One Short Year | Ortonville, MI. Newborn Photographer

This post has been a long time in the making.  I have been working with this family for a long time, but have never really shared any of their photos.  I have no idea why I haven't.  They have been the subjects of some of my very favorite photo shoots and images ever.  It all started with an off the wall email, asking if I was willing to try some underwater photography, and just blossomed from there.  That first shoot was definitely an adventure.  I didn't have an underwater housing for my professional camera, so we used a simple old point and shoot, in a ziplock style waterproof case.  The conditions were less than ideal, but we had so much fun doing it.  The purpose of the underwater shoot was to capture some images that they could use on their engagement announcements, signifying that they were "Taking the plunge."  How fun!

Fast forward past the wedding, since I don't shoot weddings, and we get to the part where they found out that they were going to have their first baby together, and a little sibling for big brother, Aiden.  I was so excited to help them create their vision for their surprise announcements.  They wanted a shot to showcase the fact that they were "Expanding their family by two feet."  Pretty cute, huh?  I got down and dirty, and a bit damp, from laying on the pavement to get just the right angle, but they turned out super cute, and were a great way to let their friends and family know about the upcoming addition.

Of course, months go by, and I finally got the call, letting me know that little Roxie had made her debut.  Mom said that she loved bright colors, which is perfect since that is right up my alley, so I gathered up some of my most colorful blankets, and even made some awesomely colorful rainbow leg warmers, and headed over to capture some images of their little beauty.  Roxie rocked out her photo shoot, of course!  Who would've expected anything less with a name like that?

Now, move on forward, one short year later, and you'll find that little sister, Roxie, has become a big sister to her new baby sis, Gemma.  I was obviously elated to be asked to help welcome their newest baby girl into the world, with her very own newborn photo shoot.  Gemma followed in Roxie's footsteps, and was a dream to photograph.  She was so sleepy and content.  You may have seen, on my Facebook fan page, that these three beautiful children celebrated an awesome milestone when, on August 6th, 2014, they reached the ages of 12 years (Aiden), 12 months (Roxie), and 12 days (Gemma).  How cool is that!?!  Gemma was born just shy of Roxie's first birthday.  Many people call that Irish twins.  I call it sweet perfection.  These girls will forever be inseparable, I know it.  And they will always have their big brother to watch over them.  I feel so fortunate to have been able to take part in so many milestones in this family's life together, and I can't wait to continue to watch them grow through the years.  :)

The shot that started it all.

Hooray, there's a baby on the way!!!

Little Roxie makes her debut.

Roxie, then & now.  Oh how she's grown!  

Baby Gemma, in all of her splendor!

Contact Carri at:

email: carrimullins@carribethphotography.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carribethphotography

phone: (248)678-3601

Beautiful Blue-eyed Brothers | Oxford, MI. Newborn Photographer

If there are any brothers out there that are cuter than these handsome little guys, I would be surprised.  Meet Easton, and his new baby brother, Connar.  Aren't they just perfect!?!  Easton's eyes are so BLUE, and you can already tell that Connar's eyes are going to follow suit.  The perfect backdrop for those eyes was the awesome steely blue-grey paint that adorned the walls in their living room and foyer.  Then you add in the fact that we had gorgeous window light coming in the front door, right where an awesome contemporary style white bench sits, and the whole scene was simply serendipitous.  Thanks to the help of mom and grandma, we created one of my favorite sibling shots ever.  Those boys are to die for!

Once we got the sibling shots out of the way, we released Easton to attend to his lunchtime eating duties and nap time, and focused on the man of the hour, little Connar.  This sweet boy is just as precious as they come, and once we got some decent white noise going, he was out for the count.  He even rolled himself right into a pose with no help from me.  What a natural!  In between setups we stopped to go through my little basket of goodies, and found a little crown.  I thought it was totally fitting for this little prince, and with just a click of the shutter, we made yet ANOTHER of my favorite shots.

There are so many favorites from this session, and best of all, it was a fun day of toddler cuteness, newborn sweetness, brother cuddles, baby snuggles, a few pee pee breaks, and some great memories made.  Thank you, Chelsea, for inviting me into your beautiful home, and allowing me to work with your blue-eyed beauties.  :)

Contact Carri at:

email: carrimullins@carribethphotography.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carribethphotography

phone: (248)678-3601

Little Miracle | Grand Blanc Newborn Photographer

I'd like to introduce you to little Jackson James.  He was six weeks old during our session, and he could not have been a more perfect little model.  I normally suggest that newborns come to me between 1-2 weeks old, but when I was contacted about this little guy, I could not refuse a chance to offer my services to this family to help them capture this time in his life.  You see, as perfect as Jackson is, he was born with a condition that has not made his journey through life easy.  I surely cannot do his story any justice, so I asked his proud mama to help me to get it right.  Below is her story of how they have gotten to where they are now.

