The Klonis Family

This was my first opportunity to shoot at the North Carolina Arboretum! Very cool. They've got a bunch of trails and gardens - a great place to get away for awhile.
As is usually the case, this was the first time I'd met the Klonis' and we had a nice time strolling through the Arboretum and getting to know each other. Their youngest son saved himself throughout the shoot to come alive at the end to give us some great shots of his six week old smile :)

Extreme Richmond

For those of you who have been tuning in for a while, Kari Richmond will look familiar. She's the director of the Asheville Area Music Together classes which I had the opportunity to shoot at the beginning of October. She and her husband Matthew (who teaches percussion at UNCA) are both skilled musicians and you can see her love for it as she interacts with the kids during class. I'm excited to have my boys in Kari's classes starting in January! Check it out, it's never too early for your kids to gain an appreciation for music!
Well here is the lovely Kari along with Matthew and their son Isaac - out enjoying the area around their home in a nice secluded area of West Asheville.









I went old school with the music on this one. Classic!

Extreme Rhoden

This is Claire with her parents Darryl and Ashley. And we had a fun time shooting.
Her grandparents have an awesome house in Haw Creek that is a turn of the century hunting retreat - on five acres! Who has five acres in Haw Creek!? Well I had to shoot some images inside such a cool house and then we headed outdoors to get shots in the enviable front yard. We even had a fun time breaking into the house after we locked ourselves outside! A little tip: you're not picking an old school iron latch with your Mastercard.

Extreme Pulliam

Shooting at Biltmore Lake is sweet! (Enka Lake for you die-hards)
Having the water and the manicured grounds makes for an awesome setting. And when it's time for some family shots back at the house, it's a full 67 second car ride.
This time my car ride took me to Larry and Rebecca's house with their kids, Parker and Ava.
We started off chasing the kids around the playground equipment by the lake and then Parker and Ava were nice enough to show me all the cool toys back in their playroom. And they even had a few motorized, nervousness inducers out in the garage - very cool.
Thanks to Larry and Rebecca for inviting me into their home to capture their family.
And thanks to Jackson's mom for referring me - I had a great time!

The captured moments!

Extreme Martin

How many kids can you fit into one shoot?
Well, with the Martins - I count nine. Actually eight and then a mini baby shoot.
And... Eight is enough!
I couldn't help it, I had to go there.

I first met Jennifer Martin when I shot her daughter Abi and her friends doing their gymnastics at Hahn's Gymnastics Studios. She liked those shots and asked me to come get some pictures of her kids. Abi was smiling the whole time doing her gymnastics so I knew she's be fun when she wasn't worried about falling off a beam!

I didn't know how far back into Leicester you could go until I drove to the Martin's mountain top retreat. I might have opted for a car with more suspension then my lowered, VW bus had I known I'd be driving miles up a winding, dirt, mountain road. But it was fun and we came away with some awesome images of everyone!

Check 'em all out in the slideshow!

zac|thomas shoots his family

Well, they had it coming!

I've been busy enough that I had to put my own family on the calendar for a shoot!
These are from the 26th of October - Vahn's 6 month birthday.
We just went down the road to the local high school and captured some images back in their trees. And then, a little later, we drove by a pumpkin sale on Patton Ave. and got Vahn chillin'.

I'm still working behind the scenes on the new webpage and on a number of sessions from last week - STAY TUNED!

Extreme Cleaver

Here's the Cleavers! Ward, June, Wally and the Beaver.

June is one more of the fantastic people I've met through Jolene's groups. It's pushing three in the morning and I can't remember if it was AA or the PTA. The important thing is we did meet.
I met Wally at the park in West Compton where his grandma had brought him to play. I have to say, Wally looked pretty rough - he was shy, he had a hat pulled down past his eyes and he had snot on the rest of his face. In his defense I'm pretty sure he was sick. But it was a totally different kid I saw who was playing with his dad the next time we met. That was when I first met Ward - I was shooting the East Coast Regional Crocheting Championship. He was the only dad there - and he and Wally were having a great time. I gotta give a shout out to stellar dads - they're far too rare. So fortunate for the Beaver!

For these pictures we met down at the Park-N-Ride and walked around checking out some of the sculptures there. It was a little slow going at first, you can tell from June's pictures that she's camera shy - it was like pulling teeth to get her to smile. But what a smile.

The Cleaver's - another commodity of Compton.

Check it out!

SOCCER!

Here's something you haven't seen before on the blog!

I met Wendy through Jolene's MOPS connection. Wendy is a personal trainer and also coaches her son Zach's soccer team and asked if I could come out and shoot some pictures of the team in action. I hadn't shot soccer before so I thought that would be a fun, new challenge.

Take a look!