Out of Office-Austin Trip Announced

Hello all! This is just a quick update to let you know I will be out of the office for the next week, I'm heading to Georgia to work with some of my wonderful Georgia clients. I'll be back in the office on Monday, March 30th.

Also, I will be shooting in Austin, TX the weekend of April 25th so if you are in Austin and would like to book a session just send me an e-mail to avery@photographybyavery.com and we'll set something up! I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and I'll share some photo's from Georgia when I return!

What's in a name?

My family sort of has this thing about nicknames. It's like we can't bear to call someone by their actual name. My brother Josh is the only one who seems to have escaped without a silly nickname, I'm still not sure how he managed that one, but his children are definitely not immune. This little cutie pie is his daughter, my niece, Ella. Ella has many names that people call her, none of which are Ella. I call her Monkey (and about 1 out of every 5 times I call her that she will actually make a monkey sound for me). My brother and his wife call her "weedil" (pronounced weed-ul... long story). My dar-dar (she's my grandmother, another long story) calls her "Etta", and my parents call her "Etta Chop". I feel her pain though, to this day I'm still called "Babbot" "Mippy" and "Abbot". Don't ask.... I really don't quite know why. Anyway I was so lucky to have this little monkey all to myself for about 4 days. She came to stay with me last week and we did all sorts of fun aunt/niece stuff, and of course I bought her some new clothes and we had our own little model shoot! She's a natural. :) I just love her so much my heart could seriously burst. Oh she told me a good joke.... what do you call a snail on a ship? .........A snailer!! (when she would tell the joke she would then say "get it?!?!? get it?!?!") I miss her already. :)

Oh I have to explain about the dog... that is Gilver. She named him that, and she carries him with her everywhere. They are pretty much inseparable. So I figured, Gilver can be in the pictures, why not?? Besides I want to always remember her at this age, and if Gilver is important to my monkey...well then Gilver is important to me. :)

Is that regret I see in your eyes?

I thought Gordy conquered his addiction, I really did. I boasted to all my friends and family that he had not eaten anything of mine since my black leather Vera Wang purse (shudder). See, Gordy had.... ok I guess he's back on the wagon so HAS a problem. He likes to eat things that he should not eat, and he has this uncanny ability to know what particular items would really get to me. It's like he's testing me to see if I will kick him out to wander the street alone. He has eaten several purses, five, count them FIVE pairs of gap leather flats (I loved them, I bought them in every color...he ate them in every color) two bibles (awful... I know, I've told him he needs to reconcile that one with God), a couple pairs of sandals, a couple of towels, a watch, and well the list really goes on and on...but he was CLEAN, he was off the junk! And then I returned from one of my trips to find that Gordy had done something he had never done before.... eaten a Government issued document, my passport. What in the world would possess a dog to eat a passport??? There is no sense in it! I think he really was mad about me leaving to he is trying to keep me from doing it again. Well I'm going to China in May, so now I'm in a frenzy to get a new one. Here is a photo the culprit, I'm keeping this in case I decide to press charges... for evidence you know. If you could see his eyes I can promise you that you would not see regret there... he doesn't care even a little bit. In fact he looks a little smug doesn't he? Like "what? you got somethin to say?!" He's probably downstairs right now plotting how to eat the leather sofa...

muse

I've never really thought about the notion of having a "muse" but I suppose in a way every person I photograph becomes my muse, I am inspired by their smile, the way they lower their chin when they are feeling shy, the way they throw their head back when they laugh, the shape of their face, I just see all of these small things in people that make them special and those little things inspire me.

Now, if I was forced to choose a muse, just one, well Ben here would be at the top of that list for sure. The camera truly loves him, well that's an understatement actually, the camera is like crazy head over heels for him or something. Ben is an artist...in many ways... he sings (his first love, and he has an incredible voice), he writes inspiring songs, he plays the guitar, he paints (beautiful beautiful pieces) oh and he can dance better than anyone I've probably ever met. Honestly, if he wasn't so nice I would probably hate him just a little. :)

But that's the best thing about him, he's truly a kind person, shooting him felt less like work and more like hanging out with an old friend. We did some sight seeing, ate some coney dogs, and even sat in the car discussing if we should pull a little B&E at an abandoned building so we could explore it. (B&E is Breaking and Entering for those of you who don't watch cops:) But don't worry, we decided against breaking the law....this time. :)

