New Blog

I have a new blogsite, check it out here….   www.loraayersphotography.com

He can dance, and cutie pies.

  I had no idea my son Noah was a dancer at school, and why he's dancing at school is beyond me, but his teacher listed his great dancing as something that she was thankful for on Thanksgiving.  I am proud... After all, we all know where he got his mad skillz (or as the kids would say scales).   Nevermind that he's an expressive reader, home boy can dance!   Here's proof, along with a few cuties from a portrait session.   I shot this session at their beautiful home on the lake.   Their daughter was adorable and let us play dress up with her for an hour, and then two of her besties came over to join in on the fun.

11 years and counting....

  We met at church (classic), and he swears that he pointed me out and said that he was going to marry me.    I remember getting roses on my car every day for weeks, and how he wrote me notes and gave me cards.   For the first month while dating we referred to each other as "joe bob" and "lucy".   I think he was making fun of my country accent, and I just laid it on even thicker, and to top it off I would pretend to be a clogger in public.   I never scared him off though, and I'm so glad that I didn't.  For the last 11 years he's taken care of me and loved me through so much.    He's made me a better person, and I'm so grateful for him.    Love you Joe Bob Johnson!

I'm thankful for Jesus who gave me a new life, and....

   A Godly man to share life with for the past 10 years and 363 days, our 3 children who are precious and perfect, my mom who is my constant friend, Granny Mickey for giving all the time and teaching me what it looks like to be completely unselfish, my hair because hair is really important, starbucks for getting me through many mornings,  my church because the leaders are real and share their heart weekly, music because it makes me happy and helps me to burn calories, my clients because they trusted me during the first year of my business, and especially the brides from my first weddings..... Mikhail, Katie, Amanda, Penny, Judy,  Stephanie and Traci!  

  Here's a pic of my 3 little turkeys!    Happy Thanksgiving!

Kala and Casey: Engagement

  Here are more photos from Kala and Casey's engagement session that we had last weekend.    I'll let you in on a little secret...I think my clients may think I'm coo-coo.   Want to know why?  Well, let's see for starters just about the whole time I was shooting I was calling her "girl" and him "boy"...why you ask?  Well I guess I'm just not cool enough to operate my camera on manual AND remember names.  They put up with me though, and I even got "boy" to make an animal noise (can't tell you what) for the cute laughing smiling black and white close up.   I love it!

  Kala and Casey thanks for being so great on your shoot,  and I can't wait until May day!

Something simple, but so special.

  Today we surprised the kids at school for lunch.   I'll probably remember Abby's face forever.   The way she looked when she heard me call her name, and she hadn't even spotted me yet.   To her it was everything that we were there to have lunch.   Noah was cute too.  Carrying his little tray, and walking over toward us trying not to grin too big...such a big boy.   Sometimes the simplest things bring so much joy. 

  This weekend I got to have fun at a new location with a new couple that I hadn't met before.  Kala and Casey are high school sweethearts.    They laughed, I laughed, it was fun.   I LOVE engagement sessions.   It gave us a chance to get to know each other, talk about how they met, and plan their upcoming wedding in May at the R Ranch.    Here's just one of the many pictures we took.    We found a patch of red up on a hill, and I loved the added color.   

Fall Family Sessions

Sunny , 70's and pretty leaves.  It's perfect this November, and perfect for pictures.    It went from being so cold that I wondered where fall went....to this.    I'm loving it, but before it gets too cold I've gotta get my own kids out for some pictures in their new outfits (family pics in mind).  Abby's is purple, and we're all gonna match her.   It's pretty much all about the princess anyway.    Speaking of princesses check out this sweetie in her pink tutu!  Her mom made it, and if anyone wants one just leave me a comment and I'll get you in touch with her, she made the hat too!  

