Cousins | Next Generation Family Session | Austin TX Photographer

Posted July 23, 2017

I love being from a large family. I mean…a LARGE family. Between my mom and dad, they have 72 first cousins. Crazy! With such a large number of relatives, I have many first, second, and even third cousins.

Then, there are those “once removed” cousins. Honestly, I have never understood what that means. So naturally I did what I always do when I need a quick answer……search the wonderful world of Google. I found the definition, “your first cousin once removed is the child (or parent) of your first cousin.” Finally that makes sense. It is the next generation.

However, with having a large family, remembering the “proper term” for every cousin and how they are related to you can be difficult. Moreover, trying to determine the relationship terms for my kid…. even more confusing! So, back I went to the wonderful world of the internet. I found this wonderful chart. It has a great break down of the terms by generation. I refer to this often when I am trying to figure out the relationship amongst family members.

Cousins or Cousins Once Removed???

Recently, I had the task of figuring out what cousin my little man is to some new additions to the family. We were in Austin, TX for a family wedding that brought my crazy family together. My two second cousins had their little boys there; one 8 months and the other, 11 months. It was fun watching them meet and play. They got along so well! It reminded me of when I was young playing with their moms. Using my awesome chart from above, I figured out they were only 3rd cousins! However, to me, the two little boys are second cousins once removed. Man, why does it have to be this hard?

With these kids together, we of course had to shoot some photos. Three little ones, all under a year and a half, always makes for fun photos. Look below at some funny faces, pushing each other, and happy boys!

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A Toddler and His Books

Posted July 4, 2017

When you have a baby, the doctors, books, and other parents will advise you to remove all distractions from the child’s crib when they are sleeping. This will help increase their ability to fall asleep. Plus enable them to understand the concept that when they are in their crib, it is time to sleep.

We did just that. Never has our little guy had a blanket or a teddy bear in his crib. Well, unless grandma is in town! Our little guy never seemed interested or wanted anything to help him sleep.

However, one thing people never warned us about was having those distractions in close proximity to the child’s crib. I know, we should have just known that, but we did not really think about it when he was younger.

Well, now we think about it every time we put him to bed. Our little guy manages to reach the bookshelf right next to his crib, grab a book, and get it back into his crib. Actually, for his age it is amazing how good he has gotten at turning the book to get them into his crib. We often laugh when we hear a loud thud coming from his room, indicating the dropping of a book as it crashes to the floor. When he finally falls asleep and we go in to check on him, his crib is full of books. I think the largest we counted one time was 14 books. It is crazy!

Move the bookshelf . Simple answer to our problem.

However, we have found out something awesome about this trick…..it entertains him for HOURS! Yes, at naptime it is a little annoying as he should be sleeping, but I guess he is resting. However, in the morning, this is GOLD. Once he wakes up, he will pull on his books and play and play, making minimal noise (other than the occasional giggle or talking to himself) until we come in and get him. Sometimes we do not even know how long he has been up because he has been quietly playing.

We have thought about moving the bookshelf, but I think we will allow him to play a little more at naptime, so that in the morning we get a little longer sleep. For now, the bookshelf stays!

Here are some fun photos I captured of him playing after a nap one day…

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Sweet Olive Photography is located in Evansville, IN. Sweet Olive is a children, family, and senior photographer. As a professional photographer, Erica captures baby, family, and senior portraits in and around Evansville, Indiana.

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Mollie | Newborn | DeWitt MI Child Photographer

Posted June 29, 2017

Good Golly, Miss Mollie! Mollie was just a sweet little lady. She was full of cuddles and did wonderful during her photo shoot. Well, until she was being taken out of any wrap to put her into a new one!

I enjoy watching families grow. From their marriage to this new bundle of joy, this family is full of love!

Here are some favorites from this session…

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Past Life Celebrations…

Posted June 9, 2017

Leaving any community that you have created a life in is always hard. However, being able to go back to that community and celebrate all the changes that life has brought makes you feel as if you never left. This upcoming weekend, I have the pleasure to do just that. A very good friend from Iowa has welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their home. I am extremely excited to meet this bundle of joy.

The friend, Amy, and I met while working at the University of Iowa over 4 years ago. We have been able to share many milestone moments together, watching each other fall in love, standing up as we marry our husbands, and new jobs, just to name a few. I was not only able to watch on the sidelines for many of these milestones, but also capture them with my camera.

First, their engagement was one for the ages. Steve did a wonderful job planning the event, even from two hours away! Amy LOVES the Iowa Hawkeyes and the University of Iowa. Love may not even be a strong enough word to express her passion for the Hawkeyes. One of her favorite places on campus is the Old Capital. It was actually one of the places they first went on their first date. Steve planned that as the location and even involved Amy’s student staff of nearly 20 students to help out. Each one, standing on the steps of the Cold Capital, held a sign with a letter that spelled out, “Amy will you marry me?” It was perfect.

Second, I was able to spend some time with them taking their engagement photos. This was a two-part session. One session was with Steve’s love … cars. Not many things sweeter than summer cruising in a nice ride with your baby by your side! Is that a lyric to a country song? I am sure it is in a song somewhere! Then, as the seasons turned, we ran around Iowa City in the snow. Amy always had this vision of a winter wedding. She wanted that feel for their engagement photos too.

