waiting on baby Gatlyn… 41 weeks

We are all still waiting for my nephew to arrive. He’s taking his sweet time, and his mommy is getting tired of waiting. Jess has been blogging since the beginning of her pregnancy, http://bohobabybump.blogspot.com/ .

Soon and very soon we’ll all have a new family member.

Want more? I did some photos of Jess Pregnant at 24 weeks click here

Yoosung Lee

Here in the Fancher family we are a pretty big fan of the famous Korean, Yoosung Lee. I first found this video of Yoosung playing cello with Imogen Heap.

We then met Yoosung through mutual close friends, I invited him to come play cello on my live recording that I did with a band on New Year’s Eve. He flew up to North Carolina from Florida, and we had such a fantastic time with him. Really amazing guy!

Yoosung is on his way to move to Washington, DC. He stopped and stayed with us for a night. We all had a grand chicken curry meal and caught up on life. This afternoon before he left, I wanted to photograph him with his cello. We went through high grass in the high heat of the afternoon. We both poured sweat and for about 35 minutes, Yoosung let me photograph him. (Such a good sport!)

Side note: I’m so in love with the cello, and I hope someday over the rainbow I can learn.

Here is Yoosung and his lovely cello “Bertha”.

the one above is my favorite.

Lovin’ on Bertha!

Joanna Reyburn May- November 2008

I wanted to re-edit these photos just a bit and re-share them.  I feel like they are worth sharing all over again.

I took these election evening in 2008. Shelley Paulson took me out on our first real mentoring session to shoot portraits of our close friend, Joanna Reyburn May. It was a gorgeous November night with tall grass full of golden light (a few of my favorite things!). This session taught me so much about lighting and composition. Joanna, is such a natural model and so full of spirit. After upgrading my camera, and learning so much more since then, these photos still remain to be some of my most favorite.

Check out Joanna’s Wedding that Shelley and I shot in May of this year.

Abraham & Rebekah

So the story goes that Rebekah grew up with me in children’s church when I was like four years old. Neither of us remember one another. My parents have spent a lot of time with this couple, and really love them. Rebekah facebooked me one afternoon and asked if I would be wiling to take some pictures of Abraham for an instrumental album that he is currently working on. We both have mutual friends (+my parents) and I got excited to do this for them. He’s a guitarist, and Rebekah, is a teacher. They just recently found out they are expecting a baby! Really beautiful, sweet couple… I really enjoyed this shoot.

They drove from Morganton, NC area. We met a Amélie’s french bakery in Noda, Charlotte.  And then drove down to the small area of Noda where there is so much colour and texture to photograph. I loved it!

I also did some photos of Rebekah…  (she is so lovely!)

I had a great time getting to know them!

Enjoy!

Jessica Gatlyn Prego!

So, Jessica is my bestest friend and, to go along with that, she also married my brother in September. (See some of their wedding pictures – http://www.tirzahphotography.com/2009/09/samuel-and-jessica/ ) Now we are sisters!!! Jessica  and I spend just about every day together. I’m seriously over at her house every day, or she’s at mine. We eat a majority of meals together  and we share the deep places of our hearts with one another. It’s so good that my best friend is going to be my best friend FOREVER–she’s stuck!  haha….

Jessica and Samuel found out they were pregnant back in December, and it took us all by surprise. Brandon and I got to go see Jess’s 3D ultra sound a few weeks back. Pretty excited to find out that we are going to be an Aunt and an Uncle to a feisty little boy who looks just like my brother.

Now, I’m a little strange about maternity pictures. First of all, I have never been pregnant. Second of all, I feel like so many photographers make BEAUTIFUL pregnant ladies look horrible.  And… the bare-belly, half-naked maternity pictures often seem so tacky, and even cheesy.  I’m on a journey of trying to figure out how to take maternity pictures in a way that hasn’t been captured yet… where men who aren’t your husband feel comfortable looking through you’re photo album.  I definitely haven’t arrived in that journey of creativity, but two days ago, I took Jess to an old abandoned house and I shot pictures of her.  She is 24 weeks prego right now, and I’ll probably shoot more pictures of her when she gets closer to her due date in August.

I feel like so many photographers have seriously missed capturing the beauty of a mommy “with a baby in the oven.”  I like to look at it like this:

“I’m shooting a portrait session.

PS: She just so happens to be pregnant.”

Enjoy, and leave me some love!

These last two I think are my favorites…