The Dotson Family

     It was a cold and dreary Sunday afternoon in November 2011. That was the first time I met The Dotson Family. Their oldest son Kameron was only a year and half old and was an only child at this time. Kim and I had been talking all day trying to decide if we should proceed with their afternoon photo session that had been planned for weeks. We decided to power through the cold temps and go ahead with their family session. I pulled into the parking lot and parked next to them, Kim rolled down her window and started laughing and said, "Well it was only cold before…now it's raining!" 

     Fast forward four years and we find ourselves in the same predicament. It’s Friday morning and I’ve been in Atlanta for almost twenty-fours and it has rained the entire time. At this point Kim and I were checking the weather app so much we could have been local meteorologists for the day. Ha! In all the craziness all Kim and I could do was laugh. We continued to reflect back on that first session we had together, back in 2011. She would say, “I have total faith in you Steph because that first session we did together it was freezing cold and drizzling and you couldn’t tell at all in the pictures. I know that you will be able to do the same with whatever conditions we have here today. I know the pictures will turn out perfect!”

     As I was finishing up with The Bates Family (previous blog post), I turned right around and headed to start The Dotson’s Family session. The rain had stopped, the humidity was a little high, but there was no rain and that was a very good thing. Kim and Aaron were looking incredible (as always) and ready to start their family session. We head to pick up the boys from school, do a quick clothing change for them and then it’s on to Downtown Buford to start their photo session fun. “Alright! This is perfect! We are doing great on time, the rain has stopped, it looks like the clouds are starting to lift in the distance … everything is coming together perfectly!” I thought to myself. We were doing it! All that worrying for nothing. It was then I heard Aaron say “Oh no! My tooth”! Nothing to worry about, just a small dental emergency on our hands! Ha! One thing I can say about Kim and Aaron is they know how to roll with the punches. Another small detour in the plan, but no worries we worked it all out! At this point the three of us couldn’t stop laughing. “What are the odds”, is the phrase that was uttered the most that afternoon. We made a quick turn down the most beautiful back road to figure out a game plan on what to do next. The amount of multitasking that went on during their family session is comical and makes me smile every time I think about it. We all rocked it out of the park that afternoon. Outfit changes are happening while photos are being taken. Aaron is on the phone with his dentist while I’m photographing Kim and the boys. We had a few minutes to grab some family shots before we had to meet up with Aaron’s dentist at his office. The images of The Dotson’s on that back road are some of my favorite of them. It didn’t matter what was going on, they kept a smile on their face and laughed it off!  Talk about “go with the flow”!

     We jumped in the car to make a quick stop at the dentist office and then it was back to their family session. The dentist office backed up to the most beautiful woodsy area. As we parked the car I got the biggest smile on my face. “I can totally work with this”, I thought to myself. I was able to get the sweetest shots of Kim and the boys and some individual shots of the boys there too. You would have never guessed that we were in the backyard of a dentist office. The only thing that could have made this moment even better was if the sun were shining. Well I kid you not, as we were standing there the clouds started to part and the sun started shining through the trees for the most beautiful glow! The sun hadn’t come out in over a week and the fact that it decided to peek through an hour before sunset made me so happy that I can’t even put it into words!

     It was smooth sailing from that point on. The sun was shining, the humidity was down, and the smiles were flashing non-stop! We even squeezed in a few more location changes before we ended their session. To say they “rocked” their session would be an understatement. They were absolutely amazing and I was able to get some incredible shots of this beautiful family. I love every session that I get to do for The Dotson Family, but this session will always have a special place in my heart and will always make me smile when I think about it.

     Here are just a few of my favorite images from The Dotson Family’s Fall Session. Enjoy and Happy Tuesday!