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Some of you may remember my little "Gap Models" from a couple months ago! I had the distinct pleasure of photographing them again, this time at their home which is located on a really incredible horse ranch with stables, pond, open space... Beautiful setting. In fact, I did two shoots there that day of two separate families since the location is so far from my usual driving range. It was alot of fun since the kids are all friends and I just kept switching back and forth between both sets of children which meant the kids got plenty of "down" time in between poses. Worked out quite well! So this post and the next post were actually done at the same time. All the kids were great (between the ages of 5 and 12 which is the easiest age range to photograph) so it went seamlessly from beginning to end. How gorgeous are these kids and this setting? Wow. To the mommies: Enjoy your images!!!
Katelyn, this last one is just for you. I know your favorite horse was too busy eating to show her face but hopefully this will still make you smile!!
This was the second family at the "horse ranch" shoot. These kids were so cute and cooperative! I LOVE this age range I got to work with! Emily had had some really negative experiences with photographers in the past and was not only frightened by the idea of being photographed again but also VERY shy in front of a camera. I think mom was a little worried that she'd spend the whole time with her face buried/hidden in her hands, but look at these images and tell me if you see even the tiniest bit of fear or shyness! She is too cute for words!!! The bond between the siblings was very strong. Emily is lucky to have older brothers who are so sweet, gentle and protective. It was adorable to watch them interact. Jennifer, enjoy your images and I hope they make you smile! :)
I spent all day creating a super duper custom slideshow of the images from this shoot only to run into one roadblock after another trying to get it to display properly on my blog. I am so frustrated right now!! ARGH!!
So, we're back to the old fashioned way of doing things here.... Posted images, one by one. I really hope to get the slideshow to work SOON at which point I'll remove these individual images and just post the slideshow. I think the transition to my new website along with the fact that I am not computer savvy enough to successfully navigate these types of new web internet based functions without some help is contributing to my issue with getting it to display properly here. It works great on my comuter, I just can't seem to get it to sync well with my blog right now. I will keep working on it! The fact that it's a Sunday and I can't get a response from either Typepad or my web server is certainly not helping! :)
Anyway, on to the GOOD stuff! Tina is a very dear friend of mine. We've known each other five years now and really "grew up" together in this amazing (and at times flustering) journey that is Motherhood. Tina is one of those really incredible "thinkers" and I can run any scenario/question/subject matter by her and will always get a very well thought out, intelligent and balanced response from her. She is one the best sounding board I know! I love ya Tina!
This was an extended family shoot with her family as well as her brother in law and mother in law. I LOVE her mother in law and if I could find a way to get this woman to adopt me, I'd jump on it! They don't come any better than this incredible woman. It was a delight hanging out with all of you. I had some serious "esssplaining" to do when I got home and my little ones found out I went to Emma's house WITHOUT them! Haha! :)
This shoot was rescheduled due to the rain all week long so I'm glad we finally managed to get it squeezed in between the downpours! I know my friend Cheryl was more than a little worried when I left her house that we hadn't gotten a single good shot but I hope she sees these images and is pleasantly surprised. Kai, little character that he is, seemed to have some conviction that if he actually stopped moving or looked at the camera in any way, shape or form, that he might just happen to spontaneously combust or something! :) Despite this aversion, we still managed to get enough shots (although I won't even admit how many I had to delete!) of him looking kinda sorta at me... PHEW! Cheryl, after the year you've had, I really hope these images make you smile. Love ya girl.
Easy Peasy. I should begin by giving some history here as this family is near and dear to me. Many moons ago (like about 7 yrs) I had to attend some specialized training for a couple months far from my home. The training was physically exhausting and I knew I would not have it in me to commute 4-5 hrs (during peak traffic) each day. These friends welcomed me into their home for the duration of my training. In fact, they took such good care of me (picture walking into their home after a grueling day to the smells of a home cooked meal just about ready to eat...yeah, no kidding!) that I secretly started plotting ways to extend my stay! HAHA! Then Mary up and got pregnant and all, geesh!, and my training was succesfully completed and it was time to go back to take out or cereal for dinner in my lovely little bachelor's pad! :)
So, needless to say, my heart holds a very special place for this amazingly gracious and fun loving family. They are always full of laughter and are some of the most genuine people I know. The twins, now 6, are incredibly bright, well adjusted, polite, adorable, HAPPY kids. Delightful in every way. This shoot could NOT possibly have been any easier. The girls were not only incredibly comfortable in front of the camera, they were setting up their own poses and coming up with their own ideas. I was in stitches the whole time! I see modeling in their future!
Dave and Mary, it was so good seeing you and the girls again, I had a blast, I hope you love your pictures!
