And I am thinking about making a studio sample of this black-and-white one because her cute little gentle smile here makes ME smile whenever I look at her.  

Joan and I had worked together in the past on some professional headshots.  I was so happy for her when she called me and told me that she was getting married!  She and her future husband wanted some family portraits done in studio before the wedding ceremony so they came by that afternoon with their kids.  We really had a good time.  Thankfully I had a needle and thread and thankfully Joan had some sewing skills to deal with Kent’s shirt button emergency.  While she was sewing, the guys got into some of the tools I use with younger subjects (ie: puppets).  Then Kent discovered the box on my prop shelves labeled “groucho glasses.”  You can see where that silliness headed in the pictures above.

Joan and Kent, I wish you a lifetime of happiness!

I had this idea about trying to write this whole blog post in skater lingo but then I realized that I don’t know any skater lingo other than the word “dude.”  Ha! Therefore I am just going to talk like I normally talk and tell you that these are some highlights from a really fun family session we did right before the holidays.  A couple of the images were used on a custom holiday card and once the chaos of the holiday season died down, we finished up by selecting some wall art and gift prints.

You know how sometimes you talk to someone new on the phone and it’s so relaxed and natural that it’s like talking to an old friend?  That’s how I felt when the mom of this family called me.  I just knew we were going to have a great session.

K, I am glad you found me and I look forward to working with you and your beautiful family in the future!

Here’s my beautiful sis-in-law who is almost never in pictures, so I am really glad I got this one of her goofing around with her kids.

In closing I have to give a shout out to my friend Lisa Harrison.  Due to scheduling, we had to take these photos at a less than ideal time of day lighting-wise, and during processing I was dealing with all kinds of color casts and shifts.  Lisa is a master of photoshop and color correction and she really helped me even things out so that these portraits printed beautifully.  Lisa teaches a couple of Photoshop classes over at CMU – check her out!

Note: Mini-sessions are for kids and immediate family only. It is not possible to accommodate extended family and large groups in the mini-session format. If you would like extended family portraits or if you would like to do additional portraits beyond the card session, please contact the studio for a regular appointment.

There are also some die-cut cards to choose from this year. You can punch a hole on the top, thread some ribbon thru, and your family and friends can then hang these on their trees. Love that idea! Die cut cards are available for a slight upcharge, $375 for a set of 100.

Need more than 100 cards? Additional cards are available for purchase in sets of 25.

Thank you to the G family for the opportunity to document these memories for you!

L&E – I hope your holiday card was a big hit. Thanks again for the opportunity to photograph your beautiful family. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

I am happy to be able to share some more client holiday card images. Look at those cute hats they brought along to their session! The hat shot was the one used for the card. The christmas light shot was this family humoring me as test subjects for another one of my kooky ideas. It didn’t work as well as I had hoped due to the tangled lights. Note to self: Next time untangle the strand of lights before the shoot so that two tired babies don’t have to wait while you try to do so. LOL!