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Stacey Woods is a Professional Lifestyle Photographer specializing in Modern Maternity, Newborn, Baby, Children and Family Lifestyle Photography for the Tampa Area. Stacey is an on-location, in-home natural light child photographer with a documentary approach, serving the Greater Tampa Florida area including Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, Gulfport, Indian Rocks Beach, Belleair Beach, Madeira Beach, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor, Tarpon Springs, Odessa, Keystone, Tampa, Largo, Dunedin, Safety Harbor and St. Petersburg, Florida.
Happy Friday!! I just wanted to share a sweet client session as we finish up their print order. They had such great style, and I loved their laid-back, fun, vibe.
Whew. So I had more than a few favorites. They were such a lovely family though, and it was hard for me to resist posting them all.
I hope you have a beautiful weekend, friends!
Hello friends. I'm so looking forward to Friday!! It's been a hectic week for us here in the Woods household. Charlotte has been sick all week, school was closed Monday for Parker and Lila, we are still getting used to our new routines... so I'm extremely late in contributing to the lifestyle project circle. Oh well. Better late than never, right? Here's to a good night's sleep, some good news at the doctor's office this afternoon, and another cup of coffee for me! ///
I am blessed to be able to join eight extremely talented photographers in our continuing project: What _____ Looks Like. It's a wonderful way for us to deliberately make time to photograph our own families, and not just clients. To become memory-keepers as well as memory-makers.
I'm so grateful to know that years from now, I will be able to flip back through our photo albums and see what it looked like when my kids helped me bake cookies, or what it looked like to have a newborn in the house, or what it looked like when she dressed up in all her princess costumes when she was three.
However, when planning my own lifestyle photo sessions, I try to ask my clients what they want their session to FEEL like, instead. That emotion is what drives the session. So this month, I thought it would be more appropriate to show you, What August Feels Like...
Well, it feels like a whirlwind, to be honest. So much happening, so many places and so many emotions at once. A lot of these photographs were captured with my D700, but quite a few were just taken with my iPhone and Instagram.
We began our August with an overnight, nonstop road trip from central Florida to North Carolina, with three young kids packed tightly among pillows and luggage. Oh my... there are so many "feelings" associated with this one! Actually the kids handled it beautifully, since we left at bedtime and drove straight through the night. They slept through most of it. Chris and I split the driving hours almost in half, thanks to some Red Bull (for him) and sweet tea and chocolate (for me). We felt exhausted, sleepy, anxious, nervous, confident, tired, caffeinated, slap-happy, and relieved to finally arrive the next morning. Thank goodness for a nap, and grandparents, aunts and uncles who were happy to watch our children while we caught up on a little sleep.
Charlotte's first introductions to -- and our reunion with -- some very special family members... elated. Joyful. Grateful. Whole. Complete.
Adventurous. Carefree. Realizing that this entire North Carolina field was his own personal golfing range that evening.
Peaceful. Warm. Content...
And ticklish. ;)
Loved, and surrounded by love.
An early first birthday celebration for a tiny girl... denial. How can she be almost a year old?! This isn't possible!! I've prayed for this day, for this "difficult first year" to be over with. And then, when it was actually, truly, really creeping up on me, I pushed it aside and refused to deal with it. Her birthday is not here yet. I'll accept it later, when it's time. And I did... I think.
But this day, her party was so very beautiful and special. It deserves its own post, really, so I won't go into all of it here. But I promise to share it all soon!
We allowed Parker to stay on in North Carolina for a few days to spend some more time with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Chris's brother's family was heading to Florida to visit us the next week, so they agreed to let Parker fly with them. Driving away and seeing our son standing there in his grandparents' driveway, waving to us all... just about killed me. My heart broke, my throat closed, and I cried hot, silent tears as we passed him by and honked the horn. I could feel Chris looking over at me so pitifully, but I couldn't hold back the tears. My boy and I have a special mother-son bond. Even though I knew that it would only be a few days until we saw Parker again, I still felt like I'd left a part of my heart back there in that driveway. Missing a piece of my family.
