It’s no secret that I LOVE mother and child photos. I always capture them, every session, and they are by far my favorite. SO, after hearing some comments about me offering mother/child sessions, I decided it was time to dive on in. So here it is! There are only 6 spots available, so contact me ASAP!
shannonjdodge@gmail.com OR 239.410.2802
UPDATE: The Lawrey’s have been featured locally, as well as nationally recently. Click HERE to read their story or watch the short video clips to get a glimpse of what they are all experiencing. They are in serious jeopardy of losing their home–if you would like to donate, any small amount helps. There is a bar on the right titled “How to Help”, you could help a family save their home. Also, turns out Gavin is a very talented photographer! Click HERE to view his work…it is for sale, again to help pay the bills.
I know I said no words were necessary, and there won’t be any…after I get this out. I’ve known this family for two years now. They are by far, one of THE most sweet and loving families I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. Two years ago, Brandi won a contest I was having on my SJD Photography Facebook page. I quickly learned what this family was dealing with. Their son, Gavin, was diagnosed with Paroxysmal Kinesigenic Dyskinesia (PKD), and nocturnal seizures in February 2010. This disorder causes Gavin to have episodes that cause him to “shake” and lose muscle control. Not too long after this diagnosis, came a more devastating diagnosis of Mitochondrial disease. Gavin and his family have had a rough run, to say the least. But this does not break their bond. Their love for one another AND others as well. I truly admire every one of them. Now, for their photos. You can just feel the love in every single one of these images. Be on the lookout for Hershey, their latest addition. He is Gavin’s service dog, and detects any seizures or episodes Gavin may have BEFORE they occur. He is well loved, as you can tell. 
Their “awareness” bracelets! Brandi wanted a shot of these because there is so much meaning behind them. Notice their coordinated outfits too…every color they’re wearing represents the different awareness colors.
I just love this family and I am so honored to have been able to work with all of them again. They are all so appreciative of the photos and the memories captured, which makes my job so much more important and worthy!
SJDxo
I have blogged before about Tea Collection...usually through Wardrobe Wednesday. Well this time I was lucky enough to team up with Tea Collection and take pics of my own children dressed in the retailer’s bright, colorful and beautiful clothing! Tea Collection is known for their “destination” lines of clothing. This season’s destination is Modern Mexico and I am in love with the fun and colorful pieces! Take a look for yourself.
I love the Tea Collection line, not only because it’s colorful and full of life, but the rich tones they use are perfect for children’s portraits! Their clothing is also super durable (and comfortable), holding up to the every day wear and tear that children put it through. And for those of you in charge of the laundry, it washes VERY well! (and tends to be wrinkle free!) I can’t say enough wonderful things about this line of clothing. It’s just awesome! Check out their holiday line…it’s gorgeous. (there is also free shipping for orders over $150.00!!)
SJDxo
This is one awesome Wardrobe Wednesday post from Morgan Dawson of Morgan Dawson Photography! LOVE this spotlight and all of the compilations! And she speaks Italian…well, maybe just a little. 
Buon giorno a tutti! {Good morning everyone!}
Ok, that’s just about the extent of my Italian – other than “Dov’è il bagno?” (where is the bathroom?), “Vorrei un cappuccino” (I’d like a cappuccino) and “Mi dispiace. Non parlo italiano.” (I’m sorry. I don’t speak italian).
Mi dispache, but I just got back from an amazing trip to northern Italy and haven’t quite accepted that I’m back to my normal life yet. I have this strong urge to bake bread, learn how to make my own pasta, and make my wardrobe more euro chic (especially since part of the trip included a conference attended by people from 35 countries). The bread baking happened yesterday (total tangent, but this book is AMAZING!) and the pasta will need to wait, but the wardrobe changes might be easier than I thought.
If you’re not already familiar, let me introduce you to Zara. Zara is a clothing and accessories retailer that began in 1975 in a central street in downtown A Coruña, Galicia, Spain. You can now find them in over 70 countries. While they have an online store that can be viewed in 10 languages, it wasn’t until 2011 that the US was one of the 17 countries where items could be shipped. I’ve never been to a store – and am trying to accept the fact that I was unknowingly two blocks away from one last week – but I’m already a huge fan just by browsing online.
Zara carries clothing for women (including a more youthful TRF line), men, and separate kids lines for young boys and girls (age 2-14) and baby boys and girls (age 3-26 months). You may notice that I included below examples of shoes and scarves for each group. If I had to overgeneralize what I saw in Italy, it was funky shoes and scarves, scarves, and scarves (even on kids and babies – so adorable). Oh, tons of chunky jewelry as well! The question doesn’t seem to be “if” you should wear a scarf or chunky jewelry, but rather what color and how many pieces.
