MEETING EISLEY GRACE

Allow me to introduce my newest niece, Eisley Grace. She has her Mommy's personality & and her Daddy's eyes...her good looks are simply a combination of these two beautiful people, Robyn & James. My friend Robyn is a person that I could continuously compliment and put on a pedestal...she is that special. She is a friend I met when I first moved to Key West and I know that God had our paths cross for many reasons. We instantly became friends and though the miles now separate us, our hearts remain close. I am honored to call her a friend and feel very blessed that she is a part of my life.

I wanted to share a few photos I took of her & James' first baby, a healthy happy baby girl they named Eisley. Most of the pics were taken with my small Canon point & shoot because we just wanted to hang out awhile and catch up. We did a more "formal" family shoot out at the beach and I will be posting those photos later in the weekend. Here are some casual fun pics for now. This first photo is definitely one of my most favorites so far and YES, I did crop it like this on purpose. ;)



When I tried to capture some pics of Eisley, it was evident she was more interested in watching her Mommy. I finally got her attention by repeatedly calling her name, but I think she was sincerely annoyed by this. To show me how she felt, she simply stuck her tongue out at me...ha.ha. (see last photo of these four) OK, so I am just kidding about that, but I did realize Robyn would have to stand behind me in order to get any photos of her looking at me.



I was able to snap a quick photo of James and his baby girl when we all met for lunch. I wish he had been looking at me, so you could see where she got those big blues from. Although, I do think I got some of both their eyes when we did the beach shoot.



Again, her eyes are insanely BLUE...WOW.



Robyn brought Eisley over to the pool, I think she really loved being in the water...Eisley that is, although Robyn looked happy too.






I love this shot. It shows how cute and chubby Eisley is.



I love this shot, even though Eisley is not completely in focus. I was probably laughing at the time because Robyn always makes me laugh uncontrollably when I am around her. Anyways, I love that Eisley was trying to reach out and touch the water.



Again, it was difficult for me to get Eisley to look my way. She constantly watched her Mommy, it was very hard to get her attention away from Robyn. Even making funny baby sounds didn't work for me.



I did try to shoot over Robyn's shoulder and this kinda worked. I did eventually get Eisley's attention for a few great shots of those eyes.







Here is Mocha being ever so good and watching over all of us in the pool. Lydia is lounging and checking emails.


Some photos of Eisley and me. I didn't really come prepared to take pics. This is evident by my messy hair and the two different colors of green I am sporting...ha.ha. I didn't really care, I wanted a couple photos with Eisley, she was just too adorable.




I love these last shots. I actually got her to laugh. In the bottom left photo, I don't know what we were doing...I was looking one way and she was looking another. Of course in the last photo, she was looking over at Mommy.


Dearest Robyn, James & Eisley...

I wish you only the very best in life. I know you guys will make wonderful parents. I know you will guide Eisley to be compassionate, loving, intelligent, giving and selfless. I know you will educate her and allow her to be a free spirit. I know you will support her and build her confidence so that she can dream big. I hope you realize that all your family & friends will be there to give you the support you might need...support in raising Eisley to be the wonderful person God has destined her to be.

My love and prayers always...cassandra

ROBYN, JAMES & EISLEY

FRIENDS...Best Friend. Close Friend. Trusted Friend. Faithful Friend. Sister Friend. Loyal Friend. Childhood Friend. Beloved Friend. Spiritual Friend. Intimate Friend. New Friend. Lifetime Friend. No matter what adjective you use to describe them, Friends are special people. Friends are people who laugh with us, cry with us, support our dreams, comfort us, encourage us, question us, share opinions, respect us and love us for who we are. If we are lucky, we will find a person with all these qualities and keep them in our lives. That is what I did when I met my friend Robyn.

When we were first introduced, I didn't realize what a wonderful friendship we would build. I didn't realized how important she would become to me. I am so blessed to have her as a friend and was super stoked to recently meet my newest niece, Eisley Grace.

