This pair of 20-somethings are world champions. Meet Coin’s Clown and his girl, Rebekah. Rebekah contacted me for these special portraits with a little bit of urgency. She returned to school at MTSU this week, but even more importantly, her Clown is aging. She said that she knew he wouldn’t be around forever, being 24 years young. She said she would regret not having portraits together after he’s gone. I’m so glad that she knows the power that photographs hold, especially once someone is gone.
They reside on a stunning piece of property at the base of the mountains just outside of Oliver Springs. Rebekah’s father has the world champion title with Clown too, but Rebekah later claimed the title in 1996 and 1997 with her lovely horse. Clown was getting tortured by horseflies during our shoot, and he let us know he was annoyed. However, Rebekah did a great job with him and you can definitely tell there’s a real connection between these two. Rebekah’s parents told me some incredible stories, like how Clown had cornered Rebekah in the barn until she gave him a drink of her coke! I thought it was so cute how Clown’s ears would perk up whenever he would hear the whinny of the young phillie in the barn. Rebekah said he has adopted her and acts very maternal to her. How sweet! As the sun sank lower in the sky, Clown was letting us know that he was done with photos, but Rebekah’s dad had one more trick. Clown’s ears perked again at the sound of a candy wrapper! This horse is nuts for candy, which I thought was so incredibly cute.
Shelby and her mom and dad met me at Cedar Hill in Oak Ridge for a late-day portrait session. When Shelby first got out of the car, the first thing I noticed on her was her honkin’ toddler bump–or a goose egg– on her forehead, proof of her very adventurous spirit. Don’t squint too hard trying to look for it, I’ve retouched it out of her photos. And, of course, with a bump like that, she was no doubt a little ball of energy! She wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of sitting for portraits with mom and dad, but once we let her rip on the playground, it was a little bit easier to get a smile out of her. I think she went down the tornado slide at least 100 times. We switched swings at least 10. But I love it. Really, could you expect anything less from a 2 year old?? These are a great example of just letting kids be kids . . . they’re only little once! Isn’t she just adorable??
Jon Paul and Jackie returned as the sun dipped past the horizon, and we caught a few more portraits. Isn’t crazy how fast the color of the sky shifts within a few minutes? I love it. The last shot reminds me of “Gone With the Wind”. Thanks for including me on your wedding day–it was beautiful!!