If I wasn’t pregnant (unfortunately they don’t have a maternity line), I’d be going nuts with the shopping. For now I’ll just need to focus on shoes and scarves. But only for now…
Kelly Valeri of Kelly V. Photography has put together an AWESOME family holiday wardrobe this week! Check out her shopping secrets and the adorable outfits she compiled this week.
I’m all about unique clothing finds — especially when it comes to dressing for a portrait session. And living in a mostly rural area without too many shopping options, I rely on online retailers quite a bit. So I was really excited to find out about Zulily.com. Anyone can sign up, and it delivers a daily e-mail to your inbox with deals for moms, babies and kids. All at incredible savings!
Sure, sometimes I just don’t have time and they get ignored or deleted. But when I’m looking for something a little different, Zulily is the place to go! It has introduced me to all sorts of retailers I never knew existed.
So for this week’s Wardrobe Wednesday, I thought I’d share my shopping secret with you and feature a few clothing finds from today’s daily deal! And if you sign up, you can get them, too.
One of today’s shopping “events” as Zulili calls them, is from Bouton Kids. When I checked out their website, I realized everything is hand-woven. Some of it is a little eclectic for my taste, but I loved some of the patterns and styles. I found two great pieces on the Zulili sale that made for a great starting point for outfits for a family session.
Even better? Zulili is featuring the skirt for $44 ($76 on the store’s website) and the shirt for $37 ($64 at the store). Great deals, huh?
To round out the rest of the outfits, I opted for a little pop of color with red, which is perfect for fall.
WHERE TO SHOP
Dad
Blazer: Old Navy, $49.50
Jeans: Old Navy, $39.94
Shoes: Old Navy, $40
Mom
Shirt: Old Navy, $15
Jeggings: Old Navy, $34.94
Boots: Old Navy, $36.94
Bracelet: Old Navy, $10.94
Earrings: Old Navy, $8.94
Daughter
Hat: Old Navy, $12.94
Shirt: Old Navy, $8.94
Skirt: Zulili, $44 (must be a member to shop)
Shoes: Target, $9.99
Son
Shirt: Zulili, $37 (must be a member to shop)
Pants: Old Navy, $14.94
Shoes: Old Navy, $19.94
This week’s challenge at I Heart Faces is People’s Choice for best face photo from summer 2011. While in MI this summer for a little R&R, I photographed THIS fabulous family (you may just recognize them…they are the awesomely talented Jean and Travis Smith). It is by far, probably the most favorite family session I’ve ever shot. I’ve only spent a few hours with them and I just love them. Here is my entry for this week.
Make sure you check out the ridiculous amount of talent over at http://www.iheartfaces.com!
SJDxo
That fall chill is in the air…or so I hear. Here in southwest Florida, it doesn’t cool off until at least mid-October. However, my clients still prefer to dress for the season and I don’t blame them! I know when I have my family portraits taken later this fall, we’ll be dressing the part, whether it’s 90 degrees or not! Last week, I asked our awesome Wardrobe Wednesday fans what they’d like to see this week. The majority of you said you’d like to see more boy ideas and fall suggestions. So guess what? I combined the two. And because I am the queen of one stop shopping, I am featuring clothing from Tea Collection. LOVE.THEM.SO.MUCH! We have featured them once before. Click here to view that post.
As soon as I went to Tea Collection’s website, the warm fall colors were very apparent. Tea Collection always has a globally inspired collection, and this season it’s Modern Mexico. Let me tell you, it is CUTE. What I really love about Tea Collection, is that their pieces coordinate with one another, which makes layering (and putting together compilations for photo shoots!) pretty simple. Another feature I love, is that they have different features such as outfits, new arrivals and wardrobe sets. If you want an outfit already put together for you, just click on outfits and voila! There are so many things I love about Tea Collection; I could go on and on, but the number one feature is that their clothing is made to last. It does not fade easily, wrinkle much or fall apart. This is important to me because my kids are hard on clothing!
Check out their website for yourself. They often have SUPER sales, which is a nice bonus.
