Still Happily Ever After

We were recently honored to photograph the Marriage Renewal Ceremony of Claire and Kendall in Murfreesboro! Here you see a gorgeous image that we took before the activities and celebrations began - a beautiful couple who are obviously still in love after 20 years together! In today's society, these two are something to be admired and congratulated on for sticking it out during all the good times and the tough times and loving one another through it all. Claire did a fantastic job of coordinating all the details for the event...including her dress that happened to be made just for this! The floor-length deep green velvet with lace sleeves was so striking and appropriate for the occasion; the fresh ivory bouquet was exquisite just the same. After the church ceremony, their guests enjoyed cocktail hour, dinner, and dancing at B. McNeel's. Another really, really fun touch was the live band - Cissy Crutcher provided the vocals in front of a smoother than smooth jazz ensemble. Thanks, Claire and Kendall, for asking us to be a part of this celebration!

January continues to bloom with excitement...this week has oddly been the week for several 3 and 4-month-old sessions! Spring and summer brides are starting to wrap up their planning, and we look forward to discussing and finalizing plans with each one of them...

c-ya!

Early Christmas Delivery

Meet Holly Brooks Herndon - the newest addition to our family!!! My brother James, and his wife, Lynne, welcomed Holly in the wee hours of the morning on December 23. She weighed 7 pounds and 13 ounces! Big brother Crockett is excited to have his new little sister. He is really enjoying watching Thomas the Train in the comfort of the bouncy seat more than Holly is right now! LOL! This is one of the favorite images that we captured yesterday while Granddaddy was holding Holly during one of her many naps. She has started practicing her "smile for the camera" so she will have it down perfect when she gets a little older!

Christmas has been good this year for us! We started our celebrating on Christmas Eve and wrapped it up on Sunday with our extended families. Too much good food...but we aren't complaining. Our goals for the new year are probably the same as many of yours - take better care of our bodies, try to be healthier, and get more exercise. If we can just accomplish these few things, 2009 will be a huge success!

Today is the final day of 2008! It is hard to believe that January is about to roll around again! We wish everyone a safe, wonderful, and prosperous New Year!

c-ya!

It's The Most Wonderful Time

Hello again! It seems like it has been 100 years since we last blogged! Well honestly - it really does feel like we have stuffed about that much photography into that last 30 days! Alas, we are so thankful for everyone who has come to see us before the holidays to get Christmas cards, Christmas portraits, family portraits, babies and children's portraits, and (this brings us to this week's feature image) SENIOR portraits!

This is Shay - and she is a DOLL - as you can clearly see... Shay and I went all over the place scoping out only the coolest places to grab some quick outdoor shots for her senior session. The scarf was super cute not to mention WARM...and you won't believe this...she eventually changed into SHORTS!!! for another outdoor site we visited. We worked very fast...and then showers started so we moved it indoors. Congratulations to this special athlete - she will be attending an awesome university on a golf scholarship next year!!! Go Girl!

We are rounding out this week distributing photos and Christmas cards that we did for our holiday special...if you missed it, you missed out...they are simply beautiful again this year. All the moms that we'll see over the next couple of days are going to be delighted at how stunning the portraits look! We met some new folks which is always fun and exciting, and we hope they will come back soon!

C Ya!

Gosh! - Only 24 More Days!

It's Hard to Believe! Only 24 more days until Christmas! This fall and holiday season has been busy, busy, busy - and we are going to be playing a lot of catch up this week in order to get most of our proofing sessions done so orders can get back in plenty of time for frame selection and of course - WRAPPING! These wall portraits are going to be BIG surprises for some families...and I can't wait to hear about the responses!

We were proud to photograph a gorgeous marriage renewal ceremony in Murfreesboro this past Saturday; Claire and Kendall renewed their vows and partied the night away with all of their friends and loved ones! Claire is obviously a terrific planner...all of the details were superb...right down to the glittery white butterflies in the table centerpieces! You will definitely see an image from this event appear on the blog soon...

