Oct
22
2016
Meet Julia.
Julia loves to read books, play games on her iPad, listen to music, and play outside.
She laughs the hardest when she is roughhousing with her dad and brothers.
Julia’s mama wrote a note to parents who have just received the Down Syndrome Diagnosis.
Dear parent facing the diagnosis of Down syndrome,
What you are feeling right now is perfectly normal, but you will soon realize there is nothing to fear.
Make contact with other families who have a child with Down syndrome. They will give you accurate, trustworthy information.
Your life is about to change for the better. You are going to fall so hard in love!
I wish I could be more like my daughter with Down syndrome…the way she sees her world and responds to it with such determination, love, and sensitivity.
Love,
Michelle
Oct
07
2016Brady met me with a curious stare. He seems pretty easy going, but he wanted to see what I was like.
It didn’t take long before he started cracking all kinds of smiles for me.
Seriously, this little guy has a million different smiles.
But smiling wasn’t enough! Brady love to give hugs. And they are the best hugs ever. He hugged me every time he could reach me.
He even had me carry him from set to set.
Brady loves music and obviously had a very joyful outlook on life.
His mama smiles wistfully when asked about how we can love Brady best, “Please just treat him with respect like any other human being.” Brady is a person first and, just like you and me, he craves human interaction and love.
Oct
01
2016Meet Zack.
Zack is fifteen years old and a rising 9th grader.
He plays the drums in band class.
Zack loves to eat chicken and play with his two dogs Emma and Porscha.
Zack loves more than anything to make new friends and is always making people laugh.
For Zack, life is an adventure and learning.
If you are expecting a child with Down syndrome, Zack’s mama Mary wrote a little note just for you.
Dear mam who just found out your child has Trisomy 21,
First, congratulations! Your baby is an amazing gift!
Your job most of all is to just love your beautiful baby. Always treat him or her just like you would any other child.
I want you to know that you will now know the meaning of unconditional love.
And as time moves forward, mama, you will be the best advocate that your child. You will become your child’s best friend.
Take a deep breath, mama, and just love your your child. I promise everything will fall in place!
Love,
Mary
Sep
09
2016Meet Parker.
Parker’s mama refers to her affectionately as a Threenager.
Parker is sassy and she knows everything. And if you’re not enlightened enough to know everything, she’s happy to teach you free of charge.
The funny thing about Parker is that she’s been in the studio before and wanted NOTHING to do with having her picture taken.
But on the day of this particular photo shoot, Parker was in charge.
No, literally, Parker was in charge. She told me when and where to take each image. She was the shoot director and the model.
Parker rocked it, don’t you think?
I love working with the unpredictability of three year olds!
Sep
06
2016Six years ago the owner of this sweet face, Lydia, jump started a dream buried so deep in my heart. A dream I thought was forever lost to me.
You see I had been a 16 year old with a camera and a dream…. but that dream had be deferred. The Lord provided a full ride to North Greenville University and they didn’t have a photography major. So I had tucked that dream deep within.
Even so, I had a camera in my lap when I met my husband at NGU the first week of school. Fast forward 7 years from that date and sweet Lydia was born.
Lydia was a rainbow baby. A baby born after the heartache of loosing another child to still birth. I wanted to celebrate with her sweet life and her mama and so I volunteered to do newborn photos for Lydia.
I had no experience in newborn photographer short of having a friend take my own daugther’s images a few months ago. So I borrowed some gear and loved on this family.
I posted a few images in Facebook and within an hour someone messaged me “How much do you charge?” Quiet Graces was born.
Lydia is now a big sister and she and Ivey came in for mini sessions a few months ago!
Lydia, Ivey, and Tamara: Thank you so much for being the instrument through which Quiet Graces came to be!
