Tia Colleen Photography

In A Tree With Amber

2011-06-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

I got an email from a gal here on base, wanting to have some pictures taken of her 15 year old daughter. She mentioned that they were moving soon, and they wanted some snap shots of familiar things and places- her daughter walking her pups, playing her flute in her bedroom, and reading up in the branches of her favorite tree.

It was a hot day, but there was a nice breeze. Before leaving, I had to run back into the house to grab a bandana to wrap my messy hair in. This was supposed to be an outside photo session- would the wind ruin it?

The wind was actually perfect. It gave movement to our shots, and broke any silence that may have been. The sound of rustling leaves is peaceful, not that we get to hear it very often, living out here in the desert.

I can see why she loves that tree so much.

But I'm getting ahead of myself, aren't I?

Before we went and played monkey in the trees, I chatted with Amber and her Mom in their squeaky clean living room for awhile. We talked about this and that, and then went into Amber's room for a solo flute concert.

Fact: I play the flute too. ...Kind of. ...Sometimes. ...When my daughter asks me to play The Star Spangled Banner on the 4th of July and I have to google the score because I don't remember it by heart anymore.

I guess marching band is this huge thing here? Kinda like football? Amber was telling me how they have to spend the entire last month of their summer vacation going to band practice for hours. Which sounds fun, to me, because I was a total band geek, but- its hot here in Texas!

I took some pictures of her reading the music that was all layed on out on her bed, making sure to capture some of her bedroom in the background.

Note: She has an Eclipse poster behind her bedroom door. Shes Team Jacob. Just thought I'd throw that in there :)

She played beautifully, by the way. And it was nice to hear her play some of the same songs that I used to play. I enjoyed listening to her flawless melodies, while awkwardly invading her personal space in order to get shots like the one above. Hopping all over her bed, and making a mess of her neatly folded blankets.

I'm still really new to photography, so getting up into somebody elses face, other than my own family, who is used to it by now, still makes me nervous. Will they feel uncomfortable? How close is too close? ...what if I bump the end of her flute with my lens? God please don't let me do that- this lens is expensive.

But Amber was really comfortable with all of it. Her flute sang its songs confidently, and she didn't even so much as blush.

I had given her a little bit of a warning, before we started, that I'd be getting into her personal space. I guess thats maybe something I should discuss with folks before hand? Can I pop and invade your personal space bubble?

Because when space bubbles are popped, it sure does make some pretty pictures.

When we were finished inside, we scooped up the puppies, who weren't really puppies at all, and headed outside and down the street to Amber's bus stop, where she reads up in a tree every morning before going off to school.

Also, Amber wears a tail. See shadow.

And can I just say, that those are some very happy, and very well loved dogs?

So there it is. The bust stop, her tree, and ... wait- didn't you say that you like to read in your tree? Becaaaause.

So off Amber went, literally running back home to get her book, and returning, cheeks nice and bright pink from the summer heat, this time on her bike, outfit complete with helmet (which made her Mama proud).

And then quick as the wind, she was using knot holes in the bark to get her footing, and jumping up into the leaves to get herself nice and comfy between her trees branches.

The breeze and the canopy of the leaves kept us nice and cool. I could tell how in love with her tree Amber was. Trusting it as she dangled her feet over branches and leaned her back against its splinters. She closed her eyes a few times, just relaxing in the warm evening air.

I had a really nice time photographing her. Its been way too long since I've hung out with a 15 year old. Their view on the world is so different than the ones that I'm used to surrounding myself with. It was eye opening. And pure.

And Amber was a gorgeous young lady who inspired me to be more confident with the things that make me happy, and not be so scared to give in to listening to country music. Thanks Amber.

Jen & Brent

2011-05-14T20:21:00.001-07:00

I know, its been awhile. I've been so busy with life, lately, that my side project of photography kind of got pushed to the back burner. And thats okay. Its so much fun, and so easy to submerge myself in, but really- I've got 3 kids, and a husband, and a cat. When do I really have time to take pictures of people other than them?

A few months ago, back in February actually, the day after I got my new camera. Thats when, hah.

Funny story of how I met Jen and Brent. Okay kind of funny. ...okay, funny to me.

A friend had posted something somewhere about my photography, and how I was looking for practice subjects. Jen had emailed me, wanting a family session done.

While at the same time, my husband had been talking to a friend of his at work, about getting together on a weekend or something, having our kids play, yadda yadda. So his friend had told him to tell me to add his wife on facebook, and we'd get together soon.

So I did.

