St. Louis Photographer » A Journal by Holly McCaig

I’m sitting in my hotel room in Atlanta. Last night, I stayed with Brady’s family so we could be sure to capture his adoring personality this morning. After my crazy drive trying to find the Atlanta IKEA, I thought I would never get to smile and laugh until I saw his cute, toothy grin this morning. Such a blessing to spend the first night in someone’s home as opposed to a hotel room, after all that circling around the vicinity of IKEA. AYE AYE AYE!

So, this morning, Danielle had to leave for NYC for the day, while dad had a few meetings and other things to take care of. So, me and Brady’s grandma worked our magic to get great, one-year photos. Yes, and even a cake smash. Now, mind you, it’s been raining cats and dogs ALL day long here today. So, we had little natural light. And, my reason for being in Atlanta is for a lighting workshop that starts tomorrow. That didn’t help me in time! I still think I’m loving these picks as my favorites though.

Happy birthday little guy!

Grandpa showed up at the end, and I love this little moment. Can’t wait to see you again at Christmas, little man!

Here’s another couple peeks of the cutie pie, Brady. He is sooooo yummy cute!

I am in the middle of hard-core packing up goods to take down to the LOT Music Festival. But, also backing up photos from this afternoon’s session with Brady. 9 Months old as of yesterday! He’s growing before my eyes, every time I see him. While making backups, I saw this one – actually, I saw it on the back of my camera during the shoot and couldn’t stop oogling over it.

IS HE JUST THE CUTEST? I swear, he’s one of the best kids I have ever photographed. He’s always happy and attentive to me. I think I might get to see him in Atlanta when I head down in November for One Light. This kid has to be in showbiz!

I KNOW that Maura will be so excited to see these sneak peeks! I normally like to have a full slideshow prepared first, but I’m completely swamped and probably will be for a while. So, her are some quick ones of her girls. Maura asked me to head over and do a fun little, Matilda Jane session with her girls. My parasol really works wonders in keeping kids happy! In fact, this is the first time in years that Kylie has allowed me to photograph her and actually LET me do it with joy and excitement. I was wondering who took her and put someone else in her place? huh? I’ll take it! I believe I got more shots of her than Fiona this time! And, don’t you like their cute new chickies? They are raising them for eggs! Adorable girlies!

Last Saturday, I babysat with my mom. We watched my cousin, Tom’s little girls, Ana and Ella, while he and his wife, Jamie, took my aunt out for her birthday dinner. A while back, I bought some Matilda Jane outfits specifically for these photos. I knew for a long time I wanted to do this for them. My mom made the adorable headbands in these photos. I hope she will sell them soon!

So, we got them dressed really quick, as we had little light to work with. Then, we played on their sidewalk in front of their home in Maplewood. Seriously, it was so fun, and so adorable. And, if you know both of these children, you know that these pictures really do show off who they are. I think it’s the first time I’ve realized this when I hear my clients tell me, “you really captured their personalities”.

Today, I showed their mom and dad and now, I can show you. I am definitely putting a few of these in the studio – and doing a larger Dream Album with these photos. How can you not love them all?

Enjoy the slideshow:

And, one of my favorite shots!