Day 6 of the 365 Project - My Helpful Loving Girl

So, I have to admit there's a downside to being the child of a portrait photographer. You're a built in subject. Yesterday, the WG went shopping for props with me. Today, she skipped swim team (okay, she wasn't bummed about that) to model for me. I needed to put together some promo images for a Valentines shoot I'm doing with Danielle Anthony, and she was willing. Oh yeah, and I paid her $10. But it was worth it. Got some great shots for my 365 project and for my Valentine's marketing. Oh how I love multi tasking. Tomorrow, it's off to Arizona with my brother and dad to watch Auburn play in the national championship game. So my kids will get a break, and I'll turn my lens on the tigers, their fans, and my extended family. Warrrrrr Eaggglleeeee!!!!! Here are the shots that we didn't use....

In Love With the River - Chapel Hill Baby, Child, Family Portrait Photographer

My kids are in love. With the Eno River. Ever since our short frolic last Sunday, it's all they can talk about. "Mom, can we take Gigi to the river." "Mom, can I bring my friends to the river." I love it! Give them some bug spray, a net from the dollar store and a bathing suit and they're happy. I couldn't stop snapping away. So, here are more photos than you ever wanted to see of my kids frolicking in the river.

Pic of the Day - Corey WIlliams - Chapel Hill Portrait Photographer - Babies, Kids, Seniors

There are three major problems with being the child of a portrait photographer.

#1. Your photographer parent experiments on you. This can mean that you're forced to try on/work with new props, stand in front of backdrops, try out new poses/stunts, etc. This work is not rewarding at best and dangerous (as it's untested) at worst.

#2: The camera is constantly turned on you. Determined not to miss moments when our own children are adorable, we take our cameras EVERYWHERE and drive our kids crazy with them. Sadly, this doesn't result in actually having finished portraits. See number three.

#3: You have very few portraits of yourself. Counterintuitive I know. But compared to when I was photographing as a hobby, I have scary few photos of my own children. It's not that I don't take them. It's that I rarely edit them and I never print them. I know, horrible. I plan to fix that.

That's where this blog post comes in. For the next 30 days, I'm resolving to turn my camera on my own children. I'll post one photo that captures them just doing what we do each day. Some of them may be less than spectacular, but they all have to be from that day! At the end of thirty days, they are going in a book. I'm serious this time. It's really going happy. I have the blogging universe to hold me to it.

Here's today's pic: Taken at the Eno River when we were celebrating Mr. B's fourth birthday. They kids had a blast playing in the creek. Can you believe they'd never done that?!?!?

Keeping Promises to Little People - Corey Williams, Child Baby Portrait Photographer - Chapel Hill, Durham, NC

My middle son, Bennett, is obsessed with fairness. He has been since he was little. He wants to know why adults can drive cars, drink wine, and raise their voices. When he was little he didn't understand why his sister got to wear glittery things and go to school. And of extreme importance to Bennett is keeping promises. If you say that you will do something, Bennett wants - no needs - you to follow through. For him, the world order is upset and life doesn't make sense when adults don't keep their promises. And so I am very careful about what I promise. His reminder of all my birthday promises to him this morning brought me back to a promise to another little boy that I had not kept.

A few weeks ago, I photographed a little boy who came to our session straight from school. His favorite toy was clutched in his little hands. He didn't want to let it go. This toy was really important to him and he wanted it in the pictures. He, frankly, didn't understand why we didn't want it in the pictures. So, I agreed to take some photos with his toy - a transformer - in the photos and even some portraits of the transformer alone. But when I processed the images, I left them out, thinking that the parents don't really want a bunch of transformer images. But that's not fair - as Bennett would remind me. Those were promised to him. And so here I am, delivering on that promise. These are for you, Kai.

Mr. B is a Green Belt! Corey Williams Chapel Hill Baby Child Portrait Photographer

My son, Bennett, is as lovely as he is challenging. I often remember things that my mother in law used to say about my husband as a child, and think about much they make me think of Bennett. And in many ways turning to Tae Kwon Do was about two things - keeping him engaged and teaching him some self discipline. My friend Trinity suggested Master Missial at Chapel Hill Hapkido and Tae Kwon Do and it was a wonderful, wonderful choice. He is terrific with young kids. He gets my child, who generally can't stop making explosion noises and jumping on me, to meditate. I mean, seriously, he's like the wild boy whisperer.

So, today, we took him to his very first belt test. Actually, now that I'm blogging about it, I realize that this may be the first time B really performed in front of a crowd. And it was great. I was so proud I thought my heart would explode. When he answered the question, "How long have you been taking Tae Kwon Do?" His answer, "A month." (The crowd giggled, which he loved). "What do you like about Tae Kwon Do?" His answer, was to dramatically assume the "body focus" position. More giggles. A smirk from B.

He did all his kicks. All his blocks. And he even broke his board. My little man. Not a baby anymore, a kid. A fun, big, wild, capable, learning, kid. I have a feeling it's going to be a wild, wild ride with this one.

Here is B posing with the WG and Gabi (who was so sweet to come on her day off at 9am!). It was a great, great morning!

My Baby Is Growing Up - Chapel Hill Baby & Child Photographer Corey Williams

I find that my kids grow up in big leaps. Maybe that's not really how it happens. But that's how it feels to me. I feel like I blink, and all of a sudden, they understand irony, make adult jokes, and ask me if I "get" things.

I desperately want to give my children the gift of growing with my blessing. I want to cheer on their changes, their successes, their failures - each and every step. But it's a fight with my darker, truer nature. The part of me that wants to hide them away and keep them little, purely so they can be mine forever.

It's whenever I turn my lens on them that I see them as they really are. The way I see the other children I photograph. The other day, after my cousin Christi left, I photographed the WG. Her brother has been doing a fair amount of modeling lately, and with the permanent teeth in (gap and all) I thought we'd update the portfolio with her agent.

And there she was. Dancing and twirling on the backdrop. Looking right into my camera, with great intensity. So spunky, saucy and full of joyful play. She's a tween, though she's just seven, feeling out what it means to be a girl. She's an individual, full of giggles and bright dancing eyes.

I love her so, so much. More, in fact, every day.

Newborn! Sneak Peek at Mr. Grady

I had my very first newborn shoot this morning! It was so much fun. He's just a little over a week old and he was so, so sweet. I can't believe that my own Mr. C is already 3 months and so much bigger than this little peanut. He was a sweetie and I have TONS of photos of his adorable hair, sweet cheeks and beautiful rolls! Here's a sneak peek, but come back to see lots, lots more! And tell me what you think of my very first newborn!

Photographer for Hire!!!

So, it's official! I am starting a small portrait business. I know, I know, I have a million jobs, which I - with the addition of each new child - try to scale back. But I'm just having so much fun. I love my new gig at Chapel Hill Magazine as one of their fashion editors. And I'm having a blast photographing my friend's kids. So, look for a new website in the coming months... In the meantime, help me pick a logo. Add comments with your favorite! I need all the help I can get. And get poor Mel an advil!

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Option 5