A family session at the waterfall!

This session was on a hot, hot, day in July (imagine that, a hot July day in Chicagoland!), but it was OK, because it was a special session... for a couple reasons. First, the D family are friends of ours - my daughter has been friends with R since kindergarten (hard to believe it's 5 years already)! Second, this family purchased this session through a silent auction. Back in the spring, I donated a gift certificate to my son's Cub Scout troop, and the D family won the auction! Talk about a win-win situation - the Cub Scouts made some money, the D family gets some great family photos, and I have fun creating those photos! Yay all around :)

Here is a quick preview from the session... a cute photo of R&C alone...

And one of the 3 kids together... love it!

And finally, one of the D family, including Aunt K. The waterfall was pretty crowded with people visiting and exploring when we first arrived, so I was very happy we were able to get some photos after all. I don't think you can really beat this spot for a family photo!

Thanks for a fun session, and I hope you enjoy your little sneak peek... and thanks again for bidding so diligently at the silent auction!

Summertime Fun Family Session!

I recently had an evening family session, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day! This family was willing to try any location I suggested, and I was so happy we went to the waterfall. The water level was perfect AND we were lucky that there was nobody there!



Look at this great group shot!

And here are a handful of other shots...

This Dad was on leave from the armed forces... thanks for your service and sacrifice!

And I couldn't resist an eyelash shot... they were quite possibly some of the longest I've ever seen. Just gorgeous!!!

I hope you enjoy your sneak peek... the whole gallery will come after my vacation :)

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!

One more sneak peek from last week...

Here's another sneak peek from last week's session by the waterfall... I think this is so cute!!

OK, now back to proofing...

Double Trouble... in the form of identical 4-yr old boys!!

I had my work cut out for me with these twins... thankfully they were dressed in different color pants! As it was, I barely stood a chance at telling them apart - I kept calling them the wrong names and the poor kids didn't know who I was talking to!

Luckily, we started with the family pics at the lake and then moved over to the waterfall, because by the end these boys were both soaked head to toe!! While "N" splashed nicely in the water, "A" just about scared us all half to death because he kept running and skidding to a halt right at the top of the waterfall... Mom and Dad are going to have their hands full with that little daredevil!

And finally, my new fave ... I *heart* this shot! Now if I could only choose between color and b&w...