Lindsay - Maternity Session

I met Lindsay through the previously mentioned, Eric Russell.

Lindsay is 8 months pregnant and stunningly beautiful. Lindsay's story is just as beautiful as she is.

Lindsay is having a girl. This baby girl is going to a family that longs to have a baby...and can't physically have one themselves. I've seen open adoptions work out wonderfully through friends of my own that have fantastic relationships with the children that they've placed in open adoption. I know that Lindsay's situation is going to be the same.

I fell in love with Lindsay during our first meeting, but when I saw her for our session...I fell in love with her all over again. Not only is she one of the sweetest girls I've ever met, she might be one of the most beautiful...

Lindsay wanted to have photos of her belly so that she could always remember this time in her life. When I walked in to her room - I knew that I had to photograph her in this room! It was amazing! She's totally decorating my house when we get one here in Utah!

And her belly is so darn cute!

We decided to head out to This is the Place to take some outdoor photos. I handed the session over to Eric Russell to work his magic, but couldn't help myself and had to snap a few photos for myself! Lindsay is so stinkin' beautiful...belly, heart and spirit.





I'm hoping that the stars align and I can be there for the birth of this beautiful baby who is going to bless everyone she meets. Lindsay, thank you and your family so much for sharing your story and letting me photograph you!

A photography lesson in Bokeh

I strive to learn something new everyday. It can be something about my day job, something about the people around me, something about the world and even something about photography.

It took me moving to Utah to meet an awesome photographer, Eric Russell, who has already taught me so much! He has turned out to be my technical mentor when I have questions, need help or just need someone to challenge me photographically.

In December, I wanted to go out and do some night shooting. I asked him to show me around downtown and to just be there for me!! Brad, Allie and I met up with Eric and his girlfriend downtown for a quick bite to eat at Siegfried's Deli downtown and they took us to Temple Square to check out the lights. We've never been to the Temple and I was excited!

While we were out, Eric gave me a quick lesson in Bokeh. I had to do some research on it when I got home just to satisfy my curiosity.

Wikipedia defines Bokeh as blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."

I must say that I had a lot of fun with Bokeh and the lights at Temple Square.

These will definitely turn in to some art prints that I will have in our new home (whenever that may be!)

I also got some night shooting in as well. Thanks Eric and Gina for accompanying us downtown. As always, Eric, thanks for challenging me...photographically! :-)

The Cleggs - Lifestyle Family Session

The first lifestyle family session in Utah...and I lucked out with this family!

Spencer and Erin just had a new baby girl who is all of 8 weeks old! I couldn't wait to photograph this baby - I had no clue how adorable the rest of the family was!

When I arrived at their home, the Ben and Parker were just getting ready to start their day!

What better way to start your day than with Daddy kisses! Ben - you're a lucky little fella!

Ben was a little apprehensive of me when I first arrived and even during breakfast - he was a bit reserved!
Parker on the other hand....was our comic relief!
Tee-hee - I LOVE Parker's expression to his dad in this image!!
Big ham, Parker!
I love this quiet moment I caught of Erin during the chaos of a Saturday morning after breakfast with two boys running around!
I got to experience some crazy Clegg dancing!!! Erin's expression makes me smile!
Phew....this image makes me tired! So much going on in this household! Never, ever a boring moment!

More of that crazy Parker and his mad dancing skillz!!
We had bit of drawing time to focus all the energy in the house!! And what concentration!!

I have a bit of an obsession over eye lashes. I don't really have any - or at least many that you can see...so I'm drawn to long, gorgeous lashes...even if they are on a boy!!

Baby Penny makes an appearance after her meal! Isn't she beautiful and beaming with personality?


Spencer had a ton of Daddy kisses to distribute throughout the session...even if he didn't know I was taking his picture! :-)

There's Parker again, with his silly-ness!
One thing that Erin mentioned in some initial communication was - capturing the boys giving so many kisses to Baby Penny that she sometimes thinks they're going to smother her!! I'm so in love with this family!
A little quiet family prayer time. Ben looked up at me after the prayer and said, "You weren't being reverent." Is it bad that he uses bigger words than me?
There's something quiet and beautiful about this image. It is my favorite of the day.
I will never, ever get tired of seeing parent gleam over a new baby. Never.
This was such an awesome session. Thank you Erin and Spencer for letting me come and be a piece of furniture in your lives for a moment! You guys are beautiful and am so glad that I get to call you friends now!!

New Year's Resolutions and Kicking off the New Year!

I have officially made a New Year's Resolution...and I'm going to keep it! I really, really mean it!

I have neglected this photography blog and in turn have neglected Gideon Park Photography with all the things going on in our lives - having a baby, moving across the country...just to name a few minor things that have taken attention away from my passion of photography.

Well - things are gonna change!

Now that we are getting settled in Utah, I'm going to post more so that I can hopefully reach people in this area and let them learn about who I am and what I can do for them...just by posting my images and blogging a little about them. I'll post personal images, images from client sessions as well as some fun stuff.

Hopefully in 6 months....I'll have as many clients here in Utah as I did in Georgia and South Carolina! The thought of that makes me smile!!

One of the things I want to accomplish - for myself as well as my clients - is to document an event, any event, so that the memory of that event is captured forever in photograph. I have found that photographs do help me remember the feeling of that memory....and even jog that memory that I may have forgotten.

So - without further adieu....here are a few images from our day sledding today at Sugar House Park!

Allie got this sweet snow suit for Christmas and today we thought we would give it a test run!

I love this suit....so much....that I kinda want one for myself!!

We hit Sugar House Park and had a BLAST!!! I was a little worried about Allie's reaction, but she LOVED IT!!

This was the first time Allie has really played in the snow.

She's just now learning the word COLD and today reinforced that definition for her!!

She even ate a little snow!!!

By the end...she had so much fun that she passed out before we pulled out of the park! Mission accomplished!

This was a great start to an awesome 2011!