Extended Family Portraits at Greer City Park

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In a day and age when extended families often are spread out all over the country, time spent all together is so important! I love it when families contact me to document extended family portrait sessions, and I appreciate it even more when I’ve known them most of my life. The Short-Hartley-Hackworth-Funai Families converged on Greer City Park late this summer, coming from New Jersey, Virginia, the mountains of North Carolina, and Upstate South Carolina to celebrate their family ties. It was a fun–and often funny–session, and I’m excited to show these guys their portraits!

Introducing…The Shorts, Hartleys, Hackworths, and Funais | Summer 2015

One whole side of the family…Hartleys, Shorts, and Hackworths…

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A little bit of sisterly love. 😉

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Noah, the kid-genius behind Hackworth Vacuums

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More family! Hackworths and Funais, having fun!

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Shorts, Hartleys, Hackworths and Funais: Thank you so much for choosing me to document your family moments. I love that you all came together–in-laws, aunts, uncle, nephew, grands, parents, grown-up kids–for a fun weekend of time spent together. I love being a “third daughter” in the Short family, too. 😉  I hope that you will enjoy your family portraits!

To view the entire SHHF Family Gallery, please CLICK HERE.

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Collier & Lauren’s Love Session | Greer SC Couple’s Photographer

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I’m a big believer that all stages and phases of love should be photographed, and these gorgeous newlyweds wanted to be sure to capture their relationship for their first Christmas cards together as a married couple. I’ve known Collier for years, and I first photographed him and his bride Lauren for my peach-themed styled shoot last summer that was featured on the Storyboard Wedding Blog. We met on a freezing cold morning at the Greer City Park in Greer SC, but they were troopers and just used the cold as an excuse for getting cozy. 😉 I LOVE having these two in front of my camera–they are too much fun, super cute together, and absolutely comfortable in photos. For their first portraits as a family, they wanted to include their adorable fur-baby Romeo, and this little guy pretty much stole the show!

Introducing, The Smiths & Romeo…

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Lauren and Collier (& Romeo!), thank you so much for asking me to capture your first portraits as a married couple! You guys truly have something special together, and I love seeing your love through my camera. Enjoy this wonderful year of “firsts” in your marriage!

To view The Smiths’ full proof gallery, CLICK HERE. Contact Collier or Lauren if you need the password!

As always, you can hover over an image to “Pin It” to Pinterest, click “like” below to link this post to your Facebook, and leave a comment below to show us some love!

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

–Amy

The Hartleys’ Extended Family Portraits | Greenville SC Family Photography

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If you’re a regular blog reader, you know that I LOVE photographing extended families when they are together. These days, our families are so spread out that it’s a big deal to capture a portrait when all the generations are together in one place. The Hartley Family came together in Greenville SC recently for a weekend of football (both Auburn and Alabama), corn hole tournaments, tons of laughter, and an afternoon portrait session with Amy Clifton Keely Photography at Furman University. My BFF Rebecca married into this crazy-fun family, so it’s been fun to keep tabs on the Hartleys over the years. I love their sassiness, their laughter, and their love.

Introducing…The Hartleys from Alabama, in Greenville SC

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Happy 10 Year Anniversary to my BFF and her Hubby! I was honored to be Rebecca’s Maid of Honor 10 short years ago, and she returned the favor in mine and Tony’s wedding as my Matron of Honor. Love y’all!!

As you see, Rebecca is no shorty….

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…so the step-ladder that I used for the kids came in handy with Marshall. 😉

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Patrick, April, and their beautiful and SWEET family

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Most little boys aren’t super excited to be in pictures, but Wyatt was AWESOME. He is so stinking cute, too!

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How precious is he???

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Libby is a beautiful girl, inside and out.

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She’s got a fabulous smile, but I am crazy about this B&W of her serious face. Mama and Daddy better watch out!! 😉

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Love this one!

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Melissa has got the greatest eyelashes. So jealous, LOL!

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I had the hardest time narrowing down Aunt Jane and Uncle Robert’s photos. They are SO cute together. You can see their love for each other in every single portrait.

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The Hartley Siblings…

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All three of these guys bear the name “Marshall.” I love this cute idea and their happy faces (thanks to Wyatt’s hilarious comments)!

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Uh oh–House Divided. (And Wyatt hasn’t picked a team yet….there was a bit of family tug-o-war going on to sway his decision. For now, though, he’s Switzerland.) But it’s all in good fun, right? Right?

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Hmmmm, maybe not. 😉

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Hartley Family, I loved spending the afternoon with you guys and I’m so glad you got to be together in Greenville as a family. I hope you love your photos and that they bring lots of happy memories of special family times together!

–Amy

As always, you can scroll over a photo to “Pin It” to Pinterest, click “Like” below to link this post to your Facebook page, and leave a comment to show us some love here on the blog! Happy Weekend, y’all!!

