Kids As Art, and some great news!

You may recognize this family from a session we did in September. At that time their middle daughter S, now 5, was at the tail end of her treatment for Wilm’s Tumor, a form of childhood kidney cancer. This is an especially Merry Christmas for them because tests recently revealed S to be cancer free!

She has been collecting symbolic beads for various milestones along the course of her treatment, and today she showed me her “NED” bead. NED stands for No Evidence of Disease. The NED bead has become the centerpiece of a special Christmas ornament on the tree this year (and as I was driving home from their house, I was doing a mental head-slap for not photographing that ornament. Doh!).

The family ordered a 16x18 canvas gallery wrap wall portrait for their family room. It's displayed over their couch and has the family's mantra "Moment By Moment" along the wrap sides.

S is also one of the 2010 Ambassador Kids for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, an organization that raises funds for childhood cancer research. Check her out here!

Sneak Peek - Father and Sons

You may recognize little A from earlier in the fall, when I was honored to shoot his 1-year session. He brought the rest of his family to meet me this past weekend. I love to see fathers having fun with their kids. Isn't that just the best?

This last one really makes me smile. I was instructing them to go cheek-to-cheek, but A kept kissing his dad anytime his face got too close. Totally adorable!

More Kids As Art

I got to visit some of my favorite clients today to check out how they have incorporated the “Kids As Art” idea into their home. When I got there I saw that this was an easy idea for them as they have photographic art throughout the house, including a gorgeous wall portrait over mantel from their wedding day.

Here is a 16x20 linen print in the TV room over the mantel.

And two 16x16 canvas collages in the dining room.

Thanks to the B family for letting me create these art pieces of their adorable daughter and for letting me stop by this morning with my camera.

Twins!

I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph some preemie newborn twins today. They don’t look like preemie newborn twins, you say? Well that’s because they were born at 36 weeks and weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and 7 lbs 10 oz! I am in pain just thinking about that. Their mom is totally a super hero, as I got to witness today. With these two little guys plus a 2-year-old big sis, this family truly has their hands full.

This was the first set of twins babies I have worked with in about 5 years, plus I was on location at the family’s home, so this was a fun and challenging day for me. These babies are both so big and strong that they would have nothing to with any type of traditional newborn posing techniques. One of them can already even hold his head up! It seemed that we could not get both of them in the same mood at the same time (one was awake while the other was sleepy, one was crying to be fed while the other was content). As their mom said “Welcome to my life!”

T, I hope you enjoy your sneak peek. More to come later this week!

Grandparents & Grandkids

It's always fun to capture the relationship between grandparents and grandkids, but even more fun when it's my own family. Here are my awesome in-laws (and no, they are not paying me to say that! LOL), my kids, and all their cousins. I just love this shot so much, I had to share it.

Rapunzel, my new photography assistant

Remember this 3 year old's session? Well now big sis is 5! Over the summer I was suggesting that their mom get in the photos, and this time she did! What a gorgeous family, huh? I am especially thankful for this family because they have been clients of mine since their oldest was a newborn, and they drive over 45 miles to come see me twice a year for the girls' birthday sessions. Thank you for all of your support, for sticking by me as my business grows and matures, and for bringing these gorgeous girls to see me. It's always a blast! Next time maybe we need to get Dad in the pictures too. :)

For this session, Rapunzel was my photography assistant. Rapunzel Barbie, that is. You can see her in one of the photos below.

I tried a little dreamier-looking processing on these last two.

Sneak Peek - Three Little Elves

This might simply be my favorite holiday photo ever. I love these hats, plus the expressions on all three kids is just priceless. I would print this one on a billboard if I could. LOL!

Here are a few more, minus the hats.

Sibling Sneak Peek

I do indeed love all the adorable babies who come to visit me, but it's also fun to work with older kids because they have a lot more patience. Here's a sneak peek from a weekend session. These two should really be rewarded for their patience because they stopped eating breakfast mid-meal to make it to their session on time. B&L, I hope you guys got some extra cinnamon rolls out of that deal!

Sneak Peek

I can't believe it's been a year since I have seen this little cutie. She's grown so much since last year, and now she's a big sister too!

Christmas Cutie in September

Why, yes I am shooting holiday portraits in September. Don't roll your eyes! Other photographers out there know that we need to start shooting holiday sessions in September and October in order to meet client demand for sessions and also to meet the holiday order deadlines for some of our specialty product vendors (custom holiday cards, photo jewelry, plaque and float mounts, canvas wraps, etc).

This little cutie was born around Thanksgiving last year, and her birth announcement had a photo of her wearing a little knit santa hat. How cute for this year's family card to replicate that idea, but now she's a much bigger kid!

And she was having such a great time with her Dad, I just had to combine these images together.

Hair Envy Strikes Again!

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that in the past I have had hair envy over a baby. Well, it’s happened again. Look at the full head of hair on this little guy! He came in for a baby parts session so I knew I had to get a close up of that gorgeous hair with the lighting set to really showcase its spikiness. He brought along his sister, whom I had the honor of creating a baby parts collage for just over a year ago. I can’t believe how much she’s grown. She’s certainly not a baby anymore!

Look who's 18 months old now!

You may recognize her because she is all over my blog and site, on studio samples, and in magazines. I have been photographing her since before she was even born (I did mom's maternity session), and I can't believe how quickly she has grown!

Her tall piggy tail is so cute. I was joking that I had to zoom out to fit it all in.

After we finished up in the studio, we stepped outdoors to experiment at bit. I stepped outside of the box and tried something a little more artsy-fartsy (LOL). For my photographer friends, this is an infrared action from Gavin Phillips. I had to tone it down a bit, but still think it's kinda fun!

Background for Mini Session Day

For those who have signed up for the October 11th mini session day for holiday cards, I just wanted to show you the backdrop that will be used that day. It's a nice chestnut paper and as you can see it looks lovely in color, black-and-white, or chocolate (sepia) tone.

If you have not yet signed up for the October 11th event, call now. There are still appointment times available! Details here.

Enormous Lollipops & A High School Musical Dance Party

I had the pleasure of meeting a really great family yesterday. I think this is the biggest sneak peek I have ever posted, but these girls are just so beautiful and I was having so much fun with the images that I couldn’t help myself.

The girls are 6, 4, and 2. The two older girls were really into the session, posing and hamming it up for the camera. We cranked up the High School Musical soundtrack and cut loose! The 2 year old -- not so much. Not even her mom’s purse full of Swedish Fish, my toy fart machine, a huge lollipop, or a skip thru the forest could get her in the mood for pictures. So we had to get a little bit creative, which is why you see her being waved thru the air by her dad. LOL!

The 4-year-old is currently battling childhood cancer, and her parents thought now would be an important time to document their family. I totally agree and I am truly honored that they chose me to help create their images. The family’s spirit, strength, and contagious positive attitude were evident the moment I met them, and I hope these portraits capture that. Please keep this beautiful family in your prayers and send positive thoughts their way during this challenging time.

Edited 9/20/09 to add: Lots of people have been asking where these cute outfits came from. I just got the link to the supplier, 3.l.p Couture.

Blue Eyes & Freckles

Here's a little sneak peek from earlier this week. Look at these three - such fresh happy faces with their freckles and beautiful bright eyes.

This last one cracks me up. My prop selection kept her entertained while I photographed her brothers. I just had to share this one because it's so cute!