Congratulations Robyn & James...You guys made a beautiful baby!



This is definitely one of the weirdest looks I've gotten from a baby...ha.ha. I thought this photo was hilarious and so very adorable. I can already tell Little Miss Eisley is going to be quite a character.




I think my friend Robyn is simply gorgeous...inside and out!





I love these photos of James and Eisley. He is so gentle with her and you can see how much he adores her.



Eisley was teething and decided to chew on James' shorts...too funny!




I love the connection with James and Eisley in this photo. No bond is like the one between a father and daughter.



And I get the look again...ha.ha.




I can't imagine her ever getting into trouble with big BLUE eyes like that...





I love photographing my friends, I can always try new stuff and they are OK with it. I kinda use them as guinea pigs to experiment. I just like the feel of this photo and how the sun illuminates it.



I did most of the shoot while it was still very sunny out, but when you are on a baby's schedule...sleeping, eating and pooping have to be considered when setting up a time line. Although it was really bright, I did get some shots with strong shadows that I really liked.



This shot was Robyn's idea...I love when clients give me their creative input. I always welcome suggestions or ideas when doing shoots. I took a series of these shots. When Robyn would lift Eisley in the air she would bust into laughter.




Although Eisley has already been to the beach, it was fun to watch her reaction when the waves came in. There is one thing for sure, she is definitely a HAPPY baby. She laughed the whole time, even though she was teething.





Yes, James is making funny sounds to entertain Eisley. It worked...she was laughing at him.



This was such a cool looking tree.



A favorite...It amazes me how such a small baby can recognize her Daddy's voice. I just love the way she was reaching for him.




Robyn & James...You guys are going to make the most incredible parents. Eisley is very blessed to have you. Please know I wish you all the best in life. Thank you for trusting me to capture the beauty of your family...


Have a blessed day~cass!

NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP...

I wish I could take full credit for this shoot, but I must confess...the "idea" for this was all my friend Robyn's planning. She asked me if I would come over and snap a few photos of her and Eisley when she got ready to lay her down for her nap. She tried explaining to me the feeling she had during these intimate moments with her sweet little Eisley, but I didn't fully understand until I saw it. She told me of this bond the two of them share...the quite time that is just theirs...mother & daughter alone. She described a small pink room full of love, innocence and pure happiness...and she wanted to remember this feeling always.

Robyn turned on her iPod to lightly play some soft music in the background and I waited patiently at a cracked door. Once I saw Robyn rocking Eisley and talking to her in a gentle voice, I knew this was going to be some amazing photos.

"Now I lay me down to sleep...I pray the Lord my soul to keep..."



I love this next photo. I only pushed the door open a little, so I wouldn't wake Eisley. I wanted to keep the door and the wall in the image...I like shooting through stuff. I shot this with my 85mm @ f 1.2 / 6400 ISO...LOVE IT!



I absolutely LOVE my new Canon 5D Mark II that my sister bought me as a birthday present in January. Thank You Sis! With my new camera I was able to shoot with an ISO of 6400, which was awesome since the room did not have a lot of light coming inside. Robyn likes to close the blinds and have the room dark for Eisley's naps. That's ok though, I was still able to get some amazing images...with my new Canon 5D Mark II...yea!



Even though shooting at such a high ISO will give you some "noise" in your images...I purposely used Photoshop to add more "noise" to this image to give it a more grainy appearance. Love it!



Tender moments like this make you forget all your worries...



Just for fun...black & white / color mix.



Another favorite image, shot with my wide angle 16-35mm...shooting through the cracked door again.



Aaaahhhhhhhhhh....




Eisley's new favorite sleep buddy...


Robyn...I hope this is what you envisioned in your head. I am more in love with Eisley just looking at these photos. You are an amazing Mommie and I am honored you trusted me to capture the bond you share with Eisley at nap time. xoxoxoxo...