Kimberly Reed Photography

i met nicole and gary on saturday night at michele and chris’ wedding. gary was one of the groomsmen, and nicole is his lovely wife. gary is a marine, and was deployed yesterday to go back to iraq. nicole is 4 1/2 months pregnant with their first child, so their baby will be two months old when gary comes home. i was really touched by their story, so i offered to do a photo session for them before he left for iraq (initially thinking he would be leaving in a few weeks and they lived locally). It turns out they live in north carolina, were leaving the morning after the wedding to go home, and gary was being deployed on wednesday of this week!

so we met early the next morning for a short photo session. i found out that gary and nicole never had wedding or engagement photos done, so this was their first photo session since they’ve been married (almost 1 1/2 years).

i emailed them their slideshow tuesday night, but wanted to post some photos on my blog also because i know they have friends and family that wanted to see them. without further ado:

i just love the joy on nicole’s face here

i love how the sun broke through the trees and was just shining on gary in this shot.

and i just would feel right if i didn’t utilize the sunny morning to incorporate a little sun flare.

gary and nicole, i’m so glad i met you and we were able to do this portrait session for you guys! i hope these photos make your time apart a little easier. keep in touch- i’d love to see a photo when gary comes home and meets his son or daughter for the first time!

a close friend of mine had her first baby recently, so i headed over there to meet the newest addition and snap some pics of the little guy. this is ben at three weeks:
little baby feet

babies make funny faces. this one makes me laugh.

ben and his mama

ben and his daddy

this one might be my fave.

my husband came with me, and on the way home he tried telling me how happy and natural i looked holding ben. i’m not falling for it. (at least not for a few more years.)

as promised, here are a few of the maternity sexy belly pics i shot for lyndsay while i was in philly. for some reason the word ‘maternity’ conjures up images of a woman in a muumuu and curlers for me…so i want to stay away from that. i think that pregnancy is sexy- there isn’t much more amazing than carrying and sustaining another life. plus pregnant women tend to have this fabulous peaceful glow about them. so i wanted lyndsay’s photos to capture this transitional time in her life, by celebrating the beauty that is a pregnant belly.

these next two make me giggle. i used a 10-22mm lens at 10mm to give some extra distortion to the tummy. i love the effect!

tough call, but i *think* this one is my fave.

most of the shots took place in her family’s vineyard.

there are some more in her slideshow. i double dog dare you not to laugh at the song…