I've been meaning to have a real shoot with Elizabeth since she turned 10 last summer. Sure, I've taken lots of photos of her since then... Christmas...Valentine's Day...beach, but I had not taken the time to do a shoot of just her at age 10. I was wanting to try out my new gray backdrop and we didn't have anything going Saturday (so nice). So we grabbed a few outfits and went to the studio.
It's moments like this that I realize just how grown up she is getting. Sigh.
So far 2012 has been exciting for me. I've felt more excited about work than I have in a while. I sat down in December of 2011 and did some planning and decision making. I've been doing this just long enough now to have discovered exactly what I enjoy doing the most, and what I would like to do more of. That was the reason I decided to do more styled mini-sessions this year. I love the creating part of putting together a fun set. I still have lots of those planned in the coming months. Another thing I knew I wanted to do was to add the option of studio sessions for my clients.
What?! I know! That goes against my motto! I do love, love, love on-location shooting. That is still my favorite. However, when it comes to the little ones I photograph, I have been limited in the winter months. There is a type of studio work I am drawn to. Photographers who work I just adore. Their work is different, but it has one thing in common. It is art. Just like in my location sessions, for studio work I love color and texture. I decided that it was something that I wanted to offer to my clients. Something that isn't really offered in our small town.
Earlier this year I purchased my first studio lighting thanks to some help from my photographer and scrapbooking friends Robin and Gina. And now I am happy to announce that I no longer have just an office but a studio! My ever-willing model helped me try out one of my new backdrops earlier this week. We literally did this in the 30 minutes we had between picking her up from school and picking her sister up from tennis practice. How I wish I was as photogenic as my daughter!
Well, I'm a little late sharing my little guy's Valentine's Day cards. I didn't want to share them too early, and then I was busy yesterday and didn't have the time to post them. I cannot take credit for the idea. It was inspired by a Valentine I saw on Pinterest. Stewart received some of these stick-on mustaches for Christmas, and I knew I had to use one for his Valentine shoot. These are the ones he gave to his classmates yesterday.
For you creative ones, the paper is from Gina Miller's Christmas Prints Paper Pack. And while I am sharing, here is Miss Molly's Valentine.
Where are Elizabeth's you ask? Apparently 5th graders are too old for Valentine Cards. :-)
Yesterday I shared Kari and Landon's session. Kari asked if we could also do a few family shots and some of the kids. Miss Ryan was sleeping in the car and didn't care for being woken up to come out into the cool for pictures. I mean really who would want to? LOL! So we decided to do hers another day on her terms. We did take some of Jaxxon though. He is such a sweetheart. He is one of Molly's friends. They were classmates since Kindergarten until this year when he transferred to a new school. I still miss seeing him. It was nice to get to spend some time with him this day.
Right before we quit for the afternoon, I asked Kari if she wanted to take a few of her and Jaxxon. This was the result. Some of my all time favorite images. I really cannot express how much I love these next ones of these two. Moms and little boys just make me happy.
When Kari saw those she sent me a message. "If no other pics turn out, it will be worth the afternoon for the ones with me and Jaxxon. I LOVE IT!! Thank you. :)"
Capturing moments like that make me so thankful for the path God has leading me down.
If you would like to see more, Jaxxon's slideshow it below.
Thanks for stopping by!
When I talk about what I consider to be a good photo, I seldom mention words like exposure and composition. Don't get me wrong. Those are both very important in photography, but the words I am most likely to say are emotion and meaning. For me a photo can even be a little blurry, but if it captures a tender moment it can still be better than the crispest photo ever taken.
Chris and I both lost our grandfathers in the summer of 2011. We lost them within the span of two weeks. They were both very important in our lives and helped shape us into the people we are today. When Chris was a teenager he helped his Grandfather a lot on his farm. I remember when we first started dating that there were signs on the gates that led into the farm that read "Stewart Farm." Chris told me that he had helped his grandfather hang these signs.
After Tata's passing last summer, we were going through one of his out buildings and found one of the signs. Chris took it home that day and later shared an idea with me. He wanted me to photograph our kiddos and his sister's children with the sign on the farm for his mom for Christmas. So he arranged it with his sister.
I will go ahead and tell you that this next photo was my favorite from the day. Why is it my favorite? I like the colors. I like the contrast. I like that the little boys are holding the sign as it would have been hung on the gate.
