A Perfect Doll!

The words "porcelain doll" come to mind when I see this beautiful little cutie. Baby "G" had her 3 month old session with me and she looked as much like a perfect little doll as she did when I captured her as a newborn. She's just so lovely and so sweet!!! A real beauty! Thank you, J and V! Here are just a few to peek at:

This sweet little man is just too cute for words, isn't he? Little baby "J" grew so much since I photographed him as a newborn. I was impressed by his tummy strength at such an early age. He just loved to give me a smile but when I'd pop behind my camera he'd hide it! It was so much fun to play peek-a-boo with you, J. Thank you J and A! He is just beautiful!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

A Personal Entry: It's hard to believe that it's almost December...and the holidays are approaching quickly! I've been in mass overdrive working nights and days to get everyone's galleries edited and finished before the end of November - just in time for the holidays. 


I thought I'd throw in a shot from my own family's pumpkin patch adventure from back in October to share. Here's Liam, looking quite perplexed at that second, though he was having a blast pushing his wagon around the pumpkin farm with my husband and I. He has a major obsession with wheels right now. Mostly trucks are his passion, but even a baby stroller is way too tempting for him to want to push around. I have to pry him away from objects that roll when we are out and about in public. Maybe in May he can help push his newborn sibling around with me. He's such a great helper and he's quite the snuggle bug/Mama's boy. I just adore my little munchkin. :-)


I hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving!

me and my little man. (this shot was taken by Ryan.)

1 Year Old Pumpkin Frolic

October babies have such a beautiful month for celebrating! Little "J" here was so happy to be frolicking around in a pumpkin patch with his mom and dad. He did awesome even though he did not get a full nap in prior, as his mommy told me. He is just so darn cute and happy. Thank you J and K. It was so much fun and so great to see you again!

Brothers!

Aren't these brothers amazingly handsome?!! L is 2 months old and M is just under 5. It was so much fun to photograph both of these beauties, indoors and out. I was so impressed with M's maturity and outgoing personalty - I just love him! And L's little bubbly, chubby cheeks are just so irresistable... 


It was a pleasure, P, to meet you. Your boys are just awesome! Here are a few samples from the shoot:

Portraits As Holiday Cards - Lesson#1

Lately I've been asked many times what a child should wear for a photo shoot or what shots to recommend for holiday cards and I thought I'd address this question with some professional advice.


Clothing: My answer is really any clothing that doesn't have a distracting logo or print is always nice, but if that is what your child always wears, perhaps that is how we should photograph him/her - as themselves. But seriously, for holiday photos, solid colors are always great. What you want people to notice first is your child's darling face! 


Types of shots: I love close shots of children's faces at different, unexpected angles. I'm not into creating a lot of distracting props - while very cute - they take away from the most beautiful focal point, your little ones. And those faces will not look the same next year, so cherish what they are now in a photograph and share the sweetness with everyone you know!


I can remember back to my college days as a photo major at Rochester Institute of Technology where we would spend at least 2 hours critiquing and discussing what makes a good photograph, lead by my highly accomplished photo professor, Lida Suchy. While art is very subjective, there are key qualities that are important to getting a great shot - the most important being LIGHT. When you are shooting portraits of your children, use natural light whenever you can. Have them sit near a window...The direction of the light is equally important.


I just finished a shoot with baby "M" and thought I'd take a few of her shots to show you how simple and sweet a photo can be without a lot going on in the picture. Now all baby "M" needs is a Happy Holidays logo somewhere in the corner and wha-laah! Beautiful, simple and still festive! 

Isn't she just the sweetest Italian beauty?

The P Family, Featuring Miss J

I can't help but smile as I've been going through this little sweetheart's expressive shots. Little "J" looked so cute in her white beret hat and purple outfit - and her puppy dog went everywhere she did. Just adorable!
Thank you D and V. It was so nice to meet you. I can't wait to show you all of them! Here's a peak at a few:

Halloween 2011

What a strange Halloween it has been this year! With a few inches of snow on the ground, major power outages in town (our home was luckily spared this time), and bitter cold weather, it didn't feel as much like the typical fall occasion that I love to celebrate. However, I did keep the inside of our home festive with a warm apple pie candle burning, some festive treats I made in my cake decorating class and of course, my favorite creation - Liam! He was a cuddly lion this year. I hope everyone had a safe, fun Halloween with their little ones! Here are a few shots from our home's Halloween:

 my little Liam...getting so big

 RAWR!!!!

I made some treat bags filled with goodies for Liam and his play date Halloween party (at a friend's home) that we had to miss, due to the crazy weather...

 a rose in a cobweb has such a nice contrast. all cupcakes here are homemade buttercream

boo!

my buttercream 3-layer pumpkin cake got raving staff reviews in my husband's office. believe it or not, for a pumpkin this big, 4 lbs. of granulated sugar was needed, but I tweeked the recipe so that I was only using 3 lbs. and it seemed just right. glad people could enjoy it!

here is one of the concoctions I created while Liam was napping on Saturday. I took some veggies out of the fridge and thought, " I should make some monster faces for the party with them." So I did. Our fridge looked freaky inside afterwards. :-)