{joy} Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas from Joy Wilson Photography! I hope you all enjoy time with your family and reflect on THE reason that we celebrate this holiday. Our dear Peanuts friends clarify it all quite nicely....

Charlie Brown: I guess you were right, Linus. I shouldn't have picked this little tree. Everything I do turns into a disaster. I guess I really don't know what Christmas is all about. Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?

Linus Van Pelt: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.

Linus Van Pelt: Lights, please.

Linus Van Pelt: "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'"

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Merry Christmas dear friends! I pray this day is filled with love and laughter!

{Family} Frost

The sweet Frost family was down in Franklin from their home in Denver, CO and wanted me to take some photos of their growing family. Karen and I met a few years ago at work and have kept in touch via facebook. She and her husband Ben adopted a precious little boy, Ethan, earlier this year. Shortly thereafter they found out they were pregnant! Isn't God great! She is about 20 weeks along and will soon find out what they are having. We met up at the Factory and grabbed a few photos of their family. I mean seriously, how handsome is Ethan! :)

{joy} My 10 faves of 2010

As I was reflecting on this year I thought of all the amazing shoots and weddings that I was blessed to be a part of. I honestly do get to be a part of my clients most important life moments and I truly love it! My clients become my friends and my family and friends become my clients, its a beautiful cycle that I hope continues year after year. I thought to myself- "I wonder what my favorite image was from this year?" Of course I could not narrow it down to just one image, so I settled on choosing my top 10 favorites. Choosing 10 was even a daunting task, there are so many great shoots to choose from! I even had to throw in three bonus pics too! I chose these top 10 on the criteria: if I had a studio or gallery, what images would I want to showcase there? These images represent love, marriage, new life, and fun! I would love to know if you have a favorite image (or session) from this year?

I would also love to know which of these is your favorite! The image that gets the most comments about it will win a special prize from Joy Wilson Photography. I have a new product that I want to integrate into my sessions for next year and would love to give one to the most loved photo from this group. So, if you are represented here you better get your friends and family to comment on this blog so you can get a free gift! Trust me, it will be worth it!

UPDATE: I will announce the winner on January 1, so all votes must be in by December 31!

I hope you all enjoy seeing a few of my favorites from this year!

(these are in no particular order)

This wedding was so sweet and beautiful. This barn was across the street from the church where they married they were amazing to brave the hundred ant hills to get this photo. I adore this couple and was so honored to be a part of their day!

I have a soft spot for brown eyed, brown haired little girls. I think Berkley is just beautiful! I adore this image of her climbing the fence, I mean seriously....how cute is she?!

This is possibly my favorite maternity image ever. It is soft and subtle and perfect. We were about to pass this field completely when Kerry said "why don't we do some there?" and of course they ended up being my favorite. This is one I hope to "copy" when I am pregnant.

Stunning right? This was the hardest shoot to choose JUST ONE image from. Heather was a beautiful bride! Her bridal portraits session was one of my favorite shoots ever. Ever. She woke before sunrise with me to ensure we had the best light, let me do her hair and makeup and was the worlds best sport about it all. I love the classic feel to this image, the veil over her face (which sadly not many brides do anymore) and the demure yet sexy expression on her face. Stunning.

Little Loretta turned ONE today (December 22). Happy Birthday! This image screams perfection to me. The light (its amazing), the thrift store quilt (it is so great that I want to steal it), the timeless bonnet (I bought it and held on to it waiting for the perfect subject to put it on, thanks Loretta!), and her grandparents fields in the background all mesh together to create this sweet image.

Chad and Kelly have the most amazing eyes- his bright blue and hers warm brown. I love the way they are starring at the camera with such seriousness with their closest friends around them. Everytime I see this image I think of this wonderful couple and how Kelly kept making ME feel special on HER wedding day. If all my brides could be like her I would be the worlds happiest photographer.

Ahh...the light at sunset is just so wonderful! Wonderful is also the expression on Harper's face in this. She is so happy swinging by her parents hands and her smile lights up this entire image. I adore the warm colors and tone of this image.

Fox and Freddy are by far the coolest couple I know. This shoot was so much fun and this image represents them so well. Sexy, unique, in love, creative, and fun.

Jillian was another of my stunning brides this year. These bridal portraits were done in Centennial park a few weeks before their wedding in April. Her dress was gorgeous, her eyes were bright, her smile contagious.

I mean, how fun is this image? There are alot of others from this session that I loved but this one just stood out to me with the colors! It is fun and flirty!


Now for my BONUS three favorites! These are my family, of course you know I couldn't do a top 10 without some of my family! :)

My amazing mom and dad, still in love after 30+ years of marriage. They are the definition of love in my eyes.

How to choose just one?!? Matt and Fran are beautiful and their engagement session was one of my favorites ever! This one is sweet simply because they are both musicians and it plays such an important part in their lives. I am so excited for my big brother and his new bride!