The next photo is the one Chris had planned. This was the first time in years that any crop other than hay had been grown on Tata's farm. He leased it to some local farmers and they grew corn. He negotiated the terms in the spring before he became sick.
We weren't able to get together to get the photo taken before the crop was harvested, but Chris had the farmers leave a section of corn when they harvested the crop. We met at the barn and secretly crossed the road to where he wanted the photos taken. He wanted a photo of the kids holding the sign in front of the corn.
For Christmas we gave his parents a 24x36 gallery wrap of the photo above. Like I said before, I liked the other photo a little better, and I wasn't able to get the image to fit on the gallery wrap exactly as I would have liked. However, Chris loved it. It was the one that was the most meaningful to him. That is what really mattered.
When my in-laws unwrapped it on Christmas I knew that Chris was right. The way his mom cried when she looked at it. The way she hugged me. The way she thanked me. The emotion she felt was so obvious. This image held so much meaning for her and that meant everything about it was perfect.
It is now above their fireplace, and I hope that each time she looks at it she smiles. I hope that she has good memories. I hope that she will know she is loved.
That my friends is what I believe makes a photograph meaningful.
This week I had my first shoot of 2012. It was supposed to be last week, but we rescheduled due to the weather. Monday's weather wasn't too great either, but Rhiannon was a trooper. Here are just a few quick favorites from our time together.
Mom, I hope you enjoy the sneak peek. Many more sweet ones to come!
With all the Christmas sessions I got behind in posting my regular sessions from late 2011. Morgan was actually my last session of the year, and what a great one it was to end with.
Morgan was the first one to use my "new" old camera. She took a few shots of me while I was taking a few of her.
Morgan is fun, fun, fun and I knew we were going to have lots of laughs. She kept me laughing with all her jokes.
Smiles were no problem for Morgan. This is the real thing. No fake smiles. Just lots of laughs!
I love this brick wall. One of my very favorite backdrops for my urban sessions.
And I love this one of Morgan and her mom.
I'm going to end on my absolute favorite of the day. I love so many of them, but I think this is one of my all-time favorites ever.
Morgan, you were such a trooper. Thanks for being so awesome (as always) and for making my last session of the year one of the very best!
I don't know if you have noticed it, but the stores are clearing the shelves of candy canes and replacing them with conversation hearts. Yes, it is time to start thinking about Valentine's Day. This year why not do something a little different and give a card that will find it's way into the photo album or scrapbook rather than that file where all others seem to go? You know what I mean!
This year I am offering Valentine's in two different sizes.
Wallets -
Pricing for Wallets:
$10 per sheet of 8 with minimum order of 2 sheets.
Or 4x6 prints
Pricing for 4x6 Valentines:
$2 per print with a minimum order of 12 prints.
This year I am offering 6 different designs. You may see them here on my Facebook page. Orders should be placed no later than February 3rd to insure they arrive in time for Valentine's Day.
Want a creative idea of how to use your 4x6 Valentine prints? See my tutorial for making popcorn valentines. A nice alternative to candy.
This was a fun one! We got off to a bit of a rocky start, but it all worked out in the end. Miss Brystol wasn't too into this whole Christmas-picture-taking-thing.
Glad I was clicking because it was the shot her parents chose for their Christmas cards. Made for an awfully adorable card!
Things did get better though.
Helping me with a little decorating.
Isn't Christmas going to be fun at Brystol's house this year?! Merry Christmas, Brystol. I know Santa is going to be good to you!
One of the wonderful things about my job is getting to meet new people. Next up is the Tipper Family. Katie's aunt gave them the mini-session as a Christmas gift. What a thoughtful aunt!
My friend, Anna Catherine, who was assisting me that day, fell pretty hard for Walker. It's easy to see why!
Some fun family shots.
Such a cute couple.
My favorite family shot.
Thanks so much for coming out. It was so nice to meet your family. Merry Christmas! I know this is going to be a very special one for your sweet family.
These three girls. LOVE THEM!
You know it's going to be fun whenever they are on the schedule!
Miss Ella just loves to pose for me. She could be a model!
Mia, Mia, Mia. Such a beauty.
Little Miss Sophie. Such a cutie.
I cannot tell you how blessed I am to know this family. Their mom has taught me so much about being a mom. They have been such a blessing to our community, and I am so happy to count them among my friends.
