These are my 10 favorite photos from 2019. It’s super hard to pick just 10, but for each photo I’ll write a little about why I picked it and what I love about it. These photos are in no particular order! They are all labeled with the lens that I use, and all were taken with the Sony a 7III for this year as I switched from Canon to Sony in February 2019.
This sweet girl. She popped out of the car like a puppy and came running for me, talking up a storm. I didn’t want to just reach out and grab her (because just grabbing people’s kids is weird), but her mom yelled “you’re about to get a hug!”. I swept her up and squeezed her and she wrapped her little arms around my neck and kissed my hair.. And I fell had over heels for her right there. She is a delightful hot mess, and seriously one of the most fun kids you’ll ever meet. They just moved to Jacksonville and I am so sad, but I’ll get to see her and her twin sisters never year for a mother-daughter fairy photo session on the fall of 2020. Sigma 105mm 1.4 Art Lens Location: UGA Founder’s Garden
This is another photo that makes me laugh every time I see it, so this location is actually on the top of the hill next to the main entrance to the UGA Botanical Gardens here in Athens. The deer is a taxidermy fawn that I’ve had for a while.I knew I wanted to use it for the session, because the fall colors go really well with the rest of the color scheme that I wanted. The dress is actually an adult maternity dress, that we tied with ribbons to make it work on this girl. So, as we are taking this photo we are on top of the hill with a taxidermy deer and people are driving by. The sheer number of people who stopped in the middle of the road to watch the spectacle was hilariously astounding, and this girl is not used to having an audience. Sigma 105mm 1.4 Art lens. Location: State Botanical Gardens of Georgia
If you’re anything like me, you can hear this child and giggle through this photo. She has got to be the most giggly, happy, mischievous, wonderful two-year-old in Athens. Her little pigtails are magical and I love this photo because I can see almost all of the teeth she has in her mouth. I don’t know how her parents get out of the house, because I would just look at her And laugh with her all day long. We would get nothing done! She is hilarious to be around and this session was super fun for everyone involved. I feel like this photo captures her personality in a way that is very genuine and real. Sigma 105 mm 1.4 art lens.
Location: State Botanical Gardens of Georgia
That baby must be probably the most well behaved 18-month-old in all of Georgia. She did everything that I asked, loves her sister to pieces, and is a gigglepot. I love the connection that this image shows between these two sisters. Yes it’s in the peach orchard, but the trees aren’t really the defining point in this photo. It’s the hair in the dress and the smiles on both of their faces. The relationship that they have together is what I love the most about this photo. This is again the sigma 105 mm 1.4 art lens.
Location: Peach orchard in Watkinsville GA
I have this image in mind from the time that I saw this building. It’s actually in Cornelia Georgia, which is about an hour north of where I currently live in Athens. So this dancer and I and a friend of hers went all the way to go photograph in front of the community building there in Cornelia. What I didn’t know prior to getting there, was that these arches are in the front of tall steps. So I had a hard time getting the composition the way I wanted. This dancer has legs for days which I wanted to emphasize with the angle I was forced to shoot from.I very much enjoyed a monochrome color palette so I wanted earthtones for this brown colored stone building. I think the only way this could have been better is if she was wearing a brown leotard. And maybe some brown shoes. This is also with the Sigma 20 mm 1.4 Art lens.
Location: Cornelia Community House, Cornelia GA
My most popular photo on Instagram for 2019. Her back muscles are my most favorite thing in this photo. She’s never done this jump before and I showed her a picture and she pretty much went out and nailed it in two tries. She is an amazing athlete and powerhouse.This photo makes me laugh every time I see it, because I remember the conversation that this dancer and I were having about that skirt. You see, it is meant to be worn with a crop top instead of a leotard, so the skirt actually has a sewn in the bottom. It was a real struggle for her to jump in a way that made the skirt move so that it didn’t make that sewn in bottom looks like a giant diaper. Sigma 105 mm 1.4 Art lens.
Location: UGA North Campus
I don’t get a lot of families that want to do downtown urban photos. So I was very excited when this mom decided that that’s what she wanted for her photos. I really enjoy the black and yellow color combo in the wardrobe that she picked, you can even see the flower on the youngest girl which she actually made! I really enjoy all of the blurred downtown background In this photo. It gives it time and place and a location feel, without distracting from the family. I also love the posing in this image as well! I feel like this fence is one of the favorite places that I use often downtown.Is it weird to have a favorite fence? Anyway, this family was super pleased with their photos and so was I! This image was taken with the Sigma 105 mm 1.4 Art lens.
Location: Downtown Athens GA
I think my favorite part about this image is that you can’t see her face. This feels like a photo that has been taken without the subjects knowledge. This girl definitely knew I was there and taking pictures obviously, but she seems to be in her own little world well twirling under a gazebo in the sunset. The back lighting catches the curls in her hair and the ruffles on the dress, and I love her little princess toes at the bottom of the photo. Again, the sigma 105mm 1.4 art lens. Location: State Botanical Gardens of Georgia
This dancer put up with me while I asked her to do this move several many times. Getting the dress to flow correctly was very difficult as fabric has a mind of its own. I definitely wanted to convey a sense of movement in the final photo, so we ended up having to have her flip her skirt herself as she was bringing her hand up, in addition to making this difficult dance move without running her face into the wall. I definitely enjoyed the framing on the archway above her again, and the Sigma 20 mm 1.4 Art lens accentuates her legs as well. Her mother actually ordered this as a framed print for her 16th birthday.
Location: UGA North Campus Quad
This photo I really loved this year, mostly because it was the very first in-home Christmas tree session. I love how utterly magical the lights are and how we can see all of the children’s faces together. The light from the tree is the only light in the room. We turned off all the rest of the lights in the house. The session was slightly difficult as it was right at the children’s bedtime, and two-year-old little brother was not enjoying having his schedule interrupted. As a fun aside, I’ve actually photographed in this house before meeting this family, as the previous owners are also clients of mine! This photo won the 2019 holiday contest from Sigma Photo and was taken with the 20mm 1.4 Art lens.
Location: Home in Watkinsville GA
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