And then while they were texting one day (my husband and Brent), because apparently its not just women that sit around and do that, Christopher had mentioned that I had recently added his wife on facebook, and Brent's response was "the photographer?".

It was all kind of confusing, at that point.

So I went back into my email folder, and hah, turns out the gal that I had been talking with through email, was the same gal that I had added on facebook, and she thought I was adding her because I wanted to take pictures of them, and I thought I was adding her because our kids were going to play, and ... ok anyways. It was kind of a cute story, right?

So I did go over and take their pictures one morning, before her husband left for an out of state work thing. It took me forever to edit her pictures and get them back to her, but eventually it all fell into place. I wanted to share my favorites from the session...

I had to start off with that family photo, because its just so good.

They were so playful, and so full of energy. Really, all I had to do was stand there and push my finger down on the trigger, and perfect images popped up on my display screen.

Thats Zara. Shes a cutie, right? She uses the word "like" a lot. Kind of how teenagers and adults do, ooonly, shes 3. Its adorable. And shes extremely animated with her hand motions. Every sentance is spoken as if it were a story from an epic adventure to which she saved the world.

And thats Xander. He was born just a week after my Evelyn, and shares the same birthday as my Eleanore. He screams loudly, and at everything, enthusiastic about everything going on around him. He chews on washcloths, seems to spit up constantly (only when around me, though), and looks really handsome in a pair of overalls.

Zara loves Xander.

We've hung out several times since I took these pictures. We really like Jen and Brent. He wears weird five fingered running shoes and drinks breakfast smoothie, and she sings along to Disney songs loudly and beautiful while changing cloth diapers. They're into organic and healthy living the same way that we are. I can't even tell you how refreshing it was to have a conversation about probiotics face to face with someone.

We've had BBQ's, gone bowling, gone for walks, eaten raw cheesecake, jumped on trampolines, watched True Blood- always a fun time to spend time with them.

And obviously, their kids rock too. heeee.

She plays peek-a-boo with him.

He plays on the swingset with her.

And somewhere, between all of those things, Mama and baby cozy down for a quiet snack. Such a beautiful moment.

Finally, someone I can hang around breastfeeding with!

And the last picture that I took before my camera ran out of space (999 shots later), was a glimpse of Mama loving Papa, and vice versa and so forth.

A cute couple, with a couple of cute kids.

Andrew & Jonah At The Fountain

2011-02-05T13:30:00.001-08:00

A few Wednesdays ago, I met up with a gal named Lynet, and her two boys (Andrew and Jonah) downtown for a brisk photo session by the fountain.

We had been emailing each other for awhile, but finding a time and a place to get together had turned out to be much harder than we anticipated. Even with the date that we chose, the temperatures were chilly, and with sick kids (both mine and hers), our visit almost didn't happen.

But the invisible daytime stars aligned, and at ten am I put my camera together, tied my laces, and quickly started following her in-motion toddler (Andrew), quickly as I could.

He was off! Picking up his feet, and moving in every direction available to him.

The fountain! No, the bench! No... sticks and acorns in the bushes over there, to throw into the fountain!

When we were done running around and getting the sillies out (aaaand, keeping him from running into the street), it was time to get down to business.

She takes pictures of her boys all the time at home, but seemed to have a little bit of trouble getting shots with both of them in the same frame. Something about the older sibling not being a big fan of the younger one? I think we all know how that goes.

So she had brought along some lollipops, the giant over sized kind that kids only dream about, and we set them up on a bench side by side, to see what they'd do.

Alright so maybe we were pushing our luck a bit, but- we thought it was worth a try.

And then, while Andrew was busy devouring his giant stick o' sugar, Jonah got cozy over in the shade with the leaves.

But soon the leaves lost their crunch, and even though that lollipop tasted very much like a rainbow- the boys got tired, and hungry, and were done.

And I don't argue with babies when they're finished.

So we packed up and put away, wiped the dirt off of our knees, waved our hands ta-ta, and went in our separate directions, all while remembering our fresh memories from our hour at the fountain...

Andrew & Jonah. January 26th, 2011. Downtown Abilene Texas.

Welcome Home SrA Jennings

2011-01-30T13:53:00.000-08:00

Y'all might remember my mentioning my friend Carrie, and how her husband has been deployed? I had taken some pictures of her and her boys at the park, and posted about it here, if you want to catch up.

