Ava's Newborn Session

So, you've seen the maternity photos I did of beautiful Robin. Well, she had her little girl a little over a week ago, and I was able to photograph beautiful little Ava when she was just 8 days old. I'd forgotten how difficult it is to photograph newborns b/c it's been so long since I've done it. Ava, is a precious little girl though, so it made the couple of hours we spent trying to get good pictures completely worth it. Here are some of my favorites from our session.

A special thanks to my mom, Pam Taylor, for making all the crocheted items used during this photo shoot. You're awesome Mom!

Chesnee

So, I've fallen a little behind on my blogging. I've had the chance to do a couple of really great sessions recently. I wanted to share some photos from the session I had with little 3 year old, almost 4 year old, Chesnee. She was so cute, and so much fun. We kept playing house and watching the "news" on the "tv" in the park at Lake Lure. Here are a few pictures from that session. I haven't even had chance to look at all the photos yet, but here are some of my favorites so far.

Robin's 2nd Maternity Session

So, this evening Robin and I had a chance to meet up again for my portraits. The other morning we were losing good lighting when were doing the portraits with her family, and I just didn't get all the pictures I wanted of Robin by herself. So we got together and did more portraits tonight. I must say that the pictures turned out gorgeous. Robin came out to my house and we took pictures in the pasture in front of my house and in my yard. The lighting couldn't have been more perfect. Robin is already glowing, but the evening light made her glow even more. I wanted to share a few of my favorites from the session tonight. It's hard to choose my favorites because they were all so good. Well, I hope you enjoy these!

After the Storm

So earlier, I blogged about the storms we'd had all day and how I couldn't get many pictures today. Well, God decided to let the sun come out just a couple of hours before sunset tonight. I absolutely love it when storms start to clear up at sunrise and sunset. It makes for absolutely gorgeous skies, and tonight I was blessed with some amazing opportunities to capture God's creation at it's best. I adore the bright greens of spring, and the early morning and late evening light make that green just pop. I can't tell you how stunning tonight was, so I guess I'll just share some photos with you. These are just a couple of my favorites, and you can view all of them on my fan page on facebook, Mandy Keel Photography. Just to clarify the photos you see here only received minor touch-ups, some none at all. I used a graduated neutral density filter, so that really cuts down on edit time. Well, here you go. I hope these photos bless you as much as taking them blessed me.

Rainy Day

So today has been a very rainy day. It's not a bad thing because we've really needed the rain. We actually had a wildfire in the area this week because it has been so dry. The rain has also washed away all this nasty pollen that's been in the air and on everything. The downside is that the rain prevented me from getting outside and taking pictures, but it couldn't stop me completely. I went and sat in my car for about 15 minutes this afternoon taking pictures of raindrops on the windshield. We have some big evergreen trees in our yard, and I was able to get the reflection of one of the trees in the raindrops. Here are a couple of pictures. In reflections of course the photo is flipped, so I rotated the photos so you could see the trees a little bit easier.

Robin's Maternity

 So today I had the opportunity to photograph a family from my church, the Phillips. Robin is due any day now, and this morning we went to Lake Lure to get some last minute maternity portraits. Her whole family was there, and we were able to get some sweet shots. Robin and I are planning to get a few more photos of her by herself later this week, as long as her little girl doesn't show up early. :) Well Robin, here is your preview. I hope you enjoy! I will be posting all of my favorites from the session today on my photography's facebook page. If you want to take a look, then you can go to: Mandy Keel Photography.                            

Sunset at My House

Okay, this will be a short post. I just wanted to share a few photos of the sunset I was privileged to see this evening at my house. I was sitting on my front porch reading my Bible, and I looked up and saw a beautiful sky. I went in the house and grabbed my camera, and I walked out into the pasture in front of my house and snapped away. Here are a few of my favorites.

Here's another one of the same view, just a little later w/ some different colors.

Here's a silhouette of some small flowers against the gorgeous sky.

And this one has nothing to do with the sunset. This was just an interesting plant I saw in my front yard on my way back to the house.

Hope you've had a wonderful day!

Easter Sunrise 2010

Ever since Eric and I moved to the mountains, we have led the music for the Easter Sunrise Service on top of Chimney Rock. This has to be the most beautiful sunrise service I've ever been a part of. Every year thousands of people come to our area just for this sunrise service because of it's absolute splendor. Most years the weather is horribly cold on top of the rock. People come bundled up in their warmest clothes with tons of blankets.

This year was unusual though. Eric and I always have to get to Chimney Rock around 4:30 am to set up the sound system and do sound checks, and I usually freeze for two hours before the service starts. Well, this year we reached the top of the mountain, and I was pleasantly surprised. I got out of our church van, and I couldn't believe how warm it was. I didn't even need a jacket! It was absolutely gorgeous. I don't think we could have had any more perfect weather.