Cute Kids Session

It was rainy and cold, and we ALMOST had to cancel this session.   But the clouds parted and the sun came out a little, and we went for it!   I'm so glad we did.   We had some fun in the back yard, and then when it got too cold we went inside for some shots on the red couch.   I scooted the love seat over to the foyer and opened the front door so I'd have enough light and it gave their eyes a nice sparkle.

It's a new week (and although my heart is still heavy from losing my grandmother) pictures like these make me happy, and they remind me of my own family too.   I smiled a lot while editing these, they are so cute!

















Oh and for fun, we made faces!

Granny Mickey...tell someone you love them.

I love my Granny Mickey.   Mother of 7 children....too many grandchildren and great grandchildren to count, excellent cook, as sweet as her famous chocolate cake, loved Free Chapel Worship Center, always smiling, would give you the shirt off her back.   I will miss you Granny.  All of us will miss you.  

  Here's my sweet Granny who went home to be with Jesus and Papa Claiborne.  

  Tell someone you love them, we weren't expecting to lose her.  It came as a surprise when she suffered a heart attack.    There's no such thing as hugging , kissing, or saying "I love you" too much.

Happy Birthday Ali Brown!! I heart you!!

Happy Birthday Ali! You are such a great friend to me, and I hope you have the best birthday EVER!!! I love your work, and every time I check your blog I'm completely inspired! I'm so glad that we've become friends this past year.

This is my girl Ali and a cow named Hank, she loves animals, and even has her own chicken as well as a HUGE dog!! Ali is in Montana and we haven't met in person, and I can't wait until we do at WPPI in Vegas, or sooner.    To see her awesomeness look here.

Congrats Traci and Gary!

The day was beautiful, sunny, and a little windy. Perfect compared to the flooding that we were having weeks before. The accent flowers were sunflowers, and the pool was bright blue. This poolside wedding was beautiful and lots of fun was had by all. Congrats to the happy couple! Thank you for choosing me to be a part of your special day. Here are a few of the shots and details from the day.

In the moment

I've been thinking a lot lately about being more in the moment with my children. The time is flying by so quickly, and I want to look back one day and know that I was the best "in the moment" mom that I could be. I have been given these sweet little cutie pies that I adore. Their toes, their hair, their voices, and my last pair of chubby legs (Alex's) which are getting slimmer by the minute. I want to eat them up, and yet at the same time I'm busy....and too often I rush from one thing to the next and don't give them what they deserve, and what I really WANT to give them. Thankfully I'm very aware of my mothering. Every night in my head I make a list of positive things I did as a mom and negative things. At least I'm thinking about these things, and my husband once told me that if you are asking yourself questions like "am I a bad mom?" than most likely you are not.

Did anyone watch Oprah 2 days ago about the stay at home mom who survived the plane crash??? Oh my gosh, life changing for me! Here is her blog I found this in one of her archives, check it out!

Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments.{or if I could enter here-the basket-head mother syndrome} She said: “The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11).

Totally off- subject, here's a pic from last weekends wedding, and I was able to get this because I rented the 70-200, loved it!

dog breath

We tried getting the baby and the dogs together in a picture. My brilliant idea was to put the dog bone treat inside the blanket by the baby...this is what happened! I love it!

Senior Portrait Session Mitchell!

Fun was had, that's for sure. Loved hanging out with Mitchell and his sister Lindsey (my brothers fiance) and his mom. We laughed a lot! Here are a few fav's from the session we had on Sunday.

slim shady

I just thought that I'd admit to the world wide web, that finally after 32 years I'm starting to like myself. I have finally started to realize that I can't earn God's love with good works, and that I can't un-earn his love ( I know that's not a word, but hey it's MY blog!). I love my church. I'm surrounded by ordinary people who believe in an extraordinary God. It's taken me my whole life to feel accepted by God. Why?? Well, mostly because of my perception of what it meant to be a christian, and my perception of what others thought about me and my many failures. I'm happy with where I'm at today. I'm not perfect, and that's not the goal. I just love God, and I'm trying to be my best for him, and for my family.