TAISIA GORDON photography

Marin & Rebecca. Chicago engagement session.

I had been looking forward to this engagement session for months.  When Rebecca and Marin, who met and live in Chicago, first booked me for their Jefferson City wedding they showed me their wedding web page.  And I liked them instantly.  Their personalities shone through on that site and by the time I actually met them I felt like I was already their friend  They did not disappoint.  We met up in Chicago to take engagement pictures in the city where they met, fell in love, and currently live.  It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day (and super windy but that's Chicago for you).  Rebecca and Marin are sweet, fun, playful, sentimental and very very very special together.  Marin was such a gentleman.. brushing the hair back from Rebecca's face, protecting her from traffic as they crossed the street, serving her wine...  And Rebecca, upon learning that my plans had changed for my visit to Chicago, offered their sofa to me for the night.  What a classy couple.  Thanks Rebecca and Marin for a fab session.  I can't wait for your wedding in a couple of weeks!!

 
 

 
 
 
 
 

Gorgeous albums and a book

I am so excited to finally offer a flushmount style album in my wedding collections.  This album is gorgeous with a soft leather cover and thick, sturdy, richly-colored pages.  The nice thing about these albums is they are are such a high quality and yet produced so quickly and carefully.  And they stay true to my philosophy of straightforward pricing and options.

 
 

 

I've also found a new producer for my coffee table style books.  Again, the quality is so beautiful and these pages lie flat as well, something that I love for full-spread pages.

 

 

As a side note, a year or so ago I was wandering through a flea market and discovered a childrens book that I had to have.  It's message was perfect and I was charmed right away by the illustrations.  As a photographer it was a book I couldn't resist.

It's titled "Simple pictures are best" by Nancy Willard, copyright 1976.  It tells the story of a husband and wife who loved their simple life.  They also loved each other and so hired a photographer to come take their portrait.

 

Soon, though, the wife realizes she'd like to include some of her garden produce in the picture since they love their garden... then they decide to add his fiddle since he loves to fiddle, and then her paintings, and then a favorite hat.....  Their photographer warns "Simple pictures are best."

  

 

But their excitement cannot be contained and soon they are surrounded by all their possessions and things they think represent them.

 

At this point they are exhausted.  The photographers assistant tries to make them smile and laugh, chaos ensues and their final black and white image is not at all what they intended.

 

 

I love this book for the funny reminder that simple pictures without any gimmicks, tricks, or bright lights are the best thing.  But the deeper message I take away from this is that, not only in pictures, but in life we are not defined by our stuff, our hobbies, our interests, or family or our pets.  I think of myself as a wife, mother, photographer, runner, sister... the list goes on and on.  And all of those things fulfill me and bring me joy.  But when it comes down to it I am only truly defined by my very spirit and soul.  We are all only defined by our spirits and our souls, by the love and generosity that lives in us and in the ways we share it with others.  So in pictures and in LIFE simple is best.

 

Mick Byrd music CD.

Recently I was honored to be asked to shoot some publicity work for Mick Byrd, an Americana singer/songwriter from Vienna.  We spent a couple of hours together along with his wife Debbie.  Mick played and sang the whole time I was shooting and it was so relaxed and pure.  Then Debbie sent me on my way with a sandwich and some veggies for the road (she's a sweetheart).  A few days ago I received his new CD in the mail.  I was floored!  The images... MY images are there.  On a fabulous artist's album.  It was too much.  So I have the CD case sitting up on the table right next to all the pictures of my mom.  If I can't call her to share this news at least I can put them up there together for a while.

Mick's newest CD "Around" will be offically released Nov. 4th and I hope he has a ton of success with it. 

 

 

 

 

Big brown eyes.

I can't get over this beauty.  This shot makes me smile every time I look at it.  I basically want to hang it in my own house even thought she's not my daughter.  I guess that's what I would consider a successful session - one where I'm jealous of all the shots even though I'm the one that took them ;-)

But maybe the one showing her gorgeous brown eyes is better...

 
  
  

Photo sessions and my mother

This is one of my favorite images of my mom and my daughter Maya from a couple of years ago.

And this is an email I recently sent out to Columbia and Jeff City clients...  If anyone from that area is interested in scheduling a session for this fall please read below.

 

Hello to all of my Columbia and Jeff City friends!

I have had a lot of emails recently asking about dates that I will be in the Columbia and Jeff City area for fall photo sessions.

 

I love that so many people think of me for their family photos and am honored that year after year my clients call me back to document another year in their families life.  Capturing relationships between families, parents and children, husbands and wives, are some of my happiest moments in photography.