"Jackson James Fuller  was born Thursday, March 27th, 2014 at 9:41 am. He weighed 8 pounds and 4 ounces and was 21 and 1/2 inches long.  He was born acting very normal, crying and eating and being a normal little guy. He started not acting ok about 15-18 hours after birth. He was  more and more lethargic and floppy. He would not wake up nor eat. Between Friday and Tuesday he was moved from Genesys to Hurley and finally to Children's Hospital in Detroit.  During that time he had gotten progressively worse.  He was put on a ventilator, and we learned that his brain, and brain activity, were abnormal, and that he was having seizures. It took a full week before he was diagnosed with Glycine Encephalopothy, also known as NKH.  Glycine encephalopathy is caused by the shortage of an enzyme that normally breaks down glycine in the body. A lack of this enzyme allows excess glycine to build up in tissues and organs, particularly the brain, leading to serious medical problems. We were told, at that point, that his ventilator was keeping him alive and when they removed it he would probably only live for a few hours. They said he would likely never open his eyes or cry or do much of anything like a normal baby, and that because of the severity of his condition he would probably only live days to maybe weeks. When they decided to take him off of the ventilator, we were surprised to witness that, instead of his breathing slowly fading, Jackson persevered, and his frequency of breaths slowly began to increase without the help of the vent. His ventilator was removed almost a month ago and since then he has been breathing very well on his own! He also opens his eyes and cries now too! He moves his arms and legs and does a lot of normal baby things. He is on hospice care but every day with him is more than we ever expected to get. His outlook has improved according to the doctors but we still don't know how much time we will actually have with Jackson."

Needless to say, Jackson is an absolute miracle, and a tough one at that.  He has shown such strength. And because he is so strong willed, we were able to do something that his parents weren't sure they'd ever get to do.  We captured all of his little details through a photo session, in the comfort of his home.  He went off of his feeding tube, and came into the room ready to rock it out.  This sweet boy could not have done better, and he surpassed all expectations, and even accomplished a Carri Beth Photography FIRST when he completed the entire session without peeing or pooing on me OR any of our setups.  He really spoiled me through this session, and I am so excited to share some of his beautiful images with you all, especially his mama and daddy.  They were both so gracious and accommodating, and I really enjoyed my time with them.  Thank you, Stephanie and Patrick, for welcoming me into your home, and sharing your little miracle and his story with me and my lovely assistant for the day, Destiny.  I feel so fortunate to have been allowed the opportunity to celebrate Jackson with you.  His strength is an inspiration, for sure.  It is hard to not admire his will to simply BE!

Happy Mother's Day to you!  I hope it is full of sweet baby noises, and lots of warm cuddles.

If anyone would like to show some love for this family, and little Jackson, please feel free to visit the support page that was set up for them.  

Contact Carri at:

email: carrimullins@carribethphotography.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carribethphotography

phone: (248)678-3601

Year In Review 2013 | Grateful Michigan Photographer

So the year is coming to an end, and what a year it has been.  I have had so many great clients, and have photographed so many beautiful faces.  I even added a few furry friends to the mix for the first time ever.  All in all, it has been a fantastic, colorful year.  I cannot wait to see where 2014 takes us.  Thank you to everyone who helped me make this year so special.  Happy Holidays to you all.  I'll see you in 2014.  :)

Here's a little Baby New Year to help bring in 2014.  :)

Contact Carri at:

email: carrimullins@carribethphotography.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carribethphotography

phone: (248)678-3601

Fall Family Fun {{{ Alliteration is Appealing 😉 }}} | Rochester, Mi. Family Photographer

Fall really seems to have taken a quick leap into winter around here, but fortunately I was able to squeeze in one more colorful autumn session before the winds of change blew the leaves off the trees, and the weather into sub-freezing temps.  This session was extra special because it was my very first time photographing my Uncle's family as a whole.  I had photographed his daughters, for a special surprise gift that my Aunt Cindy had planned, but have not had the pleasure of catching the whole family together.

My little cousins are such beauties, each with their own personality.  At least two of the three girls thought modeling was exhausting, although the real effort went into trying to find any remnant of autumn leaves left for us to use as our backdrop.  We might've scheduled the session a bit late in the game, but I love the images we caught, even with the dwindling bits of reds and oranges and yellows that were left on the trees.  

