Our family holiday photo...

I apologize... I've been a bad, bad blogger lately!! I got so far behind trying to wrap up all the orders and things for people before Christmas that I completely forgot to update this recently!



So here is a quick post... I took this photo of my family on Thanksgiving. We set up in the studio, and I must say my husband surprised me by being remarkably cooperative, especially considering football was on :) We tried to include our sweet old dog, Duffy (who will be 15 in Jan), in the photo but he really had a hard time sitting on the backdrop and without sliding, and didn't cooperate well. So we took this without him using my remote (I love that thing)!!

It's appropriate we took this on Thanksgiving, as I am truly thankful for my family... aren't they great?!

Three adorable girls... although I might be biased!

These are my nieces (along with my brother and sister-in-law)!

Miss L, who is only 8 but is almost as tall as me...

Miss K, who is 5 and was having fun pretending to be a ballerina...

And Miss R, who is 3 and enjoyed rolling all over my backdrop!

They weren't so tough individually... but getting a group shot of everyone was a bit of a challenge LOL! I think this one is so cute though...

Thanks for coming all the way down here for the session, K&J!!

Sweet kids in studio

These were such adorable kids... and so nice and polite too! And I just loved their coordinating outfits!!

We did have a bit of a hard time getting the little guy, Mr. L, to separate from Mom for any pictures. After going through my arsenal of tricks (which this time included my dancing and singing children, fruit snacks, even bringing my DOG out to the studio!), Mom gave up and incorporated the blankie and pacifier into the photo... and the tears magically disappeared!

Isn't that a cute shot? And I bet you can't even tell that Mom is laying down in the background behind the kids in order to get L into the frame with his brother and sister LOL!!!

And one of beautiful Miss C by herself... she is just so lovely and her personality matches her sweet smile!

Thanks, J, for bringing your kids to me... even if L wasn't overly thrilled about getting his picture taken, we did get some good shots, and I enjoyed working with your family!

Alert and strong newborn boy...

I did a newborn session last week with the V Family... Baby "E" kept me on my toes! He was so alert and awake for almost the entire session! We cranked the heat up to 80, mom fed and rocked him (more than once!), gave him some background noise... but still he only slept for about 10 minutes. I guess he couldn't bear to miss anything LOL!!

Look at those big bright eyes... so sweet...

Here he was during his VERY brief nap... love those newborn wrinkles!!

And one with big brother "T" when he got home from preschool... I was amazed at how strong baby E was. We'd lay him down on his stomach to get some pics with big brother, and he would push up and turn his head away from me to look at his brother. So we flipped his body around, thinking maybe he liked facing to the right better, and he did the same thing back the other way! I was getting a complex... either he hated my camera or really loved his big brother... I'm sure that's what it was :)

So here's your preview, P and J... thank you for the opportunity to work with your sweet boys!

Sweet mom and teenage son...

I did a quick mini-session for this mom and son this past week... C and E were so easy to work with!! It's amazing how quick a session can go when you're not chasing down the child in between every shot, or having to resort to bribery to get them in front of the camera!

I just hope my own son is still as sweet to me when he gets to be in junior high!

It was nice to meet you, C... enjoy your quick peek!

Mini session with two sweet munchkins...

I recently posted an outdoor family session with these two cuties, Miss A and Mr. N and their parents. They also came in last week for my Holiday Card Mini Session to get some of the children together in the studio.

Miss A is 2 1/2, very independent and full of spunk!! She took some convincing (translate: bribing with Smarties and Halloween fruit snacks!) to stop hiding behind the chair and pose for pictures with her brother, but eventually we succeeded and got some good ones!

While she wasn't too excited about taking pics together, she was more than willing to model for me while baby brother needed a bottle...

And Mr. N was sweet beyond words... I could have sat here and held him all day (he was such a good boy AND he still has that new baby smell)!!

I was happy to have another opportunity to work with these two, and hope to see them back again someday! They're just too cute!!

What happens when you're in the park at closing time?

They sic the law on you!!! Lesson #1... When the "hours" sign posted at this particular park says 5 pm, they mean 5 pm!! This was the first time I had done a session here so close to closing during the park's winter hours, and we weren't sure what would happen at 5pm.

We had been shooting for over an hour, and the kids had about had it with me and my camera, when we heard a siren coming towards us and stop at the top of the (VERY STEEP) hill... and then a voice coming over a loudspeaker telling us all to return to our vehicles!!



