Archive for the ‘Location Portrait Session’ Category

Rae and I have been comrades since college. I photographed her wedding in Costa Rica and we have kept us as best we could through the birth of her twins at 24 weeks and everything that goes along with that miracle. I’ve longed to visit her in Portland but it took some big news to finally get me on a plane: an unexpected newborn baby girl AND a last-minute job position which will move them to Tokyo just after the new year. I was flying out just a few days after that conversation. I had such a wonderful time with Rae and her sweet family. Alex was searching for houses in Tokyo when I arrived so I got lots of baby time with Evelyn and late night chats with Rae. The twins gave me a freezing whirlwind tour of the Portland Zoo and Timber the beagle was the queen of hospitality. I managed to snap a few photos in between it all and picked a few to share here on the blog- now that it is finally back online. Stupid hackers. Daddy shows the kiddos their housing options in Tokyo. Someone is happy their dad is home! Pleased to say that neither of us look too different than our college years!

This was a very impromptu holiday portrait session which seems to work best for this crew. No time spent fussing over outfits or hair. We just walked out of church and into the little park up the hill. We took about 10 minutes to shoot and got our individual portraits, the portraits of all three kiddos and the holiday family portrait to boot. Done and done.

This fall I found myself, once again, in Chicago with dear friends Mark and Darcy. We organized a little reunion with best friends from college and had lots of home-brewed beer to consume and laughing to do. But I obviously had to sneak in a little family photo shoot. The weather was divine. Warm and crisp; sidewalks littered with jewel-toned autumn leaves. But little Viv stole the show. . . OK, fine. We totally handed her the show. And she took it with no questions asked.

We were all super bundled up and a little stir crazy when I met the Leutheusers in Chicago. Doing our photo session at the Lincoln Park Conservatory was a perfect idea for this cold fall day in the Windy City. Although my camera did keep fogging up due to the VERY humid environment! Totally worth it though for the warmth and lush backdrops. By the time we moved outside we were all sufficiently warmed up and ready for the sun. Audrey is typically two and had her own agenda for the morning so just traipsed along after her. Little Andrew is all of three months old so he just happily observed the goings-on. I had SUCH a nice time with this family and I’ve got the photos to prove it.

We visited the lovely state of Iowa for Tiffany & Levi’s wedding and took advantage of the proximity to visit our dear friends, Mark & Darcy, in Chicago for the Fourth of July. Their little girl had her first birthday so our timing was fortuitous. Her first summer pool was received with great enthusiasm! We spent the evening grilling a feast of veggies and fruits and watching fireworks from their front porch. It was such a lovely time and I’m so happy to have captured these images for them.

It doesn’t get much more adorable than this. This big sister is very proud to show me how well she can hold her eight-day-old little sister. Since this baby is still so tiny we opted to do her newborn photo session at their home. I love shooting children in their own environment. They warm up to the camera so quickly and I get to catch so many day-in-the-life moments for the family. Clothes come off and the laughing never stops. I love my job!

 

Brigid called me the day before the photo shoot. Her daughter had a pretty big face plant on the concrete just the day before so she had a nasty scab right smack in the middle of her nose and upper lip. We wanted newborn portraits so we opted just to go ahead with the session. (I touched in the scab for the portrait above!)

 

When I arrived, Brigid held up an adorable pink dress she had picked out for her toddler. Like most 2 year olds, however, she had other ideas. I walked out to find her in diapers and rain boots AND asleep in her tree swing…

It didn’t take this one too very long to warm up to the camera. Now that is one doozy of a scab!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this series of a newborn baby just waking up…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A sweet little series of momma feeding baby while toddler looks on…

 

 

 

 

 

 

This series is the best reason I know to do newborn portraits at the family’s home. The toddler is so much more at ease and probably has “their” special chair for holding their new little baby or sister. We just turned it a bit more towards the window light and got these fabulous images.

 

 

 

 

Well, it all came off. So by the time we did the family portraits one of the four was pretty summer comfey. Absolutely perfect portraits for this family. A far cry from the Olan Mills portraits I have of our family!

This was such a special portrait session for me. I photographed Carol & Nick’s wedding at Gold Lake Mountain all the way back in 2003. At that time they had no plans for children. So I was so surprised to get Carol’s call with the news that they were pregnant with twins!! I drove to their home just a couple weeks after they were born for this portrait session and was mystified by the entire experience. How does anyone manage twins?? We’re doing a Baby’s First Year Series for these little ones so we can all look forward to more photographs in the coming months!

Another gorgeous day for a photo shoot. Some family friends graciously let us use their stunning property in Eldorado Spring. Wes had a fabulous time running around in the fallen leaves, throwing rocks into the Boulder Creek and playing his rock band instruments his parents brought along for him. His favorite band is U2 and he showed me how The Edge plays the guitar. I was duly impressed. I’m hoping I get a little credit or kickback for these early images when he becomes a famous rock star. Fingers crossed.

There’s always an exception to the rule. I don’t work on Sundays. But when Mary called to tell me she was throwing a Halloween costume party for her daughter’s first birthday and they would like candid images of the event, I was in. There is no way I can resist tiny children in costumes. This party was definitely an event I was unwilling to miss! So fun!!

Charley’s first cupcake is presented. Dad straps on the cupcake birthday hat…

…Charley Belle is not OK with this. The pup steps in the investigate the situation.

Apology accepted, Dad.

Let’s try that again.

Charley Belle is not particularly interested in her birthday cupcake, but her guests are no dummies. Cupcake is whisked away before dragons and kitties acquire the target.

Grandma calls in on Skype to wish her sweet granddaughter a happy birthday!

I was so excited to drive to Denver, Colorado for a photojournalistic style family portrait session with Lauren, Nick and baby Gwen. A beautiful home, a happy and gracious couple, a gorgeous baby girl, and a sweet little pup eager not to get left out of it all-  those were my ingredients. Splash in some window light, fuzzy blankets, and pretty little outfits. I think we created something pretty delicious. Thank you, Lauren & Nick, for letting me in the mix!

When Lauren picked up Gwen for an outfit change, Dillon crept up into the Nap Nanny and blanket. She couldn’t resist that warm soft snuggly spot and I couldn’t resist giving her some time in the limelight. Far be it from ME to leave a pup out of the shoot! Never ever.

One of the things I love so much about photographing on location is capturing my clients in their own environment, doing day-to-day routine activities. I love to document real life moments that seem so ordinary, but are in fact beautiful and sweet. And they slip right by us. A perfect reason to have just a snapshot into this tender time in a young family’s life.

A second wind!

With almost every newborn shoot I do, a sweet little outfit or blanket is pulled out- a loving gift from a dear friend, can we please just have ONE photo. But of course…