All images from this session are available at www.pictage.com/888938

All images from this portrait session are available for viewing & purchase: www.pictage.com/876341

This was SUCH a fun shoot to do!! I asked a few families with multiple well-behaved kids who often hang out together so they were already comfy with each other. We finally got the perfect warm overcast day for the shoot and all the kids piled in! We stuck dino-tails on the boys and dolled the girls up in tutus, vintage costume jewelry and garlands.

True to form, I didn’t really pose the kids – just let them do their thing. These girls are the best of friends so they naturally huddled together and happily smiled my direction!
Elly is the perfect model for a tutu! Comes in all different colors and very meticulously made!

Thanks, Ezra, for the perfect catalog shot of a clip-on-dino-tail and a monster backpack!!
When it started raining we did a little studio shoot. I desaturated a set of images and kind of gothic vampirish look! I like it!   
I adore this shot of childhood best friends.
Silas was very shy until he was allowed to get his sword back out. I snagged this shot just as they were getting ready to leave! I love it!
Thanks so much everyone for a fabulous day and amazing set of images!!!

I also think one of the biggest dangers for an artist, and really for us all, is comparison. I recently watched a documentary about Annie Leibovitz and couldn’t help but think, “Wow. Now SHE is a photographer. I just dabble, but she is the real deal.” I look at other people’s photographs and think, “Now that is great photography!! hmm. What am I doing??” Then I run into someone randomly who says, “Regina, I’ve been following your work for years and it is amazing. I can’t tell you how much I love it!” I’m taken aback, flattered, surprised, wonder if she’s really talking to ME. I realize some people look at MY work and think, “Wow, she is the real deal.” But I don’t really FEEL like that.

Almost every edit I do follows the same pattern of mental dialogue. If you must know, it goes something like this…I start by looking through the raw, unedited mass of images: “Oh my gosh, really, Regina, you have GOT to figure out how to focus…maybe I need a new camera, ahhhhhh, what were you doing??! Well, you almost got it but not quite. Ugh, they paid how much for this? Why do you insist and shooting against this window?? blah, blah, blah.” Next phase, I’ve narrowed down 600 images to 180-ish decent images; I know I want to be closer to 50-75 of the very best, most perfect shots so I’m choosing roughly one out of three images. “OK, that’s a good one, this one is better than that one; yes, this is a little blurry but what a fabulous moment! This exact image was worth the entire photo shoot.” I’ve got my final edit and I do my processing/tweaking. Drop them in a slideshow, choose my song, watch the slideshow and get completely choked up. It is beautiful. And real. No one is photoshoped, no one is smiling unnaturally, the kids are just doing whatever it is they do, the interactions and expressions are genuine, and these images will be timeless for this family.

OK, I’m no Annie Leibovitz, or any of the other massively talented photographers, I’m just me and I shoot the way I shoot. People often ask me, “How can I niche myself as a photographer when there are SOOOO many of us??” My response is always, “you just have to stay true to yourself. That’s it. That’s the only way. Don’t try to copy other people’s styles, don’t try to shoot the way you think your clients want you to shoot, do a tight final edit of the images that YOU love best, show only what you love.”

Without further ado (if you’re still even reading this!!) I am so excited to share this set of images with you!

 
While new baby Melanie is getting prepped for her shoot, Adeline and I are just hanging out.

This little buttercup is all of two weeks old! She’s not sure about this business of laying in basins and whatnot, but can’t help but notice the overhead lights.
 
I cannot get over how adorable the print is on this blanket- not to mention the baby!!
Adeline is still getting used to the idea of a new kid on the block so we just let her kind of hang out in the background for a while.  
Eventually she warmed to the idea (or maybe she was just tired of Melanie occupying the spotlight!) This is the first time she gets to hold her baby sister.
Yeah, the whole family! This is a super tricky set of ages to get in a family shot!! But this whole series just makes me smile.
First sister kiss!!!
We always try to end on a high note so baby portrait sessions only take about 40-60 minutes. While Matt is getting Adeline ready to go I snuck this last shot of Jessie with her newest little one. So pretty.

