She was in a hurry to get here, miss Malyn.  Her Mom, Nina went for a checkup and the doctors informed her to head on down to labor and delivery….it’s time.  She said “But she’s early”, and the doctor said, “But, it’s time.”  So, Nina texted husband Nick and went on down to the hospital.  Malyn entered the world not too long after that, healthy and happy and absolutely beautiful.

Maybe she decided to come early because she couldn’t wait to be with her family.  If we had to guess, that would be the reason.  Malyn’s Mom and Dad are neighbors of Dani’s, and they are truly some of the sweetest people on the face of the earth.  

Little Malyn is one lucky girl.  She also has 6 furry dog brothers and sisters, and they are living together in perfect harmony.  Malyn doesn’t even blink when they bark.  It’s pretty amazing.

 Malyns brothers and sisters.

Congratulations on the new edition to the family.  We are so happy for you all!  Hope you like the sneak peek of your precious little one.

We have known the Moore family for about 6 months. We met them through our Living Social deal we had in November 2010. They had purchased 2 of the coupon deals. One was going to be for a maternity session of Melora and Justin before baby Evelyn arrived and the other for her newborn session.

Evelyn had different plans though. She came a few weeks early at the begining of this year. So we did her newborn session back in March. I can’t beleive 6 months has already gone by. When we got the email from Melora and Justin about doing her 6 month photos we were so excited to see how big she had gotten. But to our surprise she had not grown to much. She still had her tiny little bones, sweet little baby face and these gorgeous blue eyes!

Evelyn really made us work for a smile this time! Melora, Justin and I were all about standing on our heads to try and get her to smile. I beleive we laughed and smiled more than she did.  We did have a great time in the studio and out on the streets of downtown with this sweet family. Melora, Justin and Evelyn are a very blessed family. I can’t wait to see how much she will have grown by the time she is 1. Which is not to far off!

Oh… what to wear.  That is always the question, isn’t it?  And when you are getting ready for a photo session it seems as though this question gets a little harder to answer.  These photos will be around for a while, and you don’t want it to be an ‘oh no, why in the world did I wear that’ situation.  Have no fear, we are here with inspiration and a few guidelines for you all.

1. You don’t have to be identical.  Matter of fact, PLEASE DON’T BE IDENTICAL.  There is nothing more generic looking (in our humble opinions) than to have everyone wearing exactly the same outfits.  You clothing should be a reflection of your personality.  If you have a daughter is a little hippie, while Dad is mostly preppy, and Mom is a Martha Stewart clone…that’s great!  Every family member is different and we in no way want to stifle anyones individuality.  We are trying to capture the real you, differences and all.  

Forcing a family member to fit a mold usually causes some drama and major frowning come photo time.  So if little sister wants to wear her bell bottoms, and Dad insists on wearing that worn out polo he wears for everything we think they should.  The key to an awesome session is to remember this above all…you all should coordinate…NOT MATCHY MATCH.

Here is an example of what NOT to do:

We sort of feel sorry for the family above that we found on Google images, obviously they did not have such a handy dandy blog-guide to read.  To finish this point, while the family should not be cookie cutter in terms of their ‘look’, they should have something that ties them all together.  For example:  if Dad’s polo is mint green, sisters dress is purple,  and Mom is set on a mustard yellow cardigan, perhaps Mom can also incorporate a paisley scarf that includes all these colors.  And viola, everyone coordinates, and it’s all smiles.

 2. The Comfort Factor.  This is a biggie.  We all know we have that ‘Wow factor’ dress that we spent a little too much money on, or the outfit that has been sitting in the closet for the day when we lose that extra 5 lbs.  Well, we hate to break it to you but your photo session is not the perfect time to make it work.  

If it is too tight, a louder pattern than your norm, not really ‘your color’, if you tug at it constantly because it’s a little to short…please please take our advice and do not wear it.  Your mood always translates in your photos, and if you have ever worn anything uncomfortable for too long…you know what kind of mood it puts you in.  

Our solution?  Pull out your old favorite that fits you like a glove and makes you feel like a million bucks every time you put it on.  That’s what you want to feel like, and that’s the you we want to capture. Jazz the old favorite frock up with some new accessories, a pretty scarf, jacket, or a new pair of shoes.   

