I've used this location before, but on this day, we just kept finding gem after gem after gem. Little miss wasn't too keen on being there at first, but after she warmed up...just look at those grins. Little man, however, may very well be destined to be a model. He's so young, but he can totally turn on the charm for the camera. I so enjoy photographing this family.



I first met them when baby girl was still in mommy's tummy. I was so excited for them because they were having a girl. At the time, I was just a few months pregnant behind her and didn't know what I was having. (I think she did an excellent job of sending those pink vibes my way.) And then, I got to watch her grow up: newborn, 4 months,  7 months, and one year...and see my future a few months before my own little girl reached those milestones. I just love looking back on all of these images and I try to imagine what kinds of memories we preserved for this family.

["Sweet" tidbit of info: a few months ago I was contacted by the owner of Hey Cupcake! looking for a family to serve as the models for a new print ad campaign and THIS family was the one they chose! I can't wait to see how the ads turned out!!!]

My SIL sent me this dress a long time ago and it's been on my list to photograph. It wasn't until I started reading Water for Elephants that inspiration struck for these images. I wish had more vintagy circus things to add in here and I actually think I will revisit someday to carry that out. However, I was proud to experiment more with OCF and I really liked the feel it gave these images.

There were two other dresses on my list, but Amry was only willing to do one more that day:

This family, near and dear to my heart, is no stranger to this blog. I have had the honor of photographing babies #2 and #3 as newborns with several wonderful family sessions woven throughout. This time, we wanted to do something different. Something more lifestyle. How are they when they're just hanging out together? What do they do as a family? It was such a fun afternoon, although I will admit that bouncing around on the trampoline made me the teensiest bit woosey ;-). This kind of love and connection cannot be forced. These kids could not be happier. Their mama could not be a better example of what a mommy/wife should be. Their dad could not be funnier.

Their holiday card proved to be quite a challenge for me, though. There were so many images we wanted to feature, but short of sending out a poster-sized card, we had to come up with some way to tell the story of their session. So, we ended up with this tri-fold:

I LOVED how it turned out. In fact, I decided to turn the JOY, HOPE, LOVE lines into a 12x12 storyboard AND it was used as the title page of their album:

It's not what you think. "The Booty Seat" (ie. Beauty Seat) is where my little princess goes to prim on a daily basis. She's very skilled. And she does laundry. She's going to make a much better wife than me someday.

This is what happens when you show up, hang out, and happen to take a few pics of a family being a family. Well...we did have some mosquitoes and a mishap with a set of stairs, but just look at their connection! Can't beat that!