Liz is not only a friend but also a professional photographer. Now, it doesn't matter if the person is your friend or not, when you are shooting the family of a fellow photographer, the pressure is on. Totally self inflicted, naturally, but still there nonetheless. Admittedly, I was nervous going in. But Liz being Liz, I relaxed right away and went about doing what I do. Liz and I have a ton in common (well, except for the part where she is gorgeous and skinny, whatever, details...). We even got our noses pierced right around the same time without even talking to each other first about it! Haha! Honestly, we have so many similiarities, we could be long lost twins! :)
It goes without saying that the priority here was not solo images of the kids,but rather images of the family that ACTUALLY include Liz in the mix. I can attest to the fact that my children will most likely not have any clue as to what I looked like during their childhood as the images of me with them (or of me at all!) are sparse... So the focus was to get as many shots of Liz with the kids as possible, as well as several solo shots of her to use on her website etc...
We had a really fun shoot and even though Liz seems to think she isn't remotely photogenic (what?!), I do believe I've managed to squash that theory with these images. Stunning woman.
Due to the extra headshots portion for Liz, this is a LONG post with a TON of images... ENJOY!
The last time I did a photoshoot for this family, little Brody was a newborn! How time flies! I particularly love that mom is quite the photo enthusiast herself and I can speak my "photo geek language" with her. I can say: "Oh well I gotta boost the ISO or the image will be underexposed because my shutter speed is already at its lowest limit for handheld with mobile kids coupled with the fact that I'm at a minimum of f4 for this lens so I'll go from 160 to 200 and that should get me where I need to be." And instead of sounding like I'm speaking latin or something, she nods and goes: "yes, of course." I just love talking "shop" with someone else who knows all the terminology! In fact, before we started she did a little inventory of my lenses! Loved it! I wish I'd brought them all with me but I had only brought the two I knew I'd need for that particular shoot. Still it was a treat to speak geek. :)
Dylan is a hilarious and delightful little boy and we totally hit it off, he had me laughing so hard! I think I got some truly amazing shots of him when I stole him away from his folks for some 1 on 1 shooting time. It's amazing how different kids can be when their parents aren't around and it's just me goofing off with them. Although, truth be told, Dylan was amazing throughout the whole shoot so I'm not sure it made much of a difference this time!
It was great capturing your family again Lori, enjoy your images!!
My daughter (who is almost 3 now) LOVES to sit at the table during snack time and tell stories, jokes, discussing never ending randomn thoughts that constantly pop into her head. She spends much more time talking than eating. She also totally cracks herself up. And the rest of her family as well. She is the gal with a thousand different facial expressions and in the course of a two minute "joke" she will go through a hundred of them. Occasionally it actually occurs to me, while putting out the food, the drinks and cleaning up etc.. to just sit down and enjoy the show. And sometimes I even remember to bring my camera along too. This goes to show that life unscripted is well worth its weight in gold. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a total sucker for a lovely, gorgeous, sitting still and looking adorable in a cute dress, slightly posed photograph. You know the one where her hair is actually brushed, she's wearing something that has NO stains on it, she is looking at the camera and being totally cute instead of making a silly face. Love those. I enlarge and frame those. Those of my "SUCCESS!" shots. As in, I did it, I got a picture of her where she wasn't running away! WOOHOO!! But then I look at this series and this, THIS is what I will look back fondly upon. These are the images I will laugh over and the ones which will make my heart ache (in a good way!) remembering the utter and complete cuteness of this age, and the very distinct personality of my child. So yeah, the light is so-so. She's wearing a stained shirt and has food crumbs all over her lips. You can see the mess all over the table and then some... So what!? This is Ellie doing that thing that she does and cracking herself up.
Oh these two were so cute! The bluest of blue eyes. If anyone was ever to ask me what my favorite thing to photograph is I would say "kids' eyes." It is so true that the eyes are the window to the soul. If you really learn to pay attention you can read so much about someone just by looking into their eyes. And children are amazing because their eyes are wild and free and uninhibited. It's like a direct portal!
I'm sure it will be blatantly apparent while viewing these images that these two adorable blonded headed blue eyed cuties are siblings! Mckenna was a total natural in front of the camera. She was instantly at ease and I was even able to steal her away for a few minutes and get some shots with big natural smiles that mom has no idea I got. She will now!
Shane was as adorable as they come and also passionately determined NOT to smile for the camera, at all costs! But his big blue eyes and perfectly edible chubby cheeks more than made up for the lack of toddler teethy grins. I should mention to parents out there who have children between the ages of 15 months to about 28 months: Yes, this is a challenging age to photograph. If you are struggling to get a single decent picture of your child, rest assured, it is probably NOT you! This is just a really tricky age for "sit still and smile" type imagery. That doesn't mean you can't get fantastic candid portraits, but toddlers just really aren't interested in the lack of movement and focused concentration that is required for more formal type portraiture. So don't blame yourself and don't get frustrated! The images you do get will be a perfect representation of that particular time in your child's life. Those blurry, pouty faced, tongue sticking out at you, running away furtively, jam on face, bruise on the forehead shots will result in much laughter down the years when you are all sitting together looking at that photo album.
So, without further ado, Michelle, enjoy your images! :)
