I always get so excited to work with new clients.  As soon as I saw the amazing head of blonde curls on this little sweetie, I couldn’t get

behind the lens soon enough.  I love shooting little ones with curly hair; it adds so much life and movement to the pictures.  Blonde hair

is so lovely to backlight too, so I knew that we would get some great images out of this session.  I am really loving shooting in the spring blossoms

this year.  After our ridiculously long winter, these mini sessions in the sunshine sure felt wonderful!

so much love in one family.  Good stuff, that’s all there is to say about that.  Enjoy!

Mini Sessions Take Two: The Royce Family

Now that i’ve gotten that out of the way, get a load of this beautiful family.  Jennifer called me a few days before this session asking if we could fit it in.  Her sister-in-law

owns a little boutique and had sent her these fantastic outfits to use for some advertising.  She asked if I knew of a good nautical location to do the session and I

knew the marina would fit the bill to a “T.”  We fit this little session in in the 20 minute window before sunset, but we got so many lovely pictures in that little

window of time.  Having gorgeous models and divine lighting sure made this photographer love her job!

A little lovey moment is pretty much out of the question when you have a two year old boy in the mix!

Twice per year, in the spring and fall, I do my “official” styled/thematic Mini Sessions.  This fall, they are on November 9th and I am so excited about the “back-to-school” set and the retro Christmas set that I’m going to be using.   Mini sessions usually book up super fast and this fall was no different.  Spring session will be here before you know it, though, and I am working on something super special.

Anyhow, here are some pictures from this mornings little mini shoot with Mr. Banyan.  Being 3 years old, his attention span for pictures is pretty short anyways, so a mini session works perfectly to get shots of him.  I took Banyan for a haircut yesterday evening, because his mullet style was getting a little out of control.  Banyan used to HATE HATE HATE haircuts, but my sweet friend Alyson took him last time he needed one and ever since, he has been a total peach….go figure.  Noa, after seeing his little bro’s transformation had this comment to make, “Mommy!  Banyan is so stylin’ now!  He is, like, REALLY handsome.”

Are you sick of seeing this alley way yet?  

He looks so much like his daddy here.  When we found out we were having a boy we decided that his middle name should be Arvin,after his paternal great-grandpa.  As things would go, our middle child got his daddys and great-grandaddys blues eyes <3

Heidi and Brian and their little threesome of world changers are our small-group Bible study leaders.  Every Thursday they are gracious enough to open their adorable arts-and-crafts style home to about 15 people and let us invade their space for food, fun, fellowship, and a bit of kid-craziness thrown in the mix.  Brian is also an elder in our church and he and Heidi are super hands-on, creative, awesome parents who we feel blessed to be in community with.

For this mini session we scoped out an empty lot just near town that had some dogwood trees that were starting to chance colors.  Since we live a bit south and east of the real mountain-y part of the state, it takes a bit longer for our trees to start showing their fall colors than it does elsewhere.  I think a couple weeks from now will be splendid, as far as autumn colors goes, but right now we are just starting to see and feel the glory of fall.  It was a super windy afternoon, so I had to be careful not to get the girls hair blowing all over the place.  Otherwise, we had a great time, even though Miss Kate, their youngest daughter was pretty adamant about not wanting to have her pictures taken.

A word of advice before I show you pictures of this gorgeous family…..sometimes, no matter how hard we try, a kid is just not going to be in the mood for pictures.  The best thing a parent can do in this situations is not stress about it and go with the flow.  Kids totally catch on if you are stressing out about the “perfect” photo session and, usually, they take that opportunity to try out their stoic look.  I’m definitely NOT saying that Heidi and Brian were stressed (anything but, actually), but they were great about not making it a big deal and keeping this carefree.

A couple notes about this session, and things to keep in mind when you book your session:

1) The evening we shot these pictures, it was super overcast.  Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it just give the pictures a different feel than a bright sunny evening does.  If you want sunflares, golden haze, and dreamy yellow light in your pictures, you might want to have a backup date just in case it’s not a sunny day.  It doesn’t have to be cloudless, but when the entire sky is clouded over, it does affect the way the pictures come out.  Just something to consider.