I was rather mortified, but luckily I have known the client for a few years, so she and her family just laughed as we sprinted (OK, speed walked) up the hill (note to self: excercise would be helpful)... Then the officer "escorted" all our vehicles out of the park with his lights on, no less!!!



Not to worry...we did get some good shots in before being so rudely chased away!! I love this one of T and C... T is a good friend of my daughter's, and I know I can always count on these two to be laughing and smiling!

This was their cousin, Miss P... isn't she a cutie! She was trying to add some fiber to her diet by eating as many leaves as possible :)

Here's a shot of all the cousins together... look at Miss P laughing... I love it!

And the last shot of the day... a bit of an outtake!! You can see that little Mr. K had had enough, and the other boys are all looking away trying to figure out what that siren was all about... You can't get a clearer sign that it's time to end the photo session!!

Hope you enjoy your sneak peek... I'll have the full session to come soon!

What a sweet shy smile...

This little cutie is a friend of ours... her oldest sister is in the same grade as my daughter, and her middle sister is in the same class as my son. Little Miss M is the youngest, and she loves to follow them all around... and my kids and I just think she's the sweetest thing ever!

I took the fall photos at her preschool and she was sick that day, so we did a quick mini-session at my home studio instead. I'm so glad I was able to get her to relax a little, because she is just adorable!

I just love this photo... I think it's one of my new faves!

Sweet snuggly, sleepy newborn boy!

I just love referrals - thanks A!! I was so excited to get the email that someone had seen my work and wanted me to take newborn photos of her soon-t0-be born grandchild! And they wanted me to do them in the baby's first week (yay)! Babies are so much easier to position in the first week, as they're still bendy and foldable and will usually stay where you place them once asleep :)

This family was great... they cranked up their heat and let me work with their naked, sleepy baby boy for over 2 hours to get SO many adorable shots!! Mr. M was the tiniest, sweetest little peanut... I wish they were all that easy!

Mom and dad really wanted one with big brother Z, who wasn't all that interested in getting his pic taken! So we just snapped a few, and came away with this gem :) Isn't it perfect?

So thank you, K family, for letting me meet your new darling boy! I hope you enjoy your sneak peek... I'll get the full gallery to you soon!

One of my favorite repeat clients and her cousins

Remember "Sweet Kissable Cheeks" from September? Well, I got to see her again, with her three cousins. I sure was lucky to get 4 beautiful kids all in one sitting, even if getting them all to cooperate for a photo was a challenge :)

Here are Miss K, Miss L, Mr. A, and Miss A:

We also took some family photos for Miss L, Mr. A and their parents. Aren't they a great-looking family?

And finally, a couple of the older girls by themselves, just b/c I thought they looked so lovely :)

It was so nice to meet everyone, and I thank you all for meeting in a central location for this session! I'll have your complete gallery finished soon...

Kindergarten is a fun age...

I like working with kids that are in kindergarten... they usually have such fun stories to tell and give me some of the best smiles! Of course, I get my fair share of shy looks and goofy faces mixed in, but that's all part of the fun!

I did this session with Miss E, M and M last week at one of my favorite outdoor locations. We weren't sure if we would see any hunters now that pheasant season has started, but thankfully it was all clear! The weather was beautiful, I loved the brown and red colors they chose... all in all it was a really good session!

Here are a few of the ones I liked the best...

And one last one of E by herself... she wasn't so sure about standing by the tree, but I'm so glad she did, because this is so sweet!

Thanks so much for coming down to Wilmington, and it was so nice to meet all of you! I hope you enjoy your quick peek!

A family session in studio...

Well, this was my first chance to use my new smoke grey seamless paper (LOVE IT!!) and it was for a special family... my mother-, father-, and sister-in-law! They haven't had photos taken in many, many years, and asked me to do the honors. Luckily, they were willing to brave the chaos that is my garage studio in the midst of painting and other remodeling,

Here is one of my sister-in-law, who made me laugh with her crazy expressions and poses - she was quite the model :) We did get some nice ones though, including this one...

My kids were happy to see such a nice photo of "Nana and Papa"...

And one of the three of them together...

Thanks for coming to my studio (and the kids' soccer games!) and I hope you're happy with your photos!!!

Cloudy day... sweet family!

