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Outer Banks, North Carolina Family Photographer | Wallace

sheenamariebean — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 18:15:34 +0000

I’m kinda in “this is the last” mode…..meaning, every time I do something, I wonder “is this the last time i’ll be doing this before we move?”

This is probably the last beach session i’ll shoot on the Outer Banks, and I’m so glad it was for this family. Not only are they just crazy wonderful

to be around, they also filled to the top with love and smiles and giggles, so shooting them is always a happy time. Love you, Wallaces!!

Elizabeth City, North Carolina Family Photographer | Woods

sheenamariebean — Wed, 29 Oct 2014 01:02:16 +0000

Edenton, North Carolina Family Photographer | Cullipher

sheenamariebean — Sun, 05 Oct 2014 17:14:52 +0000

Elizabeth City North Carolina Family Photography | Harris Family Pt. 1

sheenamariebean — Sat, 26 Jul 2014 18:48:09 +0000

You know those places you drive by every day and don’t really “see” until you SEE them? This little slice of heaven is just a couple miles from my house and I drive past it daily. At 8 am and 12 noon and 4 pm, its nothing more than a gravel-y overgrown lot near a subdivision. At 7:45, though, something magical happens. The sun starts to sink, the grasshoppers start to sing, and this little 1/2 acre weed patch suddenly becomes something it never was before….

Eastern North Carolina Lifestyle Newborn Photography | Allison Janz

sheenamariebean — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 16:47:03 +0000

Lifestyle newborn sessions are starting to gain popularity, and it’s easy to understand why. The first few weeks with a new baby go by so quickly. In between middle-of-the-night feedings, the umpteenth outfit change, screaming baths, and enough diapers to fill a small zip code, it is hard to remember the moments of bliss and serenity that seem to get lost in the chaos sometimes. Lifestyle newborn sessions allow you to capture the feel of those first few days in a raw, candid, and unscripted way that traditional newborn portraiture just doesn’t do. I have been shooting my newborn with a more lifestyle feel over the last 6 months or so, and it has absolutely changed the way I feel about newborn sessions. What used to mean loading a ton of props into the car, stressing about whether the baby would sleep, and worrying about finding the perfect light in a new house has now become a chance for me to connect with families and get to capture the precious moments of newborn baby love.

Elizabeth City NC Family Photographer | Dail Family

sheenamariebean — Sun, 18 May 2014 16:48:01 +0000

Location, location, location!! It’s true about real estate, and it’s true about photography. You can have all the right pieces to make a great photo session, but without a good location, things will just fall short. In the past, I have relied on props (chairs, benches, whatevas….) to help style photo shoots, but in the last year or so, I have really been trying to get away from prop-heavy and stylized sessions and focus more on classic and timeless family photography. I have found that without the crutch of props, it takes a lot more intentional planning on where to shoot sessions. Not to say that a simple grassy field isn’t nice, but spots like this, with the river and trees, with beautiful white fences and crisp magenta roses…..well, it just really made my photographer heart soar when I met this family at their location of choice and was greeted by an embarrassingly abundance of natural beauty. Add to that, a really awesome family with suburb personalities; well, it was a wonderful evening!

Elizabeth City NC Maternity Photographer | Nicolette

sheenamariebean — Fri, 16 May 2014 17:41:33 +0000

I feel like I could write a whole back story to go with this photo session about how much I love and am blessed by this family. Without making this a really long post or sharing details of their story that they may want to keep for themselves, I just want to say that this little ohana is an awesome trio (soon-to-be foursome!!) of people who love God and who live it out. I knew daddy Zach before he met his gorgeous wife and was so elated when Nicolette and Tegan came into his life. Seeing him become a daddy, and then getting to know Nicolette and Tegan, I have no doubt that this crew is going to do big things with their lives. Zalewski family, we love you guys and feel so thankful that God brought you into our lives. We can’t wait to meet your newest little love bug and get to know this 4th member of your wonderful family!!