2) This was a mini session.  A mini session is about 30 minutes long and includes about 15 edited images on disc.  Sometimes things go way better than expected and I end up with way more than 15 images.  If you just need an updated family picture, a Christmas card shot, or just want to catch some captures of a child reaching a milestone, a mini session is a great way to do that and not break the bank in the process.  Mini Sessions have a $100.00 fee and can be booked at any time.  I do offer special stylized mini session twice per year, in the spring and fall.

When my girlfriend called me at the last minute to see if I wouldn’t mind shooting a quick session of the kids, I was super excited and so happy that I had a free evening to do it.  She was gracious enough to stay at my home with my three crazies so I could walk these four down the street to the river for our little mini session.

I have yet to shoot a 4-8 year old boy who doesn’t want to show me his muscles.  Brody was no exception.

No head swaps required.  Someone is getting her hair pulled.

My fav shot from the session.  I love Cole’s sweet little face and how he is just drinking in all that big kid attention.

I love how, when you ask kids to make funny faces, they always resort to sticking out their tongues, bunny ears, or rolled eyes.  So awesome.

The first time I met Moriah, she was this teeny little skinny kid running around our church’s elementary wing and giving these amazing hugs to all the little toddlers who followed her around.  She just has this way with people….babies, toddlers, kids, her peers, adults….it doesn’t matter.  Everyone.  Loves.  Her.  That includes me.  And my kids.  Yep.

So, about 2+ years ago, Moriah asked me to do a photo session with her.  Maybe I asked her.  I don’t remember.  The point is, we have been meaning to do this for a really long time.  For whatever reason, it just never worked out.  I have to say, though, I’m glad it didn’t work out sooner, because tonight was just meant to be.  The weather was amazing.  The little downtown was buzzing with activity.  She looked adorable.  It really was photographic perfection.

This is just a sneak peek, because there were way too many pictures to choose from.  I’m going to work on editing through them tomorrow, because the rest of them are just as fantastic as these ones.  This girl doesn’t take a bad shot.  Nope.

Moriah, I love you, girl!

I don’t usually process my images very heavily.  At least I don’t think I do.  This one, though, I had some fun with.  It just felt good.

Fall Mini Sessions will be November 9th.  There are still 4 openings left, so if you are interested, please let me know as soon as possible to secure your spot.  I am offering sessions in the morning and evening to try to accommodate as many people as possible.

So, now that you have information about mini sessions, let me introduce you to this gorgeous family.  Nicole is a fellow coastie wife and her husband was doing his duty serving our country, so, unfortunately, he didn’t make it to this session.  The Driver’s have the three cutest kids in the world (other than my own, says this unbiased photographer).  Seriously, though, their eyes are just to die for.  The first time I met Nicole was at a baby shower and I commented to our mutual friend about how stinkin’ gorgeous she was, to which my friend replied, “wait till you see her kids!”  Well, she was right, and as soon as I met her little crew of rascals, I couldn’t wait to have a chance to do a shoot for her family.

I have a special connection to this mamma and her little trio.  We were pregnant with our 3rds at the same time.  I remember when she found out she was having a girl, I was so excited for her and hoped that we would be getting the same exciting news.  Sure enough, we both had girlies. Avenlea and her little princess are so blessed to have their older superhero brothers to protect them!

“Show me your silliest faces!”

“OK.  Now show me how much you love your brother!”

In color and B&W, because I can never choose.  Which one do you like best??

This one is my favorite from the session.  I just love how she looks so content and secure at mammas side.  Baby girl <3

I’m not the only one who has a little peanut of a baby.  Miss I is about 6 weeks older than Avenlea and they’re both little teeny mammas.

Boy Party!!!  The little ones always love when the truck comes along for a session.

“It’s a wrap!!”