Thank you SOOOO much Jessie & Matt for coming in and bringing me your gorgeous girls to photograph! A treat!

The Bliss Family Online Gallery is available here: www.pictage.com/840165

When Dan & Christy walked into my studio with this little button of a baby girl and she smiled up at me, I was undone. I melted on the spot. I thought, “a 3-month old baby girl is my most favorite thing in the world to photograph!” I had a delightful time with them and my heart is still dripping with delirium as I share my favorite images with you!

Zadie’s favorite song is "Wheels On the Bus.” Works like a charm!
I was SO excited to pull out this vintage sheet I’ve had tucked away all these years! It was perfect for this particular day & baby!
   

I am delighted to present Recherché’s Best Children, Family & Maternity Portraits of 2009! We had a very difficult time narrowing this set down. So much so that we decided just to create a slideshow of the final selections. Enjoy! Please share with friends & family! Looking forward to working with you in this new year!

~CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SLIDESHOW~

Time is just flying by. This sweet baby has become a toddler. I’ve photographer her parents’ wedding, her sister’s first 2 years and now it’s her turn! She is just a doll baby and I had so much fun photographing her in her home. She doesn’t realize this now, but her mom is brilliant and impassioned artist, visual merchandiser and refinisher! Reb has been my friend for a decade (!) and has helped me not only furnish my home but has helped to arrange the furniture in EVERY place I’ve lived and worked! There is no way to count the number of phone calls she has received from me in a composition panic and arrived within 48 hours to quell the crisis. She is a kindred spirit in that she understands my perfectionist nature and my desperate need for beauty and order in my surroundings. And she has always helped me accomplish that. I am delighted to be able to create gorgeous images of her children to help balance the scales a bit! She ran Good Use for 8 years and is now refinishing people’s kitchens and bathrooms. Do you need a fresh look in your home but don’t have the funds or energy to gut the space? Hire Reb! Check out her website and be prepared to be wowed!!

 
I have to call this one “the Headless Horse girl”    
Just for the record, this gorgeous girl is my niece and she was ready to be held! So this sweet pic was the LAST shot of our session! I just could not resist capturing those LIPS!!!
A rare tentative moment for Georgia Ryleigh Sinkey.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW RECHERCHE’S HALLOWEEN 2009 SLIDESHOW!

As soon as they walked in the door he was enraptured with Finnegan, our new puppy, and tried to make friends by offering to share his baby pumpkin. Finn was not particularly interested, but that didn’t bother Luke a bit!

While this photograph is nothing special, I have to include it because it represents how we spent about 75% of the portrait session- watching Luke and Finnegan chase each other around the tree. I was half expecting one of them to turn into syrup! Finally, after many many many circles, Luke fell on the ground laughing his little head off! Instantly I knew this was the moment we had been waiting & hoping and shot about 10 frames before he was up and running again.
A triumphant moment in the life of an candid/unstructured children’s portrait photographer!
About one and a half seconds on the tin bucket to catch his breath and ponder…
Classic attempt at a “family portrait” with a 20 month old little boy!
But leave it to dad to improve the situation- for the photographer at least!!
I consider this to be a fabulously lucky shot!! Why Luke is smiling so adorably at me I’ll never know! This moment lasted for approximately 1/3rd of a second!  
This shot is a perfect example of why it’s great to bring grandparents along to a portrait session! The only reason Luke is smiling in his semi-restrained position is because his grandparents are booth standing next to me cooing at him! Otherwise he’d be screaming and crying to be let free like a normal two year old!
This was my little treat for Anji & John- a quick and beautiful shot of just the two of them!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SLIDESHOW OF THIS SESSION

Luke’s Online Gallery is located at: www.pictage.com/745045