July 10 on 10

I can't believe it's been a month already since our last 10 on 10! This month has just flown by but that's probably because we've been busy! Our summer days have been filled with swimming lessons, reading, blackberry picking, lizard catching, staying up past bedtime to see lighting bugs and eating popsicles. Not gonna lie, mama is tired but I'm so thankful for these days. Thankful for a house that's full of love, forgiveness and grace upon grace, cause Lord knows we need it around here. Continue on around the circle to see my friend Emma's post. Enjoy!

Luke 3 months >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

Oh goodness. All the love for this session. Love watching this sweet family grow and know them more. They love each other well, it's easy to see. <3 Happy 3 months baby Luke!

Neal Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

"The best thing to hold onto in life is each other." -Audrey Hepburn

It is always a pleasure to meet up and photograph this sweet family. I love just getting to hang with them and see them love on their little guy. Camden you are so loved. <3 Enjoy Neal family!

Whitt Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I have photographed this family for 3 years now and I always love catching up with them and spending the evening with them. We met up early this Spring and had such a great time picking flowers and running through fields. Enjoy sweet Whitt family!

Geist Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I love it when sessions end with me chatting with my clients for the longest time about how they are about to become a family of 4 and how the Lord is preparing their hearts for this new and exciting adventure. I can't wait to meet this family's new member just any old day now. Soooooo, I figured it was time to blog their spring/maternity/18 month session. I just love you guys and look forward to seeing your family grow!

June 10 on 10

I can't believe it's been month already since our first 10 on 10 project. This month has been super busy with us preparing for and having our 4th baby a week ago. I'm excited to share a few of my favorite lifestyle images with you from this past month including a few of our brand new little Corinne. I'm hoping to put together a post here in the next week or so of some of my favorite images of our family since she's arrived but ima need some sleep and a little editing time first. ;) I hope you'll make your way around the circle of these incredibly talented photographer mamas and see how they photograph their days. Continue on around the circle by heading over to my friend Sarah Garcia's blog to see her June installment of our 10 on 10 project. Enjoy!

Derenski Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I loved meeting and photographing this wonderful family this Spring. We met up at one of their favorite places and had a great time roaming around and exploring together. Enjoy these photos Derenski Family!

Fay Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

There is nothing quite like getting to see a family grow. I have been so blessed to see this family do just that, since they've been with me since the very beginning. I just love you guys Fay Fam!

"Family isn't an important thing. It's everything." Michael J. Fox

10 on 10 >>> May 2016

It has been way too long since I've blogged and I'm excited to share a new project I'm involved. This year has been such an incredible year for me so far. I've had the opportunity to develop some incredible relationships with other photographers. I've been able to mentor with 3 of the most amazing and talented women in the industry and gotten to know so many incredibly talented artists along the way. One of those ladies is my friend Sara of Sara Garcia Photo Art. We met at Joy Prouty's Wildflower's workshop a couple of months ago and she recently invited me to join a monthly blog circle with some other seriously talented women. So every month on the 10th of the month we'll share 10 of our favorite lifestyle images and at the end of the post you'll see a link to go to the next post and see that artist's images until you make the full circle. I can't wait to get to know these ladies through their images over the next few months and I hope you'll join us as well! So grab a comfy seat and enjoy so beautiful imagery! I haven't shared many personal images on my blog in a while so I decided to share a few favorites from 366 and a few that I haven't shared. Enjoy! 

Continue on around the circle by going here to see Kristi Burton's post!

The Schoolfield Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I am so excited to feature these photographs of a family that is near and dear to our hearts tonight! They have been friends of ours for years and I am so thankful that they entered into our lives. I've learned so much from them about parenting and seeking the Lord as we raise our children and it was so much fun to put some of these memories into photographs for them.

I love that Christa, the mama to this beautiful family, shared some words with us after her session....

