bethesda

The Longer the Waiting (The Sweeter the Kiss) | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

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Jen and Matt were the couple of the hour when I took their photos at Bethesda a little while back.  Jen is a friend of mine and while I know her pretty well, I'd only met Matt once before these photos.  You see, Matt works overseas and these two chose to spend a precious hour of Matt's month at home with me, taking some photos.

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Because of their limited time together, I really wanted to make something special of this session.  After all, a picture can be a huge comfort while in a long distance marriage.  As an army wife, I've thought a lot about what I would do when my husband gets deployed, and I know that I would want to get some good photos taken before he left.

This was also a special shoot because of the fresh emotions that come from a happy reunion.  It was important to me to get shots that really captured what these two feel for each other.  In a way this session was kind of like shooting a wedding.  We were just missing all the chaos of an actual wedding.

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All of this combined made this session feel pretty important, and one that I truly wanted to get right. We were all nervous at first, but as usual we took a few shots and everybody started to loosen up.  We wandered haphazardly around Wormsloe for a while (I'd never been past the main area with the trees and therefore didn't know what was what) and then finished out the shoot at Bethesda.  We explored, talked, and tried out whatever poses we could think of (some that worked, some not so much) and most of all, had a really good time doing it.  I quite enjoyed working with Matt and Jen and am excited by how the photos turned out.  Most importantly, I hope they are too!

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If you like what you see here, please check out my website http://www.mikaelajoy.smugmug.com where you can see this full album and more of my work, as well as contact me to book a session of your own.

Family Photos at Bethesda | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Last weekend I did a photo shoot with a mother and son, Stacy and Riley.  This was a special shoot for a couple of reasons.  First off, it was one of my first formal sessions working with children.  I'll admit, I was a little nervous, but I had absolutely no reason to be.  Riley was a blast to work with!  It took him about five minutes to get comfortable in front of the camera and from then on out he was full of ideas (many of which involved taking action shots of him skateboarding and jumping off of things-- my favorite!).  In fact, quite a few of the poses in this set were set up by Riley.  He's got a bright future ahead with all that creativity!

ImageThe other really cool thing about this shoot was that Stacy is a local to the area which means she was able to show me some new locations.  We met up at Wormsloe, which I had seen in so many pictures of Savannah but had no idea where it was, and then finished up the shoot at Bethesda.  Both of these locations were absolutely gorgeous and I definitely will be coming back for future photo sessions.

ImageWe ended up shooting for somewhere around 2 hours and had so much fun in the process.  The pictures turned out great and I'm so excited to see them in print.  I'll be looking forward to working with these two again, and watching Riley grow up.

After doing this shoot I've realized that I've only scratched the surface for the beautiful photo-locations that are around Savannah, so I think it's time to play the tourist for a bit and do some exploring. I'm open to suggestions, so if you are from around here and have any suggestions please leave a comment.  I'd love the feedback!