And last but certainly not least, baby Sawyer. My third precious and perfect nephew. This shot was taken on a family outing at the lake when he was just a couple of weeks old. I am in love with this little guy. I want to frame this image in my house and pretend he is my own. :) I am pretty sure he or his two big brothers will forever be on my top 10 every year to come! Can you blame me?

Ok, now get to commenting so your favorite image can win a very special Joy Wilson Photography prize!!!!

{joy} 2009 in a nutshell

As this wonderful year is coming to a close I find myself reflecting on 2009. This was such an interesting year for me as a wife and as a photographer. My husband graduated from college (woohoo) in December of last year. In January of this year we decided it was best for me to quit my day job (another big woohoo) and we packed up and moved to Atlanta to hang out with family while we waited for Brad to get an amazing job offer. Little did we know that the economy was not doing really well (you can insert a big DUH here) and it ended up taking quite a bit longer for that great job to come calling. While he was struggling every day to feel like a provider for our family I was loving every minute of not working at a job I hate. I was finally able to put all of my time and energy into my photography and was doing it full time in Atlanta. Ahhhh I love my Atlanta clients more than words can say. That 6 months was definitely not an easy time for Brad and me as we lived with my family and while he was searching for work. We felt encouraged and challenged by so many others that were in very similar situations. As hard as that time was, it was also such a refreshing and encouraging time for me in every single aspect you can imagine. I was able to rest and relax and hang out with my friends and family and laugh alot....none of which I had been able to do much of for the three years prior. Exciting things were all around us - my oldest brother and his wife welcomed their third beautiful baby boy, my middle brother found the one that made him come alive and married her in August, Brad's brother married the love of his life in July, and we were able to be in town and celebrating with our family that whole time. Then finally in early August Brad got a wonderful job offer that brought us back to TN. Thank you Lord for answering our prayers! Now we are in Nashville loving life, making new friends, settling into a wonderful church that we love, and making this town feel like our home. Since I was working full time while we lived in TN before, I was not able to put any energy into building business here. I knew regardless of where we moved after graduation that I would be able to keep business in Atlanta though so that is why I traveled back and forth so often. So now that we are back I am still trying to find my place in Nashville and really start to build my business here. We love this town and would be happy to live here forever.

2009 has been a big year of change for our little family. Changing jobs, changing cities, changing houses, changing roles, changing churches, changing attitudes. Although this has certainly felt like a roller coaster year I am so thankful for every hill and every valley that we have passed through. Our GOD is truly amazing and knows every single step we will take. HE has guided us through and we continue to put our trust in HIM. We are praying for an equally amazing 2010....but hopefully it will be a slightly smoother ride. :) Come to think of it....I am sure there will just as much chaos next year as well. We hope to buy a house, possibly start a family (another huge woohoo!), and who knows what else. Regardless of what next year brings, we are looking forward to it and are so thankful for this amazing year in 2009.

What were your favorite memories from this year? What are you most looking forward to next year?

Stay tuned....I will soon be posting my top 10 favorite images from this year! :)

{joy} shoutout

Whew, I just posted the last of my sessions and my checklist is complete! This has been an amazing, busy, fantastic season for me and I feel so very blessed. I am excited to get ready for 2010 and the slight changes that will hopefully be coming to Joy Wilson Photography. My blog might be low on content for the rest of the year, but I promise to write some here and there so you don't forget about me and I don't forget about you, precious readers. Please don't hesitate to let me know if there is anything you want me to blog about. I love writing about what YOU want to read, so please send over your ideas, questions, comments. I hope everyone has a relaxing and fun December.

Just a few shoutouts before I log off for the day:

Happy Birthday to my amazing Mother-In-Law- Janet! Jan- you are such a fabulous mother in law and I know I do not tell you that enough. You deserve all the happiness in the world! Hopefully we will give you a grandbaby someday soon that will give you an excuse to stop working so hard and just make time for play. I love you so much and am so grateful for you!

Congratulations to my sister-in-law- Francesca on her GRAMMY nomination!!! Francesca Battistelli (Goodwin) was nominated in the Best Gospel Performance category. Franny, we are all so proud of you!

Congratulations to two of my sweet friends who have recently told me they are pregnant with their first babies! I am so excited for you girls as you start your families! I have dibs on maternity pics! :)

And to all the rest of you that have wonderful things to celebrate....yay! Our God is good and I am continuously amazed at the blessings I see around me every day. HE is THE reason for this season and every season of our lives, let's always remember that as we celebrate with our families and friends.

{Family} Wakefield

I am a sucker for little girls with brown hair and brown eyes...Harper was just too cute for words! I met Justin and Jennifer and little Harper at their home in Adairsville, GA. We piled in a truck and drove over to the other side of their property to this fabulous old barn. We caught the sun just as it was setting and it gave us perfect light! This was my last shoot of my most recent trip to GA and it was such a fun shoot to end on. Here are a few of my favorites!

{Babies} Mimi

My best friend since childhood, Stephanie, had me come to their home for a few Christmas card photos of her precious daughter Mimi. I love Mimi and had so much fun with her. Here are a few of my favorites!