Who is behind the camera?  Me!  I'm Rochelle Talton, born in Dothan, Alabama, and raised in and around the Dothan area most of my life.  At nineteen years of age, I married Brian Talton and set sail on this adventure we call life.   Brian joined the US Navy shortly before we were married, and our first home was where he was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.  That was almost 32 years ago!  Together we have battled infertility, experienced the heartache of two adoptions that did not work out and survived too many deployments to count.  But, as the old saying goes, good things come to those who wait....

 

We welcomed our first daughter, Jada, in 2001.  Jada joined our family through adoption.  She was born in China and joined our family at almost one year of age.  In 2004, we adopted our second daughter, Kina, from China.  She joined our family at almost one year of age, too.  We thought our family was complete and we had survived all the bottles, diapers and potty training.  But we were wrong! 

 

In 2011, our third daughter, Liya, came into our family.  She joined us when we were almost 42 - and we often refer to her as proof of God's sense of humor.

 

Brian served on active duty from 1988 until late 2015, when he retired and accepted a position with a government contractor in Northern Virginia.  The girls and I joined him there for awhile before we eventually moved back to our hometown of Dothan, Alabama, in 2016. 

 

We've moved alot over the years - I think about 28 or 29 times - and we have cried alot, laughed alot and loved alot.  2015 was one of the hardest years in our lives and we are slowly starting to feel like we can breathe again.  This new chapter of our lives, being "retired miiltary" has brought many changes for our family.  But we are settling into our new normal and looking forward to the rest of our journey!

 

In my spare time (yeah, I know, what is that?) I have volunteered at hospitals, The National Peanut Festival, in various animal shelters and with animal rescue advocacy organizations as well as some homeless shelters and ministries that seek to help homeless transition towards a "second chance" in life.

 

I have loved photography and capturing special moments through my camera for as long as I can remember.  When we lived in Georgia, I worked as a newborn photographer at the local hospital and loved sweeping up those tiny babies in my arms and capturing a few very early smiles, tiny toes and fingers and little lips and noses.  Sometimes they screamed, other times they slept.  No matter what, it was always a blessing to capture every one of them in photographs that will be cherished forever by their families. 

 

Celebrate These Moments initially began as a hobby - photographing my children, my family, children of friends, pets and flowers and eventually families and couples.  I do my best to capture images that reflect true smiles, eyes that twinkle and maybe even a laugh!  

 

I love capturing memories for my clients and learning more about the wonderful art of photography!  For years, I have kept up with business overhead, paid for my business licenses, business insurance and invested everything I earned back into my business.  Unfortunately, there are far too many "photographers" in this area that offer cheap photography who are not licensed or insured, and not legally operating a business (and are not paying taxes), and their ability to offer inexpensive sessions has driven my business (and others) into the ground.  I cannot compete with someone giving a CD with 100 edited images for $25.  My rates are designed to allow me to offer photography sessions at a reasonable rate but also allow me to help support my small business and my family.  Please remember when you hire a photographer that you are helping pay for dance lessons for their child, art supplies, college tuition, business expenses and groceries.  You wouldn't want to work for free so please don't expect your photographer to do so either!  I accept limited sessions to families who may not otherwise be able to afford to hire a professional photographer and donate much of my time to charitable causes and military families, first responders and their families and families coping with a terminal illness or chronic health/medical condition.  If I can be of assistance to you, feel free to email or call me.  

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