Sassy Senior

I don't know about you, but I remember Senior pictures being pretty boring, stuffy and 'posey' (think mirrors, robes and roses). I have been excited to see that the world of Senior Portraits has evolved into SO much more! Nowadays, Seniors can choose to get their portrait session done on location, with a multitude of outfits, accessories, etc.

And as I was processing this session, I realized why a great Senior portrait session is so important. Most Seniors probably haven't had the typical 'kid' portraits done in awhile (as they go thru that awkward middle school phase). And they likely won't have good pictures again until they get married. So this is an important time for Seniors (or rather, their parents) to get a killer photo session that's all about THEM!!

And that's exactly what we did here - this fun and sassy senior brought all her tack and lots of personality! It was lots of fun, and I"m looking forward to doing more Seniors next year!

Mommy's Sweet Girl

Sometimes we are blessed with a friend not just thru a time, or a season, but for a lifetime. No matter where our lives have taken us (and it's currently several states apart), K and I have been friends since we were 3 years old. We met in dance class, and have many memories of classes, costumes, recitals, practicing (or not practicing). If our dear teacher were still alive, she would adore the sight of us with our sweet baby girls. Maybe someday our little girls can get together and dance to the music :-)

Anyway, I traveled home to see her and little Miss L for some newborn shots. Although, Miss L was about 6 weeks old, so she was out of the 'sleepy and curly' phase already. So she did much better with mommy holding and snuggling her. Which is great, because I adore mommy-and-baby shots, and here's a couple to enjoy....

Snuggly Little Sweetie

This little guy is the youngest of 7 children, and is every bit as relaxed as he can be. He literally slept thru the entire session, which is fabulous because then I can get all those sleepy-curled-up newborn pictures. That's why it's SO important to get your newborn session done within the first 14 days of life (the sooner the better). after 14 days, they start to wake up, 'uncurl' and get stretchy, and it becomes more difficult to prop them into all the sweet newborn poses

Every newborn session is different, as different setups or props strike me at the time. Today was a 'big basket and white fluffy blanket' day. He snuggled riiiiiiiight in.....can you stand those big scrunchy cheeks??

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4 Happy Cousins

These little guys (and girl) are cousins who live in separate states, so they were together for a week of Camp Granny! I asked beforehand if it was OK to use the lollipops as props (because I reeeeally wanted to). I wanted the wrappers off because hey, I wanted it to look real. Hehe, did I get real....I quickly realized that the suckers would leave quite the brightly-colored mouths on my little subjects. HA!!

In order to prevent them from running around with huge sticky suckers (and the ensuing sugar high), after the pictures were taken, we told the kids that I needed the suckers back "because I had to use them again". The older ones were a little suspicious, since the suckers had been de-packaged and licked....hehe..

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1 Year Old

(sigh), I cannot believe it, but my Sarah turned 1 in July. Ack! I took her to Sims Park (winner of the location contest....I told you I loved it!) for some pictures. Contrary to popular belief, she is *very* hard for me to photograph. She just sees mommy behind the camera, and doesn't particularly want to cooperate. So shooting her involves daddy and/or sister and/or any other body to be the 'parent', as I'm wearing my 'photographer' hat (not literally a hat, but that's not a bad idea....).

I know this dress is a little big, but I looooove it - the sweet smocking and embroidery, and most definitely the color. I had fun editing her session, I played around with all kinds of effects and textures. Some are obvious (naked by the river with her blue bow), and some are more subtle effects that change the overall feel and look of the image.

Hard to pick my top 5 (even harder to decide which one to use as a 16x20 on our wall)