I ♥ Faces! Kids

As I was searching through my photos trying to find the perfect picture for my iHeartFaces kids "joy" entry it hit me... I don't have to have the child with the biggest grin. Joy comes in all forms. The picture below is a little girl I photographed not to long ago. Her eyes lit up as she saw her mom walking towards her. It amazes me the unconditional love and joy our children show us just because we are near! I hope you enjoy this weeks "kids" entry!

♥ Baby Haylee ♥

Nothing melts my heart more than to walk into a client's home and see a beautiful cooing baby! It's been some time since I have had a newborn session and I was instantly flooded with memories of when my own not-so-baby girl was only five weeks old.

Haylee was very alert and happy to oblige me as soon as I asked something of her. You're probably wondering why on earth I would be asking an infant to do something! :) I'll explain.

At one point I asked her if she would curl her legs back up for me and wouldn't you know.. she did it?! Sarah, aka Mommy, and I just giggled as we savored every second of watching Haylee "perform" for the camera. (Yes.. I really do know that infants don't actually follow directions.. but humor me!)

Thank you, Sarah, for allowing me the opportunity to photograph your new, precious baby girl! I can't wait to see how much she has grown in a few months! Enjoy!

I ♥ Faces!

So today's blog is a highlight and entry of the new photography blog/forum iHeartFaces!

iHeartFaces was created for photographers to be able to share the art of capturing faces and the emotions that they hold. Check it out and enter your faces!

This week I decided to enter a photo for both categories, kids and adults. It goes without saying that I'm going to pick my baby girl for my first kids entry:



For the adults entry I chose my bride Julie from last summer. Julie reminded me (and everyone else I know for that matter) of a 50's movie star! She is also one of the sweetest, most soft-spoken people I've ever met.

Meet Alyssa

Jenni emailed me in September asking if I would take portraits of her little girl on the beach when she was home for Christmas. We set a date and time but as it approached I became increasingly worried about how cold it was going to be. I thought it might be a good idea to try somewhere other than the beach but Jenni really wanted to do the beach since they only get to visit the area these days. Of course I said several prayers and yet again God provided! Jenni's and her family were quite warm in the sweaters as it was in the high 60's and there was NO wind (seriously..NONE)! The sky was also perfectly overcast! Here are a few of my favorite shots of Alyssa. Jenni, it was wonderful meeting you and your family! Thank you for allowing me to take your family portraits!

IT'S LIVE!!

I am SO excited to announce that the new

www.leslieroark.com is live!

Let me know what you think!

Kids will be kids

As I am sure most moms would agree, getting your children to cooperate during picture time is extremely difficult.

It’s even worse when you have younger children.

But when you are a photographer, it's more difficult than ever! I've been procrastinating for weeks to take pictures of Kaydence to send out with our Christmas cards and I really can't wait any longer.

She wants to be in my lap or hugging me and that doesn't work very well when I am the one taking her pictures. Needless to say out of 50 shots I got one decent face shot and two really cute detail shots. That's all.

I might try again later if her mood improves.. oh well! She's still my little cutie!

Had to share.........

...this AWESOME sequence from a family shoot the day before Thanksgiving.

Dad was having a blast playing and of course I was having a blast shooting!

Happy Halloween! (A few days late)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

We went back to my hometown of DeFuniak Springs for Halloween again this year. Kaydence and her cousins went as the gang from Grease!

Aside from the normal "too much going on" behavior (You moms know what I mean) .. overall they did GREAT!

Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy! Keep watch this week.. I have A TON to blog about!

Kaydence

Jadyn

Warren

Haiden

Dawson

I put the "T" BIRDS on the back of his jacket! I was crafty for the second time in my life!!!

My baby girl and I.. that was a green sour apple sucker!



A full view.. (with a green mouth)

Kaydence won 3rd place in here age division in the costume contest!!!

Happy Birthday Warren!

In honor of my adorable nephew's 3rd birthday I snapped a few shots of him on my "Blue Jay" background!

Isn't he the cutest litte boy??

I also tried to get a few of him and Kaydence.

The first one is absolutely precious...

The second is still adorable but Kay did not want to cooperate!

Christmas is Coming!

Christmas is quickly approaching and I just can not believe it!! If you would like to book a Christmas session and or have Christmas cards made, now is the time to do it. All Christmas sessions must be booked and all card orders must be placed before November 12 in order to guarantee pictures and cards back in time to mail out for the Christmas Holiday! I know that seems early but that is how busy this time of year is and I want to have everything out in a timely manner!! Below are just a few (literally.. just a few) samples of Christmas Cards that I am offering this year! Please contact me for pricing information!

September Calendar & Sneak Preview!

Here is a sneak preview of a recent itty bitty baby I shot as well as one of many calendar templates that it can be made into! (More photos to come this week!!) If you would like one of your photos turned into a calendar.. just let me know!

Winnie and Kristy's Families!

I have honestly had the most amazing families to take pictures of this summer! Winnie and Kristy came down with their families and yet again the weather was skeptical. (Imagine that in Florida!) About two hours before the shoot Winnie called to make sure we were still on after realizing that it was not raining! So they rushed to get ready and we headed out behind their condo on Pensacola Beach. The lighting was perfect and we had a blast taking pictures! I hope you enjoy!