This week’s compilation was a cinch because of Tea Collection’s awesome coordinating items and themes. I chose to do a lot of layering, because it adds dimension and color to photos. The first boy’s outfit was already put together by Tea Collection. I LOVED how the henley was placed over the hoodie. The hoodie added just enough color to POP the outfit. I decided to show the items separately on the compilation board, but I added the picture of the outfit separately to show the look I am trying to depict. The second boy’s outfit was coordinated by me, myself and I. I saw the Ticking Stripe Pant (and had to have them for my son!) and went from there. I decided to coordinate another shirt over hoodie outfit to go w/ the pants. Fun to coordinate with the other boy but not too “matchy matchy”. For the mom, I found the scarf paired with the red v neck shirt and fell in LOVE. I just read recently that red is THE COLOR this season. And I don’t know many people who don’t look great in it! Unfortunately, Tea Collection does not offer a men’s collection, so I kept it simple and left the father figure out.
Here are some images from a family I photographed in Ohio last year. This mom had the wardrobe DOWN! Layers, colors, and textures…oh my!
So there ya have it. I hope this post inspires many readers to check out the very awesome Tea Collection line and to layer for their fall portrait sessions!
SHOPPING LIST
BOY: Outfit 1
http://www.teacollection.com/boys-outfits-awesome-stripe
Hombres Stripe Henley–Cloud–$22.50
Happy Hoodie–Salsa Red–$30.00
Daytripper Jeans–Bio-Stone Wash–$49.00
Simple Satire Sneaker–Nine Iron–$42.00
http://www.teacollection.com/product/ES47824/boys-and-girls-shoes-simple-satire-sneaker.html#nine%20iron
BOY: Outfit 2
Ticking Stripe Pant–Mushroom–$32.00
http://www.teacollection.com/product/1F22304/boys-pants-ticking-stripe-pant.html#mushroom
Mariachis En Barco Tee–Ochre–$26.50
http://www.teacollection.com/product/1F22012/boys-t-shirts-mariachis-en-barco-tee.html#ochre
Happy Hoodie–Cinnabar–$30.00
http://www.teacollection.com/product/1F22046/boys-hoodies-happy-hoodie.html#lemongrass
MOM
Frida Wide Leg Demin Pants–$88.50
http://www.teacollection.com/product/ES47824/boys-and-girls-shoes-simple-satire-sneaker.html#nine%20iron
Dia De Sol Scarf–$61.50
http://www.teacollection.com/product/1FW1801/women-s-scarves-dia-de-sol-scarf.html#copper
Velas V-Neck Tee–$31.50
http://www.teacollection.com/product/1FW2010/women-s-shirts-velas-v-neck-tee.html#salsa%20red
And to all of my faithful SJD Photography blogstalkers, I am nearly booked for the season. If you would like to book, please do so ASAP. I only have a limited number of sessions left!
SJDxo
CUTE CLOTHING ALERT!!! This week’s post by Rebecca of Rebecca Keeling Studios is just what Wardrobe Wednesday needed this week! I LOVE new suggestions for clothing. Especially when said clothing is extra cute and fun. Read ahead for more info!
I came home today to find one of my MOST favorite catalogs waiting for me in the mailbox. I love it so much that I felt compelled to share it with you for this week’s Wardrobe Wednesday post. Those of you with boys know how difficult it is to find really cute, original, and unique clothing for them. While living in England, I was overly excited during an early shopping outing when I came across Next in a little town near our home. There wasn’t a time that I went into that store and didn’t come out with an armful of bags for the whole family, especially Kade, who was about a year old at that time. Not only were the clothes super cute and stylish, the prices were very reasonable {which is really hard to find in the UK} and extremely well made. Much to my dismay, when I moved back to the US, I realized that they didn’t ship to the States. And thus ended my love affair with Next. You can imagine how over-the-moon I was when, just a few short months ago, I received a Next catalog in the mail and realized that they have changed their shipping policy and now even list their clothing in US sizes!! Holy shopping spree, y’all!! One of the many amazing things about being able to shop online with Next is that they are truly a one-stop-shop when it comes to all things apparel. Babies, boys, girls, mom, dad…shoes, accessories, outerwear, special occasion, casual, dressy, sportswear…even maternity AND homeware…all with a fabulous British flair!! They even offer $5 shipping. Seriously. Here are a few of my favorite collections found in their brand new fall catalog. With holiday portraits and fall sessions just around the corner, you’ll be glad you now know all about Next. Enjoy…and happy shopping!!
This blog post is WAY overdue. This is a session from LAST year, but still remains one of my favorites ever. This family is SO wonderful. Loving, fun, sweet and then some. The kids were so well behaved and well mannered and they were up for anything!
And to top it off…they are such a gorgeous family!
Until next time…
SJDxo
