New beginnings…

I have been waiting for this moment for a long time… Planning, discovering, creating, anticipating….   Not only is this my first official blog entry, but it’s also the dawning of an adventure I have been dreaming of since childhood.  A little over a year ago, through facebook I reconnected with one of my very favorite friends from my years growing up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  That friend is Jennifer (Rorex) Burns, and she also just happens to be a phenomenal photographer (of Jennifer Burns Photography) now living in Arlington, Virginia.  We found we lived only about 45 minutes away from each other!  We last saw each other in 8th grade and I couldn’t wait to meet up with her again!  She invited me to her home, brewed me a lovely latte, and asked, “Well, Kerry, what are you waiting for?  GO FOR IT!!”  With her encouragement, inspiration, and friendship I threw myself into the world of photography and I’m not looking back.  So I want to tell her THANK YOU with the most sincere gratitude and humility!!  Without her, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to give life to this dream of mine.

I also want to thank Julia MacInnis of Julia MacInnis Photography… We connected online and have only met once, but she has been an integral and inspiring part of my evolution in photography.  Her advice and encouragement is invaluable and though she is incredibly busy with her own photography as well as volunteering for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep she still takes time out of her day to answer my questions and offer guidance.  Julia is a strong example of the remarkable people who have crossed my path this year, and I am blessed.  Thank you!

With all that said, I am honored and humbled to launch my blog with the most powerful and meaningful miracles of life — the birth of a baby.  Quite fitting, isn’t it?  New beginnings and miracles are all around us…some are obvious, bursting forth with triumphant celebration, and others we may have to search harder for… But each one with a story to rival the next.  And I am excited to capture them all…  Last spring I received a call from a friend who asked me if I was interested in photographing her fourth child’s birth.  I knew this was a chance of a lifetime so I agreed instantly!  I spent the next several months preparing, studying, researching, practicing…all so that I could document this amazing day the best I could.  Then I received another call from a midwife who was expecting her second child and wanted to document the birth as well…and she was due the same week as the first mom!  I willingly cleared my schedule and made preparations for my own family so that when the time came, I could rush off and photograph the joy of that amazing day.  Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to the families who invited me to be a part of their miracles of birth!  Here are just a few of those extraordinary moments I was blessed to be a part of…Enjoy!

First was the incredible mother of (now!) four…between painful contractions she actually cracked a joke or two!  A super-smart, strong and fantastic woman with a personality that is larger-than-life.

And the amazing midwife and her family…

Thank you both for inviting me into your lives at one of the most amazing and beautiful moments!  It was an honor and a joy to photograph the birth of your beautiful babies!  I can’t wait to see you all again.  Congratulations!!