worth a thousand words...

We have been blessed since Emery's birth to know a wonderful local photographer, Davina Fear.  We hooked up with her through the birth center, and her desire to branch into birth photography.  We were initially a little unsure when Lisa (our midwife) approached us about this opportunity.  Bobby and I view birth as a very intimate moment, and want it to be as private and as focused on us and our baby as possible.  We just didn't know how to feel about inviting someone we didn't know to come in and not just be there, but photograph the event.  After some prayer and talking, we decided to do it!  It was honestly the best decision ever.  Prior to meeting Davina, I had no experience with professional photographers.....she is just wonderful, and I've got the bug for sure!  I just can't look at photos the same way after I've seen just what they can be!

Davina blended perfectly into our birth experience, and captured little tiny moments that would have been forgotten and lost forever.  She allowed Bobby and I to be totally focused on us, and not have to worry about whether or not we were getting enough pictures.  She was such an important part of my birth experience, yet I hardly remember her being there at all!

After Emery was born, Davina came to our home to do a little family session with all of us together, since Macie wasn't at Emery's birth.  Those images are so special to me.  I look at them, and not only see how my tiny baby has changed, but just how grown up my big girl became in just the changing of one day.  Macie settled right into her new role as big sister.  After spending just one night (a big one!) with us, I felt like Davina was just another member of the family!

This past fall we had another opportunity to work with Davina, for a road trip shoot.  She and I put our heads together and worked on that shoot for weeks!  Circumstances kept delaying it, but oh, was it worth the wait!  Finding the perfect car and weather were challenges, but the day that we ended up doing the shoot couldn't have been better.  All of the little elements that we worked on came together perfectly and couldn't have been more "us"! 

She recently added more of the pictures from that shoot to her facebook page, and I just can't stop looking at them!  She has an amazing talent for freezing real life in one photo.  There is just something so different about them......not a posed photo that doesn't show anyone's personalities, but a split second glimpse of what her subject is really like.  The smiles, laughs, and affection are all real, not coached or forced. 

If you've never had the opportunity to have someone like Davina spend time with your family and take pictures, I'd encourage you to do so.  There is just nothing like looking at your family through the eyes (and lense!) of a talented photographer!  Thank you Davina, for being a friend, surrogate family member, and for providing us the opportunity to work with you!

You can see some of our sessions on her blog here, here, and here.