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Love | First Grade Perspectives

Posted on February 14, 2011

I spent a good bit of the day hopping between my kids’ schools for carpools and their Valentine’s Day festivities. As usual, I was awestruck by the mild manner of their teachers in the midst of the action, calmly providing direction in classrooms that are brimming with Stuff-with-a-Capital-S. Books, art, toys, cubbies, shelves, worksheets, chalkboards, tables, chairs, backpacks, germ juice (or “hanitizer” as my son says) — the sheer volume of it is dizzying. My daughter, still six, was dressed in red and white, and I was reminded of Where’s Waldo as she bopped around the room delivering her valentines.

As I stood on the perimeter of the room chatting with a few other moms, I took a closer look at some of the art surrounding me. You just can’t make this stuff up. It’s the beauty of kids’ minds, with their developing penmanship and lacing abilities proudly displayed like hearts on their sleeves. Kids just call ‘em as they see ‘em. I love that.

The firework one just happened to be my daughter’s. I should have known since she told me the pink and orange manicure she scored at a sleepover “was awesome and like Dunkin Donuts.” Hope your Valentine’s Day had you “bursting with cheer” too!

Baby Contest: Everyone's a Winner!

Posted on March 8, 2010

What a week of heated competition! Thank you so much to the families and friends of the ten adorable kids in the baby contest! Not surprisingly, all voters have been very passionate about their fave baby face.

I will be offering a free cake smash session to the top two, Maguire and Cotes, since they both received more than 60 votes! Maguire now lives in Greenville, but I know his family is eager to return to Charleston for a visit. Cotes is more of a local boy — he lives in my neighborhood, so we may arrange his session a little sooner.

I’d also like to offer 50% off my session fee to the families of the other eight contestants. I hope some of you will take advantage because I would love to get my lens on your kids and families, too. The discount is good for either a regular family/children session or a cake smash session for the baby.

Thank you again to each of you who tirelessly campaigned and made my first giveaway a huge success! Stay tuned for pics of your fave babies… and kids, and brides, and scenic spots.

No Dimpled Chads, Just Dimples! | Carolina Photosmith

Posted on March 1, 2010

Your vote counts! Parents submitted these fun shots of their fave babies in hopes of winning a free cake smash session to celebrate the child’s first birthday. Like my fave character in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” these tots are Truly Scrumptious!

Join the fun by becoming a fan on my Facebook page. Then vote for your favorites by leaving a comment beneath the faces you think will look the cutest smothered in frosting. Votes accepted through March 7; winner to be announced Monday, March 8.

Fresh Catch

Posted on September 1, 2009

This gorgeous five-year-old and her little brother had a big time as the sun set behind Sullivans Island. I first met their parents when I worked at the aquarium — their dad is a fisherman who heads way offshore on weeklong trips to bring back vermilion snapper, grouper and other deep-sea bounty to sell to Charleston’s best restaurants. In fact, we were glad to have him along as assistant child-wrangler since he was heading out to sea at 4am the next day! The cute siblings are so at ease on the sandy shore. They did a great job working with me in their portrait ensembles knowing their mama had bathing suits for them to slip into after the photo session.

Her Mom was eager to schedule a portrait session before her daughter lost her first tooth. It was pretty loose — maybe the tooth fairy has visited already! I still have several shots I’m editing, but this one takes my breath away in both color and black-and-white, so I’m sharing two versions.

Oh, and break out the Kleenex. I dug through the archives to find one I snapped in ’06 when I took some family pics to accompany a magazine article. Not that moms need any reminder of how time flies, but I loved this shot then, and it’s pretty touching to see how she’s grown up so far!

Once we completed our session and the kids were splashing around, I headed to meet friends and hubby to celebrate a birthday. But I made one last stop before the restaurant since the sunset was shaping up to be a stunner!