Meet Ashlyn

Ashlyn is my niece...
Ashlyn is beautiful, inside and out...
Ashlyn is smart, when you talk to her you feel like you're talking to someone much older than she is, and if you listen closely you are likely to hear her say something quite profound.
Ashlyn is kind, she has an incredibly sweet nature and truly cares about others more than herself, it's really amazing to see in such a young child.
Ashleyn is "fashion", this child loves fashion (so she's a girl after my own heart) and one of her favorite lines is "this is SO fashion" if something is cute. :)
Ashlyn is talented, she seems to pick things up so quickly, whether it be gymnastics, soccer, cheer leading, she's a very gifted child.
Ashlyn is funny, not long ago I was in the car with her (we were going through Taco Bell drive thru, of course:) and she looks at me out of nowhere and says "you know....one time I watched a comedy show about a comedy show...what's with that?" I swear I laughed until I cried.
Ashlyn is sunshine, I really don't know a better way to describe her other than to say she is just a bright wonderful warm ray of sunshine that you always want around.
I love her so very much.

Meet my adorably perfect wonderful sweet kissable newphew!!

Longest blog title ever... but it was completely necessary. Isn't he just to die for!!! I was so blessed to be able to photograph this little angels birth, birth photography is truly a powerful thing and it was a life changing experience for me.

His mother had an all natural home birth and it was amazing, it was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life, and I wasn't even having the baby! And if you don't know much about home births, or think they are unsafe (totally untrue) you should check out www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com . There is a trailer on there for the documentary and if it looks interesting to you, then you should rent it.

I didn't know much about home birth and when I decided to shoot this one I wanted more information and it is nothing like I thought. When (if) :) I have children this is something I definitely want to consider for myself.

Here are the photo's of adorable Amos! He was just 3 hours old here!! How cool is that!

shame on me...

I have been made aware that I am a bad bad blogger. I promise you it's not that I am lazy, I swear! I just have been all over the country lately, I've hardly been home to blog! But I don't have another trip out of town planned for (gasp) a month! I do believe that's a record of some sort for me, so I will be better, pinky swear. Here are some long overdue photo's from Florida, I've got more to share but I'll save that for another blog day, I don't want to overdo it on my first day back and pull a hamstring or something. :)

Spring Georgia Dates Announced!

My previous clients sort of got "first dibs" on this one. I sent out an e-mail last night and the trip is already halfway full! Thank you all! So now I am going to post this for everyone, I will be in Georgia March 23-29th for sessions. If you would like to book your session let me know asap so I can save you a spot!

I've still got sand in my hair...

Florida was amazing, it was beautiful and fun and relaxing and I am oh so sad that I had to leave. I went with two girls and I honestly can't remember the last time I have laughed so much, "I'm definitely not mad about it" (that's a Scarlet shout out there... long story). Anyway, I had a wonderful time shooting on the beach and have some beautiful photographs to share soon, in the meantime here are some photo's of me behind the camera in front of the camera, did that confuse you enough? My fab photographer friend Lauren who I went with shot some of me shooting and as you can tell the wind was out of control, my hair was everywhere but it's still fun for me to laugh at myself and how silly I look when shooting. My best friend Shea told me one time that when I shoot my other eye rolls into my head sort of flickers and all she can see is the white of my eye... so apparently I'm possessed when shooting, who knew!

nothing but blue skies...

I'm headed to Florida for a week with a couple of girlfriends for some fun and also some work too. I'll share some photo's of a beautiful couple on the beach when I return! I will be checking e-mail periodically and will return after February 1st. Now it's after midnight.... and I'm leaving in the morning.... so I suppose I should pack.

sneak to tha peek

Here is a sneak peek for a wonderful, fun, beautiful, fabulous family that I shot yesterday. I have had the privilege of knowing this mom and dad for years now, but it's been ages since I've seen them, so I was thrilled to see them and meet their adorable little guy! (Ok, he's kind of a big guy, he's so grown up!) Ok, enough of the rambling, here's the beautiful family!

I'd like you to meet....

...the cutest, sweetest, most kissable little monkey you've ever seen! I know what I am about to say is going to send many of you reeling with jealousy; I got to kiss on, and hug, and cuddle with this little cutie as much as I wanted this past week! (ok so I did have to share him with his parents on occasion but they were nice enough to humor me) :). He's so cute I can hardly stand it! I think you can see that an overdose of cuteness runs in the family, I got a couple of his sister too (you may recognize her from the loads of photo's of her on my website) she is just about the cutest, smartest little girl in the world (seriously, this child is a genius, and she's hilarious) mom and dad definitely know how to make some pretty perfect kiddo's. :)