Emily Ann

It seems only yesterday that Emily Ann first came into my studio at about eighteen months of age.  She was a beautiful toddler who has turned into a beautiful young lady.  I thought then, ten years ago, what a lucky child she was to have been chosen by God to land in the family of Mark and Gina.  I still think the same, only now I can add how lucky Mark and Gina are to have Emily Ann in their family.

Simply Beautiful

Isn't Lanie the sweetest looking thing ever? She will be included in a section of a new display book for Patti Ford Photography that will highlight the different ages of childhood. And Lanie doesn't just look sweet, she is the sweetest thing ever.  I think I told her "just one more picture" a few times too many and probably wore her out during her session.  She had to wear two outfits for three different backgrounds. That is what is fun with a five year old portrait session, though, they are generally troopers and I can get some great shots. Thanks Lanie!

Road Trip

I left work yesterday at five o'clock and instead of going home for supper, I grabbed a real camera (not a cell phone),  swung by the housetop pick Doug up and we headed out for a short photo excursion.  I often forget how beautiful our area of the world is here in Cherokee County, Alabama.

A perfect gentleman

Thaxton was the perfect little gentleman for his five year old portraits.  I thoroughly enjoyed our session and I think he did too.  He will included in a display book that I am working on that will highlight the stages of childhood.

"Your son has schizophrenia." -- four words that have changed my life forever.  I heard those words in a small psychiatrists office about six years ago.  All the things that could happen to your children -- drug addiction, car accidents, trouble with the law, etc. -- I certainly never ever considered the possibility of mental illness.
   And I certainly never thought I would be including a blog about mental illness on my photography website. I have decided to do this because it appears to be a good way to increase the awareness of mental illness and hopefully educate more people about mental illness.  
       So here goes todays  blog…

Another Christmas come and gone

    I enjoyed Christmas. It was the first Christmas in a long time that I can truly say that I enjoyed.  Why? I think it all began when I made the decision to respect others, to respect myself, and to expect respect from others. I made self preservation a priority.

     An analogy that is often used in classes for family members of  the mentally ill is that when you are in an airplane, you are instructed to put your own oxygen mask on before putting one on your child.  You have to take care of yourself to be able to care for your child. Taking this to heart, I decided to put myself and my family before my business this Christmas.

     Holidays are hard for people with a mental illness.  The stress can be somewhat overwhelming. Families often expect them to attend holiday festivities and enjoy them.  One bit of advice given to me by my wonderful friend, Sue Guffey, was to not pressure Dylan to attend holiday dinners or functions or even make a big deal out of it. Easy enough.

    Still, the stress that I would sometimes bring on myself by working too much at Christmas would inevitably come home with me.  So I decided not to overwork myself this year. I limited my appointments, was stricter about appointment times, and probably lost some clients to other photographers this holiday season.

   The result was that I had time to help my daughter host her first ever Christmas dinner.  It was a lot of work, but very enjoyable. I had time to spend with my family. I was not tired on Christmas morning. Gift giving was very minimal and the emphasis was just on spending time with each other and eating lots of food!  While I was trying to keep the season as stress free as possible for my son, I learned a lesson for myself.  Christmas really is more enjoyable when you don't make  a big deal out of the buying and giving of gifts.

    I wonder if God shudders at the stress people bring on themselves all in the spirit of celebrating the birth of Jesus.

    

A Thanksgiving Blog in January?
   "Your son has schizophrenia." -- four words that have changed my life forever.  I heard those words in a small psychiatrists office about six years ago.  All the things that could happen to your children -- drug addiction, car accidents, trouble with the law, etc. -- I certainly never ever considered the possibility of mental illness.
   And I certainly never thought I would be including a blog about mental illness on my photography website. I have decided to do this because it appears to be a good way to increase the awareness of mental illness and hopefully educate more people about mental illness.  
     So here goes todays  blog…

A photographers life gets a little hectic during the holidays, and blogging fell way down on my priority list.  Still, I wanted to do a Thanksgiving blog.  

   During the entire month of Thanksgiving, Facebook was filled with people posting what they were thankful for… mostly their family, their friends, their home, etc.  I would ask myself what am I really thankful for.  And what did I come up with?  Modern day anti-psychotic drugs. I shudder to think of where my son would be without them.  Thirty  years ago Bryce  Psychiatric Hospital housed over 5,000 patients.  Today the number has declined to less than  300.  This is due, in a large part, to "miracle drugs" that enable people with brain disorders to live a somewhat normal life.  I have seen my son without medication. It is not pleasant. He is not violent or dangerous, just very confused, disoriented, delusional, and anxious without medication.
   Before starting this blog I did a little research on the early years of Bryce Hospital.  It was built in the 1800's partly due to the driving force of Dorthea Lange.  I found that interesting because I can remember as a child reading a biography of Dorthea Lange and looking at pictures of the mentally ill housed in devastating conditions.      
    When Bryce was built it's management and commitment to "scientific treatments" was recognized around the country as in a class of its own. Then came the decline in the twentieth century, until the hospital was likened to that of a concentration camp. By 1970, Alabama ranked last in the nation in mental health funding.   In October of 1970 a juvenile delinquent was housed there despite that fact he had never been diagnosed with a mental illness.  This led to a class action lawsuit instigated by a former employee that had witnessed the inhumane treatment of the patients.  The lawsuit lasted 33 years and cost 15 million dollars. 
   But enough about the history of Bryce, except to note that I grew up in an era of "making jokes" about Bryce hospital.  I realize now how cruel that was.  With mental illness affecting one in four family, you never know who you are offending when making tasteless jokes about the mentally ill.

Autism Awareness… Autistic children are invited to come in for a free photo session on April 28th. You will also receive your choice of a free 8x10 or 10x10 portrait. During the month of May we will also be hosting a fund raiser for Autism Awareness. This promotion will be open to everyone. Details will be posted at a later date.