Yesterday I spent 4 hours holding / cuddling / loving / smiling . . . oh yea, and PHOTOGRAPHING these lil’ sun shines! I must say . . . twins are MUCH harder than I thought. I learned that when I photographed my twin girl cousins born in December 2011 . . . and I remembered when we got into our session yesterday! When one wanted to participate, the other didn’t . . . when one wanted to be awake, the other wanted to sleep . . . and vice versa. Oh boys . . .

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But overall, I think they turned out great because you can truly see their personalities in these photos! They may be Newborns, but they have lil’ manly personalities!

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If you are interested in a Newborn Session with Tomme Hilton or Erica Billingsley, please contact us at gallery.tommehilton@gmail.com! We look forward to the cuddle!

This sweet baby girl was born on 8.31.11 at 7:17pm, weighing 8lbs. 8.7oz. and she was a VERY long girl, 21ins.!

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Sweet Payton didn’t really like getting her picture taken… She was more interested in her bottle and eating. Although, I don’t blame her… right now she has it made… eating and sleeping… Sounds like the way of life!

I enjoyed meeting / holding / photographing / loving on baby Payton. I can not wait to watch her grown into her own person!

He is such a big man already! He never wanted to go to sleep during the shoot… he was afraid he might miss something! From the moment the shoot started to the last click on my camera, George paid close attention to what was going on. He would occasionally get comfortable, shut those sweet eyes and rest. But once I started clicking away, he would take a peep at me to make sure I wasn’t going too crazy. Thankfully he let me get some photos of his sweet face! I mean, how can you resist those cheeks!

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until next time.

xo my loves,

tomme and erica.

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If you are interested in our work, please visit our website at tommehiltongallery.com or email us at gallery.tommehilton@gmail.com — We look forward to hearing from you!

As most of you konw, Tomme and I (Erica Billingsley) have collaborated to make up Tomme Hilton Gallery. She was so gracious to mold me into her little protege. I would go with her and her husband to weddings and shoot ‘behind the scenes’. I did this for several months until I began to grasp the concept of photography again. However, since I am a new mom, I wanted to expand my training and keep up with my skills on my own time. So, I began constantly taking photos of my baby boy. After all, he is the cutest thing you have ever seen. Why wouldn’t you want millions of photos of him!? Ahem.

Anyways… We are expanding our photography collection. One of our newest genre’s is Newborn Photography. You may have seen some of my Newborn shoots. If you have not, please visit our website to view most of the Newborn Shoots that we have done.

But for now, Take a look at Sweet Baby Kyleigh Sylvia. She was three days old in her photoshoot, weighing 7lbs 8.5oz. She was the sweetest little ole’ thing! She slept the entire time. And as you take a look thru our photos, you will see that we moved her around quite bit!

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*What is it about Baby Love that makes us melt inside? There is just nothing that can compare to a love that is so pure. A love that does not judge or know the difference in right or wrong. We know as soon as our child is brought into this world, that we will love then unconditionally. And that it is our duty, as a parent, to guide them in the right direction to make the best decisions. But all those worries do not come until later in life. Right now, the ‘baby days’ are the days we cherish the most. These are the days that we can enjoy the peace and pure love for our children. So, if you are interested in Newborn Photography done by Tomme Hilton Gallery, please contact us at gallery.tommehilton@gmail.com. We will be happy to capture your sweet little one before he or she grows up!

SO, sit back and enjoy the ride! We have lots of things coming to you in the next couple of weeks — from weddings to baby bumps to babies… sigh. The circle of life!

Tonight, I shall blog about my experience with my recent baby affairs. They were a while back, BUT I never got the chance to blog about them on here! So, catch up step one: START.

First: Master Griffin

Mr. Precious Griffin was SUCH a trooper… from the carpet to Mama and Daddy’s arms to kitchen bowls to snuggle time to pianos and fire pits… I think we maxed out on our limit! Griffin was a little over a week old when his mama and daddy decided to do his photo shoot! And lets just say… AMAZING! Griffin was a GREAT baby during his shoot. As we all came to notice, He can just about sleep ANYWHERE!

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Last: Miss Lilly (starting with the glass sink bowl)

Baby Lilly was two weeks old and a tiny lil’ thing too! She was only a little over 6lbs. That’s right. Two weeks and 6+lbs! Can you believe it! Sigh. A tiny bundle of joy that did not want to give up her paci! AND her house was just amazing! I could spend days taking photos of Baby Lilly! I sure do hope I get the privilege of taking her 3 month photos! I did get the privilege of designing her baby announcements.

