Thank you! | Ringing in 2016

I can never express how much I appreciate and come to love the faces I get to capture through my lens.  2015 has been a year of adventure for my family, but also of unbelievable blessing, and much of that due to the ones who have trusted me to capture their sweet memories and moments.  This is a little glimpse of all I got to witness this year.  I think I got a sampling of everyone, but if I missed someone, know it was accidental oversight.  My heart is filled with gratitude for each encounter.  I look forward to seeing many of you again in 2016.  Big things are coming for First Moments Photography in the next year.  You're not gonna want to miss it!

Congratulations! | LaGrange Family Photographer

Congratulations Margaret Williams!  Contact First Moments for your Gift Certificate!

The Kline Family 2015 | Atlanta Area Family Photographer

It's time for those family portrait sessions!  I had the privilege of spending time with this sweet family recently and documenting their here and now.  Our families go way back, but this is the first time I have gotten to photograph them, and it was a great experience for me (and I hope for them!).  The Kline's have an awesome story to tell, and I loved my time catching up with them.  I cannot wait to see their beautiful portraits on their wall and see them enjoy them in their album!!

Congratulations Class of 2015!! | LaGrange, GA Senior Photographer

I just want to shout out a huge Congratulations to the class of 2015! As my own children approach this age more rapidly, I start to relate to the excitement surrounding this event. My friends' kids are starting to graduate, and the busyness of the season rivals that of Christmas time. I don't envy that! But, I have gotten to join in the fun by doing some Senior Portraits this year. It HAS been fun! I do a lot of baby and family photography, which I love dearly, but it is good for my creative juices to get to play with guys and girls that are there (pretty) willingly. They smile on command, they are compliant, and in my experience they are pretty natural in front of the camera. If they aren't, you'd never know it!

I had a blast playing with this beauty, so I wanted to share one of her shots in honor of her graduation. Congratulations Leanne and to the rest of the class of 2015!
 

Mother's Day Fun | Charity Opportunity

I am so excited to announce that First Moments Photography will be pairing with First Choice Women's Center and Stephen's Exclusives to be offering "You are my Sunshine" minisessions for Mother's Day!  First Moments will be at Stephen's Exclusives Saturday, May 9th taking portraits.  100% of the $75 session fee with go to First Choice Women's Center here in LaGrange.  The sessions will be prebooked and held by your session fee, so call soon!  There will be collections available to purchase that day when you preview your portrait proofs.  It is a great day to get some Mother's Day shopping done and give back to a local charity!

You may wonder who can be in the portraits or who they are of.  Anyone!  Mom, Mom and kids, siblings, Dad and kids are all options.  I think moms are usually the ones taking the photos, and sometimes they neglect to get in them!  Especially professional ones.  There's no time like the present!  However, if you do want to surprise Mom, that is special too!

Call to book your appointment time that day, and please call or email me with any questions!

706-594-2204 (Mandy)
mandydaniel@bellsouth.net

Killmer Family | LaGrange Family Photographer

We had a beautiful afternoon for some family pictures with the Killmers!  A lot has happened since the last time I got to photograph this sweet family!  Last time we were celebrating Tori and Robbie’s wedding, and now, they have a sweet Parker to add!  Thank you guys for sharing your afternoon with me.  Enjoy your sneak peak.

Family Portrait Advice

I had the same conversation this weekend with two different mommas, so I thought it warranted a space on the website today.  (Still got some updating to do by the way, so keep snooping around and checking things out.)  One momma, (you know who you are!) talked about being disappointed in her most recent family pics.  She was hoping to get a good wall portrait and things just didn’t come together well, and the quality wasn’t what she had wanted, and it was the first portrait in over 7 years!  That’s a lot of pressure on one session!  The other has a church directory picture that she hates on her wall because it is all she has.  She also has had an adoption, a wedding, and a grand baby since then!  I have a feeling they are not the only ones, so I wanted to share.

I know I’m a photographer, so I am biased, but I have ALWAYS loved photographs and even when we were a young, working-part-time-one-income-poor family, yearly portraits were a priority.  I am going to share my family’s shots from the last 4 or so years.  Just a personal note:  My hair has been great, totally wind-blown, good color, bad color, and everything in between.  My weight has ranged from 135 to about 175.  Some of these pictures would look great with the decor of my home.  Some are opposite of my decorating style.  Here is my advice about Family Portraits:

• Give yourself the opportunity.  Take at least one family group shot a year.  Make use of it.  Use it as a Christmas Card, print it for a scrapbook, put it on the wall or a table, have an album.
• Relax.  Not every year will be suitable for a wall portrait.  There will be bad hair, cheesy grins, uncooperative kids, bad coloring, etc.  BUT, every once in a while.  Every couple years or so, you will get a winner, and if you’re taking them often enough, you’ll get the winners!
• Dress neutrally every other year.  Of course, if you have a favorite color, throw it in as an accent.  If one year you have calm neutrals, then the next year you can dress in something fun or trendy or themed.  There is not so much pressure for the perfect picture once every 5 to 10 years.
• Don’t try to be perfect.  Accept where  you are right now.   Next year will be different for you, the hubby, the kids.  Sometimes we look back and say, “Man, we had it together.”  And sometimes we say, “Whew!  Glad we got past that stage!”  It’s about the memories and moments, not how perfect we are.  

So, here we go.  Enjoy my walk down memory lane, but make your own!! (And First Moments would love to help you with that!)