My Little Life » Carol Anne Hartman Photography

My Sister is Beautiful | Charlotte Business Photography

As I was archiving some image files I ran across this shot of my sister. She took the hot seat in my set so I could adjust my flash before I captured a few of her coworkers to update their website.

The first thing came into my mind when I saw it was, “My sister is beautiful.”

But I don’t mean the way she looks here. Sure, she is a gorgeous girl (ehem… woman), but there’s so much more than that.

She loves her family.
She rescues doggies (even the ones that need extra love and patience because of their past).
She doesn’t know how to say “no” when someone is in need.
She puts 110% effort into EVERYTHING she does.
She has a genuine care for her clients and their well-being.
She puts more value on doing he right thing than making money.
And she isn’t afraid to speak up when “doing the right thing” is being threatened.

This is the short list. But even with the short list, I think you will agree, my sister is beautiful. And I love her.

Did you like this? Share it:

We Call Her Stinky Because We Love Her | Mt. Holly Photographer

My sister is a pretty amazing human being. She works her tail off (literally… that’s why her butt is so small) and she’s damn good at what she does. She doesn’t do anything halfway. not.one.thing.

One of the many things she does for fun is cake-making. I’m talking crazy, off-the-chain, something-you’d-see-on-cake-boss cake-making. It’s pretty sweet. My kids have always wowed their birthday guests with their cakes because of her.

Even though she is fabulous, you have to be family or a life-long friend to get her to make your wedding cake. It’s just too much pressure for her. And I totally get that! It was three years after I started my business before I was even remotely comfortable enough with my skills to shoot weddings. It’s just a big, important day with LOTS that can go wrong. Especially with a cake. But, that time came. A life-long friend was getting married and talked her into making a topsy turvey cake for them.

Now, as I said previously, my baby sister doesn’t do anything halfway. So she made no less than THREE practice cakes to make sure she could create the quality that she wanted. Why am I telling you all of this? One day this summer she was making the actual cakes for one of her practice runs while we were there for a visit. The boys jumped in and helped and what came out of it was a Lifestyle Shoot that just makes me smile.

Be warned, this is a hugely long post with lots of photos. And I’m not at all sorry.

I give you my sister — who we lovingly call Stinky for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with her smell — teaching my boys to make cakes (oh, yeah… and my ma’s in there for a few of them!):

Baby Sister, I love you. I love watching you with my boys, and it makes me incredibly happy to have these images.

Did you like this? Share it:

Remembering

On this Memorial Day, I want to be certain to take a moment to pause and thank all of those men and women who so selflessly gave themselves for the freedoms I have and those that have stepped into their place.

Thank you.

It’s so small, but it comes from my heart.

I have had the privileged to document the weddings of two service men and a portrait session for a third. Most recent was just last weekend. Eric and Katie were married on the beach at Emerald Isle.

The groom’s unit was there to support him. Gentlemen: Thank you for your service.

Another shout out to Steven White. He leaves in a few days for Germany and from there will be stationed in Afghanistan. Steven, I tried to search you out and shake your hand when I saw you yesterday, but I was too late after the show and missed you. You will be in my thoughts and prayers.

And there’s Jeremiah. He’s already spent a year in Afghanistan. Thank you, Jeremiah.

There’s countless others. My grandfather, the POW; my brother-in-law in the Navy; Kelli, recent graduate from the Air Force Academy. If I list anymore, I will leave someone out. I just know it.

I thank you all — whether you have been on the other side of my lens or not. And my gratitude extends to the wives, husbands, families — those that have given up the ones you love for our country.

If you have stayed with me this far, please leave a comment remembering someone or honoring those that have taken up the cause.

Again… thank you.

Did you like this? Share it:

How to Save a Life

I have a friend who has a nineteen year old son. He wasn’t supposed to live past two or three. His whole life has been a series of miracles.

One of those miracles happened almost 5 years ago. He needed a bone marrow transplant — a risky procedure that not all recipients live through — but, never the less, it was his best chance. After months of searching for a donor that was a match and finding none, an alternate procedure was recommended. It wasn’t what he needed, but it was all they had.