Carrie has been such a wonderful friend to me. After my husband got into a car accident and we were left without a vehicle, she offered to help us out more than once. Even though her husband was gone, she found the time to help us out. When my son needed to have tubes put into his ears, she took us to both the pre op, and the actual surgery. When I had to go swimming in our wrecked vehicle to fish out the remains of our things, she drove all over town with me, hunting for the wrecking yard. When we ran out of soy milk, she'd run to the store for me and drop it by my house if I needed her to.

When somebody has gone above and beyond for me and my family, a "thank you" is never enough. I tend to say thank you a hundred times, and still feel like I need to say it a hundred more. So if I see an opportunity to give back, I jump at it.

So I sent Carrie a text message (my main way of communication), asking her if she'd let me take pictures for her and her family when Miles (the hubby) comes home.

And she said yes.

So rather than going into details about how I listened to Taylor Swift on the way to the airport, and got teary eyed in anticipation for his evening arrival, I'll just show you some of my favorite photos- and let you see their documentary for yourself.

There aren't any captions that I could come up with, that could do any of those photographs justice. It was beautiful. Greeting Carrie and her boys at the airport, watching them run inside, wondering if just maaaybe he was already there, and then the waiting and the anticipation- my stomach fluttered when I heard Carrie say "they're here! They're here!".

I have chills right now, as I remember it, and type it out.

I'd love to document more moments like this one.

A Barbie Party

2011-01-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I sipped my coffee slowly from my big red mug, kissed the kiddos on their adorable heads as they begged me not to go, and skipped out the door and across town to a Barbie party.

Yes, you read that right:

Marisa (the mom), and her two girls (Gracie & Annelie) were ready to go as soon as I showed up at their doorstep. Well, before that, actually, since apparently the little ones had been waiting at the front window for 45 minutes, keeping an eye out for my van to pull up in front of their mailbox.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into Gracie's (the older sister) room, was the amazing light that filtered in through the wall opposite her bed. An entire wall of windows. A beautiful bench seat to fill the space below it. And of course... the Barbie dolls.

So I made myself at home. I took off my glasses and set them up on a shelf, I cleaned my camera lens, and then I stood back, and watched the magic of two sisters playing with their dolls, unfold in front of my blinkless eyes.

The party seemed to never stop. The dolls went from being best friends, to fighting, to laughing, to having their shoes bitten off by an almost-4-year-old. It was an adventure, for sure. Beads were flying through the air, the girls were twirling on the hard woods, and all the while, Me and Mom got to just stand back, or in Mom's case, relax on the bed with a hot cup of coffee (don't we all just need that, sometimes?), while childhood took place in the room around us.

I see things that I wouldn't normally see. I had no idea what to expect, when I began shooting the girls and their dolly doll play date, but when it was all over- I was left with an overall feeling of well being. I felt light and fluffy inside, if that makes any sense? For the hour and a half that I was in that room with them, I was 4 years old again.

I played with Barbie.
I spun around so fast in my ballerina tutu, that I was a princess.

They shared that with me. And it was awesome.

But oh wait! This wasn't the only room in the house that we got to play in. How could I have almost forgotten?! Towards the end, when Barbie decided that she had had enough of her dress falling down inappropriately (sorry Marisa, you tried to keep them clothed), we took a detour into Annelie's room.

It just keeps gettin' better, right?!

So after the girls calmed down from their actually being allowed to jump on the bed for once, I sat down and kinda skimmed through the photos with them, pointing out my favorites and telling him how great they were- and then I put my camera away, put my glasses back on, and went home to my day job of being a Mom and wife- leaving childhood behind with Gracie and Annelie, in their chalkboard room, and with their family of Barbie dolls.

Carrie & Kids

2011-01-10T19:43:00.000-08:00

My daughter has been having a hard time, since her best friends moved away. The other day I sent a text to my friend Carrie, and asked if maybe Eleanore and her son Ryan could play soon. We decided we would the next day, but- we both forgot.

Thats the text message that I sent to her at 4:00. To my surprise though, she said yes!

So we rushed the kids awake from their afternoon naps, filled them up with sippys of milk, and got on our way before the sun went down. But uh-

Oh well, coats jackets, and... once we get running we'll warm up, right? Right.

Carrie's husband is currently deployed overseas. Hes been gone since summer, but coming home in a just a few weeks (I know each day must creep by, as she waits). She had recently gotten a haircut, the first thing that I noticed when I saw her, because she looked gorgeous, and well- since she had been taking care of the kids solo for awhile, I doubted that she had probably taken very many pictures of herself. Or, of her with the boys.

So I didn't really ask for permission. I just started taking pictures.

Carrie is a photographer too, though I've never seen any of her pictures, so I know she didn't need me to take pictures. But I still wanted to.

