Tag Archives: child photography

Some Brotherly Love and Some Birthday Cake!

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Some brotherly love, some birthday cake and some general yumminess on multiple levels happened here at the studio when these two showed up that’s for sure.  What great kids!  The age gap between these two brothers was enough that having big brother here was basically like having an assistant for little brother’s first birthday photos.  A first birthday is always a great occasion for a photo shoot and a little birthday cake too, but we’ll get to the cake in a bit.

For now let’s focus in closely on these two by themselves.  They came in with their mom who is a doll and they both totally nailed the poses and the smiles – total pros!  Let’s start with our one year old.

Brotherly Love

How cute is he?  And such a great disposition – on him and his awesome older brother…

Brotherly Love

We love these two shots in black and white – they just go together nicely.  These two were having fun (as were we) as you can see in our behind the scenes vine of the morning:

We love this next photo of the birthday boy expressing how big he is!  Soooo big!

Brotherly Love

Then it was time to break out the birthday cake.  Sometimes our one year olds need a minute to process that this big cake is sitting in front of them for them to dive into all by themselves, so big brother jumped in to provide a little help.  As I mentioned before he was great – he just knew what to do and he really loves his little brother!

Brotherly Love

Just love that last shot – the interaction is priceless!  So there it is – a little bit of brotherly love and some birthday cake for you all!  We hope you enjoyed these highlights!  We certainly enjoyed being with these guys!

Lots Of Fun Smiles and Love In The Room With This Family!

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There were lots of fun smiles and love in the room with this family that we are about to share photos of with you!  There were (double) family hugs, cute sisters riding on horsies, dancing and singing, laughter, casual shots, formal shots – just really a session that had everything.  What a great bunch!  A great couple with three grown children, a son-in-law and two beautiful granddaughters!

Krista (the mom of the three grown kids) decided on the brown backdrop for the photos and we love photographing on the brown.  We did a few family shots first including the family hug.  But this family hug was extra special because the two little ones added their OWN mini hug in front of the family hug….  a double family hug!  So cute!

Fun Smiles and LoveNext we broke the crew up into some groupings including the oldest daughter with hubby and the two granddaughters who gave us the mini hug above.  Here’s a shot of the four of them:

Fun smiles and love

At this point it was time for the little ones to completely take over the show!  They were so funny – and total pros both of them throughout the whole shoot.  They were perfectly behaved and they were cracking everyone up – you can take a look in this behind the scenes vine from the session!

Here is a great photo of the two of these cuties:

Fun smiles and love

Love it!  At this point we were done with all the fun casual photos and we got all the shots of the girls that we wanted, so Krista and Joe stayed behind and changed into something a little more formal for a portrait together.  A great couple who produced this great family!

Fun Smiles and Love

And there you have it!  You can see that there were lots of fun smiles and love in the room with this crew and we had a ball hanging out with them and photographing them all!

We Heart This Little Guy And His Parents!

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Ally is always fond of saying “I heart so and so” and this should be obvious but that means she loves them…  haha!  Well this is a case where we really “heart” this little guy – not only because we love him but we really did “heart” him!  You’ll see what we mean in a bit…  Meanwhile his parents are a delight and they just really fit in here – we totally clicked.

Baby Neil is only 4 months old and already he’s so smart, so alert, so smiley, and has such a nice and mellow disposition.  We got going with him with a handmade quilt that a friend made for them for starters that he was peeking out from – so cute!

We Heart This Little GuySee what we mean?  Smushy and smiley.  We love that shot!  Next we used a really nice green traditional Indian scarf for this photo.

We Heart This Little Guy

A little mid session snooze is always welcome!  At 4 months it’s nice if they happen to fall asleep because you can get some really cute sleeping baby poses and you can pose them how you like!  So while we were “hearting” the little man it was now time to “heart” him for real – with heart pillows and baby kisses all over him!

We Heart This Little Guy

Makes you smile right?  Let’s take a look at our little behind the scenes vine of the day where you’ll see some of the other fun we had including making him into a little human Tootsie Roll:

Lastly it was time to get the whole family into the act and one of the really pretty shots we captured was this one with bare shoulders – really nice.

We Heart This Little Guy

And that’s a wrap on this one for now!  We hope you “hearted” these shots as much as we did making them!

On Location With Old Friends In The Chicago ‘Burbs!

