Full Circle...

I've blogged so many times about how easy it is to get photographer burnout. The struggle is real when I overbook myself on sessions, or when I take on more weddings than I really should. I've often been grateful I chose to take the design route in college for work, and opt for running my photography on the side - because it always helped me enjoy shooting more. Eventually, I'm going to fully learn how to not spread myself thin during the busy seasons of the year.

Editing today, I was reminded why I love doing what I do. Over the weekend, I was so happy to meet sweet week & a half old baby Lucian. I've been looking forward to meeting this little guy for months.

Lucian's parents were referred to me 2 1/2 years ago when they got engaged, when we did their engagement session:

It wasn't long after we struck up a great friendship - these two are just precious and the most perfect couple for each other. It wasn't long after, these two crazy kids got married at the gorgeous, gorgeous Belle Meade Plantation.

It was a "I will never let anyone else take our photos" relationship, or as Angela repeatedly told me at her wedding, "You're my girl, no one else is allowed to take our pictures! You're my girl!" And although she was slightly intoxicated, I knew I really would be the only one to do their photos ;-)

Which brings us to a few months after the wedding, when we did their first family session at home, after the "newlywed" phase was over.

And then in September, I got the news Little L was on his way! When they found out the sex in December, she immediately text me (bursting in excitement, mainly because she just had to spill the beans to someone the sex of the baby) to set up a gender reveal session so they could announce to the family. 

A few ideas tossed around, and we decided the best way to announce the gender was with some Cowboy Boots! Nothing describes these two quite like "Country", with their cozy little barn in the middle of nowhere. So Grandma bought brown boots and pink boots....and anxiously awaited for me to upload a photo on Facebook to announce to their friends which pair of boots Little L would be wearing....

But their sessions (obviously) don't end there, because we squeeze just one more in before little man decided to make his arrival...

And that brings us to this now, where Little Lucian comes in. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Sunday than doing a session with this little lovebug and snuggling and smooching him after. I'm super fortunate to do what I do - not only for the incredible memories I get to create, but for the cases like this where I also make  some incredible friendships.

I've been dying to get this shot, but no newborns lately have gone into such a deep sleep to let me get them situated. Lucian crashed right at the end of his session & I wanted to get a shot of him sleeping with his Woody from Toy Story doll -- and that sweet baby slept so well that I decided to jump on my book shot! 

Welcome to the world sweet baby Lucian, I can't wait to watch you grow up! 

Live from the Grand Ole Opry...

What a week....and it's only Tuesday! I woke up Saturday with a sore throat, dry cough & had a hard time talking. Sunday I had zero voice whatsoever, which led me to the walk in clinic, who announced I had laryngitis. And now here we are on Tuesday, where I feel even worse than I did on Sunday! Thank goodness for my awesome doctor this morning, who gave me the laryngitis spiel but also informed me I have an upper respiratory infection & got me the meds that I needed to start nipping this in the bud.

My doctor knows me too well -- and decided to write this one out for me as well, to remind me that he doesn't want me attempting to talk for 2 more days. Sigh. I had no voice the last part of the weekend, and when it sliiiiightly starts to come back, he tells me to keep my mouth shut.

I also may have had a slight breakdown at Kroger today looking for the specific mint tea my Granny always made me when I was sick. Apparently it hit me, "hey Nicole, you can't call her anymore!" and I burst into tears. I'm a hot mess today. Tomorrow's the anniversary of Granny's death, and there's just no day I hate more than April 2nd, I suppose it's heavy on my mind right now.

But all is well now, because I'm heavily medicated and snuggled in my favorite blanket watching movies.

thanks doc...

Thankfully, none of this really hit until Saturday -- and thank goodness for technology, or else my friends never would have known what the hell I was saying Saturday night! Since I didn't really feel fabulous Saturday, I cut out as soon as P's performance was over.

Friday, however, was pretty fabulous. Larry & I were backstage and as usual, had a blast....

More exploration of the dressing rooms. You can probably find something in every dressing room that you never noticed before, no matter how many times you are back there!

I love the entrance lit up at night. #photographynerd 

And I love this girl! It was soooo wonderful to catch up with her. It's so hard to believe so many years have passed  - I do believe Patty might be one of the very few things I stuck with as a kid ;) I know I gush about her all the time, but it's such a significant thing in my life. Larger than life to me as a kid -- who would've thought years later things would be the way they are now?

