LaToya & Family {Jekyll Island portrait photographer}

While LaToya currently lives and works in the Atlanta area, she still maintains her strong ties to the Golden Isles.  And when she was last in town, I was thrilled to meet her and her fabulous five at Jekyll Island's Driftwood Beach for a sunset session. 

However, I don't think I was exactly prepared for just how fabulous this group would be!  It was about mid-session when we transitioned from group shots to individuals...and the personalities started coming out!  Each and every one of LaToya's clan rocked this session, right down to the little man!  It was my pleasure to both photograph and share in some laughs with this beautiful family.

Enjoy a sneak peek into our time together!  Can you tell we had fun?

This mom has got it going on!

And then...this happened...

Which, of course, inspired this...

Aren't they a beautiful bunch?

Elliott & Mom {Me Ra Koh Workshop}

The first weekend of February was one I had been dreaming of for two years.  I finally was able to attend a fabulous workshop given by the amazing and deeply inspiring Me Ra Koh and her awesome, talented husband, Brian Tausend, in beautiful Tampa, Florida!  It was a weekend filled with simplifying the complexities of photography, bonding with other women equally obsessed with photography (I'm not alone!) and personally getting in order the next big steps for my business...which are exciting, amazing ones!! 

And what is a weekend of photography without being able to use our newly refined skills?  We were blessed with being able to photograph several local families using nothing but our cameras and - my absolute favorite - natural light!  I'll be posting these images on the JLP Facebook page, as well as on the blog, this week.  I promise you, you will want to make sure you follow along because these images and the people in them couldn't be sweeter!

Up first is Elliott and his mom.  Could they be a more beautiful pair?  Elliott could be a model - so happy and photogenic - a photographer's dream!  If you're having a bad day, then this blog post is for you because his smile is contagious!  Enjoy!

I love that last image for many reasons...the quiet bond between mom and baby, the soft lighting...but I especially love that mom's necklace with Elliott's initial is in full focus.  She let us know just how much Elliott is the center of her world, and think that necklace helps to relay that story.

See you tomorrow for images of the sweetest little girl and her momma!

The Davis Family {Portraits}

I was so excited about meeting this family on Jekyll Island a few days ago for a family portrait session.  They are one busy little family this holiday season, as they are in the process of moving from their current home in Alaska to the home they just bought last week in Miami, Florida!  What a change! 

I was excited to meet their little daughter.  Her momma warned me...I knew it would happen...and it did - I fell in love with little Miss M.  Right from the start, we chatted about her favorite subjects: the Purple People-Eater and hippopotamuses.  (Could I even say those words when I was her age?  I had trouble even saying them during the session!)  Who knew this little red-head with the stunning green eyes was going to be so full of laughter and smiles during our hour and a half session?  She did have one little moment where she snuggled up to Daddy and looked a little sleepy, but she followed that up with running around and playing in the grass.

I loved every minute of this session with this beautiful family!  Check out the images below, and you'll see right away why it ranks as one of my favorite sessions of 2011.

The Lane-Walsh Family {Portraits}

This is the second year I've had the honor of photographing this sweet little family for their Christmas cards.  I am always excited to see what they show up wearing because mom knows just how to pick out the right outfits!  My heart did a little flip when the two little ones jumped out of the car.  Could they seriously be any cuter?

I also had the pleasure of photographing Melody's amazing dad, Buddy, and his wife, Glenda, who are newlyweds!  These two lovebirds are such a fun couple and are deeply in love.  *swoon

I always have a great time with this beautiful family during their sessions and look forward to photographing them in 2012!

Golden Isles H.O.G. Holiday Hope Toy Ride

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of photographing the starting point of the Golden Isles H.O.G Holiday Hope Toy Ride.  For those of you who may not be up-to-date on your lingo, H.O.G. stands for Harley Owners Group.  And what a group it was!  While they may not need too much nudging to ride their Harley, this group came out to support the Holiday Hope Toy Drive, which collects both toy and monetary donations benefiting the Golden Isles Children's Center.  You should have seen the awesome toys donated!  This group also pulled together a monetary donation of $1000+!  It was a beautiful day for a ride, which will help make some special kids' holiday seasons a little brighter.

I want to thank Jenna McNeal and Bill Johnson for sponsoring my sponsorship of this event and for getting me involved in such a worthy cause.  It was my pleasure to photograph this event!

If you'd like to see additional images from this event, please visit the full web gallery at http://photos.jenniferleighphotography.net/Events/Golden-Isles-HOG-Ride.  If for some reason you'd really love a print of any of these images, you can purchase them from the web gallery.  Happy viewing!