Deacon was a very easy newborn, but he was a bit more challenging at 6 months (although usually the opposite is true!).  Of course, he is teething, and was more tired than normal, so Aunt Irene and her camera were not exactly what he wanted that morning.  And, not only that, but he had recently discovered rolling from front to back and back to front and every which way in between.  So getting him to sit still for one second to look at me was not very easy!

But little Deacon tolerated his session long enough to get some adorable pictures throughout his home and in the backyard.   He is such a happy little boy and [typically] so easy going.  My girls absolutely adore their newest cousin and, as I worked on his photos, they would often walk past, stop, and just sigh and say “I love Deacon”.  So sweet!!!

But, enough talk, here is the little man!!!!!

Thanks so much guys!!!!!  I can’t wait for the next time!!!!!!

A few weeks ago I [finally] took photos for my sister in law! She has two little munchkins. The last time I took their pictures was [only] about 1 1/2 years ago – yikes! So we were well overdue.

I was really eager to try out some new locations and be more creative.  I really love shooting in new locations, it is just so much fun.  So, my SIL and I went back and forth discussing ideas when she then had the BEST idea – find a train for Carson. Her son has been fanatically about trains for pretty much his entire life.  Although he comes from a family of train loving grandpas and uncles, so it isn’t a surprise.

Well, luckily, we live in a small town that is near a old train station that only runs sightseeing tours on the occasional weekend. So, on most days, there are a bunch of idle train cars, some cool overgrown tracks, and no people to speak of.   It was absolutely PERFECT.

And we all had the best time posing by the trains and along the tracks. It was the absolutely most perfect setting for Carson.  Now Carson also has a little sister, Brea.  She isn’t crazy about trains like her brother, but she came along and enjoyed the “train portion” of the shoot just as much as Carson did.

After the train session, we travelled to a small local college that I recently discovered has the prettiest little garden.  I had taken a few pictures there of my own little one, but never tried a shoot before.   There are old stone benches, lots of ivy and flowers and I thought it would make really makes a beautiful backdrop. I was so excited that my SIL agreed on this location – it definitely was as pretty as I had hoped! 

And it was the perfect setting for a cute little girl in bright blue dress!  Of course, her brother didn’t look too bad himself!

Seriously – what a cutie!

I would highly recommend trying to choose a photo shoot location that fits your child’s personality and reflects who they are and what they love at this particular time in their young lives.  The photos will have so much more meaning in years to come and your child will have so much more fun during their session!!!  It is definitely a win-win situation!!!!

I recently had a shoot with a 2 year old little girl.  As the mom of 3 little girls, I am well aware of how much 2 year olds (or 4, 6 or 8 year olds for that matter..) are typically interested in photos.  NOT MUCH.

But this little girl was one of the most amazing 2 year olds I have EVER met.  She was oozing cuteness with her big brown eyes and beautiful curly hair.  But that wasn’t neccessarily the most amazing thing.  The amazing thing was that  she was extremely willing and happy to follow me and her family throughout a local park while we found picture perfect settings filled with flowers and greenery.   She didn’t fuss, she didn’t complain, she didn’t cry.  She just posed and smiled.  Wow.

Prior to this shoot, I have always wanted to try adding a few “props” to a little one’s session.  Especially a session where the little one is by his/herself and doesn’t have other family members to interact with.  I thought this would be the perfect shoot to try such props.  So I arrived for our late afternoon shoot armed with balloons and lollipops!  And carted my props around while we found beautiful blooming forsythia bushes and bunches of daffodils growing in the woods.  It was the perfect setting and a perfectly warm day.

The little girl absolutely loved the “props”.   And she smiled and posed like she was true professional!  I really have never seen a little one so easy and so compliant. 

The photos turned out just perfect.  I am still amazed at how absolutely easy she made my job.  Thank you all!!!

I met the “D” family on a very cold Sunday morning at a local park.  It snowed quite a bit the day before and the temps were in the teens, but the scene was oh-so- beautiful!

The ‘D’ family wanted photos of their little one and his two older cousins.  They were such a nice family and, for being so cold that morning, I was amazed at how sweet and accomodating the kids were! 

The only problem that morning was my camera started acting goofy!  It seemed to “freeze up” (no pun intended!).  I think it was the cold though, since it has been fine since then.  But I felt SO bad making the kids wait while my camera ”caught up” and was ready for the next shot!

So – on to the photos!

Thank you all so much!!!!

Since this little munchkin lives out of town, I hadn’t the opportunity to meet him yet. So, when he arrived in town, we made plans to finally get together. We decided to do a photo session at one of my most favorite places in the world…Presque Isle Beach.

