Maternity+Doggo Session.

Amy+Ben+Nathan // A Newborn Session

It’s our pleasure to officially induct Amy+Ben into the CSP 5 Timer’s Club (yep – it’s like hosting SNL, but being on our blog instead… which is just as good, right?)! Their most recent shoot was their maternity session with us in January, and on that blog post, I also link to all the other sessions in their past if you’re interested, which you should be, because Amy+Ben are GREAT! And (to no one’s surprise), so is their new addition Nathan. Nathan is a champion sleeper. Like, a CHAMPION SLEEPER ALL CAPS. He slept through, quite literally, 98% of the session. Sounds and light did not disturb him, but he’s not a huge fan of outfit changes (who is?).

And it’s a good thing Nathan’s a stellar sleeper too, because I locked Amy, Ben, and their two-week-old infant out of their house on accident. We walked onto the porch for a couple pictures, and I closed the door behind me (in my defense, they have cats, and I did not want said cats to escape… also in my defense, I did not know the door would lock). We then realized we were locked out, and locked out with a newborn. But because Nathan is a CHAMPION SLEEPER ALL CAPS, he literally did not notice. We were outside for about 30 minutes and he didn’t wake up because he’s a boss. Thankfully, it was nice out, and more thankfully, Amy and Ben know us very well so they weren’t mad and it wasn’t awkward to wait on their porch for 30 minutes while a locksmith came (I am so sorry you guys). Whooooops. Now I know. And let this be a warning to you all not to let me near your doors.

Kelly+Steven // Joshua Tree National Park

You guyyyys! It has always been a dream of mine to visit Joshua Tree National Park because I’m the world’s biggest U2 dork. And yes, I’m aware that the actual Joshua Tree where Anton Corbijn (one of my favorite photographers) took the famous photos of Bono and Co. near is no longer living, and yes, I’m also aware that this was in the Mojave Desert as opposed to the national park, but I don’t care… it’s still been at the top of my travel list for a long time. So the day after our Santa Paula wedding, we drove all the way over to Joshua Tree. Unfortunately, we picked the one day that it rains nonstop in the desert. On the way the park, we texted back and forth with our beloved clients Kelly and Steven (whom you may remember from their Sutherland wedding back in NC!) and tried to decide what to do. It wasn’t just kinda sprinkling, it was pouring. We could take pictures there, but chances are that we probably wouldn’t be able to. But, we decided to meet anyway. At the very least, we could drive around and discuss The Walking Dead together.

Kelly and Steven live near Los Angeles now, but we hope to get them back in NC someday because they’re awesome. And we are so, so thankful that they came out to Joshua Tree to take photos with us, and we were glad to see them and catch up! And while we were all hoping for that beloved desert sunshine, we were left with a thick blanket of clouds… but! At least the rain did miraculously clear up (hooray!!) and we were able to photograph them chilling around the desert! And when I say chilling, I mean chilling, because it was also quite cold (this was not the desert weather I was anticipating). But despite the clouds and the cold, we had a brilliant time, and the park is every bit as beautiful as I expected it to be. We also saw a few desert bunnies (awww) and I listened to U2’s The Joshua Tree the whole time like a giant nerd and it felt wonderful. Couldn’t be more thankful or happy to have photography be my job and to have wonderful clients who live all over the world who treat us like old friends. Thank you, Kelly and Steven! So glad I got to see this place.