Well, the weather wasn't on our side for this session last Friday... it was very cloudy, chilly, and it actually started sprinkling before we were done. But we were bound and determined to get this family session done!

Little"Miss A" fell asleep on the way there and the poor sweetie really wasn't sure she wanted much to do with me, but she finally came around (treats in the camera bag work wonders)!

And baby "N" was all curious and happy... a little cutie :) He did have a little habit of spitting up... in large volumes... Outfit #1 was done before he even got out of the car LOL! But one thing I've learned, both as a mother and a photographer of babies, is that you've got to be prepared for anything to happen and just roll with it :)

Here is one with N and his daddy...

And then a family photo... there was a whole flock of geese on the lake near us, and Miss A was very intent on talking to them and trying to convince them to come closer to us... very cute :)

And one more... I felt bad b/c the ground was damp so everyone was wet when we were done, but they were all such good sports! This is about the time it started sprinkling too...

Enjoy your preview - this was one of those sessions that was short but sweet!

Another fun family...

I had such a fun time with this family on Sunday! They requested a park I'd never been to before, and I definitely would go back here again. There were so many great spots for photos... great call, "O" family!

Their daughter, who is the same age as my son, was having a lot of fun helping me pick out locations and suggesting poses. She said she likes being artistic, and I could tell. Thanks for some great posing ideas, Miss M!

Little J was too sweet... he went from being shy to big tackling hugs in no time! His big brother and sister were great with him... you can just see how much fun they all have together.

And I have to say, these were some of the most easy-going parents EVER! They would walk away and let me work with the kids on my own without me even asking... and that really does make a difference. Kids don't want mom and dad breathing down their neck the whole time... they want to have fun! They want to try to startle the photographer by telling her there is a huge dinosaur... or more believably, a raccoon or a weird bird, right behind her... oh wait, no, not really... Yeah, big brother X was doing his best to trick me!

But seriously, these parents were up for anything. When I asked them to lay on the ground with the kids piled on top, no problem!

When I said, OK, now kids tickle your parents and it turned into a big crazy laugh-fest... that's fine too! This session was truly a reminder of how lucky I am to have such a fun job...

Energy... pure energy...

I had a session with Miss N last Friday - she's soon to turn 4 and full of energy! I don't need to join a gym... I just need to have more photo sessions with kids in the 2-4 age range :)

She was lots of fun, and we got some great smiles! The leaves are starting to change, and I loved capturing the fall leaves, green grass, and her brown shirt... a perfect fall photo!

She enjoyed splashing in the water... luckily it was an unseasonably warm day in October! I felt so bad about the mosquitoes though... she got one nasty bite right between her eyes, poor thing. Luckily, it didn't seem to bother her a whole lot... Miss N was much more excited to hear that I have a secret stash of treats for good kids in my camera bag!!

I had a great time with the whole family... I hope you enjoyed your little preview!

Three brothers = one wild 'n' crazy photo session!

So Sunday I had a session that was rescheduled from the previous week - Mom really wanted me to photograph her three boys at the waterfall location, but after all the rain it was more of a raging rapids! This week was much better, so we set out to get some great photos!!

First, we have Mr. A - the oldest of the three, who was bound and determined to be on his very best behavior for this session in order to earn a Brownie Sundae at DQ afterwards (and he did) :)

Next, Mr. M, who was 7 and usually gave me a closed-mouth smile, not wanting to show off his missing tooth... but I did sneak a few from him!

And finally, Mr. N, who was 4 and just full of giggles and crazy faces most of the time!

They seem so innocent alone, don't they?! But put the three together, and it was a whole new ballgame!! They had me laughing so hard - between little N and his crazy faces, some strange noises coming from one or more of them (we never did get anyone to admit to it!), and their general confusion about how/where I wanted them to go (you want me to sit HOW?? I have to TOUCH him?? I have to act like I LIKE my brothers??)...

I did end up with a rather large number of shots that were some variation or another of this... (this was N insisting on putting his arm around M, who promptly removed it... about 8 times. And poor A was either shooing away one of the million mosquitoes that were feasting on us or else just shaking his head in disgust)...

But we really did manage to get some great shots... including my absolute fave, which alone is worth all the mosquito bites and wet clothes these boys went through...

Isn't that great?! I just adore it :) K, I truly had a great time working with you and your boys, and I hope you enjoy this little preview! I promise there are other great photos to come!