Instagrammin' in December

In December, we enjoyed good times with family and friends throughout the month.

ugly christmas sweater brewery hopping at wooden robot's the chamber location | ella played in a tournament at the club--look at that trophy pose! | we met the crossons for a day at the u.s. national white water center before they continued on to northern virginia. | we missed seeing zane, but loved getting a chance to see the rest of my sister's family. | we watched a panthers vs. saints game after christmas. | unfortunately the panthers had a lackluster season, but we were there when christian mccaffrey made history with his 1000 receiving yards/1000 rushing yards season. | jonathan took the kids skiing at beech mountain. | olive, my test model | and happy new year!  another great celebration to kick off the new year with the broadways, browns, hulls, and shaws, this time hosted by the hulls.

Olive & Jonathan

Jonathan has been asking for new headshots for literally 10 years.  You'd think being married to a photographer would guarantee that you had a good headshot photo, but we just had never taken the time to find the right set up.  Well, it took our friends the Broadways asking for help to get Dan new headshots for me to finally get my act together for Jonathan. 

Before my shoot with Jonathan and Dan, I tried out my 85mm 1.4D lens on Olive because it had been so long since I'd last used it and I could always use more photos of Olive.  She was a pretty good model, as long as I held a tennis ball above the camera.

And a few of Jonathan's headshots--I think it was a success:

Happy Holidays from the Williams Family!

MBJ Flytographer Session

I love the idea of having our photos done while on a vacation.  Sometimes there just isn't time with a busy itinerary, but once I saw that Flytographer had a local photographer booking sessions in Montego Bay, Jamaica, I did not want to the miss our opportunity to get our holiday card photos taken in paradise.

I corresponded with our photographer, Raheem, leading up to our session on the Friday of our trip, mostly using WhatsApp, to coordinate meeting up.  He selected Doctor's Cave Bathing Club in downtown Montego Bay as our location.  It was a beautiful setting and, especially since we had to pay to get in to the beach club, I wish we'd brought bathing suits to enjoy more of our day in this beautiful club.  I loved seeing more of the area and listening to our taxi driver tell us that Fridays in Jamaica were no cook nights (KFC is a favorite option that night) and Mondays are for soup. 

Raheem was a fun and patient photographer (yes, I'm referring to you, Jonathan, when I say patient...the man apparently can't open his eyes even a crack if he sees the sun).  Raheem sounded like an extremely prolific photographer, mostly shooting weddings, and it was interesting to learn that he'd only ever visited Montana in the U.S.  I still wonder how he ended up there of all places.  We all enjoyed meeting Raheem and am thankful for the many beautiful photos he shared with us within just a few days from our 30-minute session at Doctor's Cave Beach.  Thanks you, Raheem!

My family definitely indulged me a bit on this one, taking time away from the resort to dress up and get our photos taken, but I think they're pretty happy with the results, too.

Jamaica: December 1

Last day of those views, last day of the sand in our toes, last day of unlimited piña coladas and bottomless mojitos, last day of the jerk hut, and time to head home.  Luckily we had a 3pm flight so we got to enjoy a good half day in the resort before heading home.  We took full advantage.  And, with access to the lounge in the airport and first class upgrades for Jonathan and me on the flight home, we were definitely living the high life on this vacation.  Ya mon! 

Jamaica: November 30

It's another day in paradise--this really doesn't get old.  This was our last full day in Jamaica and, now that we'd really found all of the best foods, drinks, and activities around the resort, we really knew how to make the most of the whole experience.  On our last night we enjoyed a fancy Italian dinner at their Luna di Mare, the only reason Jonathan and Jack had packed pants.

Jamaica: November 29

We made the most of our third day in Jamaica!  We ventured out of the resort around midday to head to downtown Montego Bay to meet local photographer Raheem, who I had booked through Flytographer, for a short family session.  I figured I would take advantage of having our big trip at Thanksgiving time to get photos for our holiday cards.  I'll post those pictures later, but there's plenty to look at from the rest of our day spent in the resort.  Some highlights include: that water (amazing how blue it looks and the many shades are just breathtaking), Ella and Jack making their way through the virgin daiquiri menu (although they both really eventually settled on piña coladas), discovering the amazing jerk chicken and pork (and festivals, fried dough) from the Jerk Hut (although we learned to forgo the spicy sauce because it was spicy enough without it), fresh juices all day from the juice hut, drinks from the bar any time you like (which we often mixed with the fresh juice), exploring the nearby aqueduct ruins, sunset views from our room, and (finally!) a dinner at one of the reservation restaurants, the Seaside Bar & Grille (definitely another favorite meal--loved the bouillabaisse).