And its one of those "I have no idea how stunning I really am" sort of ways. Which to me- just breathtaking.

She was carrying her cell phone around with her, emailing back and forth with her husband. I can't imagine the sort of things that you would email your husband about, text message style, while hes on the other side of the world. Do you act as if hes just down the street, at work? Do you make little jokes, just to help each other to smile? Because it would seem to me that, maybe those little jokes, typed out on a cell phone keyboard, would mean everything. They'd help the minutes go by that much quicker, and in turn, bring him home sooner.

So I tried to give her her space, while she was thumbing at her phone, while at the same time keeping my camera up in the air as much as possible. Catching a good wind gust here, the perfect ray of sun-going-down light there.

But now lets meet her boys.

This is her youngest, Levi...

I don't think I've ever seen this kid without bumps and bruises on him. Hes the type that just wants to explore. Always running, jumping, climbing, tripping, falling, scraping- and then getting back up again and going going going some more.

That battle wound on his chin? That was a brand new one, from just minutes before we arrived.

Okay, well he looks tough, but- he really loves his Mama.

Look at the way that his foot is stepping on hers, in that last picture. Those are the little kinds of gestures that make motherhood what it is. Toe to toe.

Unless you're wearing flip flops. Because, then- get off of my foot, kid!

When was the last time somebody pushed you on a swing, just because they wanted to? Not because you asked them to, or because you were taking turns, but because they just out of the goodness of their precious little hearts, wanted to?

The cuteness was too much.
So now lets meet Ryan.

It was awesome, to watch him push her.To watch him use all of his strength to get her going as high as he could, to feel like a kid again, not knowing any other way.

It was really nice, taking pictures of you and your kids, Carrie. Your family is gorgeous. I can't wait until your husband comes home (I know you miss him). Lets go bowling? Thats code for bowling.

Hi, Neighbor

2011-01-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

I had been offering to do a photo session for my neighbors for awhile. I think I had mentioned it twice, both times through text message (since I'm a house dweller most days), but we had never set any plans.

One day while we were playing outside, Jasmine happened to be out on her front porch, and asked "is now a good time?".

Well, it wasn't, with the sun going down and my kids running amok like crazies in the street, but before I could suggest we do it another time, her and her family were outside and ready to go.

So what did I do?
I kept up.
Working under pressure is good for your soul, anyways.

I introduce to you, Mitch and Jasmine. The young couple that moved into the house across the street the summer before last. Since I took these pictures, they've packed their boxes and moved away. Not to another base (because we're Air Force families), just a few miles down the road.

I will never forget the time I watched them capture a Texas Tarantula on their front porch. I'm glad it was their porch and not mine.

Something unique about Jasmine, is her hair. Some of you, if you're reading this from here in Abilene, might recognize her from her place of work. She kinda stands out. When we bought our new car recently, the lady that drove it here to test drive it (because I had the dealership bring it to us, rather than me trying to figure out how in the heck I was supposed to get over to them) said "I think I know your neighbor, but I can't remember from where".

She works at the 220 club :)

Its kinda cool, right? How she has a star shaved into the side of her head? ...I totally couldn't pull it off, no matter how hard I tried, so- she gets extra awesome points for wearing is so naturally.

Sooo, you want to meet their kids?
They're cuties.

Thats Alyssa. One of my daughters "best friends" (even though Alyssa is a year older, and they hardly ever play because we're never outside at the same time). She had brought her doodle drawing toy along with her, and was practicing her 123's.

And this is Alex, who has the cutest way of telling you "hi", every time he sees you. It was one of those little things that always made me smile, when I saw him out in the driveway. He'd shout it until you were out of sight.

The wind was blowing, and as she sat up onto her heels to find a different color of sidewalk chalk, I caught her in a "say cheeeeese" sort of moment.

But the moment soon passed, and she went back to her imaginary drawing board...

The faster the sun was dropping, behind the houses, the quicker the kids ran. So Mitch, hoping to get a couple of cute shots of him with his son (which we totally did, good job, Dad!), picked Alex up, and turned him upside down. It was perfect.

He might not be smiling in that first shot, but hes sure is smiling in this next one...

It doesn't get much better than that.

That moment of pure happiness, that you feel as you're flying through the air, and then securely caught by your Daddy's arms. I wish I could remember that feeling.

Which is where cameras come in.
And the Mothers, Wives, Friends, Husbands, Brothers, and Photographers ...who operate them.

