Life: As it is Part III | Kondek Girls | Hampton Roads Portait Photographer

Hi!

As always, I think the featured individuals in the Life: As it is series always have a way of telling their story in just the most perfect way. Maybe that's because it's THEIR story.

Meet Melissa and her three girls:

"When I read about Sarah Elle's "Life: As It Is" project, I immediately thought to nominate all three of my amazing young daughters. My oldest, Alexa, 16 years old, and Olivia and Emma, my 12 yr old identical twins, have had to endure a lot of hardships, especially over the past two years, dealing with issues such as their parent's health disabilities, and watching the economy affect their family life to the point of losing the home where they had spent most of their childhood. These 3 girls have had to walk a difficult road full of change, sadness, insecurity and instability, but through it all, each day they woke up with a continual love and appreciation for life itself, they continued to laugh, and helped others laugh with them, and they love hard, and teach others to love right back. Alexa, Emma, and Olivia and their parents are now in a stable home again, and they have learned that they are strong, brave, resilient people, and their experiences have taught them that if they keep walking, keep loving, and keep their heads up, that no matter what, life itself is ALWAYS precious....just as it is."

When first coordinating their Life:As it is session it was a bit difficult to find a date that worked for everyone; and, in fact, we ended up changing the date 4 different times before finally nailing down the session- and even then their dad was out of town for work and we ended up pushing forward anyway. This IS their Life: As it is after all, right? ;)

When I finally had the chance to meet these ladies their faces were full of excitement, a little apprehension (they were about to step in front of the camera after all!), and pure appreciation for the opportunity. It was evident the amount of love they have for each other and the simple appreciation and kindness they bestow on everyone they meet.

 

(How stinking sweet are these two?!)

These two have been a duo the longest so I couldn't help but give them a bit of time to themselves. :)

 

Thank you VERY much to the Kondek girls for allowing me to feature your Life: As it is. Your family is filled with some extremely beautiful souls and I am honored to have gotten to capture some of that on camera.

Best,
Sarah

Life: As it is Part I and II

Danielle- Life: As it is Part II | Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

Hi!
I can't tell you how excited I am to tell you about Danielle; my second nominee for the Life: As it is project!

When she nominated herself for the project I immediately felt her situation was perfect for Life: As it is! I'll let Danielle explain why:

"I was thrilled and humbled when Sarah chose me to be featured in her project! You see, my "life as it is" - is absolutely amazing, yet bittersweet. I am married to a wonderful man who serves in the Army, and am a stay-at-home mother to a gorgeous little girl, and a soon to be baby boy! I wrote in to Sarah asking for the opportunity to have maternity photos taken for my husband who is deployed overseas. Unfortunately, he is not able to make it home for the upcoming birth of our son. We were not able to take any maternity photos together before my husband left, so this was the perfect opportunity for him to feel a little closer to home. This will be my husbands second deployment in a few short years, and I can't even imagine how difficult it is for him to be away during this time..... I am so proud my husband for the sacrifices he has made for our family. Although my life at times may be difficult playing the role of mommy and daddy, I couldn't be more blessed"

Danielle fits the Life: As it is project perfectly: despite not having every piece of her puzzle in one place during her pregnancy she took it upon herself to document this time in her life regardless.

Without further ado, here is beautiful mom-to-be, Danielle!

I had asked Danielle a bit about her pregnancy and she told me that her biggest craving the entire time has been for Starbucks frappuccinos! So I told her to bring one along!

(Unfortunately the Starbucks happened to be closed at the time we shot so she grabbed a McDonald's milkshake- also an awesome choice if I do say so myself!)

Tattooed on her left wrist is "Love is...  1Corinthians 13:4

Pretty fitting, wouldn't you say?

Another incredible thing about Danielle is that when she learned her husband was going to be deployed she made the difficult decision to leave their post in Colorado and move the entire family to Virginia to be near their parents. That's right, she technically lives in Colorado! Can you imagine leaving what you know and bringing your entire family across the country during a pregnancy? Danielle is one tough and incredible woman!

And since she and her husband are from Virginia that means they are, OF COURSE, Virginia Tech fans! So little does baby Bryce know but he's already destined to be a Hokie ;)

A HUGE early congratulations to Danielle and her family as they soon welcome Bryce into their bunch! It was honestly an incredible joy to get to work with you and I thank you so very much for being willing to be featured! And I hope I get the chance to meet Bryce one day before you move back to Colorado!

Best,
Sarah

Part III can be found here. :)

"Life: As it is" Part I - Lauren | Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

Hi!

Tonight's post is a little different but I am really really excited about it! Tonight's post includes the very first installment of my personal project, Life: As it is. If you're not sure what that is feel free to check it out here before reading further- it will help give you a sense of the whole reason for this shoot and blog post.

BUT the whole point of this post is to feature Lauren; so instead of talking more about the project lets get to it, shall we?!

This is Lauren.

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL?!

Lauren was nominated for Life: As it is by her mother, Marie. Marie has three daughters, including Lauren, and wanted to give Lauren a chance to shine in the spotlight {as anyone with multiple daughters or sisters can tell you that is often something you have to fight for ;) }. 

Marie also wanted to give Lauren a chance to have some POSITIVE ATTENTION as Lauren was born with CH1q25.3-32.1 del. Does it sound familiar? Probably not; as it is so rare that Lauren and her family have yet to hear of or meet ANYONE ELSE who has it! As Marie explains it, CH1q25.3-32.1 del "causes cranial facial abnormalities, bilateral radioulnar stynosis (the bones in her forearm are fused), an autism spectrum diagnosis, and mild ectodermal dyspasia." This affects, among other things, her speech and her abilities to interact with others and pick up on some social cues.

When you are with Lauren all you will see is a gorgeous girl who appears to be a bit shy. She is incredibly smart and could name every single type of dog that was at the park- even the different types of terriers who frankly (other than Charlie Dog) all look alike to me! She is friendly and strong-willed: able to speak up for herself when she was not comfortable with a pose-like standing in high grass with the possibility of lots of bugs. But perhaps most impressively she took direction for posing better than most adults I've worked with (it's a fact)- it was truly a pleasure to get to work with her!  

 

They brought along their dog, Penny!

Easily the second most important person at the shoot tonight was Bow-Wow (who also, for the record, takes posing directions like a champ!).

A very big THANK YOU to Lauren for her willingness to work with me and another big THANK YOU to Marie for the nomination. It was an honor to get to meet Lauren and to learn a little bit about her Life: As it is right now.

Best,
Sarah

*Hair and Makeup by Rylee Spencer

Life: As it is Part II can be found here.