Nostalgic. Sentimental. On our road trip, we drove through Charlotte, NC. The city where Chris and I met. "Our" first home. The namesake of our baby girl. I'd taken this exit more times than I could count... and yet it seemed so unfamiliar when we passed by it. Thirteen years is a long time, I guess. And true to our Southern roots, we had to stop in Georgia at a roadside produce stand. Tables laden with freshly-picked peaches, jarred preserves, and bags of soft pecans and hot boiled peanuts. It lifted my spirits a bit seeing Charlotte biting right into that peach! I knew Lila would love hers. She's my best eater.
There was plenty of playtime for the kids this month, and I feel so proud of their imaginations. From trampoline-jumping with cousins, building dojos and rockets and vehicles with legos, to dressing up as Jedi knights to defend little sisters princesses. And in the case of Charlotte above, I let Lila choose her baby sister's outfit this day.... she picked out a Cinderella costume, of course. That, for me, was yet another lesson in choosing my battles. I did not choose this battle, and the baby wore the Cinderella dress to the grocery store that day.
They don't always play well together, I will be the first to admit... but when they do, it's bliss. They discover that his lego tree house and fort can back right up to her pink lego house and all of the mini-figures can hang out. (That's a pink tutu bathing suit Lila has on -- her favorite. She wears it all the time around the house, and I never want to forget it.)
Parker got a hamster this month. Meet Coral. She's kind of a grumpy thing. She's escaped from her cage two or three times, spends all day tucked into her tunnels, and she bites our fingers every time we get close to her. I think she wants to be owner-free, don't you?
The third week in August was more than emotional. Parker began 3rd grade on Monday, Lila started Pre-K on Tuesday, and Charlotte turned a year old on Wednesday. Every day another kid took a step forward, and it was so bittersweet. My babies are growing up! But on the flip side, it was pretty nice to have a bit of order back to our schedule again, and some much-needed routine to our days. Calm amidst the chaos. Centered. Focused. On track.
I'm so proud of this boy.
Someone was really really super duper excited to start preschool... ;)
And, if I'm being honest, I am really enjoying that block of quiet time alone with my baby girl. Charlotte is pretty amazing.
///
Now introducing my sweet friend, Deb Schwedhelm | Tampa Child Photographer. Can't wait to see what she photographed this month.
I think it's high time I get myself posting regularly on this blog again, what do you say? Photography is healing for me, after all. And so is writing. Maybe this is part of what I've been missing lately? After what we've been through for the past six months, I feel like I need to celebrate this sweet little one a little more. My darling Charlotte. Perfectly happy 99.5% of the time, and the other .5% she only gently fusses to let us know she needs something (usually milk or a nap). She could never know how much her birth has meant to me. Even through my ppd, she has remained so happy and pleasant. Charlotte has been our angel. She has the sweetest smile each morning. She pushes up on her hands and gives me a wrinkled-nose grin that melts my heart. Each night when I nurse her to sleep, she quietly holds on to me and drifts off; content, peaceful, full.
In comparison to my other two children, Charlotte and I have a lot of catching up to do in the quantity-of-photographs department. But hopefully this is a good start toward making up the difference...
Sweet girl. You can't possibly know how much you're loved. But I promise to try and show you, now and every day until forever.
I'm honored to be a part of Elevate: A Fine Art Exploration with some extremely talented photographers. Each month, these women and I have vowed to push ourselves and simply shoot for us. I've had to skip a couple of months recently, but this month, I am ever so grateful for this project and for the healing comfort it's given my heart. I encourage you to follow our circle, read on and discover what beauty the extremely talented Renee Popat is sharing with the world today. Thank you so much for being here. I so appreciate you, friends. xo
xo
Today is the LAST DAY to sign up for my 4-week Chic Critique, which runs from now until March 2. If you'd like a portfolio review, or just a few tips on post-processing, lighting, getting more emotion into your images, or anything else that's "bothering" you about your work... then I'd encourage you to sign up right now! You'll be able to submit your images to me each week for my detailed video critique on each one, and find out specific actions that you can take to improve your photography. Improve your confidence, and your images! How I wish I'd had something like this available to me when I began my photography journey!! While you're there, be sure to sign up for the exclusive Celebrity Secrets REVEALED Live Web Event! It's only available to Chic Critique Forum Members, and the Intro Price this week is just $89!