It's no secret how much I love classic country music. The Opry sure isn't what it used to be....but some of the stuff backstage brings me to tears.  (I suppose that's not hard, since I'm such a freaking sap.) I'm not a performer, but country music was totally my first love. 

Larry had his pics taken with a bunch of different folks while we were there - he knew so many of the people there through his work with Dottie, like Michael W. Smith & all his crew.  It was great to meet folks, but when we weren't seeing my P, I was in my own little Opry world.  

However, I was pleasantly surprised to run into Steve Burton, who was there to support Jonathan Jackson. I don't watch the "Nashville" show, so my knowledge of Jonathan Jackson is from his portrayal of Lucky on "General Hospital". (Jonathan is a super nice guy, by the way!) Steve was a great guy & brought on some great "soap" talk, bringing up my beloved All My Children and how bad that got screwed up. 

such a nice guy!

and of course....the queen bee was the star of the show. 

I capped the night watching the Kentucky basketball game with the Security backstage. Can't neglect my Cats -- WHO TOTALLY BEAT LOUISVILLE!!!!

Such a great weekend, even if I DID spend the majority of it sick! And now...it's time to get away with being incredibly lazy & eating ice cream because I totally deserve it today.

Step right up....come on in...

Happy Friday! I'm so happy to have a low-key weekend ahead....save for a session on Sunday morning, I have a nice weekend in. Considering I just bought a big stack of more vinyl, I fully intend on spending my Saturday with my record player.

It's Five on Friday time, and I'm totally theme-ing it this week. I had to pick out 5 songs for a friend this week to add to a playlist, and quite frankly: picking 5 of my favorite songs was a lot harder than I thought it would be! It should be no surprise to anyone that the 5 I picked were all "real" Country Music, and were mostly from artists I rave about daily. With that said....5 songs I can't live without, by 5 artists I can't live without:

one. The Grand Tour - George Jones 

Not only is this my fave Jones song, this is my all time favorite song by anyone.  This song is breathtaking. If this song doesn't hit you or bring tears to your eyes, I'm not sure you have a soul. "As you leave, you'll see the nursery, oh she left me without mercy..." I promise you no one but George Jones can deliver that line with that pain. Sigh. I'm so fortunate I had the chance to hear him do this live multiple times before his passing.


two. Till I Can Make it On My Own - Tammy Wynette I say it was hard to rank a top 5 songs, but it certainly isn't hard to rank my top 2. This vies sooo close to my #1 spot for favorite song. I love Tammy. I still cite getting the chance to see her live as one of the highlights of my life. I was eleven years old when she came to my hometown of Sebastian, Florida. My mother refused to buy me tickets, so thank goodness the DJ's at our local station took pity on the kid who so desperately wanted to go & handed me two tickets. Bless her heart, a rough life she led - she was pretty frail by the time I had the chance to see her. But boy was it magical - and I can still remember every single moment of that show. Hearing this live was one of the greatest moments of my life.
three. Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark - Dolly Parton/Porter Wagoner
Jeannie's Afraid of the Dark has always been my favorite Dolly song....and goodness knows it's hard to pick one, because that girl knows how to write a good song. I could have thought of 100 songs off the top of my head that she wrote that I can't live without. Anyway, I love this one --- I miss the days of Country Music songs telling a story. I almost miss the days of a good duet!


four.  It's Only Make Believe - Conway Twitty Oh how I love, love, love this man. Talk about a huge loss -- waaaay too soon for Country Music. I was 9 years old when Conway died....I still remember where & when I was when my Mom told me he was gone. I often think about what an even bigger impact he would have made on Country Music if he had lived a little longer. This song is incredible live..

five. My Old Friend the Blues - Patty Loveless You didn't think I'd actually leave P out of this list, did you? Goodness knows my top fave songs are peppered with probably almost every song P has ever cut. This song absolutely slays me. (And even more so live) Multiple artists have cut this, and not a damn one of them has put an ounce of the emotion that P has in her version. 

'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black....

As a 18 year resident, I'm not one for all the touristy stuff in Nashville anymore. However, country music is one of my first loves -- and not that crap that's on radio today, the classic stuff that  will break your heart. So, I'm a frequent visitor to places like the Country Music Hall of Fame....places that help preserve the history of Country Music.

One of the new attractions that has been added to my frequently visited list is the Johnny Cash museum. Today, after a particularly stressful day, I decided to head back to the Cash museum to explore a little more. I know I've mentioned it before briefly, but this place is so so well put together. I swear I find something new every time I visit. It's seriously one of the greatest gems we have in town, and I could probably go every day if I had the time!

