Sophia: Fun and Fancy Three!

 

This adorable little lady turned 3 recently and I simply can't believe it! She's smart, funny, cute, and sassy and getting cooler every single day. Got to spend a really fun morning and afternoon with Sophia (and her awesome mama and grandma, too!) for springside portraits, followed by playing in the water and soaking up some sun for a few hours. Not a bad way to spend a summer day!

Happy Birthday, Miss Sophia Rose. You're the sweetest little fairy I know. 

Happy (almost) New Year

 Hey, 2024 is nearly here!

Somehow.

It's crazy, right? It's been another bananas-busy year for me and I'm as always, forever grateful, but my GOODNESS this year flew by.

Lots of cool stuff on deck for the new year, tons of fun that was had in the one that's about to depart, and I still have the absolute best clients in the world. Y'all are unmatched, seriously. Take a bow, and thanks as always for your support.

Stay tuned over on our social channels for news and updates as the new year dawns and we kick off another 365 of fun, memories, whimsy, laughs, zany times, shenanigans and tomfoolery; even on the hard days, there's nowhere else I'd rather be and nothing else I'd rather be doing to fill my time, so I thank you all humbly for coming along with me for the ride, wherever it takes us.

Merry everything, happy nearly new year, and bon voyage to 2023; thanks for the lessons, laughs, and love. And something else that starts with L; lanolin? Legumes? I don't know; I'll come up with something.

Sayonara, 2023, and hello, 2024. Please be kind to us and our loved ones.

(P.S. Krampus says "ta-daaaaaaaahhhhhhh". I assume about another successful year? No idea what that goat-demon is thinking, I just go with the flow.)

Worth It

Another late night editing after a long day of shooting.

But my late nights are worth it when the shots I'm prepping and posting are this damn cool. Nick and Carol at Disney's Wedding Pavilion, celebrating their second big kiss as an officially married couple. So awesome.

Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Costanza; can't wait to share more of the photos from your big day with the world.

My late nights are worth the toil.

Gearing up to Dive Down

 Summer is rapidly approaching (aka, it's spring in Florida which means it's BASICALLY already summer), and along with that I have several underwater sessions coming up. And I. Am. Stoked.

Revisiting one of my faves from last year as I prep for these ones that are on deck; hey, Sorcha! We miss you and hope you're enjoying NY...whenever you visit, you know we're going back out for another aquatic adventure, right? Okay, great.

(What a babe.)

Client Updates and 12 Foot Skelly Cheesin'

 Hello from your resident busy bee (totally adding that to my business cards) with a few quick updates!

--I am currently running on a 2.5 to 3 week turnaround time on portraits which is just slightly longer than my usual production time; I'll be sending out time-frames and expected completion dates to all of you I haven't already spoken with this week! (Wedding clients, you're all still within the 8-9 week completion time-frame so your full gallery delivery dates remain unchanged.)

--If you have reached out for a session and haven't yet chosen/confirmed your date, please do so ASAP. You know the whole song and dance...lots of you, only one of me, time is running out, blah blah blah. I can't hold dates for you if you haven't chosen yours and put down your deposit so please let me know your choices and I'll get you on the calendar!

--Related: I still have a teensy tiny itty bitty amount of space for fall and winter, so if you're looking for dates in that range (or if you're lollygaggin' on booking your date for late summer), now is the time to speak up before I completely run out of space to put you.

--Tampa project folks: I have not forgotten you, I've just been silly-busy lately. I'll get back in touch once I get my head above water on editing over here!

--Might be running a quick session contest soon along with a BOGO deal for prints...better stay tuned to the page if you want to hear more about this fun stuff. Wink!

--Finally, and I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but...hey, Halloween Mini Session guests...will y'all be cool with it if I bring a friend to the event this year? He's a real big guy; 12 feet tall, from what I hear. Skinny, though. He will allow photographs but I don't think he's alright signing autographs because it's tough for him to hold a pen. I'm not saying it's a guarantee he'll be there. But I'm also not NOT saying that.

Okay, back to work with me...if you have any questions or need anything from me, you know what to do!

Underwater Dresses with Jessi

Recently got together with the lovely Jessi for an underwater session, and she was an absolute boss at the (very challenging) task of swimming in a dress in very cold spring water. We had ever so much fun and she did awesome, which means that I had a tough time choosing my favorites from her session!

Jessi being so very awesome and at ease underwater meant that I had a tough time choosing my favorites from her session. She made me work hard to narrow it down!

Thanks for an awesome session, Jessi...you rock!

Ready to book your own aquatic adventure? Drop me a line at hello@rachelsullivanphotography and I'll be happy to help you plan your session!

Welcome Home, Zander

 When photographing a newborn session, I like to encourage families to include some "lifestyle/natural environment" photos as well as the more posed stuff and studio portraits, whenever it's possible to do so. Doing this allows me to capture things such as touching candids, fun and funny behind the scenes shots, the nursery and decor, and a look at what life really looked like at home during Baby's very first days back from the hospital. In the case of Baby Zander, it was a joy to be able to capture him and his family, both in several studio-style shots as well as in his own real world.

The trick here, of course, is that with a family as sweet as the Morrisons, a baby as handsome and mellow as Zander, and what might be the COOLEST nursery I have ever seen...I had a bit of a tough time picking just a few favorite shots to share with you. So, here you go: a slightly extended gallery featuring many of my favorite moments from the session.

Zander's mom and Dad, Ali and RJ, are huge fans of "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings", so not only was this the main theme for our session, it's also the theme of Zander's AMAZING nursery.

Seriously, look at this room! I was so impressed. RJ even painted the Tree of Gondor himself. Incredible! The whole nursery is filled with items and decor from "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings", but also "Harry Potter" and a few other books and movies as well as sweet quotes of encouragement and notes of faith. It's lovely and so personal to the family!

We took several photos in Zander's awesome nursery before moving out for the studio portion of the session. He did so well throughout! Such a sweet and mellow little guy.

During our LOTR section of the session, we included Ali's beloved copy of "The Hobbit" which also made an appearance when we shot their maternity portraits this past spring. And when we were able to get Zander to clutch one of the Leaves of Lorien in his tiny hand for a few photos, we all swooned with geeked-out glee!

Both Ali and RJ's mamas were along for the fun, so of course when taking some of the family photos, we had to make sure both of Zander's grandmas were in the portraits with their sweet new grandbaby!

This baby is so loved by his family, and it's genuinely heartwarming to see.

Many thanks to Ali and RJ (and their sweet mamas, too) for allowing me to capture this special time in your lives! It was an honor, and I'm beyond happy for you as you embark on your new adventure.

Welcome to the world, sweet Zander!