Growing up in Erie, I loved our little beach. It isn’t the ocean, but it was 15 minutes from my home so I could visit it almost any time I wanted – whether it was the middle of summer or the middle of winter. Those beaches are filled with so many great memories – sunning, swimming, boating, biking, running, rollerblading, hiking or just taking a drive….I loved that place (still do). And now I enjoy bringing my own little ones there.

Anyway, we found a quiet little beach with no people, and plopped little Max down. He wasn’t the happiest little baby that afternoon. Sadly, we think he was just suffering from a bit of homesickness. But he was still such a trooper and was amazingly tolerant of the strange lady with the camera.

And here he is – Mr. Blue Eyes, dressed to be perfectly coordinated with the beach setting!

Oh, gotta love baby-toes!!!!

My friend was getting a bit worried that we weren’t getting any shots. In fact, she said “we didn’t get anything, did we?”. He may have been a bit fussier than normal, but I think we got quite a few absolutely adorable shots!!!

I do have to say, this was probably one of my most favorite sessions to edit EVER. Obviously, this little boy is such a cutie, but every single time a photo like this popped up on my screen -

I would literally burst out laughing. I absolutely ADORE this face!!! You can just imagine what he is thinking.

“Lady, you are seriously getting on my nerves.”

I also got some photos with his adoring aunt. You can definitely see that his aunt thinks he is a pretty special little boy. I love these next few shots of the two of them.

“Hi guys.”

And these two shots – oh my – aren’t they just adorable??? I often also convert some of my photos to black and white to give a client the option. Some people greatly prefer one over the other. I personally love these next two shots in black and white because I think it captures the emotion a little better.

OK, just a few more!!!

Let’s try a new hat AND a lifeguard chair!

I love this shot too!!!

This is definitely one of my favorites of the day -

Thank you both so much!!! I had a great time and would absolutely LOVE to try this again sometime!!!!

Much MUCH more coming soon!!!!!

This little guy’s blue eyes coordinated perfectly with his adorable outfit and the bright white swing on his front porch. I loved taking his and his adorable sister’s photos. Of course, I just LOVE taking photos!!!!!

I highly recommend checking out I ? Faces for yourself!

“I am submitting this photo into the www.iheartfaces.com Blurb Book photo contest. I am granting I ? Faces permission to use my photo in a printed version of a book for commercial use and possibly advertising of a photo book on both the Blurb and I ? Faces web sites.”

It was sunny, warm and absolutely perfect in every way!!!!

And, to make things even more perfect, I couldn’t have asked for more photogenic “kids”. Although this “kid” is quickly becoming a beautiful little lady.

And her little brother? Well, he may not have been entirely thrilled about the whole photo thing (what boy his age is??), but he was very sweet and took some very good photos!!!

I mean, look at these kids! They made my job of getting nice photos for their parents incredibly easy!!!!

And, of course, we wanted to get photos of brother and sister together:

And, of course, they had their moments of acting like any typical brother and sister!

Lastly, we got just a couple shots of the kids with some close friends who just happen to be my very own niece and nephew (whose shoot you may remember from a few months ago)!

Thank you all so much!!!

I know black and white is loved by some, and, well, not loved by others (like my husband). I personally think BW can look amazing, especially with the right photo. Carrie Sandoval (an amazing baby photographer) once stated:

“If you’re photographing in colour you show the colour of their clothes – if you use black and white, you will show the colour of their soul.”

Well, if that is true, you can see some pretty sweet souls here!

And I also wanted to share one of the family pictures we quickly captured at the end of the session. I love how mom and dad are looking so nicely at the camera, and sister and brother are just eyeing at each other. Too sweet!!!!!

And this is one of my favorite shots. Dad and little brother were also in the photo, but they were moving and were blurry. Mom and big sister however were sharing a sweet moment that I was so happy to be able to salvage!!

Again, thank you all so much!!!!

We took photos at the end of the day, which, as any mom knows, is not always the best time of day for little kids. Tired kiddos aren’t often very interested in a photo session. But these kids did great!!!

First off – check out Mr. Blue-eyes! Wow!!

And then we have Ms. Princess! Oh my!!!

Put these two together and you would swear you were looking at a catalog page!

And, as you can expect, when you finally let a couple cooped up kiddos outside, they just want to play!!!!

We finally moved the session indoors where there were many many “photo session worthy” corners. This little red nook made an amazing backdrop!!!

There were so many good shots from this session that it was really hard picking out only a few to post! I may have to add more as I finish up my editing.

Thanks all so much!!!!!