3.  Accessorize.  Texture, ruffles, scarves, lace, jackets, hats, headbands, fun jewelry, shoes…bring it.  We have learned through the years that layers and textures can take a regular photo and turn it into pure fantasticness.  Plus, accessories can quickly change a look without having to totally change clothes.  Start with your basics and add on interesting layers, bring different jackets and scarves to switch up the looks in between scenes.  Easy peasy, right?

4.  Colors and Patterns.  Our general rule of thumb is to only have one family member in a pattern.  And that pattern should tie everyone else together.  Too many patters, even if they coordinate…become distracting.  Jewel tones photograph beautifully, deep purple, crimson, mustard yellow, emerald green, all are great choices.  Build those colors around basic grays, whites,browns, blacks.  Denim is always great too.  

5. Hair and makeup.  Makeup always photographs weaker than it is applied.  We don’t want you to ‘Tammy Faye Baker’ it up or anything (for those of you too young to remember her, take a gander on Google)… we do think that a little more than usual is better.  Think the difference between work makeup and going out for a special occasion makeup.  You hair should also be styled as if you are heading out on the town, and as with clothing, texture in hair photographs better than stick straight hair.  But if your hair is straight, and that’s how you wear it…don’t try anything too crazy the day of, just maybe add a little more volume than normal.  

6.  Don’t overload the little ones.  We have discovered that the number one reason for a child to throw a tantrum during a session is when they are forced to change clothes 5 times.  In general, we recommend limiting it to 2 outfits per session for kids.  Also, we have found that if kids are told to smile and look at the camera by their parents…it’s the LAST thing they want to do.  Not that we want to instruct anyone on how to parent or anything, but it seems the more natural everyone acts the better the session goes.  And believe us, we will go to great lengths and do lots of silly things to make your child smile and look at the camera.

7.  Relax.  This may be difficult since it’s not everyday that you have cameras in your face snapping away, but try to relax.  The morning of your session, blast some fun music with the family (maybe some Black Eyed Peas?)…maybe even let loose and have a little dance party…that’s what we do!  Be silly and practice your ‘model faces’ with your kids in the mirror.  Warm them up a little…and try not to put too much pressure on yourselves.  We want this to be fun for you all!

8. Get Inspired.  There are so many great sites you can peruse for inspiration.  Pinterest.com is one of our obsessions as of late.  That site is amazing for all things, not just photography.  Or  flip through your favorite magazines.  But just in case you don’t have time for that… we have posted a few fall outfit inspirations below.  :)  

 We can’t wait for your session!  IT’S GONNA BE A BLAST!

We have known Anna & Graysen for a few years now.  When Anna, Graysens wife asked us about shooting Greysons surprise 30th birthday party we were super excited! Photographing a grown ups birthday, YES PLEASE! Now don’t get us wrong…. we LOVE shooting little kids parties, but grown ups just seem to cooperate a little more for photos.

It was hard to keep it a secret since we always like to let our clients know what we are up to. But we did keep this fun little secret quiet. The day arrived and when we pulled up to the house all was quiet and normal. We were greeted by Annas parents Jane and Jeff. They made us feel right at home! Heck, We almost felt like we were guests and not working. But then again our work never feels like work because we enjoy it so much!   Anna & Jane decorated everything so cute! Props to them! Good job ladies!

Guests started arriving and before we knew it we were all being rushed out the back door with fingers to our mouths to keep quiet. A few minutes went by and then SURPRISE!!!!!! Out walked Graysen and Anna. Let the festivities begin, And they did!  It was food galore, along with the adult beverages and yummy desserts. After everyone chowed down it was time for some girl gossip, while most of the men played corn hole. What a fun party! So glad we were able to help capture these fun memories for this wonderful family. Happy Birthday Grayson!

Visit our smugmug site if you wish to purchase prints and see all of the photos from this wonderful event: http://bloomphotography.smugmug.com/Events/Greysons-30th-Birthday/19235557_vNnLL3

Our sweet client Ashlee Gordon (who will be Mrs. Ashlee Berry, look for her wedding in May 2012!) asked us to come take photos of her soon-to-be-nephew Walker’s first birthday celebration.

