Carlyle and Elijah

We had a second day of fall family shooting, this time in Cunningham Falls State Park manor area. I love this park! It has beautiful foliage, a picturesque stream running through it with plenty of big rocks for posing on and the best yet, a tire park! The entire playground area is made with recycled tires. I've taken my son there many times and we have a blast! So, when the formal posing is over, it's fun to run around the park and photograph kids being kids.

This was my first year to photography Carlyle and Elijah and their mom, Diane. These boys lit up the world when they smiled, trouble is, they rarely smiled at the same time! Last year, Diane tried having a friend photograph the family for their Chrismas card with little success. So, it was time to call in a professional! I had lots of help from their family friends who coached from the sidelines and held my secret weapon, the singing chicken! It gets a smile from most kids.

With a little sweat and a lot of running around, we had success!

Fall Family Photos

For the past three years, I have offered special half price photo sessions called Fall Family Photos. Not a very catchy name but it fits. Families come to some gorgeous outdoor locations and for 1/2 hour we play and laugh and get some really good pictures. I usually start out with the more formal looking poses with the whole family smiling at the camera. These seem to be the most popular pose to send out on the family Christmas card. Then as time allows, we get more casual with the shoot and that's when the real character comes out, especially in the children. But I wish I had a photo of the craziness that some of the parents display to get the kids to laugh.

What a hoot.

These photos are from the first shoot of the day with Georgi, Robie, Jake and their parents. Gretchen and Michael. I met this family about a year ago and photographed them as a family and then was invited to make images and memories of the boys and their sister on Jake and Robie's first birthday. Now they are two and we combined some photos of the whole family with some that will capture what they were like around their second birthday. It was so much fun!! They are full of personality and really were sports about getting their little toes in some very chilly sand! Georgi, as big sister, has learned the art of smiling through anything and helps make the best pictures!

Thanks!

A woman's best friend

Who says a dog is a man's best friend? Beth just adores her Boxer puppy, Riley. Although he looks much bigger than a puppy, he still had that puppy playfulness and she wanted to get photos of him at this stage. We took advantage of fantastic weather to photograph the two of them in a local state park. A pair of rubber boots, a camera and some patience was all it took for me to get great shots of a pair who are obviously "family". 

Riley still has too much puppy in her to sit still for long. The secret to photographing pets or people who have no patience for formal portraiture is to let them be themselves... in this case, a water loving, world exploring Boxer puppy. The instructions for Beth were to smile, not to look at Riley or worry about what she was doing, and just have fun with it.... and she did.  Beth got Riley to sit for a few "portraits".  Most of the time, Riley was just eager to move and she was strong! I grabbed hold of her leash once when she slipped away from Beth and nearly got dragged into the stream.

When I asked Beth if Riley was pulling her arm out of  her socket, Beth would just laugh and say "that's Riley!" 

Finally, a quiet moment. Is it my imagination, or is Riley finally wearing out!?

This is the kind of image you get when you put a french fry in your lens hood to try to get an "up close" photo of  Riley! 

Brothers! Oct. 12

Two years ago I photographed Aiden and he has been the poster child for many of my marketing materials. His adorable dark curls and striking green eyes made making photos easy and he was the first and only child of Jim and Amy. So the poses were easy and both parents could help make him smile. Fast forward to two years later when Amy's birthday present was to come out and photograph Aiden and recent addition, baby brother, Morgan. Also a beautiful child who was only too happy to smile and suck on his toes to my delight. Aiden, on the other hand, a full throttle two-year old was hard to hold down. It took a bit more running around breaks, some bribery with candy and finally, the brilliant idea to put him in a tree where he couldn't run away. ( Dad made sure both boys were perched securely!) We got some really precious images and a lot of exercise! Can't wait to photograph them again.

The Wedding of Stacy and Tony, October 4

Stacy and Tony were married in Tony's family church near Monrovia. There couldn't have been a more perfect weather day for a wedding. Stacy's gown was breathtaking but she realized that she would be stepping on it if she wore her shoes so she's become my first barefoot bride! I wish I could have gotten a photo of her at the alter in her bare feet, but the dress covered them. After a simple, yet beautiful service full of happy tears, we took some fun photos outside on the lawn. Tony and Stacy were up for anything! Stacy, a former basketball player, even shot a few hoops after all the formal pictures were finished. They finished their evening with a reception at Martin's in Westminister. Not only were                                  the couple and the guests talented dancers, but I have never heard so many people singing the words to every song! Thanks to Stacy and Tony for including me in their special day.