This particular one year mark rocked me off my chair.

In February of 2011, I’d been asked by Wyatt’s mom to come over for a shoot.  She wanted to capture Wyatt in his environment, on his terms, in his reality.  One year ago, that meant fresh from open heart surgery.  It meant tubes coming out of his belly.  It meant help breathing, and very grateful, anxious and adoring parents.

Here is an explanation that I took from the A Wish for Wyatt facebook page:

Wyatt was born on Aug. 1, 2010- 6 weeks prematurely and with a congenital heart defect, Critical Aortic Stenosis. Since there was no indication of a problem during Jennifer’s pregnancy, this came as a complete shock.

Wyatt underwent a balloon angio on August 5, which opened his aortic valve. But his heart’s left ventricle had been damaged in the womb and was unable to pump out enough blood to his body. Because of the LV problems, his mitral valve then began to leak. Wyatt struggled for 2 months in the ICU.

Egleston hospital in Atlanta did the best they could, but finally admitted that Wyatt’s only option was a heart transplant. Transplanted hearts live an average of 12 years and have a 60% chance of survival all together. If Wyatt did survive, he might be
eligible for a 2nd heart, but 3rd hearts were rarely transplanted.

On the advice of Jamie Annarino, Clint and Jen sent Wyatt’s medical records to Children’s Hospital Boston. Dr. del Nido said that he could operate on Wyatt’s heart and avoid a heart transplant.

On October 12, Wyatt was flown to Boston and on the 19th, underwent open heart surgery to repair his aortic and mitral valves. The surgery was a success! After 2 months in the ICU, his left ventricle recovered and he was sent home: a few days before Christmas and for the first time in his little life.

Today, Wyatt’s heart is still recovering and he will most likely require more surgery on his mitral valve. Hopefully it will be later, rather than sooner.

I was humbled by the invitation to do that shoot, and I loved Wyatt instantly.  He charmed me with those big, brown eyes and his strong, calm gaze.  He seemed to look straight through me, and he remains the most agreeable model I’ve ever had.

Too close to the one year mark not to be ignored, his mother invited me back to get a new round of images.  Wyatt was now a stumbling, burly toddler.  Wyatt also has a new little brother – Luke.

Here are a few of the images from that day, but for the real goods, you should click through and see the job their momma did matching up shots year to year.  I won’t lie, it made me weepy.

Well, here we are, welcoming the arrival of her beautiful and charming son, Levi.  He arrived 12/11, went home 12/15 and on 12/26 I popped over for his first modeling job.  Since then I also had some site issues (which my brilliant friend Robert of WizKid Studios resolved for me today) and, of course, that puppy I mentioned.  Did I mention puppies are A LOT of work?  Did I mention how precious Levi is?  Perfect little fingers and toes and nose and ears and I could have gobbled him up.

Welcome to the world, little man. You hit the parental jackpot.

Gwen has been a “victim” of my photography for a number of years, and as lame as it sounds to say I was stupid excited to part of this new chapter of her journey…I was.  Am.  Continue to be.

She’s one of those spirits that you come across a handful of times in your life if you’re lucky -  who makes you snort laugh, who encourages you to dream, and who lives with seemingly boundless enthusiasm. I am thankful for her, and envious of her child and the magnificent childhood he/she is in store for.

Please join me in celebrating Ms. Gwen, her man, and their growing Sagittarius bump by enjoying a handful of images from of our magical woodland themed morning by the river.

Having been introduced to this delicious spot on a river in the Atlanta area just weeks prior, I had my where and when…and as usual I had it at dawn, because I will never like using flash and I will always strive to use that magical first light.

So the boys trucked it out to the river in the dark, where my great friend and delightful assistant Paulie and I lead them through the chilled waters and to their places on the rocks in the middle of the river. One flip flop was lost in the crossing of the rocky waters, for which we all mourned.  A small price to pay for this kind of magic…though maybe not if you ask Nathan.

As you can tell in the images, I wasn’t wrong about taking this gig.  These guys were a hoot to work with, and if their musical pursuits ever fall through they’d make a fine living as a comedy troupe.

Keep an eye on their to-be-built site here for updates about their pending CD release, upcoming shows and of course – my images.  You should also probably “like” them on facebook, as well.

She engaged me to shoot her and another talented artist friend donning her latest creations, and I did what I do: forced them to wake up at the crack of dawn so we could work with pretty, perfect, natural light and I let them do what they do: joke, talk, and let me capture the beautiful creatures they are.

There is nothing not to love about working with people who can go with the flow, who are completely comfortable with my candid portrait style of shooting and who have contagious vibrant spirits.  My face and my belly hurt from the conversations and the quips about ANTM, and I remain thankful to June for the opportunity to contribute to her following her bliss and sharing it in photo form.

Here’s a peek into the shots from that morning, and here’s a link to June’s Etsy site where you’ll see them make an appearance in a few weeks.

Your mom labored hard with you.  HARD.  56 hours hard.  She wanted all the right things for you all the way through her pregnancy, up to and including your birth.  She was a champ, and you were patient if not stubborn.

When you’d been in the world about 24 hours, your folks let me come to the hospital for a visit and your first photo-shoot.  You were charming, and squirmy, and love being swaddled.   I swear you looked right at me as I was pressing my lens up against your bassinet, and that you told me you’d take good care of your folks while they settled into life with you.  I trust you will.

Here are a few images from the first full day of your life – oh – and in case you’re wondering – the first one is a yawn, not a scream.  Even your crying sounded like a song.  You must get that from your beautiful momma.

A sampling from our time together spent laughing and swapping stories over the click of  the shutter. My favorite image is the last one, don’t miss it.

Special thanks to Kim for assisting.

Note: this is a Flash gallery, if you’re on an Apple, chances are it’s going to mutate.

He arrived a little early and got a rough start, but he makes quite an impression…especially on me.  I might be in love!

He’s six months old and recently came home for the first time.  Words can’t express how honored I am that his beautiful mother invited me to photograph him at home with his family.

Meet Wyatt, making knees wobble since 2010.

You can follow and support Wyatt and his family on their journey via his Facebook page: A Wish for Wyatt.

Special thanks to Paulie for assisting.

We’re growing, changing and evolving – and I love that you’re here to see it happen.

Special thanks for the day go out to Tami, a talented food stylist and the compelling author of the blog RunningWithTweezers.  Tami graciously shared an iPhone snap of mine on her blog (with delicious attribution!) during Snomageddeon ’11, warming the hearts and minds of her readers with link love and warm thoughts.

A beautiful morning spent at their home near Decatur was followed by a short romp in the (thankfully cooperative) sunshine in the Decatur square.

I admit, I was a little weepy when their Christmas card arrived with a photo I’d taken of their little one gracing it.

Thanks to the Miller family for a fantastic shoot!

Note: this is a Flash gallery, if you’re on an Apple, chances are it’s going to mutate.