*These were done using my old studio name, before moving to Indiana.

Lastly, their wedding party in Iowa City. Like I said before, Amy wanted a winter wedding. The wedding took place in Colorado, with a party a few weeks later in Iowa City. There in Iowa City, I was able to capture special moments for them. Including when Herky showed up.

Now I will be able to capture one more life moment, their bundle of joy, Mollie Lauryn.

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Adam | Headshots | Evansville IN Photographer

Posted June 5, 2017

As a photographer, I always enjoy doing something new. It allows me to expand my knowledge and experience working with the camera, and ultimately, making me a better photographer. Recently, an old colleague asked me if I could shoot some business headshots for him. Adam is heading off to Law School at Indiana University in the fall. It is an exciting adventure for him. I am sure it will lead to many great things for him down the road.

I was excited he asked! Something very different for me. I instantly said “Yes!” before I had time to think twice about it. Though maybe a bit out of my comfort zone, it was a great learning experience for me! I enjoyed the experience and look forward to more opportunities down the road.

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Colton | 15 Month Milestone Session | Evansville IN Child Photographer

Posted May 25, 2017

Where has the time gone? This little man is 15 months old. It is amazing how fast time can go. Lately he has loved playing with any ball. I mean, what kid doesn’t?!? So, I decided to take him out to the “big” fields where a local college team practices. The field had some amazing light and was fun to just watch him play around. It actually has become one of my favorite places to take photos. Who knows if soccer will be in his future, but these sure do make me smile!

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Kennedy… a Disney Princess | Evansville IN Child Photographer

Posted May 15, 2017

Have you met a more photogenic little lady?!? I have not! Miss Kennedy knew exactly what to do in every situation. It was so easy to capture her personality. Plus, asking her to play with balloons and flowers during her shoot made her an even happier little girl. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy balloons and flowers?

This leading lady loves Disney…..LOVES Disney! She has already been to Disney three times in her little life. Impressive! Well, as she was doing an outfit change, I noticed a rose bush. The perfect spot for some photos! (I love when a spot just comes alive when you least expect it.) She pretended she was Belle the entire time. It was so cute and magical!

“But she warned him not to be deceived by appearances… For beauty is found within… The rose she had offered was truly an enchanted rose.” – Beauty and the Beast

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Elle | Senior Photos | Evansville IN Senior Photographer

Posted May 8, 2017

This family is so special to me! They were my first clients after moving to Indiana. A year and a half ago, I had the pleasure of shooting a session for this sweet young lady’s sister. After shooting Teah’s senior photos, I was excited when the mom reached out again, asking me to do a session with Miss Elle too! It is always fun to watch a family grow from year to year.

One special request for this shoot was to have some photos taken on a swing set. I loved the idea of having a fun childhood (and current) memory incorporated into Elle’s photos. It shows no matter how old we are, we can still be young at heart.

Now where to find a swing set that had great lighting?

Working with mom, we found a great place at a local elementary school. However, one thing we didn’t plan on was the countless children and parents around that night for little league baseball/softball! Whoops! I guess we should have checked a calendar. Still, Elle rocked the swings even with three young boys playing next to us.

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Sweet Olive… What’s in a Name

Posted April 25, 2017

A goal I set for 2017 was to make my photography business more of a priority in my life. I have been doing family, children, and engagement photography for the past four years. Then, life adventures called me to push pause on my business; a move to a new town in a new state, having a child, and starting two new jobs (yes, two) made me step away for a bit.

Now the dust has settled and I can hit the reset button. As a result, I decided to change the name of my business. Normally artist use their own name, but I wanted to do something different. What do you name something that someone else has not already done?

With time, lots of daydreaming, and asking people around me, I was finally able to create a name I love. Sweet Olive Photography is named after my grandma, Olive. Looking back, she was a creative soul that showed her daughters how to be ones too. That of course was passed on to me.

Her creativity was shown through her work on her sewing machine. She loved to quilt. I have many fond memories of spending time with her and looking at the quilting projects she was working on. I was blessed to have worked on a t-shirt blanket quilt with her, and amazingly, I received it two days before she passed away.

Gone by not forgotten:

After her passing, my mother and aunts went through all her completed projects. I am not sure how many were left, as they kept that to themselves. Why not share them with all of us? Well they had a much better plan. At my wedding shower and baby shower, I received those hidden gems.

Can I get a tissue? I mean come on!

Not only are her quilts great reminders of her amazing skills, and lasting love, each one matched the “theme” of those exciting moments in my life. The quilt I received at my wedding shower was brown with intricate cut outs of different flowers within the pattern. My wedding had a rustic vibe with a touch of spring.

Then at my baby shower, I received a baby blanket. My grandma made a baby blanket for everyone in our extended family. (I even still have my pink bunny one!) I would say it was grandma’s trademark gift. Well the baby blanket waiting for me was a baby boy blanket. It was blue, with nautical theme material. You guessed it; the décor for our baby’s room was nautical.

Also did I mention we didn’t know what gender we were having? That is right, we had a boy. Yes, she knew before any of us knew! Years before.

MIND BLOWN!!

Just maybe, though…as a close friend said, I am just predicable. Maybe, but I would like to believe my grandma had an amazing plan to impact my life even after she passed away. She certainly has! I hope to honor her name and creative soul as I continue on this photography journey!