The Donovan Twins

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. My hubby and I went out of town - to Hickory, NC - to photograph a wedding. In fact it was the winners of my wedding giveaway - Emily & Stephen. They were so gracious and happy we were there...we had a blast even though it was an outdoor ceremony/reception and it rained the entire weekend!! Pics to come soon, but we still got some awesome shots even in the rain!

Now onto some cuteness. Some of you may have seen a few of these on my facebook page. If I post on FB, I make sure to not post the same pics on here (sometimes just a couple are the same). So it's still worth looking in both places! I had never had the opportunity to photograph twins, so one weekend when we were at the Farmers Market, we ended up talking to this couple that were pushing their newborn twins in a double stroller...oooh so cute! So I told them I was a photographer...gave them my card and begged them to let me take pics of their babies. Apparently they didn't think I was too nuts and they called soon after. Newborns are tough to photograph anyway...but when there's 2..watch out! When one slept, the other was awake...when one cried..the other was calm...lol....but we had fun and I got to snuggle the babies..never a bad thing... :)

So here they are in all their cuteness..

     

Don't forget to sign up for a mini session and/or enter the current contest!! :)

The Griggs Family

This is my 2nd to last "old" session to share...then it's all new stuff..yay! But even if this is an "old" session..I think you're going to like it. The Griggs family lives near Winston Salem, but they come down to the beach each year and this is the 2nd year they had me to do family photos. Here's a peek at last years.

We did this session back in June on a beautiful evening...it was great to see this family again - they are so sweet and fun!!

These next 2 are hilarious! A lot of times when I'm shooting families with small kids, I try to get the kids laughing so I ask them all to make funny faces on the count of 3. After they make the funny face they usually all start laughing and those are some of the best shots. So last year I did the "funny face" shot with them...and this year they all remembered it and asked me to do it again. Super cute.

So here's last years.... (I think I've improved my photography a little bit since then :))

And this year...

And finally..here's Mom and Dad who started it all....  this is the sweetest couple ever. He is a pastor and she is an Oncology nurse. Enough said.

They are so in loooove. When Kellie came out of the beach house all dolled up, Sterling yelled out..."My wife is HOT!!"

They were willing to do anything I asked...I think I took more pics of the 2 of them than I did of the whole family! They were so easy to photograph..

Thanks Kellie and Sterling for your patience while I was out and for just being you! See you next summer!!

For the rest of you...don't forget my contest and mini sessions (the link is posted on the top of my blog, but I'm guessing some of you have my blog in a reader and wouldn't see the link...just trying to help you out..haha!)

Baby Reese - Little Miracle

I still have 2 "old" sessions to share, but I figured it's time to start showing some new stuff. I was absolutely honored to do a session for this family. They have been through some tough times in the past few months. Their baby girl, Reese, was born at only 26 weeks! She was born on March 30th and weighed only 2lbs, 3oz and was 13" long. Tiny tiny baby. She's a fighter and came home almost 3 months later to her big sister, Laine and a happy/relieved Mommy and Daddy. In August, I did a "newborn" session for them. Although baby Reese had been born at the end of March....her size and actions were like a 5 week old.

So here she is...miracle baby... Reese...

 

And here she is with her proud, big sis, Laine...

After we wore out the baby...Mom and I took big sis outside to play and take some more photos of her in her own environment. She was shy at first, but didn't take long to warm up!

I love this one of her and Mom..so sweet....

Finally...Laine wanted to show me her bedroom..and she had to have her own camera..haha

And that's it......I'll be back soon with some more shares. Be sure to sign up for a mini session (they're going quickly) and don't forget the contest!! :) Happy Tuesday!

Lillian Grace

I'm so excited for the arrival of my niece in about 2 months...since I have a boy and my sis has a boy...we are soo excited to have a little girl in the family. So...when we had a shower for my sis this past weekend...we went a little nuts on the pink. I can't wait to see her wear all the cute clothes she got. I took a few pics at the shower...ok a bunch. There were a few people that weren't able to attend that specifically said they were sad they wouldn't get to see the presents she got...so that's why there are a lot of gift opening shots. Anyway....here's a quick slide show I put together from this weekend (disclaimer...these have not been edited...just snapshots :)) Turn up the volume and listen to the words...I love this song!

Diana's Baby Shower

Katie, Matt and the Brothers + mini sessions + a new CONTEST!

Wouldn't you know it? My hard drive crashed Sunday night so I couldn't do a blog post yesterday..uggh. Luckily I'm married to my own "geek squad" and he has me back online and he saved all of the data (hooray!) The only thing I lost was a days worth of time working on the computer....something I hate to lose, but it could've been worse.

So, as promised..I'm back with another session to share as well as a contest and the info about my fall mini sessions!! First, let's talk mini sessions. (I'll send out an email later this week so here's your sneak peek so you can book your session early!)

What: Fall Mini Sessions with hay bales and pumpkins. Bring the kids with or without their costumes. If there's time you can have them do a quick change.

Where: My house - in front of my garage (same location as last year) 216 Woodland Dr, Wilmington - near Cape Fear Hospital

When: Saturday, October 10th and Saturday October 17th (9-11am both days). Depending on demand I may open up another date. I will also have limited evening sessions (5-6pm) Monday, Oct 12 and Tues, Oct 13.

Session includes:

• 15 minute session
• 10-15 proofs
• 1 5x7 and 1 sheet of 8 wallets
• 20% off additional prints
• A treat for the kids after their session

Cost: Only $30

To see some of the sessions from last fall, click here.

I expect these sessions to go quickly since a lot of people have asked me if I'm doing them again, so call (910-297-5378) or email katie@katiemathewsphotography.com ASAP to reserve your session! I can't wait to see the kids again this year!!

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And now for info about the contest. Since I haven't blogged much in the last 3 months (for various reasons I've already explained), I really want to start blogging more frequently and if I do that...I need an audience :) I need your help to get my readers back....or some new readers would be nice too. So...for the rest of September when you do one or more of the following things, I will enter you into a contest for a FREE HOLIDAY mini session (different from the fall one I just posted about). The holiday mini sessions usually include a pack of holiday cards as well as a 20 min session at a location around town. It's approximately a $100 value! Soo..here's the deal....

• Get 1 entry into the drawing for every comment you leave on my blog between now and the end of September (1 comment per post).
• Get 1 entry into the blog for becoming my facebook friend (search for Katie Balow Mathews). If you are already my FB friend, post a message on my wall.
• Get 3 entries for putting the KMP blog on your Google Reader or other similar RSS feed. (Leave a comment here if you did it or it's already on there).
• Get 3 entries for writing a blog post (if you have one) about Katie Mathews Photography and direct them here to see my work. (Leave a comment here if you did it).
• Get 3 entries for posting about Katie Mathews Photography on your facebook status (for at least a few hours) and direct them here to see my work.  (Leave a comment here if you did it).

And that's it... I will announce the winner on October 1st! Thanks for your help :)

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Finally...here's another session I did back in April. Katie and her hubby Matt both have 2 brothers. So all 6 of us got together and did a shoot at Greenfield Lake and Downtown. They did this for Mother's Day and birthday presents for the parents - great idea!! And we had a lot of fun :)

Here are Matt and Katie...aren't they cute?

Here's Matt and his twin brothers...I admit...I am bad with names...but I do remember these guys were a trip...

And then Katie and her brothers....also really nice guys...

After a quick change of clothes..we headed downtown...