 

My own family this year has undergone quite a few changes.  Besides my eldest, Kira, starting first grade and my youngest, Maya, starting preschool my mother came to live in our home.  She has been fighting cancer for a number of years and, in December of last year, we were told that she is in the terminal stages of the disease.  While it's been a hard year in many regards, it has also been a blessing to have her sharing this time with us.  We've already had many more months with her than her doctors indicated.

I'm sharing this with you so you might understand that my time for sessions this fall is somewhat limited.  Besides providing the day-to-day care for her I am also focusing on spending whatever free time I have this coming fall and winter season with my family and creating as many memories with my children and their grandmother as I can.  However, since my photography work with so many of you brings me quite a bit of happiness, satisfaction, and peace I also look forward to our photo sessions. 

 

Having said all of that, I do have a very limited number of dates that I can schedule for the Columbia area.  I will have to schedule these on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Once those dates and times are full I won't be able to come to the Columbia area again until probably after the new year.  I will still be available for a limited number of sessions in the St. James area throughout the fall and winter.  If the dates for Columbia fill up and you are still interested in a session then please do feel free to contact me for a session around the St. James area. 

 

Dates for sessions in Columbia:

Sunday, Sept. 12th  (9:00 am, 11:30 am, 2:00 pm, 4:30 pm)

Friday, Oct. 15th  (12:00 pm, 2:30 pm, 5:00 pm)

Saturday, Oct. 16th  (9:00 am, 11:30 am, 2:00 pm, 4:30 pm)

Sunday, Oct. 17th  (9:00 am, 11:30 am, 2:00 pm, 4:30 pm)

 

If you are interested in a session, please email me with the date and time you're available.  I will email you back to confirm your session.

I will do my best to accomodate everyone!

Thank you so much!

~Taisia

Just add baby.

What makes a family of smart, tender people even better?  One baby boy.  A super adorable baby boy.

I photographed Jen and George's wedding last year (or maybe the year before, honestly, time has no meaning for me and sometimes I think things that happened last month happened 3 years ago).

Anyways...

They already had one great son who had a bunch of ideas for his photo session (love that enthusiasm!!)  Now add to it one tiny baby that I just wanted to sit down with and hold for a good couple of hours.

It rained this past weekend.  And rained and rained.  Sessions were canceled but Jen & George did not succumb to the gloomy skies.  We stayed indoors and came up with these shots...

And we can't forget Schnitzel. 

 

These kids made me laugh. Photo session - St. James, Missouri.

These kids were so much fun!  A little shy at first, especially the little boy.  But then we started playing and ended up having a great time together. 

I loved the lighting in this next shot.  Gorgeous backlighting and still perfect catchlights in his eyes.  I could look at his eyes forever. 

I've got to bring my girls out to this spot for shots like this next series.  They totally make me smile. 

Ready. 

Set.

Go!

 

An engagement gift

I have a bunch of wedding books that I'm designing right now.  As I was going through a folder of books I designed last year I came across images of a very different type of book I designed.

It was a gift, from a bride to her new husband.

I thought it was a great idea (I actually did two of these boudoir sessions and two books that year).  I wish I would have thought of this when I got married.  What a great, personal gift.  My husband would have loved it.  And would still love it.  Something for him to cherish forever.  For him to look back on and reflect on how things have changed after 12 years and 2 kids.  How things have changed.  A lot. 

Oh never mind.

 

Triple your fun.

While I hang out in the hospital with my Mom for another fun day of beeping machines and freezing room temperatures I figure I might as well post some pictures.  No NEW pictures because I've had to cancel on so many clients this past week.  I hate doing that - I feel so guilty for letting people down, especially right before the holidays.  But, I have said it before and it's true - I have the BEST clients.  Everyone has been so understanding and patient with me while I cancel sessions left and right.  I have really appreciated all the kindness and encouraging words for my mom.  She's doing as well as can be expected right now and hopefully will be out of here soon.

In the meantime, if you need a reason to smile check out these triplets.  They are cuteness overload.  These little guys all had such different personalities.  It was wild to see that even at 9-months.  Their amazing parents managed to make parenting 3 babies appear deceptively easy.  

 
  
  
  
  
  

This stinks.

Computer crashed.

Emails all lost.

Ripping out hair.

Send help.

Please.

Really, this just stinks.  I've had a major computer crash.  Thankfully all of my data is backed up so aside from being slowed down with post-processing weddings and sessions I haven't lost anything of real value.

What I have lost are all of my old emails.  That means that anyone who has contacted me for a session - who I haven't already seen before - I don't have your email address and therefore no way to get back in touch with you.  That's just a few people but I am hopeful they check this blog and will send me another email or give me a call.  If I send you an email repeating things we've already talked about that would be because I was relying on email rather than memory for some details.  Please bear with me.