Read on to find out more... I hope to see you there!
Have you seen the new look of Chic Critique Forum founded by Kelli France? Even Chic Critique's Facebook page looks fabulous!
Chic Critique offers Celebrity Critiques from some of the best photographers in the industry so that you can transform your images from weak to CHIC. To celebrate their gorgeous makeover, they are having "Red Carpet Week" this week with giveaways, freebies, and more!
They will be launching a CHIC magazine soon and you can enter their Cover Contest to win a Kelly Moore Bag!
Chic Critique also just announced this Exclusive Live Web Event:
BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE
With a new baby in the house, we do a lot of sleeping around here.
Wait. Let me rephrase that. Charlotte does a lot of sleeping. Mama is not so lucky ;)
Charlotte is on a great schedule... eat, play, sleep... eat, play, sleep. Parker, at 7 1/2, doesn't nap anymore, and is at school during the day while the girls are here. But Lila certainly needs her afternoon nap. Goodness, she can be the sweetest little grump if she doesn't get a decent amount of sleep! Although, admittedly, with so many changes to our old routine, her nap schedule at home varies quite a bit. It's a rare occasion that our schedules get lined up so perfectly that the girls will be asleep for a few minutes at the same time. (When that happens, I guarantee you that I will be (quietly) singing the Hallelujah chorus!)
This month I tried to document these moments when they're sleeping sweetly. On some particularly exhausting day when they've all been naughty and I haven't had enough sleep myself... I will undoubtedly pull out these precious photos, hold them close to my heart, and remember what darling angels my children can be when they're asleep!! ;)
Notice how she popped OUT the pacifier and popped IN her own thumb. Sweet baby.
Yes, that's Lila wearing a bathing suit. In November. That's our girl! She fought this nap so hard, and finally I caved and told her she could eat her snack in front of the TV. A few minutes later, I looked over and saw that she had passed right out. Love her heart.
This last image is probably my favorite... Lila saw Charlotte sleeping in her bouncy seat, and brought in her Bitty Baby to sleep alongside her. Charlotte's first naptime friend!
I hope you'll continue the "What ________ Looks Like" lifestyle blog circle by visiting the talented Gina Oh | Arroyo Grand, CA Photographer. She has some delightful lifestyle images to share with us, as always. Enjoy the journey, friends. xxoo
Also, I'm over at The Creative Mama today writing about a sweet Christmas tradition that I enjoyed with my Popaw Deb when I was growing up. I hope you'll click over and read, and share one of your favorite Christmas rituals too!
If you follow The Creative Mama, then you already know that we are knee-deep in our Creative Photographer Series this month. We've hosted an average of two giveaways per day and have interviewed an amazing photographer every day, and we are still running our Series through the end of July. It's been crazy, fabulous, and such a fun time! We have so much talent still lined up to showcase, and have seen such wonderful feedback to our artists and sponsors that I'm positively giddy! Anyhow, I thought I'd mention that today on TCM I'm giving away a Silent Seat (read-along) to my upcoming Lifestyle: Your Style mini-workshop over on The Bloom Forum. It's an online course, so you can take it at your own pace, and it's focused solely on creating lifestyle images for your own family and for your clients. Silent Seats are valued at $150.
If you haven't entered yet, there are 8 possible ways to win! Just click on THIS POST (or the image below) and follow the instructions. A winner will be chosen at random, and the contest ends at 3:59 CST today. So don't wait! Get on over there and enter.
AND.... if you would like more information on the Mini-Workshop, or on my soon-to-be-released Mentoring Program, just scroll all the way down to the bottom of this blog and sign up to receive my newsletter, and I'll put you on the list. This entitles you to early registration for the Lifestyle MWS when possible, and keeps you up to date on how my Mentoring Program is coming along. With your feedback, it should be pretty amazing. ;)
Thanks so much, friends! xo
When I first met Amy, I was amazed at her strength. She and her husband were expecting a child in a few weeks, and they were in the middle of a move to a new house as well. So many changes happening at once, but she handled them all beautifully. We had a wonderful time at her maternity session, held at her home and then at one of the gorgeous local beaches close by.