“It has been years since we have had the opportunity to have family pictures done, so this evening spent together and the memories that were captured are indescribably special to us. Each picture really captures the personality and essence of our individual child, and our family as a whole. Having a larger family is sometimes, as my husband says, “like a circus full of rabid squirrels,” but we wouldn’t have it any other way. The house is continually filled with laughter and crying, smiles and tears, running and crawling, peace and chaos, but we never grow tired of the faces and the presence of these Blessings the Lord has given us. And, as time will surely march on, and these Blessings grow older and march out of our lives, and into their own families, we will look at these pictures with laughter and crying. And through these pictures, these precious moments in time, the echoes of their running and crawling across the floors of our home, and the times of peace and chaos in our life will be forever etched in our minds and hearts. It is said that, ‘time waits for no one and it won’t wait for you, so use it well, and use it wisely, for who can tell when time will turn into eternity. So use the time well, teach them and instruct them in the Lord, pour into your children’s lives, love them without condition, and STOP, often, and spend time with them; fill the pages of your memories to the fullest, so when you look back on your family’s life they will be filled with tears of joy and not regret. They are the truest, purest, and most eternal Blessings the Lord has given you.”

Wildflowers Workshop

"Some journeys are direct, some are heroic, some are fearful and muddled. But every journey, honestly undertaken, stands a chance of taking us toward the place where our deep gladness meets the world's deep need." Parker Palmer

For years it has been a dream of mine to go to an in person photography workshop to learn from one of my favorite artists. After a few years in the business and my husbands sweet encouragement, I searched for the perfect one to meet my needs and landed on the Wildflowers Workshop led by the incredibly talented Joy Prouty. I have followed Joy's work for years and it has always resonated with me. Her ability to evoke deep emotion in her imagery is really incredible and I love her complete honesty and transparency in her personal work. I identified with her so much as a believer, mother and wife that I knew it would be a good fit. And it was. I went to this workshop really seeking insight on balance as a creative, a business owner and a mother and left challenged and stretched in all these areas. Although we had two shoots while there, this workshop wasn't very much about the technicalities of shooting but more focused on our artistry and developing that, which was exactly what I needed. I was challenged to shoot the things that make me feel alive as an artist. And although, I feel like over the past year or so I've begun to focus my work in that direction, my time at this workshop really breathed new life into this pursuit in my work.

My time with Joy made me look a bit more closely at what I love to shoot. What makes me love to pick up my camera and in turn create beautiful imagery. My photography journey has evolved quite a bit since I started my business 3 years ago. I have figured out that I am passionate about shooting families, but not always the perfectly posed traditional family portraits. Rather, I love to spend time with my clients, connecting with them, learning their stories, and photographing the season of their family, no matter what that may be. One of the things I wrote down in my journal that weekend that Joy said that I have gone over and over again to myself is that you cannot compare one persons beautiful with another person's beautiful. Sometimes life is not always golden sunlit fields and perfect smiles(sometimes it is!). Sometimes life is a sink full of dirty dishes and a tangled mess of hair and to me that is just as beautiful and equally deserving to be captured. So, as I embrace that, the joys and messes of these beautiful, imperfect lives we live, I hope you'll join me as my business grows and changes as I develop as an artist.

I am so thankful to Joy and the 16 other photographers I met for shaking up the creative in me. For encouraging me, challenging me, and giving me so many things to think about. Over a month later, I'm still mulling over all the things we discussed. I am really excited for all the wonderful things that are ahead for my work and for my clients. A few changes are already in the works and I'm excited to share them with you in the coming weeks. If you are a photographer considering Joy's workshop, DO IT. Just do it. If you aren't a photographer but love beautiful photographs, you should really follow her work. Here is her website. Go get a cup of coffee, a warm blanket to snuggle up to and enjoy. :)

Here are some pictures from my weekend in Austin....

And here are a few iPhone snaps of my weekend...

Cardwell Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

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Oh my stars. I hadn't seen little Ms. Piper since she was a bitty newborn and my goodness what a doll she is. Her mama and daddy were going on about what a sweet and precious baby she is and how she makes everyone around her smile and they were absolutely right. She lit up the room. So thankful to get to see this sweet family again. They've been with me since the very beginning and for that I am so so grateful. Enjoy these little snapshots of the love they share. <3

Shields Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

These are my people. My very best friend since we were 15 years old and formed a friendship at the local swimming pool when we were both singing U2's With or Without You, opera style at the top of our lungs. :) God has been so gracious to gift me with such a special friend like her. A lifelong friend. One that I've been able to walk along side through some hard times and the best of times.  Last year they spent the year in Japan as a family and although I know it was an incredible experience for them and a time of growth as a family, we are SO glad they're back. I'm so glad we got to document the beauty of their little family recently. Love you guys so much! "Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other." Romans 12:9-10