Uncle Shawn and Aunt Cindy, it doesn't take much to make your family look gorgeous.  Thank you for asking me to capture these images for you.  I had a lot of fun doing it.  :)

As you can see, my uncle is a bit of an up-stager.  Lol.  ;P

 

Contact Carri at:

email: carrimullins@carribethphotography.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carribethphotography

phone: (248)678-3601

Just the Girls | Goodrich, MI. Child Photographer

My favorite sister trio returned to me this year for another photo shoot.  I had a lot of fun with them last year, and this year was no different.  They looked so cute in their coordinating outfits.  I think their mom, Sarah, knew that the vibrant pink is right up my alley.  Little Ella was not really into the session at all until we found a nice flower box to play peek-a-boo with, then she was all smiles.  In the meantime, she made her own fun by running around behind the scenes while I shot her older sisters, Abby and Olivia, which made for one of my favorite shots of the whole session.  :)

There are a few perks to being friends with your photographer, and one of them is getting sneak peaks before your sneak peak is actually posted online.  One downfall to being friends with your photographer is that she can put off posting your preview, to spread out her blogging, without fear that you will hurt her, because you have already seen a few of your pics.  ;P

Sorry for making you wait Sarah, but I know you'll forgive me.  :D

Contact Carri at:

email: carrimullins@carribethphotography.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carribethphotography

phone: (248)678-3601

Let's Get Together......Yeah, Yeah, Yeah | Flint, MI. Family Photographer

Social media has become a part of everyday life for many people, including myself.  It is a time drain as you get sucked into reading the musings of your peers, sharing little stories, and let's face it.....watching funny cat videos.  (You know you've done it.  lol).  Well, social media may be a black hole of wasted time more often than not, but it also serves a higher purpose by reconnecting people who have lost touch with one another.  It has done this for me countless times, and though it is nice to catch up in the cyber world, it is even better when your reconnection leads to an actual in-person gathering.

That is exactly what happened to me this past weekend.  I was recently reconnected with a group of old friends, with whom I attended church when I was younger.  Michelle was one of the people in that group.  She and her family used to transport me and a few of my siblings to and from church when we were little.  I was literally just a kid then, and I looked up to Michelle as a sort of older sister type figure.    It has been more than 12 years since I last saw or spoke with Michelle or her family, so it was exciting to find out that she is now married with two kids and living a happy life.  Needless to say, when she asked me to do a photo shoot with her son and daughter, I was thrilled to have the chance to see her again, and to meet her beautiful family.

Her son, Andrew, is just the handsomest little 8 year old!  He is charmingly shy with a smoldering stare that is sure to make the ladies in his future melt like butter.  Hadley is a charismatic 6 year old, who has the cutest toothless smile, and doesn't even have to try to find a cute pose for the camera because she is just naturally photogenic.  I even got to meet their 5 month old horse...uh, I mean puppy.  Maggie is the biggest 5 month old ANYTHING that I have ever met, and she is just so pretty.  She even sat still for a shot or two with the kids.

This shoot was supposed to be just about the kids, but I made sure to let Michelle know that I was more than willing to do a family photo while we were out, but she assured me that she just wanted photos of the kids.  As we were nearing the end of our shoot I made one last ditch effort to convince mom and dad to join in the fun because I think it is important to snag at least one image that includes the whole family, since in normal day to day life, there always seems to be someone missing in home photos.  We are never guaranteed another day to find the perfect coordinating outfit, have a fantastic hair day, wait for that untimely pimple to fade, lose a few pounds, sleep away the dark circles under our eyes, etc.  These are only some of the many reasons that some of my clients have given me for not wanting to be included in the photos I take for them, but I assure you that as time passes and memories fade, a photo of you with your babies will mean MUCH more to you than the memories of unwarranted insecurities. 

I hope that you love all of your images Michelle, especially the family photo.  You have a beautiful family, and I am so glad that you chose me to share this time with you all.  

Contact Carri at:

email: carrimullins@carribethphotography.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carribethphotography

phone: (248)678-3601

Just Another Day On The Farm | Mid Michigan Senior Photographer

I recently had the privilege of photographing a Senior whom I met through my participation in Septemberfest this year in downtown Ortonville.  Josh invited me out to the ranch, Executive Farms Inc, where he takes horseback riding lessons, so that we could capture some photos of him with the horse that he rides, named Thumper.  I, of course, was excited because I think horses are absolutely stunning creatures.  We did some practice shots to see how Thumper would react to off camera flash, and as I feared, she was a bit spooked by it.  So I put the flash aside, and watched as Josh worked his magic on her to get her calmed down.  He was so kind and gentle with her as he groomed her with a calming hand, and soon she was ready for her closeup.  It was heartwarming to see their growing bond bloom right in front of me.  I am glad that he was able to steady her nerves so that we could some great images of the two of them together.  :)

Contact Carri at:

email: carrimullins@carribethphotography.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/carribethphotography

phone: (248)678-3601