Sometimes families just want a few good photos to remember a specific time in their child's life, and that is when short sessions (15 minutes, $150, digital files included!) are really great! Her final gallery included 25 images and three different settings, there is a lot we can do within the studio! Marin was so cute and had lots of great faces for me! Enjoy a few pictures from our session together!
The one year session of a baby plan is always bittersweet. After all, I've spent the last year+ photographing a family every few months and then they "graduate" and I typically see them once or twice a year... until baby #2 comes along that is ;) Lynden's sessions were always fun and her mama is super stylish so they were always a joy to photograph. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our time together:
I have been seeing this family since Nico was 6 months old, and he is quite the charmer! ;) I asked this family if they wanted to take a chance on a field that I drive by every day, but to the normal eye doesn't look so great, and they said yes! So here we are, in a field behind a CVS.. ha! But, looking at it you would never know that! Thank you for trusting me to find a beautiful spot for your family and I can't wait to see you again!
I met this family for the first time this fall, and fell in love with how photogenic they were! They were so sweet and next time we will convince dad to join in. I was able to use Peterson Family Farm for this location and I just adore their overgrown grassy areas!
I have been shooting this family for years, and now, they've added their third baby, a sweet boy, to the mix! So far for this baby we have covered a maternity session, a newborn session, and a 6-month one. The only thing we have left in the baby plan is the 1 year that includes a cake smash (I provide the cake and decor!) I love the baby plans because babies change so much in that first year and it's a privilege to see them grow up! From curling up (we took River's newborn portraits in the best spot... down by the RIVER ;) at the newborn session to smiling at the 6 months, it's a great way to capture your whole family for a year. Here are a few of my favorite images from our sessions:
I recently met this family and realized I had just photographed their oldest daughter at her school for portraits! Richmond is such a small world and it's fun to see all the connections of my clients and how the paths cross a lot. I am super exciting about fall portraits this year and this family helped to kick them off, even if it still feels like summer. This family was a treat to work with, their personalities made for a fun session! Here are some of my favorite images from our time together:
You may be seeing this and being like WHAAAAAT she's pregnant?!? I missed her whole pregnancy! I think they JUST debuted this gorgeous belly on Facebook in the past few days, and she's going to be delivering that baby ANY day! I often wonder if I could do a surprise pregnancy and just be like "here's my baby!" at the hospital but I think I take waaaay too many selfies for that ;) So maybe I could if pregnancy lasted like, 3 hours.. ha! And of course this family's friends all know, they just never got around to making it "Facebook official" until recently. I am so in love with these images we captured for them during this special time. And you couldn't take a bad picture at this location, unfortunately it's on private property so I won't get too many more opportunities to shoot here, but I am so glad they got their portraits done next to a waterfall!
I have been working with this family since Susan was pregnant, and what a gorgeous maternity session THAT was! We met at Maymont in Richmond VA, which, in my opinion has no spot in the whole entire park that isn't photo worthy, and I got to see all sorts of gummy smiles from little miss! It was a warm "fall" day that kind of felt more like summer, but we all hung in there and now the family has some gorgeous portraits to hang on their walls! With our sessions, digital files are always included and I don't limit the number of images you receive, because I can't pick favorites either.. I love them all! :) See you next time, L family!
The thing I love most about photographing Richmond VA families is being able to be silly with the kids. We try to get a few more structured shots at the very beginning, but that usually only lasts about 5 minutes before we move on to the fun. Kids do not want to just 'sit and say cheese' and I wouldn't make them do that! Unless it is an extended family session I usually recommend my minis for families, they're short and sweet at 30 minutes and nicely affordable as well! This works well for families who want to come more than once a year to capture their growing family.
Some of my favorite shots ever are the ones like the above, just a fun playful family moment that is so gorgeous it deserves a billboard size print! ;) This family has been with me for a few years and I even have a canvas of their little guys earlier sessions in the studio.
We held this session at one of my favorite locations that sits on the James/Appomattox River. It's usually very quiet so we are not fighting crowds and it's super gorgeous and has lots of options for different pictures!
Take a peek at some of my favorite pictures from the session:
Happy 4th Birthday Luke! I don't know how we got here, it feels like I should still be in the hospital with you recovering from delivery. You are my 'spitfire' child. My perfectly crazy middle child. You are so gifted with sports I am already picking out the tile for the future mansion you will build me when you strike rich. ;) (But if you don't that's totally fine too, I really do love love our current home.
Three was a big year for you! You learned to ride a bike without training wheels. You've been doing that for months actually, and i'm still impressed with it! You are SO smart and breeze through 'preschool' work. You are kind and love and protect your baby brother in a way I always dreamed of when I thought of you in a big brother position. You are fearless. The absolute don't give a hoot what anyone thinks kind of fearless. Which both excites and terrifies me. It's only by the grace of God we haven't had to call an ambulance. Let's keep it that way, okay? You are determined. To the extent of stubborn but I know it's a quality that will serve you greatly later in life so I let it go. You are a jokester. Hiding a plastic snake all around the house and just waiting until someone finds it.
We had a fun year. From crab hunting late at night on the beach to our first Disney trip, we have lots of great memories to look back on from your year of three.
And here we are, your year of four. You were so excited this morning to tell everyone how old you are. You will grow more this year than before and I am so excited God gave you to me. I am blessed because of you.
Love always,
Mommy
*Fall + newborn pics by me, Beach pics by Andi + Zoe, and Family brennan newborn pic by Nicole Wingo!
There are a few times that I am on a super time crunch but meet friends at the end of a session so they can have their family portraits taken. Whether it's just to update a few frames or in this case have something for the Christmas card, they get literally about 7 minutes (likely because they're meeting me right before the sun goes down!) to make the magic happen ;) It's always fun to race against the clock and try and crank out a bunch of poses in a short amount of time, but for these super quick friend sessions, to maximize our time we don't really move around much ;) We just maximize the time by swapping poses and people groups.
Here is a peek in to one of my quick friend sessions and the cuteness that ensues!
(PS Rachel is the face behind most of the cute little banners that go in the studio cake smash sessions! She is soon going to be teaching me how to work my very own silhouette machine, since she went back to her big girl job now that all of her littles are in school. Hopefully mine will look as cute as the ones she has made for me!)
How seriously GORGEOUS is the Fall in Richmond? The trees at Libby Hill are the most gorgeous yellow and orange in all the city. I think next year I will do a set of family mini sessions here.