The memorabilia is really amazing. I know I've posted the big stuff like photos of his Grammy's or CMA's, but there is so much more than that at the museum.

This greets you when you walk in the museum, and I cannot think of anything more fitting.

The vinyl nerd in me goes crazy over the two walls of records they have up. It's incredible. What I wouldn't give to be able to listen to every single one of those.

And in my infamous "Where I Stand...." -- under one of my fave Cash records! Not only do I have this one hanging in my kitchen & listen to it frequently - PL has this record on the cover of Sleepless Nights!

These posters are all so amazing -- all this stuff from way before my time that I'd never have been able to see if it weren't for the museum.

Serious Country Music history right here....I read every line like I didn't know the lyrics to the song. 

And if this doesn't break your heart, I don't know what will...what Cash wrote after June's burial.

By the time I left, I forgot what I was stressed out about when I walked in.... I love Nashville.

Home Sweet Home

Today on my way to my sisters house, John Anderson's "Seminole Wind" came on, and made me incredibly homesick. I've been in Nashville for 18 & love it - and probably couldn't ever see me leaving, but I'll always love my FL! 'Seminole Wind' has the line "blow blow from the Okeechobee" that always hits me because I grew up about 60 miles from Lake Okeechobee.

I grew up in a little town called Sebastian, just outside of Vero Beach -- which is where my sister lived, so I spent so much time in both, they each hold a special place in my heart.

 I looove this. It has everything I love about back home. My mom worked at a Grove, so I'm an orange & orange juice snob: Nothing but Indian River Oranges for this girl! 

As a kid on the Atlantic Coast, I spent a lot of my time outside. Riding bikes, going to the beach, reading out by the pool, going down to the rivers to look for Gators - we were constantly outside. I'd say kids today never go outside because of all the technology, but I had mine too -- hello, weren't discmans the greatest things ever?! I could pop in a PL cd & get lost in riding my bike forever! (Maybe getting lost in riding my bike wasn't the greatest idea -- I used to ride my bike barefoot & am still scarred from the memory of running over a snake without knowing it, only to feel it pop up and rub into my foot! I've never pedaled so fast in my life!) 

Sebastian

All this leads to: I've spent much of my Friday night looking up flights for my visits home this year. This once a year, sometimes skipping a year, is going to come to a stop soon. While I certainly don't miss stuff like the hurricanes - I miss the stuff I can't do in Tennessee. I know the beach is the first on everyone's  minds, but I miss those days at the river with my sister trying to spot the Gators -- and once we spotted one, guessing how long we thought it was!

And now that I've played the reminisce game, it's time to book some flights! 

life is made up of moments....

I feel like I say this every year: It is SO incredibly easy to have photographer burnout every  Christmas season. This year might be the absolute worst I've had it.  I've been so bombarded with client work. The past few weeks I took a nice little break, and now I'm absolutely swimming in client orders. And it seems like Christmas makes so many people go....crazy, some of the calls & emails I've gotten recently have made me literally want to tear my hair out.

This week in particular, I dealt with a few less than pleasant folks & literally wanted to walk outside and start screaming. It's moments like this that make me not enjoy what I do -- and THAT is the worst feeling in the world. And I don't think I've ever felt it as strongly as I did this week.  Every year I say I'm going to make changes the following year so it doesn't happen again, but I've never meant it as much as I did today! (and I really am going to start shooting more for "me" next year!)

Thankfully, one of my very favorite clients text me shortly thereafter to schedule her gender reveal session. It couldn't have come at a better time. I shot this sweet couple's engagement photos, their wedding, anniversary, and now the fun of having their first child. Every big moment in their lives --- she's turned to me to capture it. And THAT reminded me of why I love doing what I do.

I hate to go full nerd on everyone and quote my show, but on Once Upon a Time this week, Charming & Snow both used the line about "Life is made up of moments, good ones, bad ones, but they're all worth living." and I absolutely loved it, because it's so true - and I live for capturing those moments. And with that....favorite shots from this year that I took for ME, that renewed my love for being behind the lens - for every moment, big or small. Images I can look at and immediately be back in the exact incredible moment I was in when I took it.

It's no secret P was a huge inspiration in everything I wanted to do. I discovered my love of design from starting the website, and I learned my love for photography from all the shooting I did at shows. I am convinced my absolute best work happens when I'm taking pictures of her- maybe it has something to do with having spent so much of my life at her concerts.  I love this picture, especially since I'm so obsessed with black & white. 