We received such a blessing from the service. Something else that was different this year, was we had someone do the special music for us, so we just had to lead the congregationals. The man that shared in song with us obviously loved the Lord, and I feel he touched many hearts with his beautiful songs. This year they started the service a little early, so I was actually able to get pictures of the sun coming up. I'm usually singing while the sun is coming up. :D So, I wanted to share some pics from the service. It was gorgeous, and yes you should be jealous because you don't live here. hehe

This photo is a few minutes after the sun was completely up. I love this view. The mountain ranges, the morning fog, Lake Lure...it's just breath-taking.

This photo is another one I took. I loved the lens flare and starbust effect I got on the sun here. To get this effect you need to stop your aperture down to as small as it will go. In my lens' case it's f22.

Well, after the sunrise service we went and had breakfast at church. We had an incredible service at our church yesterday morning. Our choir led 7 songs, and God made His presence so obvious to us. He was definitely there, and He proved it even more through our Pastor's message. I know I say it all the time, but God is so much better than good. He chooses to bless us beyond measure when we are so far from deserving.

Well, I want to share one more photo with you from Easter. That evening Olivia Lee came over to our house with her big brother. She was gracious enough to let me take a few pictures of her. Here is one of my favorites of this beautiful little girl.

I hope you all had a wonderfully blessed Easter, and that you remembered why we as Christians celebrate Easter. Jesus Christ is alive! Hallelujah!

Anna Lee

So, yesterday I went outside after the sun had gone down behind the mountain. It was absolutely gorgeous outside. The lighting was perfect for portraits, and it felt soooo good outside. I couldn't get Eric to go outside to take pictures, so I snapped a couple of myself. So I know, that's a bit narcissistic, but I really wanted to take advantage of the light. Here's the pic I took of myself. Of course, the composition isn't perfect, but I couldn't see what I was doing.

Then, probably my favorite teenager ever came over to my house, Anna Lee. She is a super sweet girl. I actually had the privilege of leading this sweet girl to the Lord last summer at camp, and I can't tell you how humbling it was for God to allow me to do that. It still overwhelms me when I think about it. Anyway, Anna is a very talented pianist. I have seen her grow and improve so much over the last couple of years. Every year there is an Easter sunrise service on top of Chimney Rock, and since Eric and I moved back here we have been leading the music up there. Well, this year I asked Anna to play the keyboard for us. So last night she was coming over to practice the songs with us. 

As soon as Anna got here, I asked her if I could take a couple of pictures of her outside. So we went outside, and I snapped a few pictures of her. Anna's smile fills her whole face with joy. She smiles with her eyes just as much as she does with her mouth. You can probably just tell how sweet she is by this picture.

Well, that's all I've got for this morning. Hope you all have a fabulous day!

Perfect Day

So today has been one of those absolutely perfect days that I've had all to myself. I love spending time with my husband, that's actually my favorite way to spend my time, but there are days when it is nice to just be by myself. Today has been one of those incredible days. God has just blessed me beyond measure today.

Let me share with you why today has been so wonderful. First off, the weather is just perfect. It is eighty degrees outside, and there is a nice breeze blowing. I started off my day with a run down in Lake Lure. It felt so great to breathe in the warm air this morning and to soak in the glorious sunshine. I was able to take a few pictures of some flowers down in Lake Lure after my run today as well. I'm not sure what type of tree this is, but here's the type of flower that blooms on it:

I also really loved this flower on the same tree. The light was coming through it very nicely causing it to glow in the center. It was pretty cool.

After I was done in Lake Lure, I went and grabbed myself a frozen coffee from the new coffee shop in Chimney Rock. I decided not to do my devotions there like I had originally intended b/c there were too many distractions. Instead, I came home. I proceeded to take all my things outside. I grabbed up a couple of blankets, a cushion, and my dog. We all went outside and set up underneath a shade tree in the front yard. Did I mention how amazing the weather is today? While I started on my devotions, Killer sat under the tree and watched the cows and donkeys across the road.

Anyway, I opened up "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers. I love him, the way he speaks is just so beautiful, and the messages He conveys are straight from the Lord. I actually ended up reading a couple of the devotionals from this book today, and they really blessed my heart.

When I finished with those devotions, I opened up God's Holy Word. I love the Bible. It amazes me that the God of the universe, the same God who made all the stars and knows them by name, who made everything from galaxies down to caterpillars (which I had a couple crawl on me today), also chose to reveal Himself to us through His Holy word. It's hard to grasp. Anyway, I have been reading through the Psalms recently. Today I read Psalms 84-86. You should take some time to read them. All three are so beautiful. Psalm 86 really spoke to my heart today though. It is my prayer today. God is so gracious and so faithful and so merciful and so loving. He has just been overwhelming me with His goodness and His joy the last couple of days, and I am so thankful for that b/c I'd been in a little bit of a funk since Eric and I lost our baby.

I just can't tell you how much better than amazing my God is. I am just so grateful that He has chose me as His child, and that He loves me and is so patient with me as I grow in Him. So today, has been such a wonderfully perfect day, and it's not over yet!