While Alex played superman, and Jasmine tickled my 3 month old babies feet, Miss Alyssa found another activity to keep herself busy with-

A moment later the sun dimmed to the point of our saying our good nights, and back into our houses we went, to get ready for dinner and shortly after that, bed time.

But, it sure was a cute little mini photo session that we had, on that warm November day. And I sure will miss hearing Alex say "hi", every time I step out the door to get the mail.

I Wear My Film Around My Neck

2011-01-06T15:47:00.000-08:00

Back when I first started showing an interest in photography, my husband bought me a necklace displaying a miniature roll of film. Not only does it go along with my love for all things vintage (okay, not all things, but most things), but its turned out to be sort of an omen- if I can safely say that without either jinxing myself or causing you to flashback to scenes from the 1976 horror flick (which I've proudly never seen- horror movies totally aren't my thing).

I took this picture to use as the banner for my weekly blog meme, Flashback Friday (for my personal blog). But I love the photo so much, that I might have it enlarged and then framed. I don't wear the necklace very often, due to tiny hands and the way that they tug and pull on things when they're in my lap, so it just stays locked up inside of my dusty jewelry box.

There aren't many things cooler than a mini roll of film on a necklace.
Not for me, at least.

And Now I'm Officially A Photographer...

2011-01-03T16:58:00.000-08:00

Making the transition from photographing my own children, to photographing other people, and/or their children- is insane.

I still remember the day that Christopher and I bought our very first digital camera, back in 2006. It was a cheap (but expensive to us) black Samsung rectangle, that just so happened to match our cell phones exactly. It took awful pictures, but at the time- it served its purpose, and we loved it. We didn't even have a computer to plug the dang thing into.

A year and a half later, we got our first computer, and 6 months after that, our 2nd camera (only after our daughter had dropped and broken our original). This time I had looked into what kind that I wanted, and decided to go with a Canon Powershot sx100 is. I wasn't planning on doing anything more than taking pictures of my babies, all I wanted was a decent point and shoot.

That trusty little point-and-shoot-camera opened my eyes to my love for photography. A year or so later, after contemplating over and over again if this is what was right for me- I upgraded to my beloved Canon Rebel, and with lots and lots and lots of practice under my trigger finger, I finally feel strong enough with my craft, to photograph other people.

So when a friend of mine had a bundle of baby boy joy, just two weeks after my Evelyn was born, I offered her a photo session as my gift to her. I had done a few "hi neighbor" type photo shoots with some friends on our street, but this was going to be my first real photo shoot. And she gladly accepted. So-

The sky was particularly blue that day. I don't remember how far babies can see, but by the look on his face, and the reflection of the passing clouds in the glass of his eyes- I'd say that he was able to see straight from the blanket that he kicked on, all the way up to heaven.

I can't resist taking pictures of baby feet. Its one of my favorite things to photograph. There something so pure, about itty bitty tiny little toes. Something almost life changing.

Judah's Mama, Autumn, had a very specific idea in mind when we talked about what kind of picture we'd take. She wanted picture of Judah wearing angel wings.

I don't have a trunk full of props, like some photographers do, so I told her that if she wanted to go online and order some, I'd love to use them in our photo shoot.

Even though the wings are really only seen in that last shot- It only takes one photograph to make it all worth it.

The white blanket underneath him. The curl of that single wisp of hair. His feet crossed so properly. That wrinkled up little bottom, tightened from the Texas wind- a perfect picture.

The best part about this picture, isn't the beautiful white smile on Autumn's face, as she holds her naked angel on her lap. Its not their backyard fence, that might later sing in nostalgia when they look back on it.

Its the memory that was captured forever in time.
Judah, peeing on his Mama.

Thats real life :)
I couldn't stop snapping shots. And I certainly couldn't delete it.

After the angel part of the session, we went inside where it was warmer, cozied up with a basket full of yarn, and made all of the silly faces and did all of the tummy tickles that we could, to open Judah's bright blue eyes and make him smile.

But like with every child, the camera is only fun for so long.

He got uncomfortable, probably a little bit tired, and of course (since hes a baby and all), hungry.

Rather than trying to get him to play cutie pie in the basket full of colors any longer, Autumn scooped him up into her arms, and we agreed that we had gotten all that we had gotten, and to call it a day.

Photo sessions are only fun, so long as everyone is having a good time.

By now the sun was going down, the air outside was getting crisp, and after a chat on her front porch about this, that, and maybe some gossip about the neighbor's crazy cat- we waved goodbye (Judah, bottle in arms), and I took my full-with-photographs camera back home to rest up for another adventure, another day.