This one time, for my 30th birthday, the bestie & I went to see Merle Haggard & Loretta Lynn in the same weekend. Most amazing weekend ever. And the moment I look at this picture, I'm taken back to moments like us singing along to "Mama Tried"....you know, with Merle-freaking-Haggard standing in front of us. (PS: I really really really love Merle Haggard) 

I love my babies more than life itself. And how grossed out Kadin is that I asked his sisters to kiss his cheek (yet he can't stop laughing about it!) makes me smile every time I look at this. 

I love baby toes. There's nothing happier than baby toes. Especially when they belong to one of my new baby cousins that is one of the happiest, sweetest babies I've ever seen in my life. 

My 4th of July was full of Bourbon, in my beloved Lexington, with my bestie. What better way to celebrate Independence Day than doing the Kentucky Bourbon Trail? This helps sum up my entire year--- usually on the road with my bestie & Chris.

My nephew, ever the inquisitive one since Granny passed away, asked me out of the blue in the car one day what I thought angels might sound like, and without a single thought, "Emmylou Harris" is what came out of my mouth. I'm pretty sure I'm right.

The bestie & I saw Don Williams(!!!) this year - an artist that was on my "Concert Bucket List"! I completely fan-girled when I heard "Lord I Hope This Day is Good" live. Hello, one of the greatest songs ever written.

This is just one of my favorites.  As I mentioned, Liz Lamoreux's blog of Capturing Where I Stand inspired me to start shooting where I stood. Standing toe to toe with Johnny Cash's boots might be one of the highlights of my year. And capturing where I stand will be prominent in my 2014.

Mango Margaritas on the beach. Because is there a better way to spend Memorial Day weekend than in Pensacola with your best friend, drinking while having an epic Loretta Lynn sing-a-long on the beach? 

And a client shot that was one of my faves from the year --- from the aforementioned client who helped put some things in perspective!

I'm glad 2013 is almost over...my camera is going to stay busy! So many trips & concerts in the works...(unless P decides to do a few shows. Then it's "cancel all things!!!" and go see P!) I think I might be away even more next year than I was this year! (How is that possible!?) Here's to 2014! 

No-Show Jones....

This weekend was pretty epic. And considering how much the bestie & I are off running around on a road trip or a show --- or basically never home -- that says a lot. 

The bestie hauled it to town Friday afternoon and she & I headed to the George Jones tribute show Friday night. We technically had tickets for the show as soon as they were available, as George’s final show. We were SO stoked to see him again (and then of course P got added to the guest list, which obviously made this even better!)….and then of course, George passed away. We held onto our tickets to see what the show's future was.

with the bestie at the concert!

The show was so well put together – something I didn’t expect with 100 acts. 4 hours, 48 songs.  There were definitely acts that had us scratching our heads (or more like wincing in pain for our ears. Sorry Megadeath fans….I can’t do metal. Adding Jamey Johnson to the mix did not make the song bearable. I can totally appreciate that Jones influenced genres of all kinds, but yikes. There are some genres that don't need to sing a Country Song, and metal is one of them.), but overall, it was fabulous. (Although the photographer in me was dying at the dreadful lighting!)  Obviously, P was the best of the best, it's what happens when you're as awesome as she is.

Among our other personal fave highlights:

-Emmylou Harris. In the "did this really happen" category:  Emmylou Harris seriously sang “If My Heart Had Windows”. Granted - they put her in a group (I totally get why they had to group people together....buuuuut she's Emmylou freaking Harris, people.), but holy crap. You have no idea how I would kill to hear her sing this solo. 

-George Strait. Sigh. And not only did we get to see him, he sang not only my favorite Jones song, but my favorite song by anyone-- “The Grand Tour”. (Seriously, this is like the greatest country song ever written.) We see his full show in March, and I need this to hurry up.  I've pretty much convinced myself I will die if I don't get to hear "Marina Del Ray" live. 

swoon.

-“Two Story House” – this is totally my favorite Tammy & George song.....and no joke, we do it at karaoke every single time we go. (And because people are lame and don't usually know it, Rita always has to be my George Jones.) People always seem to forget about it! Thompson Square sang it, and we immediately freaked out and sang along obnoxiously. (Not that we didn't do that to every song, but the guy beside us was super amused by us during this one.)