On Southern Snow Days & Slowing Down

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Snow in the South is a magical thing. 

(Yes, our Northern friends also find it to be a comical thing, but that’s a different post.)

Southern Snow is rare and lovely and shuts down the world around us. It slows us down. It confines us to our homes. It feeds our bodies with home-cooked meals and outdoor play and laughter. It warms our souls with a freedom from distractions, from work, from appointments and traffic. It bonds us to the ones we love and asks us to care for our neighbors and the birds in the yard. It reminds us of the beauty of nature as we crunch through the snow, stare out the windows, and marvel in God’s handiwork.

Southerners are pretty good at being slow–we smoke our BBQ for hours, we take the time to smile at kids and old folks, we  spend the extra minute to pull out the “good crystal” when company comes–but even we are not immune to the chaos that tears us away from what is most important in our lives.

Southern Snow rocks our world faster than your Maw Maw can say  “Bless her heart…” 

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Southern Snow brings frenzied searches through our cookbooks for meals that will warm both our bellies and our souls. Southern Snow ALSO brings frenzied searches through our grocery stores for bread and milk (there is none), ingredients for steaming pots of chili, and shoppers with whom to share conversations along the lines of “I can’t believe there is NO MORE  meat in this entire store!!” Southern Snow sends us into our kitchens, whipping up cauldrons of love.

Southern Snow glues us to our windows, our local tv stations’ non-stop coverage of the “weather event,” and our Facebook newsfeed in childlike anticipation of those first falling flakes. Southern Snow changes every hour–every minute even–from tiny flurries to huge puffy cotton balls to sleet and then all over again, keeping us going back to the windows over and over and over to exclaim, “It’s STILL coming down!!”

Southern Snow bonds us to each other. There is no traveling on icy roads, no snow plows to pave the way ahead. We hunker down at home until it melts, and we play together, and we build fires and laugh. We talk, and we marvel at the beauty around us. We walk around the block, no traffic noise, no planes overhead, just the crunch crunch of the slush under our bread-bag-wrapped boots. We check on our neighbors, making sure they’re warm enough, trekking through the pristine yard to deliver hot soup…or cold beers.

Southern Snow reminds us to enjoy the simple pleasures. A fresh cup of coffee. Extra marshmallows in your hot chocolate. Brunch that smells like cinnamon and sausage…at noon. The way you can’t even tell where your yard ends and the road begins. The glow of streetlights on the perfectly icy land. The fluffs of snow clinging to every tree branch, every pine needle, every fence post as far as you can see. The smell of a wood fire. A hand to hold and a warm body to snuggle next to. Handmade quilts. A pot of soup bubbling on the stove. Power and a warm home. Real conversation about love and life and God.

Last week during the “Snowpocalypse of 2014,” there was no cabin fever for this girl. I loved every minute being cooped up with my bearded husband and our sweet cat. (Not that the cat even knew it was snowing. As with most house cats, Pearl could care less what goes on outside of her  little world, so long as the food keeps showing up in her bowl.)

I must admit that I was a little sad to see the snow melting and the roads clearing. I knew that meant the spell of The Magical Southern Snow was broken, Tony would go back to work, the fall leaves we never raked would again be visible in our yard, and the real world would creep back in.

But I am grateful. Grateful for the fluffy white magic that fell from the sky the week of Valentine’s Day 2014, reminding us about love and life and simply slowing down.

What about you? What are your favorite parts of a snow storm, Southern or otherwise?? Leave a comment below to let me know what you love (or don’t!!) about snow!

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The Klein Family | Downtown Greenville SC Family Portrait Photographer

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This family was so much fun to photograph in Downtown Greenville SC! They gathered in Greenville from various parts of the east coast to celebrate Thanksgiving together, and they wanted to capture their special family bonds with a portrait session. We wandered through Falls Park, the Liberty Bridge, and the Peace Center–several of the highlights of Downtown Greenville. I loved laughing and talking to this family, and we quickly discovered that we have some mutual acquaintances….I love 6 degrees of separation stories, we’re all connected! 🙂 Kleins, I hope that you enjoy these photos and the fun memories that accompany them. It was truly a pleasure meeting you and photographing this time in your lives.

Introducing: The Klein Family, Downtown Greenville SC

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I think it is so important to continue photographing your family even after the kids are grown! Every phase of a family’s life is special and important, not just when they’re “little.” The Kleins celebrated their relationships with Mom and Dad, son Paul, and Aunt Sara. I loved it!!

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This shot is definitely a favorite–brother and sister, mom and son.

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Seriously Kleins, y’all are so cute!!

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Paul with his parents

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Mom and Dad, nephew Paul and Aunt Sara

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Sweet grown-up siblings!

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To view the Kleins’ entire Proof Gallery, please CLICK HERE. Contact the family for their password! 😉

You may also view their full session in the video slideshow below. Enjoy! And as always, please leave a comment below to show us some love!