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We were recently in Chicago for a family event and while we were there we connected with my best friend from college in the suburbs for a family session on a brisk fall day in the park.  It’s fun to photograph old friends and to be able to get their kids and ours together for a visit during our road trip.  We go back over 25 years and it’s always a lot of fun when we get together.

Anyone who knows my buddy Barry knows he’s pretty passionate about his dogs and of course Half-Face and Omar were going to be included in the family portraits.  That’s where we’ll start – with all of the family!

Old Friends Great family and are those dogs beautiful or what?

Next we focused on getting some photos without the pups and if you have been a frequent follower of our work you know Ally is a big fan of the “family hug”!

Old Friends

The kids are getting to be so grown up!  To you they just look like great looking kids – for me it’s different because I’ve known them from the time they were born!

Here is a fun little behind the scenes vine from the session:

Next we focused in on getting some shots of just the kids as you can see from the vine.  Here are a couple of great ones…

Old Friends

So cute right?  Little sister loving on her older brother!  Having a boy and girl ourselves we just know this is exactly how they always get along!!!  Right?

And one more of the two of them just relaxing and hanging out together.

Old Friends

So there you have it – on location with old friends in the Chicago ‘burbs – it’s about as good as it gets for us!  We hope you enjoyed these highlights from the session!

United This Family Stands….and Smiles, and Hugs!

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This beautiful family came to the studio recently for a photo session and they were a pleasure to be with.  One of the kids was slightly under the weather, but I won’t even reveal which one because the kid was a total trooper and you would never know which one it was!  Meanwhile everyone got along and picked each other up, made each other laugh and generally had a good time, so yes we can definitely say that united this family stands….and smiles, and hugs!

We stayed with the black background for this session which always works well.  Our primary goal to start out with was to get a classic family shot to be displayed on canvas for the wall above the fireplace, so often we try to make the most important shot the first shot.  We had several to choose from but this one is the winner…

United This Family

What a stunning family right?  Next we spent some time on just the kids, individually as well as some group shots and that’s where we captured one of Ally’s favorite family poses – the family hug!  See what I did there?  You knew that was coming from the blog title….  ha!

United This Family

So cute!  Just great kids and we had fun with them.  Here is our fun behind the scenes vine of the morning with the family hug in action!

Next let’s take a look at this combination of just the mommy with her babies!

United This Family

And lastly let’s celebrate where this family all started – with the happy couple responsible for all this love!

United This Family

 

So there it is – our wonderful united family!  They are totally worthy of being the subjects of the first blog post on our brand new website!  We hope you enjoyed the photos!

 

A Frameable Fun Fall Session With A Family Of Three!

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We have been buried in seniors from the class of 2015 lately which we love, but a frameable fun fall session with a family of three was a nice change of pace especially at the height of fall colors!  What a fun couple with what Ally would refer to as a squishy yummy little boy named Josh.  Josh gave us great smiles and we had much fun!

We went to one of our go-to spots in a neighborhood close by and the conditions were just right!  There are trees and bridges and just a lot to work with there.  We started with the bridge:

Frameable Fun Fall Session

How cute is the little man?  Cute enough that we moved on to working on some solo shots to give him the spotlight and Ally captured this sweet photo of Josh just being a happy little boy sitting in the leaves…

Frameable Fun Fall Session

Next we looked to get a few more family shots under a tree filled with and surrounded by pretty yellow and orange leaves – it was a great spot which gave us some great results!

Frameable Fun Fall Session

Love the interaction here of the three of them just being a family.  And we have a little of this on our fun behind the scenes vine of the morning!  You’ll see here that when we went back to the house afterwards to try to get a few more with the dogs that Ally got a little surprise…  haha!

As mentioned in the vine this part of the session with the dogs was a bit more challenging but we did get one last family shot on the deck that we’ll share here!

Frameable Fun Fall Session

And there you have it!  Highlights from a Frameable fun fall session with a family of three that we hope you enjoyed!

Ayla Is A Sweet Little Angel!

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Ayla is a sweet little angel indeed and we were thrilled to have her here at the studio!  She is a beautiful smiley little bundle of joy and she brought a ton of style and personality to her session even at only 4 months old!  We have been so busy photographing high school seniors which we love, but having this adorable little yummy smush was a nice change of pace to be sure, and we love her family.

