I just moved forward with my final Christmas gift purchase. I wanted to make sure I got Katie just the right thing. She’s going to love it.

Perhaps you’re needing just the right thing for someone in your life. Would photography be a good fit?

If you’d be interested in purchasing a session, package, or even one-on-one photography lessons for that person, I’ll be available through Christmas eve to take care of you. You can email me at shaun@shaunringphotography.com

I can take an online payment and email you something to print and put in a card. Easy, eh?

Just wanted you to know you have options!

And no post would be complete without some recent shots of cute kiddos.

We were in a small room upstairs at Common Grounds, sitting on opposing well-worn couches. I took small-ish gulps from the  dull black mug while Sara and Chris brought me up to speed on how the wedding planning had been going since we’d first met in late summer. I tried to play it cool, but I was plenty nervous inside.

You see, their wedding is July 20, 2013. With almost 2 years to plan, they have plenty of options—including photographers. Chris and Sara are EXACTLY my kind of couple. Warm. Relaxed. Real. Funny. Smart. I reeeeaally wanted to work with them, and I hoped that feeling was mutual.

When I asked if they’d booked any vendors yet, they paused, looked at each other, then looked back at me with serious expressions. And for a second, I thought the worst—In my mind’s eye, I pictured them telling me they’d chosen another photographer. I thought we’d really hit it off when we’d met at the studio. We’d stayed in touch since then. Sara would email me with questions about venues and vendors, and I’d try my best to be helpful. Looking back to that moment, I don’t know why they would have invited me out for coffee to tell me bad news, but they’re incredibly sweet people. It would be like them to want to break it to me gently. I know it’s crazy, but those were the thoughts running through my head during that long pause.

To my relief, Chris’ smile broke through first, followed by Sara’s, and it was then they asked me to be their wedding photographer. A proposal! Whew.

With a decade of experience and a fairly well-established brand, you might assume that I’m past the point of being insecure. I might seem 100% confident, but inside, I’m still that little boy taking a drawing up to his teacher’s desk, looking for a smile and approval. There’s always that voice inside saying Like me! Like me!

And I suspect that we’re all that way a bit.

To Sara and Chris—YES. 100 times YES. I appreciate your trust in me. For liking my work. You’re amazing people, and I can’t wait to spend more time with you.

Thank you to Kimberly and Adrian at Hunter Valley Farm for letting us come out on a cold, Saturday morning.  Quite a spread you’d got there!

Way to rock the boots, Sara!

If you’ve been following my work for long, you know how much I loath jumping pictures at weddings. Sara and Chris feel exactly the same way. Which is why we chose to spoof the jump. To show that it’s not that we can’t. Bwahahaha!

Love this.

Timeless.

I almost always do sessions closer to dusk, but this one was mid-morning. The lighting is waaaay different. Felt good to change things up.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by! If you feel so inclined, I’d love for you to connect with me. Take care!

Remember this post? The one where my family met up with friends while we were at Disney World?  In some of those shots, you saw a sweet little 3-year-old boy. That’s Cooper. Full of energy and love.

By now, I’m sure you’ve also heard about Cooper’s House on the local and national news. If you haven’t already checked out his Facebook page, it’s a great place to go to become informed about what’s been happening and get involved.

We love this family. They’re as down-to-earth and warm as you can imagine. I was over there tonight getting a shot of Cooper’s house all decked out in holiday lights. We talked about how things were going, and the family is optimistic that the Andover Forest Neighborhood Association will reconsider its stance on removing Cooper’s therapy playhouse from the property. There’s an overwhelming amount of public support for Cooper, but ultimately, the homeowners in that subdivision will need to make a big decision on what kind of a neighborhood they want to create.

Yep, that’s right. Create. Neighborhoods aren’t maintained. They’re not protected. A neighborhood’s value isn’t in the soil, bricks and mortar any more than a church is a building. A neighborhood is created daily by the choices its residents make in associating with one another. In helping each other. That’s what makes houses homes.

Let’s encourage the Andover Forest homeowners to take on this responsibility and be an example to all neighborhoods.

Here’s that shot from earlier tonight.