Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Tory & Brooker

I feel like I have a new theme to my engagement sessions... COLD WEATHER! It was 32 degrees when I left my home today, but it didn't take long for Tory & Brooker to warm things up. Tory's deep chocolate brown eyes and incredible smile would melt any guy's heart; Brooker just happend to be the lucky man. He had a way of saying just the right words to make her smile during the entire session. We started our session walking the streets of St. Augustine, but quickly made a pit-stop inside a cute little breakfast coffee shop to warm up.

Tory and Brooker have a beautiful outdoor wedding planned for Saturday, March 13 at the historical Treaty Oak Park in downtown Jacksonville. We finished the session by taking a walk through the park to get some ideas for wedding day pictures. The couple has pictured a romantic candle lit sunset wedding. I cannot wait for their big day to get here.

www.jhalsteadphotography.blogspot.com

Tory & Brooker

Tory & Brooker

Tory & Brooker

Tory & Brooker

Tory & Brooker

Tory & Brooker

Tory & Brooker

Brotherly Love

My little brother, who is not so little anymore, just had his second son November 21. My brother and I have managed to have two children within weeks apart from one another. His first son was born 6 weeks before my Ethan and his second son, 8 weeks after my Brooklyn. It's exciting to go through my pregnancies with my sister-in-law and my brother. My family came in for the holidays, so I took full advantage of my new nephew. I grabbed some props and gave him his modeling debut. He has my brother's curls! I hate that I live so far away from family, but I loved that I was able to celebrate Jaxton's first Christmas with them.

www.jhalsteadphotography.blogspot.com

Hiles Family



Jaxton

Jaxton

Sunday, December 20, 2009

My Brooklyn is 3 months old

There are times when I feel like I wished I could speed up time, kind of like that movie click. I would have a nice little remote control that would enable me to speed through things like doing laundry or the dishes. However, I would never rush through one minute of my time with any of my kids. Every time I look at my youngest daughter, Brooklyn, I feel like it was just yesterday that I was bringing my oldest son, Rylan, home. 10 years are between the two of them, and not a moment I would want to just see fly by, but it's happening whether I like it or not. God continually reminds me of how wonderful He is and how incredibly precious time is.

My daughter Brooklyn has already had many challenges in her short 3 months of life. She is still struggling with weight gaining issues and has been battling a cough and fever for the last week. But, she is smiling and laughing out loud. She coo's and just rolled over to her stomach today, all by herself. Her face lights up when you talk to her.

Here are her three month pictures! Enjoy!
www.jhalsteadphotography.blogspot.com

My Brooklyn's 3 Months

My Brooklyn's 3 Months

My Brooklyn's 3 Months

Brooklyn's 3 months

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Katie & Dixon

Let me take you back 6 hours ago....

It was 6:30am and my truck temp read 37 degrees!!!!! Katie & Dixon were meeting me at Jacksonville beach come rain or shine or even cold cold cold weather. We had to postpone their session two weeks ago because of freezing rain, so we were determined to do this one. I wore four layers on top and even leggings under my warm up pants, a hat, and gloves. They only wore a shirt and jeans. I didn't think that was very fair, so I brought a long a blanket for them to snuggle up with. Despite the cold and the nasty wind, we had an amazing session.

Dixon cracked me up! Dixon, I will remember the secret word for the wedding day, just in case we need reinforcements. He and Katie did a great job at hiding the fact that their toes and fingers felt like they were about to fall off. Katie has the most incredible smile and beautiful blue eyes! I cannot wait to capture her in February for their big day.

Their big day is Saturday, February 5th. So look forward to more of Katie and Dixon.
View this at www.jhalsteadphotography.blogspot.com











The Campus Voice Christmas Party

There is only one thing better than hanging with my staff for Christmas, and that's hanging with my staff and beating the pants off of them at bowling!

Check that score.. 153 ... ya baby!

We had such a good time. We went to Moon River Pizza, which is down the road from Murray Hill, and then headed to Jax Lanes West for bowling. Thanks to Ben and Tj for the office microwave, Zak for the ginger bread house, and Brittany for my new book. You guys have made this first semester rock! I can't wait to see what we accomplish this next semester.

You can see more at www.jhalsteadphotography.blogspot.com or check The Campus Voice fan page on Facebook.com.

I beat my staff!!

TJ blows me away

Brittany and Jamie

Flashbacks and Memories

Every time I shoot a high school event, it makes me think about the times when I walked the halls of my high school. Yes, I am going to pull a "in my days" story time with you. So, just kick back and enjoy!

In my days, homecoming dance was right after the homecoming football game. We would freeze our butts off cheering and then cram everyone inside a sweaty gym. It was awesome.

In my days, we nominated just a homecoming queen, not a king. The girls would have their picture taken for the local newspaper the week prior to the event. Everyone would cut the clipping out, because it was the closest any of us would ever come to making front page news.