It was a beautiful day, not too hot and just the right breeze for little Walker’s party.  Once we got over how beautiful the house is…I mean it is BEAUTIFUL…we got to notice just how much time and energy it must have taken to set up such a great party.

When the guests started arriving, it because very obvious that this little guy is super duper loved.  He just went from arm to arm, and I would be afraid to know how many kisses he got that day.  He was so sweet, when it came time to eat his smash cake, he decided to share some with his grandfather…unbelievable right?  Believe it, we have proof!

Happy Birthday Walker, and thank you to the family for having us photograph such a great celebration!

About a year ago, Dani’s husband Anthony met LaDonna at  Wal Mart, she was trying to raise awareness for the Collegedale off leash dog park.  Being dog lovers, as well as photographers…Anthony just knew that we would benefit from knowing her and gave her our information.  He was right, and well…here we are a year later, and we finally got to meet LaDonna!  She graciously invited us to be the ‘puppy paparazzi’ and document the dog parks one year birthday party.

The weather for this event was perfect for humans and dogs alike.  And we were so happy that there was such a great turn out!  So many dogs and owners and kids!  The team behind the event organized a doggy pageant, and gave out ‘doggy bags’ with treats to every pup.  So much fun!  Here is a little peek at the action!

To see more photos and order prints of your pup, go here:

http://bloomphotography.smugmug.com/Animals/Collegedale-Dog-Park-Party/19122504_BtqCtg

Meet this adorable family that includes Conner, Danielle and Bella. They met us down at the studio early Saturday morning for Bellas 6 month photos.  Conner, Bella’s daddy was so involved with everything! He was so sweet to Bella and was such a big help throughout the photo session. We would like to give him a pat on the back and big round of applause for all his help!

Danielle,  Bellas momma, was so super excited about the session and had such cute outfits picked out for Bella, and we beleive Bella has more bows than outfits!  A WHOLE box full! Literally! We must admit, These outfits made us want to search Etsy and online stores for baby outfits even though we dont have babies!

Bella is so loved!  You can really tell in these next photos.  She was one of the happiest babies we have seen all year. She smiled and laughed from the time they walked (she was carried) into the door until they left. We can’t wait to see them at our christmas mini session in November!

You may have met this wonderful couple a few months ago on our old website. So you will probably see that they look familiar.  We shot their engagement photos back  in June of this year and we have to say that it was one of our favorite engagement session of this year so far!

Kimmi and Jacob are such a fun loving energetic couple! When we found out they also wanted to book us for their wedding day we were beyond excited AND when Kimmi told us it was going to be at the Fillauer Lake House in Cleveland, TN it was like music to our ears. La La La! The big day seemed to be stress free and went by like a flash!  It was most fun watching Kimmi step into her dress when the time arrived! There were tons of laughs and maybe a small teary eye here and there. She really did look like a princess from a fairy tale book.

After the vows were said it was first dance and cake cuting time which always gets the party started. We are so happy for Kimmi and Jacob. Congradulations to the both of them in their new journey together as husband and wife!

Make sure to play the preview to the video from Kimmie and Jacobs wedding, shot by the talented Tanner Stone.

Kimmie and Jacob Preview

You will recognize this adorable little family from an earlier post on little Troy’s 2nd birthday.  If you remember, Mom (Jessica) was the cutest super pregnant lady that day. Well…seven days ago little Miss Violet joined the world.  She is a beautiful baby, she is absolutely perfect in every way.  Ella and Troy are so excited about Violet, that they sometimes argue over who’s turn it is to hold her.  It’s so darn cute!

We were so excited to take her newborn photos this morning!  Here is a little sample of what we got.  :)  Congratulations Tay and Jessica on your adorable little addition.

The Bloom girls love music, really really a lot.  When the opportunity strikes for us to escape town (or local!) for a night and take some photos at a show, we get downright giddy.  Luckily, such an opportunity arose…and for weeks we have been so excited about the Grace Potter and the Nocturnals show.  It was the first time we had been to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN… and the venue did not disappoint.  The show was amazing, Grace and her band are so incredibly talented…we didn’t want it to end.   Luckily we could sneak out of our seat and go up front and take some downright amazing photos of the lovely Miss Grace Potter.  Enjoy!