And just a few short weeks later... I got to visit her again. Only this time, Amy had a beautiful baby boy in her arms.
Ahh. Sweet boy. Don't I have the greatest job in the entire world?
I'm always honored to photograph expecting mamas during this amazing time in their lives. I'm thrilled when they choose me to document their pregnancy for them, and to give them photographic proof of the love for their child, that started long before they were even born. And... when that expecting mama is a dear friend and fellow photographer, well that just makes it even more exciting for me. Double that when you consider the beautiful story of how much Cilla and Bret have been through in order to bring Baby Steffen into the world... just makes me tear up with gratefulness for them and what lies ahead for their sweet family. The Baierleins and the Woodses have met up for three years in a row, every June, when they come down for vacation. I photograph her family, and she photographs mine. Imagine my excitement when we realized that during her visit this year, she'd be at the perfect stage for maternity photos! I whisked her and Bret off to one of my very favorite locations for the evening.
Priscilla and I met through my sister Amy, actually. We went to the same high school back in Kentucky, but never knew each other back then (I graduated just before her freshman year). Years later (I won't tell how many, lol), photography joined us together five states away. It's funny how life somehow brings us back to the same people and places, no matter how far away we roam.
The next image is already hanging in Baby Steffen's room, just awaiting his arrival. :)
If you couldn't tell, they're going to make AMAZING parents. Just look at how sweet they are together. Steffen is one lucky little man.
I just loved her confidence and beauty in these next two images. Her contented laugh just makes my heart so full.
And perhaps my favorite image... she just exudes strength in this last photo. She's been through so much to get here, and I'm so very proud of my friend for her determination, and her heart. I feel so blessed that she chose me to photograph this beautiful time in their lives.
Just four three! more weeks until your due date, sweet friend! All my love and blessings. It's been a wonderful experience to share our pregnancies this go around, and I'm so grateful for your love and support in return. Much love.
xo, Stacey
Just a quick peep into this morning's newborn session...
I remember when my own babies' toes were this tiny, and it astounds me that I now have three-year-old little feet just pitter-pattering through my house. Lila turned three on Wednesday and her birthday party is tomorrow afternoon. This afternoon is filled with baking, decorating and wrapping. And maybe a bit of rest if I can squeeze it in.
In about eleven weeks, I'll have my own third set of newborn piggies in the house though, and the cycle will begin again for me. I can't wait for those days.
I got a phone call when I was just two or three minutes from the park. I could hear the disappointment in Brittany's voice. My clients had already arrived at our location, and they were calling me in dismay. It seems that there was an outdoor concert getting ready to start at the park that they had chosen to hold their family photo session... and there were crowds of people forming already. I said a quick prayer and then headed on over, hoping that we could beat the crowds. My clients had a brick engraved with their family's names on it, placed down by the riverwalk. They took their little girl to this park often, and it was very special to them. And if you know me, I love to incorporate familiar and meaningful places into my family photo sessions, and I certainly didn't want to disappoint them by having to move to another park instead. I was hopeful. So I pulled out my trusty 85mm lens, and we stayed toward the edges of the crowds. Thankfully, the concert-goers were all gathering in the sunniest spots on the lawn, which I wanted to avoid anyway. I assured Jack and Brittany that all would be well, that we could stay after all, and we began shooting.
I am excited to share these images with you, not only because I adore this family (this is my fourth session with them), but because I'm excited to show them the results of our session amidst a crowd of a hundred plus people, in the middle of downtown Tampa.
Doesn't she look like she's the only little girl in the entire park? There was a line of concert-goers walking behind her, camera left, just outside the frame.
And there were three other people frolicking in the fountain nearby. ;)
Sunlight + water = a happy child! (And backlight + a gorgeous little girl playing in a fountain = a very happy photographer!)
What hundred extra people, you say?! Right. It's all about working with what you have, and I'd say we got dealt a beautiful hand, packed concert and all! Thanks so much, Jack, Brittany and Lena, for a lovely night at the park! I truly enjoyed every minute of it (well, except the lovebugs!), and I hope you did too. xo
