Here’s just one of my favorite photos of Amanda and Allen, taken inside the cutest boutique called The Jazzy Giraffe (located inside the Grove Arcade). Amanda and Allen are just GORGEOUS together — and I’m looking forward to sharing more of their beautiful engagement photos and capturing their wonderful Kentucky wedding this summer!

Below are just a few of my favorite images from the lifestyle session. Click here to view the entire gallery.

Below are just a few of the photos from our session together. Be warned… their smiles are infectious.

When my friend TJ (Taquiya) asked me about a portrait session, I was so excited! TJ is an amazing person — she’s beautiful, smart, funny, and one of the coolest people I know. I knew we would have a great time with an “anytime” photo session. And we did!

It was a dark and cloudy Saturday. It had been raining all week, but we somehow managed to find a few dry hours in the day for our photo shoot. Lucky us!

We started the session in Market Square, meeting up in our favorite little alley between the Miller’s Building and the Tomato Head (yum!). It’s our favorite spot because of an episode of The Heartland Series that points out the “trompe l’oeil” painted on the back of the Miller’s Building. “That’s what ya call a trompe l’oeil. It’s means ‘to fool the eye’ in French.” (It’s a lot funnier when you actually watch the episode.)

From the trompe l’oeil, we headed around the Square to downtown Knoxville’s wall of graffiti art and assorted flyers. TJ struck some serious poses in front of the chaotic background. Vogue! Following our short Market Square excursion, we headed towards Krutch Park and crossed over to the other side of downtown Knoxville near the post office and the John Duncan Federal Office Building. (No crazy security guards yelled at me this time.)

We walked down to St. John’s Cathedral on Cumberland Avenue to take advantage of the church’s amazing masonry and red doors as a backdrop. The doors are the brightest red — and they are, perhaps, my favorite doors in all of downtown Knoxville.

We took several photos against the stone walls and on the steps in front of the church doors. We even found some cool steps with curling iron rails leading from a loft building close to the church. There are so many awesome nooks and crannies in downtown that are just perfect for any portrait session.

After wandering through the area, we headed back for a quick wardrobe change. Then it was off to the Old City!

We noticed that the clouds seemed to be growing thicker, and the sky was becoming rather dark. We took that as a warning that our outdoor shoot was going to be ending soon — so we zipped through the Old City on a mission for colorful scenes and antique stores.

Antique stores are the best. I thought it would be nice to try for something a little like an Anthropologie catalog. (I drool over Anthropologie catalogs.)

We invaded the Crown and Goose for a few minutes, taking over the huge red leather couches facing the street. (Red was the color of the day.) And after joking around with some of the waitstaff, we crossed the street to grab some photos in front of Big Don The Costumier’s shop. The fenced up door gave us a nice grungy photo op.

TJ and I also loved the huge circle window at Old City Java and had to stop there for a few minutes. (Old City Java has one of the coolest windows in downtown Knoxville.)

Then suddenly, it started to rain! Thank goodness TJ brought her umbrella.

As we started to run back down the street towards the parking garage near Market Square, we found the best antique store for photographs. It was full of bright green leather furniture, a bright green lamp shade, and all kinds of fun kitschy decor. Bingo!

TJ and I had such an awesome portrait session. It was a blast running through downtown with her and discovering new places for photographs. She was a great model, and I hope we can to do this again soon. And maybe it won’t rain next time!

Saving Little Hearts is an organization dedicated to helping children with congenital heart defects and their families by providing emotional assistance and educational information primarily through the distribution of Care Packages.

Several weeks ago, Karin Coulter, director of Saving Little Hearts, contacted me about the possibility of photographers donating time to create portraits of Knoxville’s “heart kids.” Through the KNOX PHOTO community, I was able to help spread the word to local photographers — and several, including myself, volunteered time and talent to help the organization.

This past weekend, I was so happy to meet up with my heart kid, Landin. We had to reschedule our photo session a couple of times because of the rain; but, luckily, we were greeted with beautiful weather on Sunday and had a great time playing at Fort Kid and the World’s Fair Park.

Landin, who is only 14 months old, has already been through two open heart surgeries. But you’d never be able to tell from his energy and infectious smile, which are both probably the results of being loved so much by his parents and sweet big sister, Abby. He’s a curious little boy — and it was fun to watch him pick up pebbles around the play area… and attempt to eat them! And he surprised us all towards the end of the shoot when he started to run across the playground to his sister by the swings. Landin may have tiny feet and little legs, but he sure could move fast!

I know I always say this, but I love being a photographer. I’m so thankful to be able to meet wonderful families and children like Landin and Abby, and capture photographs of them as they play together and show their love for one another through smiles and hugs and laughs.

(Check out the slideshow below.)

Landin and Abby 2009 – Images by Lia Ballentine

They did kick the ball to me (by accident), and although I was going to return it them by bending it like Beckham, I didn’t want to show off too much on the field. LOL. The truth is they got skillz, and I didn’t want  to embarrass myself. (Reminds me of a time in Judo class when I got flipped and knocked down by a 10-year-old…)

It’s really an awesome thing to be a photographer and get the opportunity to meet a family that really, truly loves each other. You can tell by the smiles on their faces — and I could hear it in their laughter as the played by the pool.

Below are some images from our shoot!

In addition to photographing the board, Brandon provided the awesome photograph of Knoxville’s Sunsphere for the directory cover! And I designed the cover for the Hispanic Legal Rights Manual.