In the eleventh hour, after one last check of the registry, a match was found! The alternate procedure was abandoned and he got the healthy bone marrow that he needed. He will celebrate his 5-year re-birthday in December (the day he started his bone marrow transplant).

Why do I tell you this story? Because it inspired me to join the Bone Marrow Registry. My DNA has been noted and saved in a computer somewhere just waiting for someone to need it. I may never be called into action, but if I match someone in need, I’m there.

I want to invite you to join as well. It’s a painless little swab of the inside of your cheek. That’s it.

There is all sorts of very useful info on their website about what would happen if you are a match, how they extract the bone marrow, etc. But I can promise you, the small bit of discomfort it will cause you is microscopic compared to the life you could save.

Check out the video below and follow the “Take the First Step” link to learn more:

Did you like this? Share it:

Through the Window

Tomorrow will make four weeks. FOUR weeks.

That’s pretty much a month. It feels like just yesterday and an eternity all at the same time.

We got the call around 9:15 in the morning on January 18th. My husband’s father had passed away in his sleep the night before. Although his doctors had recently discovered a heart condition that he has likely had his entire life, no one expected this.

NO.ONE.

So we sat in my in-laws’ living room in silence. My mother-in-law’s friends and boss all there in their nurse scrubs. My sister-in-law sitting in her usual spot on the hearth, even though there was no fire burning. My husband and brother-in-law pacing, hugging, crying; both not being able to grasp the situation. And her. My mother-in-law, widowed only hours, sitting in her spot on the love seat.

There are just no words. Only emotions at that point.

Raw, rough around the edges, not knowing how to deal emotions.

The emotions that come along with losing someone close to you are an odd thing. You know that at some point in your life, it’s coming. You know how you are going to feel. But having never actually felt that way before, the feelings feel foreign and not at all yours. Like looking at your life, but through a broken window. You can see what’s going on, but nothing quite lines up.

When they carried my father-in-law’s body out of the house, no one wanted to see. We all looked away. But then something odd happened. We all had a need to see them put him into the hearse. I don’t know why, but we all moved silently to the double glass doors to watch. I stood on the edge, looking through the decorative part of the window and I remember thinking: this is what my reality looks like. I can see what’s going on, but it’s just not right.

This is a picture of that same window, the same spot I had stood in almost a week before, looking on. This is our lives now. Until we find our “new normal”, this is what life looks like. It’s there. We can see it. But nothing lines up. It’s just not clear.

Brad Dad, I love you. If I could have hand-picked my father-in-law, I could not have picked one better than you.

Did you like this? Share it:

He Likes it with Smoke | My Little Life

Well… it’s been a long December. I can’t believe it’s been more than a month since I last posted. My family and I spent the past two weeks + being sick. My poor hubby got hit the worst. Acute Bronchitis. As of New Year’s Eve, though, he has some good drugs and is on the mend. At least, we think he is. It’s hard to tell since the cough suppressant pretty much gorks him out.

So… for my first post of the new year, I give you a treat my youngest has come to love and request frequently as his dessert when he finishes all of his dinner. (If you have been following this blog for any amount of time, you might remember that my youngest is the King of Candy and All Things Sweet. Just so you know)

First: Hot Cocoa

Hot Cocoa

Next: Add Peppermint

Then: Vanilla Snowman Marshmallows

And Finally: The “Smoke”

And he loves to enjoy it with a spoon (to better eat the smoke, of course)!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas and New Year filled with treasured memories and new traditions!

Did you like this? Share it:

He Sat Alone

He was tall. Strong. With silvery hair. The kind of man that commands respect as he walks down the street — just in the way he holds himself.

Despite that, he sat alone. His eyes red… posture crumpled. Only minutes before, he had approached the microphone and spoken, “My wife.” His voice quivered as he then said her name and placed her leaf in the basket.

That’s when I lost it.

I didn’t know those people. I didn’t know the ones they loved and lost. But as I sat beside my husband, the realization hit me that he’s all I’ve got. Sure, I have my kids. But my job is to raise them so that they will one day be good husbands to their wives and fathers to their children. My husband is my lifelong partner. The one that was there before we had kids and my companion for the journey of life after the kids grow up.