Above you see a photo that looks like it comes straight from a Gap ad...this is Sydney and Mason. Their mom (and Sydney, too!) came by last Wednesday before we closed for the holiday to view the proofs and check out our gallery. She had requested that we do some images that were "outside of the box" - and we believe they really are! There are many, many terrific images that preserve this neat time in their family's life!!!

C-ya!

Three of My Favorite Stooges

These three cutie pies are more fun than a barrel of monkeys! Notice the clown in the middle with his tongue out. I laughed so hard during our Christmas session on Tuesday that tears rolled out of my eyes and down my cheeks. We went with simple photos since the card will be a super-decorative foldover that holds FIVE different images. This image was early on and mild compared to some of the other hilarious shots I captured to be forever emblazed in the minds of me AND their mom. So much fun was had that we eventually had to rip off the last of the roll of white background paper!!! It had all it could take, so we swapped to another color mid-session.

Tuesday was indeed a great day as we finished up the very, very, very last outdoor session with a senior from FCS and headed inside for the winter. My fingers were numb on the shutter after only 45 minutes, but the images are spectacular. She is going to love, love,love her senior images!

The Holiday Special starts tomorrow and runs through Wednesday, and the appointment times are well-booked. If you are wanting to catch a great deal on holiday photos, give us a call at 615.444.6322 - and we will fit you in early next week. Thanks to everyone who will be coming in until Wednesday to experience the craziness as usual!

c-ya

Glistening Gold

Today I had the chance to drive up to Smithville for a portrait that will be used on a Christmas card very soon! If you know where Snow Hill is going through Dowelltown...man, it is breathtaking in nothing but gold right now...and I surely wasn't expecting to view something this magnificent after a day of rain. Our leaves in Lebanon are starting to hit the ground fast. As much as I had hoped the camera would see it like I did - this image still doesn't do the scene justice. I had always thought that the reds and oranges were my faves, but this was literally a sea of gold with the sun barely kissing the leaves making them even more luminant. WOW! I just wanted to share it with everyone who visits the blog...so enjoy! One verse of scripture that I think of often when I see something as breathtaking as this is I Corinthians 2:9 - "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him."

c-ya!

I Wish You Many More

Today is John's birthday!!! We have had good times and lots of fun around our house last week and over the weekend. For those of you who don't know John, he is an awesome husband and father. I know that sounds cliche, but if you could hear me say it - I would shout it from the mountain tops. Peyton and I wouldn't know what to do without him; we both love him so much and know we are so blessed to have him! John has been a tremendous support to me as a husband and a friend since I started Harper Photography three years ago. He is my behind-the-scenes right & left-hand man. He is the one who builds displays, paints those same displays, fixes broken toys that I use for props, loads and unloads, mends easels, helps me dream, keeps my checklist checked before I head out the door to meet a client, the list never ends. He really is the very BEST. And I will readily admit that I couldn't do it without him. I tell him all the time I hope he lives to be 100. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart - I love you! And I wish you many, many, many more wonderful birthdays.

Speaking of a special day - it is also my parents' 35th wedding anniversary today! Isn't that such a coincidence that my husband's birthday and parents' anniversary is on the same day? Congratulations on 35 years, 4 kids, 1 grandson and a granddaughter expected in December, plus a step-grandson, too! Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad - We love ya'll!!! Thank you so much for all you are to ALL of us...

One more week of Fall Family sessions...and what a bummer for this week's appointments - rain is sadly forecasted...we are hoping for an hour of no rain every afternoon to get everyone finished. Is that wishful thinking or what with Wednesday being a 70% chance? Every year we cram as many sessions we can into a couple of tight weeks; the leaves are already starting to disappear from the tops of the trees now...winter will soon be here. Especially after 33 degree weather this morning. Thank goodness the sun is shining brightly so maybe it will warm us up today!

c-ya!