Archive for 'Sneak Peek'
I was just a teensy bit nervous that #1 her mommy is an excellent photographer and #2 they flew in from Minnesota for this session. Uhhh…no pressure, Michele.
But, this is definitely going to go down as one of those sessions where everything just floated along perfectly and she could do no wrong. There was such a cool vibe with the session and so much joy and excitement shared between mother/daughter for this trip together to Austin, for this monumental milestone of her upcoming graduation, for the fact we were celebrating all of these things with a timeless photo shoot. They totally inspired me to do this for my own kiddos when they reach this point. I think it would be amazing to take a weekend trip one-on-one with each child and have pictures taken where they chose.
K…you are a remarkable, confident, beautiful, glowing young woman…incredibly self-assured and completely comfortable in your own skin. Never, ever lose that. It is going to serve you well when you venture off to college and beyond.
Can’t think of anything better to do than to document the pregnancy and their time together while still a family of 3. Goodness, their little boy is beautiful and I cannot wait to meet his baby sister in a few weeks! That wildflower field was a total fluke find, by the way. I actually took a wrong turn going to our meeting spot and happened to spy it behind a car wash, if you can believe it!
I truly believe the home is too often overlooked as the perfect session location. Sometimes we get so caught up in the idea of getting gussied up and going downtown to shoot, we forget that it’s not necessarily the location that makes the images, but the feelings and connections created in those images that make them so special. And your home is probably the most ideal place to relax and get true feelings and connections. This is especially true when a session involves little ones and here’s why:
1. It’s safer. Your home has been lived in…by you and by your children and you’ve already eliminated things (traffic, bugs, etc.) that might get in the way of safe play.
2. You have what you need. When out and about with little ones, there’s often so much stuff to carry around and we tend to bring even more stuff to a photo session. And invariably, you will forget something at home or realize mid-shoot that the perfect toy that will calm your child down is resting peacefully on his bed right now. When working at home, we can take breaks (snack, bathroom, etc.) as often as we need to and we don’t have to worry about disrupting the flow of the session. Spill something on a shirt? No problem…we can change it! Your baby is getting hungry? Great…let’s eat and even better, we can take advantage of that time to capture some truly candid images of your family life.
3. Memories. There is no way to predict what will trigger an important memory for your child years down the road, but by having a photo session in your home, you are much more likely to capture some things that will become invaluable to your children later on. For me personally, I moved around to several different homes as a young child and so I just love pouring through pictures taken in those homes because it helps me to remember what they were like.
4. You can relax. This is the biggest reason to consider your home for at least one family photo session for your kids. You don’t have to worry about fighting traffic or bad weather or packing or planning around potty breaks or other people watching you (this is often a big one for dad, LOL). We can take our time and let the photo session develop organically. We can work in several places in and around your home and photograph you all doing the kinds of things you like to do together as a family. You (and your children) are more likely to be calm and relaxed in your own cozy little environment.
I’ve been working with this little charmer since he was still in his mommy’s tummy. Here’s what struck me about this time around:
1. He’s fast. Really, really fast. His mommy works very hard to keep up with him.
2. Loved listening to him talk. It’s the first time I’ve really heard him chatter before.
3. He’s looking like a little boy…not so much like a baby or even a toddler.
4. He is well-loved and he and his mommy have so much fun together. Missed dad this round which is kindofa bummer because I know he just lights up when he plays with his dad, too.
…maybe, juuuuuuust maybe, I pulled a few too many “favs” from this session to blog. Oh, well. Too bad. It was a rockin’, relaxed, family photo session at home doing family-like things. I can’t help it. Those are the kinds of things that float my boat. Another heart-fluttering fav for me HERE.
I am almost 100% certain you all remember “Miss Jolie-Pitt”. Well, she and her hubby had their baby boy and I think he’s pretty darned adorable!!! I have to say that it’s not right for a new mommy to look that beautiful so soon and the sock monkey hat is TDF! And it’s tough to resist the temptation to curl right up next to them when they’re all snuggled up like that in that deep, peaceful baby slumber.
Oh, yes, must share this quick snapshot of Mr. Domestic while we were setting up for the shoot:
Yup. I’d say that’s pretty close to perfect in my book, LOL!
I was beginning to wonder if this session was ever going to happen for us. You see, we already rescheduled twice because of rain and then wouldn’t you know it, in the wee hours of the morning of our third try, I got a call from this family 😉 and I ended up camping out at the hospital. My goal was to still hold their session that day, but we’d just move it to the afternoon. But as we all know, babies like to be born on their own schedule and I seriously didn’t think I would make it downtown that day. Somehow, it worked out, and as soon as I finished up the birth photos, I hoofed it down to them. I’m so thankful they were so patient and understanding that day! And I have to tell you, that baby girl sure made it super easy to have a wonderful session. They truly don’t come sweeter than her. Just look at those squishy cheeks and that hilarious duck face she makes. Sigh…
One thing that I try to stress over and over again in my professional photography workshops is to have a plan, but be willing to accept it when that plan has to totally go out the window. For this session, we had an amazing plan and Linsey, oh, Linsey worked so hard coming up with most ADORABLE campfire and s’more set up. The weather was perfection, the light was stunning, the outfits she put together were bright and happy, but when we first got together that night, I didn’t think anything would end up bright and happy. You can read all of the details in Linsey’s perfectly written blog post, but I’ll sum it up for you in four words: kids will be kids.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret: in my heart of hearts, I honestly did not think we were going to pull this session off. Bless them, they drove all the way in from the Houston area and Linsey was trying so hard to keep everyone happy and cheerful. We were getting desperate. Some lovely stranger at the park even ran to her car to get us a band-aid for the little guy when he fell. I think everyone at the park took pity on us that evening. When it was clear that it was hopeless, I finally took Linsey aside so we could re-evaluate our situation. I said, “We have to come up with a Plan B in case we can’t pull it together before the sun goes down. What are the three most important things to you that you want me to capture in this session?” She looked at me with her big beautiful eyes and said with complete and heartfelt conviction, “I need to look pretty. I need the kids to smile. I need our family interacting together.” Not too much to ask at all. We can do this. I know we can do this!
And wouldn’t you know it that as soon as we had decided to call it a night, miraculously, the kids rallied and we accomplished our goals for the evening: 1) Linsey looked BEAUTIFUL, even when she was surrounded by tears and chaos, 2) the kids DID smile, and 3) everyone came together and looked like they were having the time of their lives. Whew!!!! Thank you so much, Linsey, for hanging in there that evening and for not giving up on me ;-). I hope you can look back on these images and maybe have a little giggle to remember what we went through to get this. And in case you can’t remember:
P.S. You can check out Linsey’s beautiful photography HERE!