Blooper Reel
I couldn’t resist…I had to post the bloopers from our family craziness session!
In the middle of the session, AJ figured out how to take his arm out of his sweater. He completely cracked himself up, and the girls were more than entertained by his new found talent!
The Poser, The Rock Star & The Blur!
Family Craziness
In my head, as I was preparing for the family session, I figured my biggest challenge was going to be little man, AJ. He is 16 months old and should be at that stage where he does not want to hold still and it can be difficult to keep his attention. Boy was I wrong!
AJ was a rock star! He was smiling and giggling, sitting in place and looking at the camera. I could not have asked for anything better from him.
Now, his two sisters on the other hand, that was a different story. I can assure you that I was exhausted by the time they walked out the door. Gabriella, the middle kiddo, would not hold still for anything. She turned, she twirled, her dress was up, her dress was down, and she refused to look at me. She would always look just to the side of me.
Madeleine, the oldest, is in that stage where she thinks she knows what looks good. It’s a painful, forced, unnatural smile along with an awkwardly cocked head. I had to work super hard to get her relaxed and natural looking.
We take all that, the rock star, the blur, and the poser and put them all together, and what do we get…pure craziness! But, with a little bit of magic, lots of patience, and many, many clicks…it all came together!
My Family
This summer, my parents asked me to photograph our whole family. Luckily, our family is not huge, but that doesn’t mean it’s still not challenging!
I’ve always thought photographing the four of us, Pete, Joey, Pebbles and myself was challenging. Try adding four more adults and another dog to the mix…insane!
But, insane, crazy challenges have never stopped me before! My parents, my sister, her husband, their dog Libby Lou, Pete, our two kiddos and myself got together for an outdoor family session in July. In the end, it was completely worth it. We will have these beautiful portraits of our family at this time in our lives forever! It’s something we will never forget…sweating, dogs running all over the place, bugs biting, but in the end, a family who loves and cares for each other!
He Needs a Shirt?!?
So what happens when you leave baby Pete’s shirt at home for the family session?!?
Well, Daddy gets to make the trip home to get it. Meanwhile, Mommy and I get to photograph a chunky monkey in all his glory…and the two older boys get to have their time in front of the camera, too.
Not to worry, baby Pete, Daddy made it back! We were still able to capture the family tradition of Mommy and Daddy laughing and smiling with their six month old in clothes!
Silly Girls
I have been Lily and Ava’s family photographer for years. Every fall, they come see me for their annual holiday portrait. Going a whole year in between sessions, means that when I do see them, I am just floored by how much they have grown and changed.
The one thing that has remained the same, and continues to remain the same, is their great personalities! They love to smile and laugh. I don’t think they’ve ever walked in the door being mad, sad or upset. They laugh at all my really bad jokes, and they just keep me smiling and laughing during the entire session!
Surprisingly!
When I looked at the forecast for the first week of November, I was shocked to see sixties and sunny! Considering how stinky October was, warm weather and sun was a pleasant surprise.
I immediately contacted Shari, to see if there was any chance the family could get here early for their session, so we could go outdoors. Luckily it worked out perfectly! I found the one spot of shade on our property, they got here at just the right moment, everyone looked awesome…even Olive, their puppy, performed like a superstar!
We could not have asked for anything better!
Wowsers!!
I can definitely say that, after the session with Abby & Matthew, I was exhausted…and so were Mommy and Daddy! Between the two of them, our patience was tested more than once!
Of course, that does happen when you ask an almost two year old and a three and a half year old to do multiple things. We squeezed Family, Mommy & Me, Daddy & Me, Sibling and Individuals all into one session, with an outfit change! Yes, we are crazy!
Despite the challenges, we ended up with some adorable images!
Another Windy Day
I feel like all of my blog posts for sessions in October have said the exact same thing. The weather was icky and the wind was blowing us away! Unfortunately, I guess that’s just the way it is sometimes…sometimes you’re lucky with the weather and sometimes you just have to work with what you have!
We were able to sort of tuck ourselves away in between the trees where the wind wasn’t too crazy. Of course, that didn’t mean that the kids weren’t too crazy!
Izzy, Abby and Gabe spent most of October passing around the sickies. So even though Gabe wasn’t feeling 100%, we just had to go for it. The chance of us catching all three of them healthy, and a beautiful fall day all at the same time, was slim to none!
Despite Gabe being a bit restless, and needing some loving every so often, the three of them hung in there for as long as their energetic little selves would allow!
Cold!
This past October was a bummer in terms of being a pretty fall. There were a couple of nice days, but they were pretty far and few between. We just had to work with what we had!
The day of Tanner’s session was not great, but it was workable. The cold temps barely phased Tanner, he was ready to run and play. We just had to be close by to make sure he didn’t go splat on the soggy ground. Tanner became a little ball obsessed, when he decided that the twenty hedge apples on the ground near us were balls!
Despite his red nose and frozen fingers, Tanner showed off his big eyes, gorgeous eyelashes and adorable smiles and expressions!
Frog or Toad?
In our water ponds by the house, we have this enormous frog (or toad, I’m not sure how to tell the difference!). I’ve nick named him Froggy. He’s been around for awhile, but usually stays pretty hidden. Recently, Froggy has been making some limited appearances.
Seeing as Lauren is an animal lover, and owner of a snake (Slither), a tarantula (Legs) and a lizard (Rex), you can imagine her excitement when she got out of the car, looked into the pond and saw ginormous Froggy hanging out! She was convinced that she was going to catch him and take him home. That’s all she proceeded to talk about during the entire portrait session.
Lucy wasn’t quite as excited about Froggy, but she sure was good at making frog sounds, as well as many other animal sounds! Lucy is also talker! She filled me in on all the family news, all the weekend activities and even some school and friend news! I am now in the know!
