Family Portrait at McDaniel Farm and Sims Lake Park

November 19, 2015

I worked again with one of my favorite clients... this family deserved good photos, they came all the way from Sandy Springs to have their portraits taken. They were patient enough to wait in line with me for spots at the park we have chosen. Like this photographer and this family, they were there before we started our own session, and they were still there by the time we we were done with ours... :)

This did not stop us from taking photos by the bridge... we were actually at the right side, where the other stroller was.. and this is how our photo came out:

And for our finale... we took photos on the other side of the barn.. which is for me, the best view.. 

he's (the junior version of "he") loving the big space...for running!!

finally, perfect shot of the couple...we did not even need "grandma" to babysit... the little one is close by... playing :)

Here are some of my favorite shots from their session...

"smooch!!!"

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UPDATE October 31, 2016:

I took their family portrait again, with an addition to their family :)

I requested to hold the baby.... she likes me!!! :) Thanks Ashley for taking the photo.

The Story Behind the River shots... an engagement shoot

Me and Rachel had trouble syncing up the schedule and weather won't cooperate with us..so finally we both decided, rain or shine we will take photos that day.

We are running behind but that only made us more excited to shoot away in this lovely nature.

It is a hidden river park within the city...
I am so glad that we discovered it, thank you very much google :)

I told Rachel that our first shots will be "warm up"... but when we began, they don't really need one..

My couple does not want to walk more but somehow I took them by the bridge and we shoot some photos there, but Rachel saw the river I was talking about.... then she somewhat exclaimed "I want pictures there!"


We are not alone at the river... I don't blame them, this place is a gem...

Getting down is a little bit trickier if you have not been here like I was... Let us see how Rachel and Casey are doing..so far so good ..optimism and more level of excitement are now rushing in on my part..

Okay, I got a little scared now for my couple, ... so I urged them that they don't have to go that far out....

And............

And..........

Ooopsies..........

Rachel was fine by the way :) (Whew!)


And for our final shots ...

I really enjoyed this engagement session...

All the best to my couple Rachel and Casey!

What's in Jekyll Island...

I always wanted to come here but never had the chance, but finally last week, my husband took me and the kids to this awesome place.

Our first stop was the Historic District.. if you are trying to go on a dolphin tour, you have to go to the Beachdrive Road.. Both morning and afternoon tours were booked so we had to alter our itinerary.

Such a nice place really!! A lot of kids and adults riding their bikes, literally everywhere...
Love the natural shade that the giant trees give to the tourists like us...

We heard about the Driftwood beach so we checked the place out. I love, love, love the driftwood beach... but my kids don't :) They are looking for "real" beach.

So after a quick lunch at the Beach village (we had some fried shrimp and fries at Love Shack in Jekyll market suite), we headed to Sand Dunes park (or beach).

It was low tide so we were able to walk on part of the dried up "ocean floor". My daughter collected sand dollars and small shells.

Some random "mud" kids...

After 2 hours at the beach, the sun got too hot for my hubby and I.. sorry kids... let us go back to the Historic District and wait for our tour (not until 6pm LOL)...

We took them to ride their bikes along the beachview drive.

There's even a version of "kalesa" (Kalesa: noun, a horse-drawn carriage used in the Philippines. It was one mode of transportation introduced to the islands in the 18th century by Spanish colonizers)

My son got anxious about the dolphin tour. We told him it's when the captain rings the bell and it's at 6:30pm.

After few more minutes of waiting, he was funny as he said "DING!! 6:30"... Hahaha.

But it didn't take long, our wait was over.
We spotted birds...by the bridge.

I was unable to take a single photo of a dolphin in "full" because they were too quick as they swim around us in the spot where the captain took our boat.

I did have some shots of the awesome sunset of Jekyll... ah..........

Bye dolphins, said my kids...

I love Jekyll...

Hello Okefenokee

Last spring break, we wanted to see Mema (aka grandma). Since her city is close to Okefenokee Swamp and we have never been there, we took a day trip to the famous swamp with our Mema. 

The Okefenokee is the largest blackwater swamp in North America.

We were not satisfied by what the swamp park in Waycross is to offer us so we drove farther to Folkston to the Wildlife Refuge. We had lots of detour on the way but we made it by 4pm..  

Another family spotted baby gators quick as we were driving towards inside..

Then few minutes later, we spotted a gator on the side of the road...

We wanted to go to the famous board walk. I wanted a wide and long shot of  the trees and the road, so I urged my family to drive ahead of me as I walked behind them...

Nope.. I didn't get got by the gator :)

There's a raccoon!!

If you climb the observatory (aka tree house), a pretty view of the swamp beholds you.. We did arrive at the best time of the day to be at the swamp. 

My kids peeking at their Mema from below :D

On the way back we spotted the same gator at the same spot (We were debating if it was a statue.. Mema wanted to throw a stick to test it). But judging from 2 photos, it did move or changed its angle so only after I downloaded the photos we decided the gator was real ;-)

Bye Okefenokee, hoping to come back... next time we will definitely try the boat tour to see more wildlife :)