This year I tried something a little different and I am super happy with how things turned out.  I went ahead and created some great package deals for parents so they could get some affordable school photos that they would actually want hanging on the wall.  I think we all have at least one year in which the kiddos come home with the photos in hand and all we could do is look at them and shake our heads as we ask the question why!  With the success of the school photos this year I will absolutely be doing them again next year and can't wait.  I already have some great ideas on what I will be doing.  

I started with two handsome young men I have photographed a couple different times over the last year for various sports.  We headed downtown and got our walk on.  There are so many different places to go down there and if the clients are willing to walk around there is no way one can't end up with totally unique and fun photos.  This image is one of my favorites from the shoot.  I just love the big fans overhead.  

Next I headed out to the Pine Grove school campus, another one of my fav locations.  Again, there are so many different photo ops out there it is crazy.  I had been out to the campus several times for different photo shoots and have never run into any issues so went into this shoot expecting no issues.  Well, wouldn't you know it at the end of the shoot my ankle started itching and sure enough there was an ant crawling on me.  On my way home my entire body was itching and I was afraid I wasn't going to make it for all the scratching I was doing!  I arrived home and decided I was attacked not only by the killer fire ants but also the quarter size mosquitos that were out in full force.  I found this hard to believe as mosquitos don't normally bother me (if trained professionals can't get blood out of me, there is no way a mosquito will).  My ankle became a cankle, my arms were covered in hives as was my back and my legs.  Oh my goodness as I laid slathered in cortizone and high on Benadryl all I could think was please do not let those poor kids be in the same predicament.  All the itching and swelling was totally worth it as we ended up with some fantastic photos of the kids.  

 As I took school photos for one particular family we added in a special shoot for dad.  These three kids and mom have been going through life while dad has been deployed.  As a military wife I can relate to having dad gone for an extended period of time and it really is hard on the kiddos.  I think everyone does a pretty good job of putting on those brave little faces, but there are always those moments when the emotions get the best of everyone.  We came up with the idea of having the kids dressed in uniform at the bus depot with duffles as if they were trying to get on the bus.  Mom had made a perfect sign which was used in the hopes that the bus driver and/or other passengers would be hit in the heart and get these kids where they needed to be so they could see dad.  We also had them hitch hiking-thumbs up, arm out, pulling bags trying to get a lift.  They turned out to be some fantastic photos and I think we were very successful in our goal.  Good news is dad will be home soon and this beautiful family will be reunited and together again.  It was a great morning-two hours in the Georgia heat and not one complaint from the kiddos.  High five to them.

The school photos came to an end on Saturday as I finished up with another adorable family.  There are way too many cute kids floating around :-) I headed to McKey park for this shoot.  This is a simple little park with some nice greenery and well no fire ants, at least none that viciously attacked me.  I did end up with itchy eyes after about 10 minutes of being there and sneezed my way home.  I don't know what it is about Georgia, but the great outdoors and I do not get along.  Thankfully, nobody caught my sneezes so we had nothing but a few gnats to interrupt our fun.   We had a little sass, a little cool, and a little on the run from these kids.  We hung from a tree, though nobody was willing to hang upside down (other than the cutie in a dress, um no). We ran some sprints.  We spun ourselves dizzy.  

I would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the wonderful families I had the honor of working with in August and September.  I was busy not only with school photos but family photos and enjoyed every one of you.  I love what I do and I consider being your chosen photographer to be a privilege.  I am getting ready to implement some great new things and know from here on out your experience with Liliahna Rayne Photography is going to be even better (if that is even possible) than ever.  Stay tuned...