-Jessi freakin' Colter! I’ve never been able to see her before, I was SO excited to see her on the bill. I love her!  Fittingly, she was paired with Shooter Jennings, and I loved their version of “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me”.

-Sam Moore singing “Blues Man” was absolutely out of this world. Perfect song for him, he sounded incredible. Definitely one of the top performances of the night.

-The dude behind us. No really.  Aside from singing along with us to pretty much....everything, he was also completely entertaining. Taking advantage of George Strait's nickname of King George....when Strait came out, the guy behind us screamed "KING GEORGE!! WE'RE NOT WORTHY!!" He may have been the greatest concert go-er we've ever sat by. 

-And again: P was beyond amazing, and the best of the night. Duh. She did “Color of the Blues”, which is probably one of the best songs of George’s that she’s actually cut. Everyone used Jones band, but she also brought Emory along with her. So so proud of her! 

Emory & the Queen Bee

And yes, I’m aware my highlights once again show I was born in the wrong generation, because everyone my age was going crazy for folks like Blake & Miranda, or Kid Rock --- while I was geeking out over Emmylou Harris.

On a side note, how ADORABLE are the shot glasses from his show?! We immediately came back to the house and did shots. And it pairs perfect with my Loretta Lynn shot glass. 

Saturday we proceeded to pretty much have the best girls day you can imagine --- well for music nerds like us anyway. They put up George’s monument at his grave on Monday, and since I live 5 minutes from the cemetery, I ran over there to see it unveiled. I can’t begin to stress what a great job they did on this – absolutely beautiful. Since Rita hadn’t seen it, Saturday morning we headed to the store to pick up some Wine Colored Roses (I will give you a cookie if you knew that was a George Jones song! Pretty sure the girl in the floral department thought we were nuts inspecting the colors of all the roses!), and went over to see it, stopping by the mausoleum to pay respects to Tammy. Since last time she came up we paid respects to Conway, Johnny & June, this time we decided to go lay flowers at the grave of another that stole our hearts – Vern Gosdin. 

soooo well done!

love love love him.

I pass this every week, and I use it as a reminder of why I love Nashville.  The sun was shining so beautifully by it that I felt like I needed another picture of it. 

So, it's no secret that for Halloween next year, I'm going as Tammy Wynette & Rita is going as Loretta Lynn since we're going to Dolphie's to celebrate. It's always been our thing, she's the Loretta to my Tammy -- and quite often, I sing more Tammy and she sings more Loretta when we're at Dolphie's. Anyway, we've started researching our costumes this week soooooo at our Starbucks visit this time, we decided to channel our inner country stars ;)

What's a Saturday without hitting the record shop for more vinyl, right? Seriously, it's an addiction. Give me a vinyl record & I will love you forever.

I was going to say our vintage country music was our theme for the weekend, but is there ever really a weekend where it ISN’T our theme? Before heading up to Kentucky, we ran back over to the Johnny Cash Museum to pick up a few pieces of merch for gifts.....and then hit the road with my sis to meet up with Metcalf at Dolphie's for some karaoke! I love love love when my sister goes with us - it's hilarious to see the differences in song choices. I freaked out that Scotty now has "Long-Legged Guitar Pickin Man", while my sister was dying that was a real song. 

the sis

with the bestie!

celebrating Metcalf & Rita's birthdays a little early! (As Rita clutches her Conway Twitty DVD! Score for the best presents ever! She got a Conway t-shirt too!)

with my two favorite girls, my bestie & my sissy! 

This may have been one of our greatest & most creative karaoke sets. Almost every round we did we somehow tied to Jones. Our first rounds were our obligatory Loretta & Tammy sets, but we signed Metcalf up for "Murder on Music Row" (because it's oh so fitting, and mentions the Possum), "He Stopped Loving Her Today", while we took on "If My Heart Had Windows", "A Picture of Me Without You" -- and then brought out stuff like The Judds "Have Mercy" for the simple line of "I could hear you was playing Haggard & Jones"....or Dolly's "Honky Tonk Songs" for the great line of "I've listened to Haggard, ole Hank...and George Jones", and of course "I was Country When Country Wasn't Cool". 

Moving on, it's a short week for the Holidays, and I'm only working two days this week. I say I'm so ready for a few days of doing nothing after a full weekend this past weekend, but obviously that's not going to happen any time soon. Bring on Black Friday shopping! The sis & I have our plans mapped out.....and of course it's going to be freeeeezing this year.  Thank God for Starbucks! 

Happy Monday y'all!