Merry Christmas, girls! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
This makes the fourth year in a row Sawyer, Kennedy and Jacob have come to see me for Christmas mini-sessions. I just love these three kiddos, and their mom always does an awesome job choosing their outfits. This year she knocked it out of the park once again.
Love, love, love the hats.
What's underneath the hat is pretty stinkin' adorable as well!
It always seems that I end up converting some of theirs to black and white. They always just seem to have the perfect vintage look to them that I can't resist.
Thanks for coming to see me again this year, guys! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas!
Let's start the week before Christmas out with another one from my day of Christmas Mini-sessions. Meet Karston, Kragen and Karoline.
Here's a favorite of the boys.
Karston.
Kragen.
And Miss Karoline.
Isn't Christmas going to be fun at their house this year?!
Merry Christmas! I know this is going to be a very special Christmas for your family this year. Thank you for letting me capture some of the memories!
Our last session of the day was Braden. He was so excited about seeing Santa.
He had his list memorized and went into great detail! I just has to smile!
Braden had picked out his own outfit. Doesn't he look handsome?!
One last hug before saying Good-bye.
What a wonderful first day of Santa sessions we had. I say again and again how blessed I am to get to share in so many special memories. This day was certainly a blessing for me. We had another afternoon of Santa sessions, and I am looking forward to sharing those, too.
Another on of my favorite kiddos. This makes the third year I have done Jackson's Christmas photos. The first time he was brand new.
Now look how big he is!
Jackson was not too sure about Santa.
In fact at first he was pretty sure he did not like Santa.
But Santa is a Jolly Old Elf, and he worked hard to make Jackson his friend. Soon they were spotting reindeer.
And peeking through gates.
In the end they were friends.
Merry Christmas, Jackson!
Next up is two of my favorite kiddos. Kaylee and Connor.
Connor had grown so much since his 6-month session this summer. You never know about this age, but he wasn't frightened at all by Santa.
In fact, he was very curious. Yes, it is real!
This was one of my favorites of the day.
Kaylee wasn't too sure about Santa in the beginning. She did tell him that she would like for him to bring her a cash register. She told him the most important thing of all. That her mommy would like some jewelry! I never thought about trying that!
Before she left she came back to give Santa a big hug.
Kaylee, I hope you get that cash register you're hoping for. I bet Santa remembers your mommy, too!
Next to visit Santa were Molly and Stewart's classmates and friends, Jackie and Nathan.
Jackie was so pretty in her new dress. She was surprised when Santa called her by name!
Nathan asked Santa if he was the "real" Santa. A tug on his beard was proof enough I do believe.
Just a few without Santa.
Saying good-bye.
I'm so glad I got to share in their visit with Santa this year. Hope you two get everything on your list!
Oh what fun Santa mini-sessions were! I am so glad I decided to do these this year! What a treat it was to get to see all the little ones visit Santa with their lists. They were all so precious. I have several to share, so I am planning to post one per day.
Charli Ann and Josi were the first to visit Santa at the barn this year.
I just love these girls. They are simply precious.
Charli Ann giving Santa a big hug. Love it!
I just love this one of Josi whispering in Santa's ear.
Their mom had asked if it would be ok to bring their dog, Molly. I said of course! Santa brings goodies to puppies, too!
After the girls had spent plenty of time with Santa, we did a few of just them.
And just a candid one of the girls playing with Molly.
Oh what fun we had that day. This was just the beginning! Check back tomorrow for another Santa session.
Another one of my favorite familes. We have become great friends over the past few years.
We probably first met with our children being involved int he same activities. Plus the children's consignment sale I host with a friend twice each year. I've taken their photos many times.
Alex and Andrew. I just love these little guys. They both have a special spot in my heart.
It's funny that Dawn and I went to school together (she was a year or two behind me), but we didn't even know each other then. Dawn and I started running together this year as she was training for her first half marathon. We try to run together three times a week. I'm so thankful for her to hold me accountable!
I haven't talked much about, Russ, but he's a pretty good guy, too. :-)
In case you were wondering about this new spot I used for fall mini-sessions, it is literally the side of my yard. These huge rocks are ones that were moved when we had the basement dug for our house. This was the perfect spot for fall photos. I don't know why I had never realized that before!
If you've visited my website much at all chances are you have seen Cooper. He's one of my best buddies.
But you have never seen his little sister. Meet Miss Cori.
I can tell they are going to have lots of fun together.
I hope I am there to capture some of it!
