Posts By meg
Hampton Flower Fields/ Jacksonville Family Photographer
The Hampton Flower Fields are located a little over an hour outside of Jacksonville (going towards Gainesville). These fields only bloom for a few weeks of the year end of April beginning of May. The roads are great traveling from Jacksonville, the fields easy to find and any fear of being alone in the fields is quickly erased as lots of people come to these fields.
It was a pleasure meeting this beautiful family. The entire family was so kind. I learned some tricks from this mom on what to do for my own family pictures. Plan a fun activity before and after the pictures. I understand when you are going to take pictures it takes lots of time and energy. There are decisions about what clothes and jewelry to wear, what props to bring and ensuring everyone’s schedule is free. There are so many factors that go into place to orchestrate family photos. Family photos don’t happen everyday so they are a special time.
One thing I never thought to do was to make the whole day a fun family day. This mom was able to find a U-Pick Blueberry farm to go to first. The farm was called Blu By U Blueberry Farm. Wasn’t that such a great idea to do a little activity first and then get photos taken? I also liked that the activity was pretty low key so no one got too tired. After photos, they went to grab some ice cream for a job well done. Their handsome little man went with the flow, had fun exploring the fields, and got to announce that he is going to be a big brother!
To see more of this family at the Hampton Flower Fields please continue after the jump.
Jacksonville At Home Lifestyle Newborn Photos
I always consider it an honor to take pictures in someone’s home. Your home is where you are most vulnerable but also where you experience the most joy. It’s just wonderful when I am trusted with such a task. This sweet little babe has quite the arrival story. She’s actually a few weeks old in these picture because she was born prematurely. She’s the third child in this family and so very loved. This beautiful mama is incredible. I learned what she underwent to ensure the safe arrival of this little angel.
I love photographing babies right where they belong snuggled up to their mom. It’s amazing that this little person just arrived a few weeks ago but fits in so naturally with the family. To always remember what it feels like to have a newborn lying on your chest, listening and feeling your heartbeat is one of life’s sweetest moments.
To see more of this session continue after the jump.
Universal Studios/ Annnual Passholder Perspective
I have been wanting to blog our trips to Universal Studio’s (and all of our travels really) so here is to back blogging. It’s kind of fitting because the newest Harry Potter Book comes out this coming week so maybe it’s perfect timing rather than late. We had annual passes to Universal Studios from July 2014-July 2015. There’s already a new ride at Universal Studios the King Kong ride so I guess it means we have to go back right? This is part 1 of 3 posts about Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.
HOTEL
Our first trip to Universal Studios as a family was in July of 2014 and we stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort with my in-laws. We spent two nights at the hotel and had three days at the Parks. We got annual passes to the theme park. This trip was planned because Diagon Alley had just opened up and there are some serious Harry Potter Fans in our family. One of the reasons that we stayed at the Resort onsite was Express Passes were included for the hotel guests. The Express Pass is kinda like the Fast Pass of Disney. If you don’t stay at the resort they are about $100 a day per person. Sounds insane right? If I didn’t have an annual pass and this was my only trip to Universal Studios for a while I would definitely want the Express Pass. This way you can do more rides in a day (rather than paying for more days at the park and another hotel night). Three days was definitely a good amount of time to go to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure especially with the express pass. Another nice thing about staying in the resort was being close enough to walk to the park. We took the water taxi one time but it was much quicker to walk. We were also able to enter the park an hour earlier than other guests. We fully took advantage and showed up at 7am to line up and enter the park. Time at the park is important because the more time you have at the park the more rides you can ride. We had long days at the park even with our two kids.
The rest of the year we stayed at this Hampton Inn because it was close (we didn’t get express passes the rest of the year). Where have you stayed while visiting Universal Studios.
PHOTO TIP/SHOES
Here’s my one photo tip for this post. Take the picture that everyone else gets (with everyone in the party in the same frame). On every vacation I try to get a picture of the whole party at least once (many times it is just once). That’s our family of 4 soon to be 5 (I was 5 months pregnant in that photo!). Teva‘s are my favorite shoe to wear for amusement parks when it’s warm because they are super comfortable and can get wet.
FAVORITE RIDES
My absolute favorite ride of ANY theme park is the Popeye Ride at Island’s of Adventures. The reason being is EVERYONE gets soaked on the ride. Some water rides only some people get wet but on this ride the whole barge get’s wet. I love it. It’s especially nice to go on in the afternoon. Matt’s favorite ride at Universal Studios is the Revenge of the Mummy. My daughter’s favorite ride was the Cat in the Hat. My son’s favorite ride was one fish two fish red fish blue fish.
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