I tried very hard to hold back the tears as my eyes darted around the room, continuing to fall on this man. He had lost his partner — his love. I saw his pain and couldn’t bring myself to even imagine what he must have been feeling.

This day was the second time in as many years that my husband and I were invited to sing at a memorial service for all those loved ones lost that used the services of the Palliative Care Center & Hospice of Catawba Valley. It has always been an honor to be trusted with such a thing. Music is so emotional and to be asked to add that aspect to such a special service is very humbling.

The service itself was beautiful and emotional. Held inside the towering walls of Corinth Reformed Church, the grandeur of the building just quietly existed while it’s walls filled with sadness, thankfulness and remembrance. The staff conducted a thoughtful celebration of life that included surviving families and friends participating. Each was given a leaf on their way in and encouraged to write the name of their loved one on it. At the appropriate time, they approached the front of the church, spoke the name of their loved one and placed the leaf in a basket. When this happened, a Tibetan singing bowl was struck, the sound resonating through the sanctuary.

There are, of course, other aspects to the service. Part of Ecclesiastes 3 is read; a moving narrative of the life of a leaf is delivered; all sing Amazing Grace together. But the small act of being able to, once again, say goodbye is reason the church was full. It’s the reason eyes weren’t dry and hearts were heavy. My prayer, and that of the staff that puts this service together every year, is that it was also able to lift the burden of grief, if only a bit.

Thank you to the Palliative Care workers. The Hospice doctors and nurses. Those that are a strong shoulder for so many that have lost loved ones this year and before. Those that took time out of their day off on a Sunday to plan and implement a service just for the hurting… the left behind.

He sat alone. No one came with him. But my heart went out to him that day.

Did you like this? Share it:

Outtakes

When I was a tween and teen I had one ambition in life. I lived every free minute in the theatre and I planned to move to Wilmington and “make it big” as an actress.

Needless to say, that didn’t happen.

But now, 20 a few years later, thanks to a friend of mine, I have an agent. I don’t really have any plans to “make it big” but it’s fun to see what’s out there and have a go at it.

I am telling you all of this because my sweet, sweet husband spent a hour of his life yesterday shooting some headshots of me. Just some quick gotta-get-em-to-the-agent shots that accurately represent me. Now, this was a HUGE sacrifice for my husband because I am usually on the other side of the camera. I see something a bit off in a tilt of the head or the position of the shoulders and I correct it. But when he is shooting me, I just get frustrated that I can’t see myself and magically get what I want.

It was a miraculous afternoon, though, because I don’t think I snapped at him once. Well… maybe once.

And no, I am not gonna show you my headshots just yet. But I do want to share with you my three favorite outtakes beacuse… well, that’s how I roll:

I know. Lovely, right? No idea what I was doing here. It’s my fake “angry face” but I can’t remember why.

And here is my “fierce” face. Very Tyra, huh?

And finally, I call this my “iCarly” face. I don’t know why. That’s just what I think if when I see my lips like that.

Did you like this? Share it:

Singing in the Car

I sang this Francesca Battistelli song at a graduation ceremony over the summer. I tend to practice in the car, and the boys are sometimes with me for that. Well, they fell in love with this song and ask me to play it every time we are in the car.

Here is a fun (but bad) video of them that I snagged with my cell phone one day (while driving, so forgive me when I accidentally move the camera off of them).

Enjoy.

Did you like this? Share it:

It’s All About Me

OK, so it's not really. It's really all about YOU! But I want you to know about me to see if I fit with you. Let's face it, when you look for a photographer, you aren't just looking for a person who can provide you with photos. You are looking for a personality that fits yours! You don't want to try to "relax and look natural" in front of some creepy person that you don't gel with. (Oh, and by the way, I will NEVER tell you to relax and look natural) :)

So here is me. I am not just using this space to belch out all of the wonderful things that I am doing. I am using it to just be me - share my family quips, my fears, my fun times, and more.

So if you think you would like me to document part of your story, have a look around. Take a few minutes to see me. And maybe if you like who you see, I'll be seeing you!
Keep in Touch!

Sign up to be in-the-know when it comes to specials and crazy-mad deals.

Email Address*

First Name*

Last Name*

* = required field

powered by MailChimp!
Find Me

It’s All About Me

Keep in Touch!

Find Me