I recently had the honor of photographing a fabulous event put on my good friend Mandi Kelloway of the Just For Grins Foundation.  Though today you could never tell when you meet her, Mandi, of Once Upon A Stylist, was born with a cleft palette and she uses her struggle as a young girl dealing with it all to now give back and help other young girls in the Jacksonville area to help give confidence and financial resources to those needing surgeries to correct their smile.  Every year she hosts a fun day of beauty event where she has a team of hair and make up artists giving makeovers to the girls and then getting their portraits taken.  This year I teamed up with another good friend Chloe Austin to cover the event and provide these girls with beautiful portraits of themselves.  Above is Mandi and I having fun in the photo booth, and below are some of my favorite portraits from the day of these amazing young girls!

Sara & Cody have been married for a year, and to celebrate their first anniversary, they chose to get in front of my camera as an anniversary gift to each other!  These two originally met online but knew pretty quickly that they had met each other’s soul mate! Sara loved reading in Cody’s online profile how much he loved God, and eventually discovered in person what a sweet and compassionate person he was, and that he has a huge heart for family.  And as Sara says, “He’s also very handsome!”  And for Cody, he loves that he can be himself around Sara no matter what, and how understanding she is for all aspects of life.  And just like Sara’s first attraction to Cody, Cody say that he was first to attracted to the fact that Sara is a Christian and loves Christ.  He also mentions that Sara is one of the funniest people he’s ever met! As a married couple now, they love having coffee dates and spending time outside, so we incorporated a few of their favorite things into the shoot!

These two already have a full family with their three fur babies and of course they had to be included in a few family portraits!  One of my favorite photos from the whole shoot was the first photo below of all of them trying to sit on the couch to pose, and their oldest pup, Daisy, trying so hard to not eat the tempting bowl of popcorn in front of her.  I just can’t stop laughing every time I see it!

Below are some of the favorites from Sara & Cody’s anniversary session!  Let me know if you are a girl in love who would also love to have engagement or anniversary photos as well!  You can find out more here.

Yes, you!

Behind the camera, I’ve been going through an adjustment period.  For 7 years, weddings made up so much of my every thought as my husband and I catered to beautiful brides and grooms. But every now and then, in between the Electric Slides and Boquet Tosses, I had the honor of documenting YOU in all your glory.

You know who you are.

You’re the girl boss who is chasing a dream, working more hours than you ever imagined, have many sleepness nights because your drive to succeed is better than any cup of coffee.  Though in order to survive the long hours you put in for your dream, it does require many cups of coffee.

You’re the fashion it girl every girls wants to be, or at least every girl follows on Instagram so they can buy the clothes you so stylishly show off.

You’re the girl who has no special occassion, but simply needs/wants/craves updated photos of yourself just because.  Sometimes a girl/woman/lady just needs to be reminded that they still got it.

You’re the girl in love, who can’t believe how quickly your love story has flown by.  It’s been so long since you had photos of just you and him, before life got so busy, before marriage got so hard, before the little ones arrived.  Or maybe you’re the girl in love who has that entire future ahead of you because you just got engaged and you can’t think of any other way to celebrate than with engagement photos you will cherish for a lifetime. Whether you are newly in love or it’s been what feels like forever, you understand how a photograph can capture everything inside of you that feel for him and will forever.

After taking a year off last year, this year I picked up my camera again to specialize this time around with high school senior girls.  I’ve been having a blast photographing that beautiful time in a young girl’s life… but, you wouldn’t let me off the hook.  You started asking me to photograph other beautiful times in your life, like photos for the launch of your new website, and anniversary photos just because.

So now I’ve expanded my services beyond just high school senior girls to photographing women in all seasons and stages of their life, love and career.

I invite you to read more in depth over on my info page, and let me know if you’re ready to shine in front of my camera!  I only take on a limited amount of portrait photo shoots a month to allow me to cater to each client on a personal level, so shoot me an email here to check for availabilities!

The past few years I’ve been on a journey trying lots of other creative interests that you’ve seen on this blog… I was burned out on wedding photography and needed to explore other ideas I had floating around in my head like the online fashion boutique and decorating other people’s homes… but it took branching out and trying new things to ultimately have things come back around full circle now with photography and a renewed passion for a new niche that has always meant so much to my heart.  After a year long break from a 7 year photography career, I’m now picking up my camera again and to photograph portrait sessions for high school and college graduating senior girls in the Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, Amelia Island and surrounding areas.   I’ve created a brand new website, Scarlett Lillian Seniors, specifically for that market, and you can explore my world as a Jacksonville Senior Photographer over at http://www.scarlettlillianseniors.com.

Meanwhile, here on this blog, I will be posting other upcoming various non-senior portrait sessions as well!