Spring Mini Sessions {Cartwright}

sheenamariebean — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 01:23:14 +0000

I love working with new clients! I am so thankful for families who have trusted me for many years to photograph their lives, but

I always get so excited to work with new clients. As soon as I saw the amazing head of blonde curls on this little sweetie, I couldn’t get

behind the lens soon enough. I love shooting little ones with curly hair; it adds so much life and movement to the pictures. Blonde hair

is so lovely to backlight too, so I knew that we would get some great images out of this session. I am really loving shooting in the spring blossoms

this year. After our ridiculously long winter, these mini sessions in the sunshine sure felt wonderful!

Spring 2014 Mini Session {DeHart}

sheenamariebean — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 17:14:33 +0000

Mini Session #3, the DeHart family. If I had to describe these guys in 3 words, they’d be genuine, joyful, and lovey. Made my heart happy to see

so much love in one family. Good stuff, that’s all there is to say about that. Enjoy!

Spring 2014 Mini Sessions {Royce Family}

sheenamariebean — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 17:56:24 +0000

Mini Sessions Take Two: The Royce Family

Nautical Family Session {Thorpe Family}

sheenamariebean — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 18:09:31 +0000

Disclaimer: This session is legitimate eye-candy. Hot mamma? CHECK! Studly dad? CHECK! Ridiculously adorable blonde boy with curls? CHECK!

Now that i’ve gotten that out of the way, get a load of this beautiful family. Jennifer called me a few days before this session asking if we could fit it in. Her sister-in-law

owns a little boutique and had sent her these fantastic outfits to use for some advertising. She asked if I knew of a good nautical location to do the session and I

knew the marina would fit the bill to a “T.” We fit this little session in in the 20 minute window before sunset, but we got so many lovely pictures in that little

window of time. Having gorgeous models and divine lighting sure made this photographer love her job!

A little lovey moment is pretty much out of the question when you have a two year old boy in the mix!

Gideon Spence {A Newborn Lifestyle Session}

sheenamariebean — Wed, 26 Mar 2014 15:36:13 +0000

In the past, when I have shot newborn sessions, I usually arrive with an array of items. Blankets, wooden boxes, headbands, random sized and shaped containers perfectly suited to hold a teeny little human; these are the items that make up most newborn sessions, and, honestly, I’ve gotten kinda sick of carrying the stuff around. It makes for cute pictures, of course, but lately I have really been wanting to approach my newborn sessions with a more organic documentary feel.

This amazing family has shown up on the blog before, and I am sure you will be seeing them again. I have watched this great crew grow from one son, then to two, and now to three, and Im so excited to see how this precious family continues to laugh, love, and go a little bit looney as these three brothers get older. I have so much love and admiration for this family and am so thankful that they are in our lives. I have known Daddy Dave since we were in high school and I am so blessed by knowing this family. I hope that this intimate in-home session gives a glimpse into what makes this family as wonderful as they are and that it captures the quickly fleeting wonder of life with a newborn.

Elizabeth City Family Photographer {The Janz Family}

sheenamariebean — Tue, 21 Jan 2014 18:38:53 +0000

I love meeting new clients, and this awesome family was so easy to enjoy! Their adorable blonde girlies were as easy to shoot as can be, especially their amazing posable two year old! I’ve shot A LOT of two year olds over the years, but Miss A takes the cake by a long shot. She was incredible. If I ever need a two year old model, I know just who to call! I’m so excited for the Janz family to be welcoming their third daughter this summer <3

Eastern North Carolina Photographer {Families: Feeney}

sheenamariebean — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 01:20:07 +0000

I’ll never forget the first time I had a “stranger session.” I was living in Hawaii and a girl who lived in my neighborhood had seen me shooting pictures for another family and asked me to do a session for her. I was so nervous. Like, hyperventilation, rapid pulse, sweaty palm nervous. All I could think about was “will they like me,” and “what will be talk about,” and “what if they hate the pictures.” That was about 6 years ago. I’ve come a long way since then, but I still feel an added pressure when doing a session for a new client to be on my game.

When Roxanne called me and told me about her 4 children, two of which, you will see, are 6 month old twins, I started getting excited. I have this thing for shooting large families and I knew that the age dynamic in this crew would make things challenging, but I love a challenge. Mister T and Miss M were absolutely perfect to work with. At 7 and 5 years old, they are in that golden age window where they are super childlike and spontaneous, but still able to follow directions, do specific poses, ect.

Baby A and her sister E, with their big blue eyes, stole my heart from the second I met them! These amazing miracle babies were born at 29 weeks gestation and have come a long way in the last 6 months. While they haven’t quite caught up to the normal 6 month old milestones, but did a great job smiling for the camera, looking into the lens and being perfectly happy smiley girls. I loved seeing how big bro and big sis were so attentive and helpful to the little ladies. I bet that Roxanne and David enjoy having that extra help!

I’m sure it will be a treat to you as much as it was to me to meet this awesome family. The kids were so wonderfully well behaved and their classic styling is as good as it gets. A BIG HUGE thank you to the Feeney family for allowing me to spend the evening with you guys!

Eastern North Carolina Photographer {Families: Wallace}

sheenamariebean — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 18:01:33 +0000

Back in the spring I had a giveaway for a free session. I always get excited when the winners of a freebie are a family or person who I really wanted to photograph anyways. This awesome family are members of our church and sweet family friends. We have known them for about 4 years, but our “getting-to-know-them” process took a little break because they had a temporary move to Tennessee. Anyhow, over the last couple years, I have really gotten to know this amazing lady better and she is as good as it gets!

Heidi and Brian and their little threesome of world changers are our small-group Bible study leaders. Every Thursday they are gracious enough to open their adorable arts-and-crafts style home to about 15 people and let us invade their space for food, fun, fellowship, and a bit of kid-craziness thrown in the mix. Brian is also an elder in our church and he and Heidi are super hands-on, creative, awesome parents who we feel blessed to be in community with.

For this mini session we scoped out an empty lot just near town that had some dogwood trees that were starting to chance colors. Since we live a bit south and east of the real mountain-y part of the state, it takes a bit longer for our trees to start showing their fall colors than it does elsewhere. I think a couple weeks from now will be splendid, as far as autumn colors goes, but right now we are just starting to see and feel the glory of fall. It was a super windy afternoon, so I had to be careful not to get the girls hair blowing all over the place. Otherwise, we had a great time, even though Miss Kate, their youngest daughter was pretty adamant about not wanting to have her pictures taken.

A word of advice before I show you pictures of this gorgeous family…..sometimes, no matter how hard we try, a kid is just not going to be in the mood for pictures. The best thing a parent can do in this situations is not stress about it and go with the flow. Kids totally catch on if you are stressing out about the “perfect” photo session and, usually, they take that opportunity to try out their stoic look. I’m definitely NOT saying that Heidi and Brian were stressed (anything but, actually), but they were great about not making it a big deal and keeping this carefree.

A couple notes about this session, and things to keep in mind when you book your session:

1) The evening we shot these pictures, it was super overcast. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it just give the pictures a different feel than a bright sunny evening does. If you want sunflares, golden haze, and dreamy yellow light in your pictures, you might want to have a backup date just in case it’s not a sunny day. It doesn’t have to be cloudless, but when the entire sky is clouded over, it does affect the way the pictures come out. Just something to consider.

2) This was a mini session. A mini session is about 30 minutes long and includes about 15 edited images on disc. Sometimes things go way better than expected and I end up with way more than 15 images. If you just need an updated family picture, a Christmas card shot, or just want to catch some captures of a child reaching a milestone, a mini session is a great way to do that and not break the bank in the process. Mini Sessions have a $100.00 fee and can be booked at any time. I do offer special stylized mini session twice per year, in the spring and fall.