If you are interested in Tomme or I taking photos of your ‘wee wittle won’ — let us know. We would love to be an addition to your new addition! ha. Just email us at gallery.tommehilton@gmail.com

*Please stay tuned as we blog about our recent JUNE wedding extravaganza’s and post our {GUEST BLOGS}

Till next time,

erica.

Entering the world of ‘Beebee’ photography is quite the challenge. Not because of the other photographers out there… but because of the skill it involves, PATIENCE. Yes, many believe patience would come with the job. But dealing with adults versus a baby is different. Adults you can communicate verbally what you want them to do (not that they all listen)… but, BeeBees… well, you just have to wait, hope and pray they will work with you… and when you place them into the position you want… they might stay… or they might not. But, all ‘you’ as a photographer can do is wait. And try to make the family as comfortable as possible. Because, the more comfortable the mom is… the easier she can calm the baby. AND that is what you want and need to get great photos!

{Master Jonah experience}

We shot baby Jonah when he was 2 weeks old.  Now most 2 week old baby’s sleep A LOT. Ahem, not Jonah. Jonah apparently started that very day we shot him… with Colic. Yes, Colic. If you dont know what colic is… basically, THEY CRY A LOT! And nothing you can do will calm them… well, hardly nothing. And Poor thing, he was not happy with us. BUT, when his mom got him calmed down… these are the shots we took:

DSC_5729 DSC_5585 DSC_5601 DSC_5672 DSC_5679 DSC_5681 DSC_5711 DSC_5748 DSC_5772 Overall, I think Master Jonah’s photos turned out well (esp. for the crying we went through!) Laugh.

Oh, Beebees. Got to love them!

Until Next time!

tomme and erica

{Stage 1} engaged.

I got engaged in August of 2007. I had seen Tomme’s work before hand and set her website aside for when I become engaged. Photography was the only thing I wanted to spend money on. It is my most important feature of my life. Not as a skill. No No… That, I am still learning. But more because of the moment each photograph holds. Photographs are irreplaceable.  And I LOVE to look back on moments and remember that ‘special day’.

I met Tomme and knew right away that I wanted to sign her. I didn’t even have to meet with any other photographer… just her. So, I signed with her and Tomme did my engagement photos that November.

{Stage 2} bridals.

I had thoroughly analyzed her work before I chose her… knowing she would produce wonderful unique images. BUT, in order for them to be as AWESOME as I wanted… I knew I had to get dirty… And I did.

For my bridals, I was in a field with grass, crickets, spiders (yuck) and mesquites (i think i ended up with 14 bites)… then I rolled around in the middle of a road… Dont worry ladies… the dirt comes out!

{Stage 3} the wedding.

Once your wedding day arrives, there is nothing to do but put your faith in your photographer. It is ALL in their hands. Because THEY ARE THE REASON YOU REMEMBER YOUR WEDDING.

{Stage 4} maternity.

My husband and I found out shortly after our wedding that we were expecting. SURPRISE to us! And of course the first thing I did was contact Tomme. DUH! Its another big moment in my life. You think I dont want me captured when I am 30+ lbs over weight! Many think not… but to be honest… Tomme made me feel like a SEXY pregnant woman. Let’s just say I walked away from this shoot feeling more confident than I did the entire pregnancy! Come on, any woman who gains 30+ lbs doesn’t feel ‘sexy’ or ‘pretty’… EVEN IF THEY ARE PREGNANT! I walked away feeling like a MODEL!

{Stage 5} baby.

And then came baby… HOUSTON! A couple weeks ago Tomme and I scheduled for her to come and shoot my baby, Houston‘s newborn photos. Sigh. Didn’t work as planned. Let’s just say Newborn photography has a different skill… PATIENCE! and more PATIENCE! and then waiting. This was our first attempt at ‘Newborn’ photography. And well… ahem, yea.

Although, I wouldn’t say it was a complete failure. Our first mistake was trying to shoot his photos during the main time Matt and I keep him awake… Oh well… But, as always, Tomme still got some great shots in between the crying…

Tomme and I called it a night. So the next day I started thinking… since I had started shooting with Tomme in October (2009), my confidence was not quite up there… I still get a little jittery before I shoot. So, I knew I had to grow a pair of… you know… and try to shoot on my own. SO, I tackled this shoot myself. AHHH. Dont worry, I did good! So good, I impressed myself! And Tomme!

{Stage 6} Family

My family (entire family) is having a photos session with Tomme this spring! So, I will be sure to post them soon!

Thanks for staying with me and reading my chronicles of life. I think its very important to develop a relationship with your photographer. Because, they are the ones that help you remember the important moments in your life. Before I was Tomme’s assistant, I told myself I would use her for every important moment in my life. Because the first time I met her, she was not just a photographer, she became a friend.