able to provide you with photos of all the different kinds of memories... the happy, the sad, the joyful, the exciting, or whatever they were this past year. Time flies by so quickly and we are only on this earth for a short time. I am so thankful that this world is not our forever home and that we have a God that is never changing despite all the changes happening in the world today.
I know this year is not off to a great start, but we still have hope that it will get better from here. Feel free to contact us whenever, even if it's not about babies, weddings, or photos of any kind - just click the button below...