We started off with Ayla in her baptism gown on the red couch.  It is worth noting that Ayla’s grandmother made this gown for her!  How amazing is that?  Such love – so special and so pretty!

little angel

She is so cute!  Next we moved to another fun outfit on one of our chairs for a few photos.  Here are a couple…   First let’s start with the damask backdrop.  We like to call this look the “O” mouth!  🙂

little angel

Such a fun look of wonder on her face!  Then we moved to the brown background:

little angel

Her daddy loves this photo.  Love her smile!  Habibti!

Meanwhile here is a little fun behind the scenes vine of Miss Ayla during her session!

Lastly we will leave you with this precious moment between Ayla and her mommy…

little angel

That’s what it’s all about isn’t it?  As good as it gets.  We loved this session and we hope you enjoyed these sneak peeks of sweet little angel Ayla!

One Year Olds Love…Veggie Sticks? FOUR Year Olds Love Cake!

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One year olds love… veggie sticks???  More on that in a minute…

Yes we had two of our favorite brothers back again for younger brother’s one year old photos and older brother’s four year old photos, and we planned a cake smash as we often do to celebrate and capture a first birthday.  Meanwhile we have been photographing these guys since before the older brother was born with maternity photos when he was in utero!  We are always excited to have them back – their sessions are usually memorable for various reasons and this adventure was no exception!

veggie sticks

Our one year old was pretty set on hanging out with his mommy and didn’t really want to be sitting for pictures on his own at first, so we needed to take the extreme measure of “sending her away” – haha.  She took big brother with her down the hall to Toyology while Daddy and we tried to distract the birthday boy and maybe get him to focus on something other than mommy.  That worked!  Tricks of the trade ya know…

 veggie sticks

Then it was time for the cake smash which all one year olds love right?  Uh…. right?  Well, maybe not!  Everyone tried to get him to indulge and he just wasn’t having it.  He opted for the veggie sticks!  Smart kid!  You can never have enough vegetables in your diet right?  Maybe he’ll be a doctor or a nutritionist or a chef!  We even tried putting the veggie sticks in the cake!  Meanwhile big brother wasn’t going to let a perfectly good cake go to waste, so he dug in!  This made for a lot of laughs as you can imagine.

veggie sticks

veggie sticks

veggie sticks

Here is a fun vine with some highlights of the session.

A Beautiful Little Girl On A Warm Summer Day….And A Cake SMASH!

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A beautiful little girl on a warm summer day….and a cake SMASH is the best combination! We were thrilled to welcome this little princess back to the studio after she was here with her big brother as a flower pot for her six month milestone!  Maybe you remember the post about the Dapper Dude and Baby Blossom?  This time around we celebrated her birthday in style!  We had a solid two hour window in the morning before her nap and we headed out to one of our favorite locations to get some pretty outdoor shots.  It took her a minute to decide whether she felt like taking pictures on this day but once she made up her mind she really was a superstar…

cake smash

Her mom and grandma came along and we all enjoyed ourselves.  They had her dressed in the most beautiful outfits!  There were plenty of birds singing, several people and a doggy came by to say hello – just a perfect summer day.

cake smash

There is a lot to work with at this location including this bridge that we really love…

cake smash

Here is a little behind the scenes vine of the action – our apologies for the little blur in the middle – not sure what my iPhone was thinking for a second there, but this will give you an idea of how the session went and you will see where the real fun started…

Such A Cute Smiley Shmushy Boy!

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Such a cute smiley shmushy boy was here with his parents recently!  That’s really the only way I can describe him.  Okay I guess you could use sweet and squishy too – any way you put it he was awesome and his parents were really nice too.  We had a lot of fun – lots of laughing and lots of Spanish too!  Ally just wanted to eat him right up.

Smiley Shmushy Boy

See what I mean?  Love this kid!  You can really get a feel for someone’s personality even at this young of an age – he is just a good natured smiley happy little boy, and why shouldn’t he be?  That’s how his parents are.  Peek-a-boo games are fun with the little ones to get them going sometimes and this session was no different with calls of “Donde esta Leo?” from his mom!  If you follow this blog you know I often like to include behind the scenes vines from the session.  This session was notable for producing one of my all time favorites!  Leo was totally in motion while his mom was holding him, and then it was like the little man was completely entranced when he saw that he was on camera – look: