“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” — Rumi
Nothing is as satisfying in quite the same way to me as capturing moments of pure, absolute love. One of the most fantastic, magical things about photography is its ability to stop fragments of time and emotion in materialized, tangible expressions of art. Memories preserved and solidified on a printed page.
I feel blessed to be able to capture such moments. Truly. They fulfill me.
Today, I was lucky enough to be able to photograph nine-month old Willa, and her beautiful parents, Alexis and Justin.
Willa
This was especially meaningful to me because, you see, Willa is pretty special. She is the grand-daughter of my former thesis advisor in graduate school, my friend, Bob Pope. And Willa is named after one of Bob’s favorite authors of all time, Willa Cather.
I took an entire semester of Willa Cather with Bob Pope in the fall of 2001. And I heard so many stories about his daughter, Alexis, while I was in school, I felt as if I knew her.
Alexis and Willa
So this shoot was quite personal.
It was quirky, there is no denying..
Justin, Willa and Alexis. Willa was not a fan of the hat.
There was an awkward moment during the shoot when a park ranger filed a formal lost & found report because Alexis left her purse and diaper bag on a bench while we walked into the grass to shoot this photo. Mister Ranger Rick seemed a little perturbed that we would be so careless with material objects.
Perhaps, Mister Ranger Rick, it was not careless at all. What more could a person want but this kind of love?
Shannon Miller Creative 