In my days, the night of the big game, you really felt like a celebrity. A candidate would ride on the top of a convertible car, while being driven around the football field on the track-n-field lanes. Every girl took her time to decorate the car and poster for the event. Her heart would fill with joy and nervousness as she waved to the crowd in the stands.

In my days, I was nominated my junior year for homecoming queen. I couldn't have been more proud to have been one of three girls to represent my class. However, when the time came for the announcer to call the names of the winners, they totally messed it up. They called the winner first and then all of the runners up. This was completely backwards. The anticipation died at that moment. I received first runner up, so I was the last to be called and by that point the attendants were all out of flowers. That was even more awkward. The week following the dance, I receieved flowers to my homeroom class, with a letter apologizing for the mix up. It didn't bother me. I was just happy to be a part of such a big event.

Thanks for the walk down memory lane. Now here are some pictures from the homecoming dance at Seacoast Christian Academy.

For more see www.jhalsteadphotography.blogspot.com





Getting Down



Girls just wanna have fun

Sunday, December 13, 2009

My Little Mud Princess

For the last two days, it has done nothing but rain! I can't stand the cold, but what can be worse than cold, is rain and cold mixed together. However, today we woke up to a warm sunshine! With this warm weather I decided that there were things I was very thankful for and things that I would never do again.

I am thankful that God blessed me with 5 beautiful children to kiss and love on every day. I am so incredibly grateful for a husband who still makes my heart skip a beat when he calls me, looks at me, or touches me. I am thankful to have a home, not just a house. I am thankful that I have the freedom to praise my God in public and worship with my whole life.

I realized that I never want my children to miss out on a day of laughter. I never want them to think that their mom couldn't have fun or let loose. I never want to sit on my rump and do nothing while the sun is shining. I want my kids to remember that one day they ran through mud puddles and got REAL dirty!

So today, we sang Miley Cyrus' song "Party in the U.S.A" at the top of our lungs while we drove to and from church. We raced each other on our bikes and laughed when Addison beat us all. We delivered cookies to our neighbors. And yes, we ran through mud puddles!

www.jhalsteadphotography.blogspot.com

My Mud Princess

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Merry Christmas Marciniaks!

Over Thanksgiving break, my sister-in-law and I decided to team up and take some Christmas photos of her family. Amanda is a child and family portrait photographer as well. She told me that she had taken everyone else's photo, but her own! So, she brought her lights, camera, and backdrops to Tennessee. All I had to do was snap a couple shots.

We didn't get started until almost 8:00 at night, so her son was ready to crash out. When this happend, we had to find a way to make him laugh... and that we did. Amanda is hanging on to a rubber toy ball under Jeremiah's shirt. Once squeezed, it made fart noises on his belly. Every time she did this, he cracked up! So were we! Here are just a couple of them!

Marciniak Family

A & J

J & J

Amy is a diva for her senior pics!

I'm crankin' out the senior sessions this season and this girl is rockin'! I have known Amy for 4 years and watched her grow from a young lady to young woman. Amy decided to turn it up a notch when it came to her senior session. She went shopping for that "perfect" outfit that would scream.... "I'm outta here!" She chose her amazing purple prom dress from her junior year and some others that are secrets...waiting to unvail when I finish editing the session. Look for more of Amy to come. Here is a sneak peek!

A-3

A-1

A-2

Addy's 1st Christmas

I love being able to capture a baby's first Christmas. The Chitwoods and I, spent this Christmas in the San Marco area. Mom wanted to recapture a photograph that had been taken on their wedding day. They had been married at this cute little historic church and park just near by. Looking back at the photographs while editing, I couldn't believe that Addy is already 6 months and sitting up. Soon, I will be snapping shots of her walking! Mom planned some of the cutest outfit changes too, complete with pjs! I have made a Christmas present box to sit my little ones in this year. She loved to eat the paper, so I learned that next Christmas, I will do this in fabric. If you are still in need of Christmas photos, please contact me soon!











Callie was the center of attention

Little baby Callie danced into the hearts of shoppers at St. John's Town Center last Saturday. We went to take family pictures in front of the big Christmas tree. On the way back to the car, we decided to let her walk and do her thing. I just snapped right along her side. She was so entertaining! Everyone stopped and commented on how adorable she was. Look how much she has grown in a year!

Christmas of 2008

Christmas baby

Christmas of 2009









MK is graduating!!!

It's finally here! The big day! Mary Kathryn is graduating high school!

This girl rocked her two senior sessions! First we did some studio work, then we headed around Jacksonville, finally we took some awesome shots in St. Augustine. This made for over 200 proofs! That is insane! Here are a few of my favorites. It was very very hard to narrow it down to just a couple, so sorry if I run a little more here. Enjoy!

Jewerly provided by Amanda Barnhart with Shelley's Shoes n Things in River City Town Center.
Make up by Jamie Halstead with J. Halstead Photography

A ray of sunshine

Senior Pics

Senior Pics

Senior Pics

Senior Pics