Reed's Photography: Football and Thanksgiving - A tribute to my left tackles

Because, as every housewife knows, the first check you write is for the mortgage but the second is for the insurance. And the left tackle's job is to protect the quarterback from what he can't see coming, to protect his blind side. - Script from ‘The Blind Side’ –

A thank you to my left tackles: my friends, family and clients.

As autumn approaches, the excitement for football fans everywhere intensifies. We anxiously await Sunday afternoons to see who will win, to eat ridiculously unhealthy food and pour our hearts into the game as if we were the very players making the score. I love football; nearly everything about it, even movies about it. I have two favorites; The Blind Side and Rudy. No one may guess, but I still have a huge football card collection from when I was a little girl.

We all have a blind side, a vulnerable side. During a football game, the quarter back knows he’s in a game, knows the defenders are coming after him. You could say that he knows what’s coming. But at the same time, he is still vulnerable. He is vulnerable to getting hurt. That’s where the left tackle comes in. The left tackle is there to counteract the pass rush. He is there to protect.

Today as I reflect on the people in place that God has sent to protect me, I thank them. They protect me at times when I feel down, when my heart is broken and you think you don't have a friend in the world. That's when they show up at your side to remind you, you are loved, you are valued and you are appreciated. I thank my left tackles. My friends, my family and even the clients God has so lavishly blessed my heart and life with. I don’t know exactly what I did to deserve the people in my life, the things they do for me, the love and support. Most of all, the extra mile they go to put a smile on my face.

Because I am a photographer, a blog is not a blog without pictures. Today I selected my friends Mickey and Jeremy Raines to thank. They are two of many clients who have now become friends.

Mickey and Jeremy hired me to photograph their wedding in 2007. Since getting married, I have been honored to photograph maternity and newborn portraits for them as they welcomed their son Hunter in 2010 and their daughter Peyton in 2012.

My photography has improved over the years (thankfully) and continues to do so to this day. As I look at the technical issues, my eyes quickly refocus to seeing two very special, wonderful people. Two clients that I humbly and graciously get to call my friends. Thank you Mickey and Jeremy for the confidence you put in me five years ago and for the support and encouragement you still provide to me this day. May God continue to bless you, as you have richly blessed my life.

The wedding

Maternity Session (Pregnant with Hunter)

Baby Hunter's Newborn Photos

Maternity Session (Pregnant with Peyton)

And now, the creme de la creme, Peyton's newborn session.

The bed photographed in this image was hand made by her father. Her father so graciously made the very same bed and gifted it to me for future newborn sessions. Her mom made the mattress and water proof blanket and tied it up with a bow. Mickey gifted it to me and filled my heart up with thanksgiving! Thank you to all three of you for coming together to do that for me.