Natural light family and maternity photography, Pastels and yoga at sunset in Austin, TX

February 25, 2014  •  2 Comments

D4S_6701D4S_6701When selecting your photos, sharpness is key. Exposure (especially bright road surfaces) can easily be corrected. If flash reflections, background riders/drivers or utility poles/lines are distracting, add Custom Shop to your order and the distractions will be eliminated. RockStorePhotos may make substitutions to photo orders if a substantively similar but materially sharper image from the same sequence is available.

Photos whose file names begin with D8C are extracted from 7360 x 4912 36 megapixel originals. D4S files are extracted from 16.2 megapixel 4928 x 3280 files.
Mariela and Maritza Rodriguez-156Mariela and Maritza Rodriguez-156

The older you get, the more things seem uncanny--people and places and experiences overlap and run together and you find connections in places you think you wouldn't. I never expected to get feelings of nostalgia on the job with two people I barely knew and their three children. But as often happens, we got to talking, and of course we found things in common--the mom is from my neck of the woods, so to speak, small town Texas anyway, and the dad has just got to be in the top two or three easiest going guys I have ever met. At the top of that list is my Uncle Gene. So that's how that nostalgia thing got started. And Uncle Gene happens to be from the mama's hometown of Shiner. Small world. 

You've got to be wondering where Don Williams comes into this and I'll tell you. I thought of Don Williams because of two things--one of them being that Uncle Gene always reminds me of Don Williams and the other being that this couple embodies the same easygoing, love-centered wonderfulness that Williams' song "I Believe in You" is all about. The kind of easiness that makes you feel instantly at home. The kind of real love that makes it easy for their children to forget I'm there and just snuggle with Mama or Daddy. The way those girls look at their dad--pure love. And he gives back to them with those awesome whiskery big bear hugs. They'll never feel safer. 

And that brings me to my sweet Uncle Gene, the faint scent of cigarettes and beer, a real hug in strong arms and rough whiskers against my face. I was a little girl when I used to get those hugs, a little girl with worries soothed by the smoothness of Don Williams' voice in the background, a hug and a "How are ya, Girl?" from Uncle Gene. And he'd always hug me tight then take a good look at my face as if to see just how I really was doing. Always smiling eyes looked back at me. Always smiling.

It's those hugs and that connection you want to go back to, the people that can somehow put things right for a time, or at least right enough, and with one long look make you feel what life is all about. It's the babies, the children and the old folks, the mamas and daddies, and the love.  

From "I Believe in You"...

I don’t believe in superstars organic food and foreign cars
I don’t believe the price of gold the certainty of growing old
That right is right and left is wrong that north and south can’t get along
That east is east and west is west and being first is always best
But I believe in love I believe in babies I believe in mom and dad and I believe in you

I don’t believe that heaven waits for only those who congregate
I like to think of God as love he’s down below he’s up above
He’s watchin’ people everywhere he knows who does and doesn’t care
And I’m an ordinary man sometimes I wonder who I am
But I believe in love I believe in music I believe in magic and I believe in you

And if you want to hear that smooth Don Williams vocal...

Up next: Same mama, but a maternity shoot like you've never seen before! I can't wait to share... 


Comments

Jenna Martin(non-registered)
Wow! Just wow! Love these shots, adore this family. Way to capture love Shelly! Strong work! very strong work!
Kate Griffin(non-registered)
Beautiful family, beautiful photos! Can't. Wait. for Belly Shot!
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