At Home with Jacques, Lindsey+Co.

Jacques and Lindsey are back! And you definitely know these guys if you’ve been following us for any period of time. We did a family session with them, their kiddo Elizabeth, and Elizabeth’s extended family back in 2014, and then we did a now well-known headshot/promo session with Jacques back in 2015 for his comic book business Not So Super Comics. And now they’re back! They have a new kiddo named Eleanor, and Elizabeth has become a fantastic big sister. This afternoon was all about having the kids spend time with their extended family of grandparents, aunts, and uncles all in once space and having quality family time together. They had fun playing with bubbles, musical instruments, and walking down to the lake. The kids also had a great time showing us their extraordinary homeschool setup brought to you by their awesome teacher-mom Lindsey! It is incredible, and the kids were learning about circuits. Yep, circuits. I don’t even know anything about circuits and I’m 32. It was also about distracting their dad as he tries to work on his upcoming Kickstarter campaign.

That’s righhht, Not So Super Comics fans! A new Kickstarter is coming very, very soon as Not So Super Comics morphs into Not So Super Publishing. Yesss, publishing! Jacques is writing two picture books for little and big kids and adult kids alike called “Gumgah & The Grumpledonk” and another called “The Booger Queen” that are sure to delight. As a previous Kickstarter supporter of Jacques and owner of all his comics, we can say that his writing is fantastic, fun, and thoughtful, and we are so excited to read what he’s come up with! He vows to be a publisher “of fun and inclusive comics, picture books, and art that all kinds of people can enjoy,” and we are so glad to be a part of his project!

We did a few short promo photos for him prior to the family session in order for him to create a Kickstarter video, and we tried to channel all the Reading Rainbow vibes that we could short of inserting animated butterflies (kinda hoping Jacques does that somehow in the final product but no pressure Jacques, I know you probably are busy with, you know, writing).

So go follow Jacques! He is available in all these places. Follow him so you can hear about his Kickstarter news!

Facebook // Not So Super Comics
Facebook // Not So Super Publishing
Twitter // Not So Super Publishing
Instagram // Not So Super Publishing

And now I’ll let you guys see his adorable family. We are so happy to have had the chance to work with all of you again, and are anxiously awaiting the new books!

Frank the Frenchie // Le Portrait of Le Bulldog

When flipping through these pictures you might ask yourself, “Is this dog real?” or “How much did it cost to get such a life-like mechanical dog who doesn’t seem able to bend any of his limbs but makes such cute facial expressions?” We are here to assure you that Frank the Frenchie is, indeed real, and is living a cushy life in Raleigh, North Carolina where his lives with Jo, Brad, Laurel, and Sam (whom you might knot from “The Lake” part one, and “The Lake” part two). But this, my friends, is not about them. Well, it kind of is, but is mostly about Frank. He is their recently adopted Frenchie.

Johanna’s initial skepticism about owning a dog has turned into her sitting in the living room with Frank on her lap whispering in his ear, “Nobody loves you like I do,” so it’s safe to say he’s made quite an impression. He is small yet made entirely of muscle, which he will use to excitedly jump all over the place when you first arrive, and then collapse into an overheated heap in the exercise room while the family shouts, “He is overheating! Quick! Get him to some tile!” He is then placed on said cool tile and we wait while his batteries recharge, and then he comes barreling out of the room with his tongue stuck out again. Frank makes a constant audible noise while he breathes, and stares constantly into space. It’s like he can see into the Upside Down all the time or has been spending a lot of time on the road with the Grateful Dead. He is 100% malleable and uses 0% of his energy to do anything except overheat himself when you initially arrive, and occasionally chase balls. He owns his own Casper bed and enjoys eating ice chips from the fridge.

HOW CAN I SEE MORE OF THIS DOG, you might ask. Well, Frank has his own Instagram account where he’s actively trying to gain more followers so that he and Gary Fisher can become fast friends. I love Frank. And these people here love Frank. And so should you.

Leila+Colin // Asheville, NC Wedding

Okay before I start this, it’s important to know that Leila’s name is pronounced “LIE-LA.” We literally started writing it that way in e-mails so I could remember, all caps included. I knew someone who had her named spelled Leila once, but pronounced it “Lee-la,” which is what I had been calling Leila in my head for months when I was corrected by Heather at Gilded Bridal, which is where Leila bought her stunner of a dress. Have you ever mispronounced someone’s name before? Something about the correction makes the mispronunciation even worse. It causes me to overthink it. Then “Lee-la” turned into “Lee… no, Lay-la… no no, Lee-la, yeah, Lee-la. NO. Lieeeeee…laa?” I couldn’t get it right. Until I remembered good old Lyla Garrity from Friday Night Lights. No, her name isn’t spelled Leila, but it’s pronounced “LIE-LA” and I freaking love Friday Night Lights so for some reason I was able to remember it this way because #texasforever and #cleareyesfullheartscantlose. I am 100% impressed that I didn’t call Colin “Rigs” once.

Now that we have that settled, Leila was our beloved former clients Carly+Jay’s maid of honor and we were so happy when she asked us to shoot her and Colin’s wedding in Asheville! It was actually in Swannanoa which is a pretty little small town just far enough outside of Asheville to be very woodsy, yet close enough where I could overdose on cinnamon buns at Posana for brunch. Ideal conditions. Hidden River Events is an incredible venue with a ton of wildflowers, horses, and dare I say the best lighting conditions on the planet (well, in the evening of October 14th anyway). It was beautiful. And Leila and Colin aren’t so bad themselves. Leila is of Palestinian descent and she and Colin met in Palestine doing all sorts of wonderful humanitarian goodness for people over there. They continue to do humanitarian goodness for all sorts of people from their homebase in Washington, DC with their dog Mr. B while watching Seinfeld at the same time. They were surrounded at their wedding by other Palestinians and also a lot of Irish. There were lots of good accents.

Leila and Colin were super fun to work with when we weren’t bringing up childhood traumas such as the death of Artax in the Neverending Story (don’t worry kids, I’ve since researched this heavily and the horse did not actually die, but was given to the actor who played Atreyu and died “much much later, living a good life doing horse stuff”). We are so, so happy to have been their wedding photographers and excited to see them and Mr. B again this spring for another portrait session where we don’t have to bring up the Neverending Story again (but we might because remember the rock guy?!). We love you guys! Thank you forever and ever neverending for having us. Isn’t this wedding purdy?

– Date: October 14, 2017
– Ceremony + Reception Venue: Hidden River Events // Swannanoa, NC
– Leila’s Occupation: Public Health
– Colin’s Occupation: PhD
– How You Met: Palestine
– Interesting Fact: I can do a lot of pushups.
– Honeymoon: Maybe Chile.
– Vendor Credits: Officiant – Jeanne Sommer. DJ+Florist+Coordinator – Hidden River Events. Food – Anne’s Custom Catering. Makeup – Jen O’Leary. Hair – Sarah Carpenter.