Kate Crafton Photography

Alys Beach Wedding Photography

kate — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:10:49 +0000

Alys Beach was the perfect backdrop for the wedding of James and Melissa this weekend. James was so emotional/joyful and excited to see his gorgeous bride that it made us a bit weepy. Thanks to Meghan and Kelli for helping the day to run smoothly!

(Sorry for the short post but we’re still battling wi-fi at the beach! All emails and phone calls will be returned on the 14th when we’re back in the office.)

Moving On

kate — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:17:04 +0000

I’ve started this blog a few times and really don’t know how to write it. I have a wild amount of nervousness and excitement about our new venture. For the past 14 years we’ve stayed firmly planted in the Nashville area, the longest I’ve ever lived in one place. I went to school here, met my husband here, had my babies here and started my professional photography career. I am SO thankful for all of my clients that helped to build this insane, wild ride that I call my business.
Over the past 4 years, we’ve been traveling the country and considering if we could call each city “home”. We learned very quickly that we weren’t fond of raising our family in a big city, because we both grew up in small towns, but we wanted to be close to an airport so we could continue to travel with our kids and by ourselves as well. What TGR and I came to realize is that it doesn’t matter where we live. We’ll be happy wherever we plant our roots. My mom just purchased a ranch on 20+ acres, outside of the Ozark National Forrest, and we spent the past week touring the area. All that I had viewed of Arkansas, up until this point, was the barren nothingness of I-40 which was not exactly where we wanted to live. But, oh, we fell in love with the area north of the interstate with the gorgeous rolling hills and rivers woven in between them. We found a a few properties with 10+ acres and enough room for my little ones to run free….and room for me to build a natural light studio.

So what does that mean for my clients? I’ll be posting specific location details once the house deal is finalized and we set a firm move date. There is no change for wedding clients (because all of my weddings are travel locations this year) and I’m only accepting Nashville area portrait sessions until mid-June and May is already full. If you would like a session before we move PLEASE do not wait to book it because only April and a handful of June dates are still available. I will be shooting one day of mini sessions in the fall (when I’m back for a wedding in Sept.) and that date will be announced on April 1st @ 9am. Add us on Facebook for news and announcements about this new chapter in our lives!

Here’s a little peek at one of the homes that we toured!

Destination Wedding Photography – Key West

kate — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 13:03:01 +0000

Dear Charlotte & John: You are lovely. I was thrilled to join you in Key West for your AMAZING wedding. What I didn’t expect was to love so many of your images that I had to contact friends to help in picking shots for this blog post (and, as you can see, we all still had problems narrowing it down). Love to you and thank you for being so, so wonderful to work with.

You can see the behind the scenes of our trip here! http://strengthoftheocean.blogspot.com/2012/03/key-west-florida.html

Happy Birthday, my love

kate — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 12:51:12 +0000

Oh, my son. It’s been a year since I saw your beautiful face for the first time. I’ll be honest, after a perfect birth we hit a bit of a rough patch. Your colic/GI issues and my PPD…we were quite the pair. I can’t believe that we morphed into the giggly, silly duo that we are today. You laugh your way through life and you’ve never met a stranger. I hope you always stay that way. Your joy is such a gift. My gift has been to cut back on work and spend this first year with you. You, me and daddy. With the bigs (big brother/big sister) in school we just play all day together. We savored every second, knowing that you were our last. I saw every first milestone…smiling, laughing, crawling, walking. So many parents don’t get that opportunity and we’re thankful to be able to work from home. I’m aware of how lucky I am to have been present in almost every moment of your first year. We are blessed.
Happy birthday, TLC. Here’s to many more years of chaotic bliss. I love you.

Franklin Maternity Photography

kate — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:02:17 +0000

I woke this morning covered in bruises (this time it isn’t from Crossfit) and re-energized by photography. A few miles from my home there’s a series of cliffs that I’ve always wanted to shoot on top of but, because all of my couples are out of state this year, I didn’t have any local engagement sessions to use for it. My dear friend Shanell was open to capturing her maternity session at an unconventional place so we scaled the rocks yesterday for her shoot. This mama to be is fearless. You can view their sweet story HERE:

On a side note, we have one more trip before we announce where we’ll be moving to…so keep an eye on the blog in April!

We should travel by MAP!

kate — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:00:44 +0000

For the next few months the blog will be a bit quiet while we take some time off to search for where to lay our roots. We’ve talked about moving for years and now we’re off to narrow down the search! Session sneak peeks will still be posted on Facebook and I’ll be back to blogging full time in March. We’ll be kicking off being back from maternity leave with John & Charlotte’s wedding in Key West.
Happy Holidays everyone!
And, because every post needs an image, here’s a quick image from Seph & Chris’ session and of my own DJ TLC (and accompanying Crafton break dancers).

