Archive for November, 2011

together at last!

November 16, 2011

the hope of families is to raise up successful families… the sad part in today’s world is this usually means separation by distances as school and jobs relocate our children. the following is documentation of the Wardlow family ~ 4 generations represented. it is the first time they have all been in the one place at the same time for many years. in my work, a story needs to be told… what is living and going on between the people. the beauty to me is that it isn’t perfect and little ones do make funny faces and cry… but it is representational of what is perfect for this family ~ hence, the sign “together”. that wasn’t exactly their vision for the shoot, but i am happy they allowed it for some of the images… that point to me was the most defining of what was occurring. there is a lot of love here and a lot of happy. i can still hear the robust laughter when they all got silly and the incessant chatter – i hear music!! i am less than formal and love it when my clients can embrace something outside the box of ‘usual’ photo stuff. thanks for going with me on this gayla, and for those of the family that drove the hundreds of miles to make this happen (i think greg and sandy)! teenagers, you were really special to me. your love showed for each other and your embracing and helping with the little ones helped me immeasureably ~ and i will remember you all. my husband got in on this evening as it took 2 cars to haul all the props to our location… he now understands why my legs ache a little after a big busy event 😉








all because of these faithful two!!

(if you have ever watched ‘romancing the stone’… in the beginning where the author, joan wilder, is crying at the end of her own book ~ that is me today. families do happen because of love and two people. i toast this completion with a hershey’s kiss.)

i come out of every session saying… ‘this was my favorite’. it will be hard to beat this day. not only am i in love with the wagner family, but fall is my favorite time of year and every element of this day lent some part to the beauty. no one loves shooting in the bright afternoon sun, and many times wind is just plain painful, but i am learning that though they can cause imperfections they lend warmth and lovely motion to a photograph. add the blur of 3 little kids, a very strong man who can pick them all up and you get the surprise of your life when an image is actually crisp!! addyson was the real secret to this success… her hands, her feet, how she tips her head toward her mom, her ability to completely ignore me being there and just play. the following is a family story on a most beautiful day in the middle of my field of dreams.. joy joy joy ~ the wagner family and their photo shoot “in a box”! to view the rest of the session link http://prints.sallyowensphoto.com/p654094403, click on slideshow in the upper right corner ~ beth has chosen a very sweet song to match.






“Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you;
But when the leaves hang trembling
The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I;
But when the trees bow down their heads
The wind is passing by.”
(by Christina G. Rossetti and the favorite poem of my life)




until i edited these last images of trey and beth, i did not realize that the large tree in this field was actually 2 trees intertwined… significant? i think so and an excellent place to complete this entry.

introducing kailyn…

November 8, 2011

from a recent maternity session – kailyn, once so curled up that she created the perfectly round belly of cami, is featured here at just 7 days old. this little miss remained awake for our 5 hours together… i believe that she needed to feel very close to people and did not go for independence ~ yet! those days will come and we all began to understand that she really did need to remain close to her mommy, daddy and sister bailey (whom she highly favors!). throughout this session, someone stayed within inches even with the suspension at the end. when all was said and done i felt i had failed this one, and maybe i did for what is my normal. but as i look into kailyn’s face and see what made her content, i would not have had it any other way. this is witness to a very special family.