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Harper Mama and Me >>> Knoxville Maternity Photographer

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Baby Luke >>> Knoxville Newborn Photographer

I can't say enough how much I have loved getting to know this family over the past couple of years. I first met them when we did a maternity session for their first son, then his birth and the rest is history. I've photographed them several times and I always love getting to spend time with them. I love seeing parents blossom into motherhood and fatherhood and as special as it is to see and spend time with a first time mom, I adore seeing a mother settle into motherhood with more than one child. It totally changes the dynamics of your family and stretches you in new ways. Your heart grows with even more love than you knew you had in you. It's amazing how that happens. <3 Enjoy this sweet newborn session with baby Luke and his crew. He is such a blessed little boy. Blessings to you guys and Congrats! This session was styled by Nicole Wise Styling.

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2016 Mama and Me Mini Sessions at The Hive

I am so excited to announce that on Saturday February 27, I am offering a very special mini session event for mamas and their children. This event will be held at The Hive near downtown Knoxville. The Hive is a beautiful indoor urban location that offers floods of natural light and a variety of cozy places for us to shoot you and your little ones cuddled up together. Seriously, it is so gorgeous in there and I am beyond excited to take my clients there!

I know that as a mother I am pretty much always the one taking our family photos and it’s difficult and rare for me to be in the frame with my children. So, that’s why I wanted to take a day out to focus on you mamas and the connections you share with your most precious treasures.

Nicole Wise Styling will also be on location offering hair and makeup services for $40. Please contact her at nicolemwise@me.com to book your appointment. Nicole will also be offering mini wardrobe styling packages for $50. Please contact her for more details.

The Details.... Sessions are $250+tax and payment is due in full to reserve your spot and is non-refundable. Sessions will last 25 minutes and will include 15 full resolution digital files delivered via download as well as an online gallery for professional print and product ordering. These sessions are suitable for all ages (including adults with your mothers, or expecting mothers) but are limited to one family per session with a maximum of 5 people.

Sessions are available at the following times. 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30

Please email me at bethanysamsphotography@gmail.com to reserve your spot!

Levenson Family Newborn >>> Knoxville Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

Before I share this beautiful newborn session with you today, I want to share my thoughts on why I love this session so much. I have ALWAYS been drawn to lifestyle newborn photography. Even from the very beginning of my business, it's really what I wanted for my newborn work. If you aren't sure what that is, to me, lifestyle is the art of capturing more honest, natural, emotive images. For the most part, that's always what I've done. And those are always the newborn sessions I love the most. Don't get me wrong. I have so much respect for newborn photographers that can pose a baby with props in all sorts of positions. It takes mad skills! But more and more, I just know that's not me. This is me. This session right here. Just hanging out with this family for a few hours. Watching them interact and capturing all those sweet details. These are the sessions that make me excited. It's exactly the way I want to capture families. This family is so incredibly special to me because they were sweet enough to take a chance on me in the very beginning. Before I even officially had a business, they were one of my first portfolio building clients. I am so thankful for them for trusting me again to capture their family during such a special time in their lives. I can honestly say, I always have the very best time hanging out with them. These two little ones are very blessed to be in such a sweet and loving family. Congrats Levenson family!

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The White Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I was so excited to photograph this sweet family again. I photographed them about 2 years ago and absolutely loved meeting them and spending time with them. I knew I was going to love this session because when mom contacted me she wanted me to get some outdoor family photos and to get some of them in their home just documenting their everyday. Which is one of my favorite things to do! Enjoy this sweet session of this beautiful family. 

The Metz Family >>> Knoxville Family Photographer

I love to photograph this family. They are the best. I think I love them so much because they remind me so much of my own family. Our sessions always consist of lots of knock knock jokes and plenty of little boy humor, aka, replicating sounds of certain bodily functions. haha! I'm always so excited to see them and catch up with them. Enjoy their sweet session from this fall.

Nash's First Birthday Party >>> Knoxville Birthday Party Photographer

My first session of the year was shooting this sweet little guy and his family for his first birthday party. It was perfectly done. Beautiful home with adorable decorations and lots of friends and family to celebrate this little one. Happy Birthday Nash!