Dear Kate – Family Friday

kate — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:34:46 +0000

Dear 16 year old Kate,
Stop (collaborate) and listen. I know you say you don’t want kids. EVER. 31 year old Kate is here to tell you that it’s bunk. You’re really saying that because you’re reeling from your parent’s divorce and are sick of being dragged all over the country and moving. Here’s the thing. Get your head out of your *ss and realize how lucky you are to have two parents that love and support you. And guess what? You have 3 kids in your 30′s. THREE. And you’re happy. Blissfully happy. So happy that you want to climb up on top of a hill and spin around Julie Andrews style while singing (badly) at the top of your lungs.

You’ll spend years thinking you’re a crappy parent just because you’re not a traditional mom but that’s bunk too. Your kids will love your silly, haphazard parenting style and they will experience things because of your job that you haven’t even dreamed of yet. They’ll love your spontaneity and overlook the areas in which you’re lacking (for now). They’ll also have an obnoxious number of pictures of their life with you that they complain about as kids but I’m pretty sure they’ll appreciate it as adults. You’ll experience more love than you’ve ever dreamed of.

And there’s this man. This red head (seriously, you fall in love with a red head) who is the kindest person that you’ve met in your life. He’s selfless and strong and is leaps and bounds over those punks that you’re dating now. I know you don’t like nice guys now but you will. And it will change you. You’ll learn kindness and selflessness (errrr, well still working on that one) and how to love someone with your entire heart. There will still be times that you want to punch him in the throat but those are few and far between. He is the best husband. The best father. And, wait for it, you meet him when he already has a kid. That’s right, little miss “I don’t want kids ever”, you get the baptism by fire treatment. You’ll stumble through it and come out on top.

So let’s sum this up. You’ll have an amazing life. Quit being a morose, grunge-infused whiner and look forward to the joy that is coming your way. And, while you’re at it, make sure to cover your navel because in a few months you’ll get sent home from school for dressing like a tramp. And you’ll tell your kids that story and they’ll laugh hysterically. Life is good. Just wait, it’s coming.

(image by Jon & Emily Beaty)

Denver Wedding Photography

kate — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:08:14 +0000

Chris & Adrienne are dear friends of ours and shooting for people who you care about is always so much fun. These two have dropped everything to catch some seriously important moments for our family this past year. I love you guys and Denver, CO is gaining two truly amazing & hilarious artists.

Nashville Family Photography

kate — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 14:37:46 +0000

Andrea Hallgren is a fabulous portrait photographer in Nashville but it’s quite possible that she’ll never talk to me again after the way I manhandled her family this week. I tossed them into alleys and quite possibly a urine puddle or two (I needed a serious shower when I got home) while we walked around downtown Nashville for their family portrait session. Here’s a quick peek at their images!

These kids kept me laughing the entire session. Miles even brought a gas mask to the session…because, you know, what family portrait session is complete without some apocalyptic gear?

For those of you who have been part of the mini session-a-palooza, check our Facebook page for your sneak peeks…coming tomorrow!

The Boy

kate — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:28:15 +0000

I had planned to post this on Friday but have been second guessing myself for a few days now. My dear friend Anna, who some of you have met when she shot beside me for multiple weddings, brought home a beautiful baby girl this past week. Watching her go through the process of adoption created so much happiness in my life and reminded me of the joy and turmoil that we went through adopting my son.

My beautiful boy is about to turn 9 next week. N-I-N-E. How does time go by so quickly!?!??!? I was having a very adult conversation with the boy the other day about how special he was because I CHOSE him to be my son. Something the other kids never had. We went on to chat a bit about his birth mother and I found myself getting more and more anxious. That talk brought up a good bit of angst for me. As an adoptive mom, I always am worried about the birth mom coming back and taking my son away from me. I know we signed papers where she gave up all rights to LM. I know that I’ve raised him since he was 9 months old and he knows no other life. BUT I have such fear that one day he’ll whip out the “you’re not my real mom” phrase or feel a gap in his life that is enough to send him on the search for a woman he never knew. It made me realize how overprotective I am of the boy compared to TLC & Peanut. I want to wrap him in a smothering blanket of “you are my son”-ness and not let the mean old world hurt him in any way. How blessed am I to have this handsome boy who has his daddy’s kind spirit and gentle heart?

Happy early birthday, my Little Man. You bring so much joy into my world. I am the lucky one.
Love, Mom.