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

Pic of the Day for Monday, September 13th. Can you tell what's going on in my life? Even after a dose of steroids, Baby C is still bummin' hard. So, it's back to the pediatrician for more. After last time's in-office dose, he's ready to make an escape.

Pic of the Day - Chapel Hill Baby & Family Portrait Photograph

Happy Grandparents Day!

Pic of the Day - Chapel Hill Baby & Family Portrait Photograph

So, I didn't do so well the first time I tried my thirty day project. I was sabotaged by croup. First, Mr. B got it. We woke with him gasping, turning blueish gray and freaking out. We went straight to the ER where he was admitted and kept until the next morning. Now, Baby C has croup. We've been taking him in and out of the shower (his isn't nearly as bad), but he's worked his way into a dose of steroids too. This is all to say, that I've been so obsessed with fundraisers, sick babies and birthday parties that I did not adhere to my plan. So here it is, take two.

Every day for the next 30 days, I'm going to take and post a new pic of one of my kiddos. Tonight, it's Baby C. Who is so miserable, due to croup. But - trooper that he is - he tried so hard to play today. Here he is, playing with a ball outside and looking up at me as I experiment with my new lens. (Thanks Ash!!!!!).

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.

Dawn Williams, Pianist - Chapel Hill Portrait Photographer Corey Williams

One of the things I love most about being a photographer is that I'm always doing something different. Today was a case in point.

My kid's terrific piano teacher, Dawn Williams, asked me to take some photos of her for an upcoming demo CD and her website. One thing led to another, and we had Jami Svvay involved, a terrific makeup artist and hairstylist involved in the project. Jami brought along Effie, our stylist, and suddenly, we're in business. The day went something like this.

Jami and Effie left Charlotte this morning at 3am. By 6:00am, Dawn was getting into hair and makeup. Shortly after, I rolled out of bed and put on my shooting pants (more on this in a later blog post). And headed for Dawn's house.

There she was, in fresh makeup, jeans and a sparkly tank and of course, I just want her to lay down in a ravine (read - ditch) and look (ahem) comfy. From there, we were shooting in neighbor's yards, an empty field next to a church (on a Sunday morning), in downtown Durham (with an audience of homeless guys), in the street and (wait for it) IN the Eno River. 9 CF cards, 44 gigs later, 8 and a half hours, and one pair of very wet shooting pants later, I was home. Exhausted, but very, very happy. I have LOTS of editing in front of me, but I can't believe how much fun I had.

So, here's a great big thank you to all the people that made today possible. Dawn's terrific friend Emily, who held the reflector in all kinds of uncomfortable positions, her husband who guarded the camera bag and laughed at us when we were sitting in the river. Jami, who banged some hair and makeup. Effie, who brought amazing clothes and boots that I'm still thinking about. And of course Dawn, who not only had the confidence to hire me - but the confidence in me to roll around in ravines, change clothes in a sheet in downtown Durham, and even lay on her belly in a river just because I told her it would look good on camera. Who could ask for a better model?

Here's a sneak peek of some of the things we did.