The McCoy Family

While on a family vacation to the beach I was able to include a photo shoot with my sister's family.  With two older girls and three busy boys, this shoot could have been trouble.  In most cases that would be true, but not with the McCoy's.  These are the sweetest kids!  And so willing to just play and pose for me.  Just a few directions and this very photogenic family was ready to roll.  We had kind of a windy evening on the sand, but were able to capture some of the fun we had that night.  Thanks so much McCoy family for a great beach shoot!  To see a more of the McCoy's beach shoot, check out the slideshow at:  https://vimeo.com/lisaodonnell

The Hamilton Family

I spent a fun evening with this family of 6 at their beautiful home capturing some great photographs.  It was so cute, when I first arrived, the youngest two grabbed me by the hand and led me on a tour of everyone's bedrooms so I could see all their special treasures and creations.  These kids are just so friendly and wanting to tell you all about their world.  They also have a beautiful dog that sure did his part in posing for the portraits.  Treats always help do the trick!!  We finished off with a trip to their neighborhood park and some rock jumping.  Pretty fun.  Thanks Hamilton Family for a super fun evening!
To see more of the Hamilton shoot, please check out the slideshow.  I love the music Heidi picked out!  Here's the link:   https://vimeo.com/lisaodonnell

Backroad Adventures

Along the backroads of North Carolina are many amazing sites, like this wheat field below.  While fairly common place here, fields like this are a rare thing in the distant world of California that I am from.  I am so enjoying finding cool places like this to photograph!!

 
Another fun find was this Green Anole.  Apparently, like a Chameleon, these little creatures can change color to match their environment.  The kids had to point it out to me as it blended in just so well.

Memorial Day

My very patriotic husband started getting me in the spirit a few days ago.  He was watching some of the ceremonies for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the internet ... very cool!  Check it out sometime if you get a chance.  So in honor of our country's recognition of the men and women who have died in service to our nation, we went out in search of some memorial sites.  I would love to have gone to a giant national cemetery like Arlington this weekend, but sometimes with three kids in the back of the van we can only stretch their patience so far.  We made it to a little cemetery close by our home that had posted flags at all the veteran's burial sites.  A ways further down the highway we found a confederate monument in a little town called Monroe.  Although, is a confederate monument somehow controversial on Memorial Day?  Just a thought.  Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Mother's Day

Today we celebrated Mother's Day with our kids in our new city.  I was given the luxury of choosing a fun activity for the day, so of course, I chose to do something with photography : ).  I always love going places that involve beauty, history, education and getting outdoors... so I surprised the family with a local adventure to a place my kids are super familiar with:  their school.  Their school is a pretty amazing place.  Not only is it a fantastic school, but the school grounds themselves are pretty cool.  It backs up to a nature preserve area and is adjacent to a very old church and cemetery.  I know it sounds unusual, but Tim and I have always enjoyed visiting old cemeteries.  This one is especially amazing as there is just so much history to this place.  The church was founded in 1767 and there are Revolutionary War veterans as well as Civil War veterans buried here.  Lord Charles Cornwallis, the famous British General, was here at this site with his troops during their attempt to overtake Charlotte. 

I love this stone wall.  It is original to the property and is just rough stacked.... not cemented in place.  

This very special place above is the Slave Cemetery.  It's just behind that beautiful stone wall.  All of the graves are now marked with aluminum crosses, but originally the grave of a slave was noted with just a simple rock.  The church has gone back in more recent years and added these crosses.  My picture doesn't show how large this area, but there really is quite a large area of graves. 

And of course, I couldn't let my kids get away without a day of some portraits...

Here are some native plants on the grounds of the school.  Our kids showed us this most amazing little bog garden they pass through on the way to the lower field.  These plants are Venus Flytraps and Pitcher Plants.  I didn't realize that they were native to North Carolina, but they are.  And how cool they are! 

The Moot-Abreau Family

This lovely family and I spent an early evening out trying to win the smile of their very cute little girl.  But we really didn't have to work very hard.  This little one is super smiley and a real talker.... ok, I guess talker would be stretching the truth, but in her own baby language this one sure communicates a lot!  This mama and her little sweetie have the same dazzling blue eyes (lucky girls!) and this daddy sure loves to please his little one.  He even brought flowers to the shoot so we'd be sure to capture a little color in our pictures.  Very sweet!  Hope you enjoy looking at the pictures of our fun evening out!  To see more from our shoot, please check out the sideshow :  http://vimeo.com/lisaodonnell

The Eaton Family

This very sweet family and I went on a walk to capture some cute images... and boy, did their family deliver!  This two year old was amazing to work with.  He just kept going and going.  Love the energy of a toddler!  They brought their dog along for some of the shots.  Seriously, this the sweetest dog... big, but very gentle.  To see the entire shoot, take a look at their family slideshow:   www.vimeo.com/lisaodonnell