For her smiling picture- and yes, I realize this was not her debut into modeling, but likely the result of gas, but I will take any luck I can get for infant smiles- we had her cradled inside both her mom and dads hands. This was a bit awkward for both mom and dad, but they struggled with their balance, straddling the table to get an amazing look that captured a baby in the protective arms of her parents. I also positioned the light to give more dramatic shadows, which I like in black and white photography. For all three of them my favorite was the sepia tone, that was cropped tight.

The effect created a very close knit looking family. Every part of them is touching, with the central focus Hailey who is staring right at the camera. Sometimes those shots just work out right. A complete family… who you may be seeing more of, mom is looking to capture more of Hailey growing up!

So, after taking my bosses engagement pics, of course the wedding would follow. Luckily for me, I have become great friends with the newlyweds. The picture of the bride is non-traditional, very blown out, but I liked how it higlighted the outline, leaving certain areas hidden. It’s mysterious, like she has a secret. I had some fun with their pictures because they are a non-traditional couple. Their Wedding was put togteher in their backyard, a small simple ceremony that turned out to be very touching. The reception was also held in the backyard, only the chairs disappeared and the champagne was flowing. It was such an intimate wedding, but it was the small touches that made it really stand out as something special. The homemade buffet spread, the floating candles in the pool, the vegas themed cupcakes in place of a cake. It was a one of a kind wedding, with a one of a kind couple.

I have not hidden how stressful weddings can be, I prefer family shots, but when your little sister ties the knot, you are there no matter what. She worked hard for this wedding too, it was indoors inside a gymnasium. A family friend helped construct an entire alter, with draping white and black backdrops. It turned out to be quite beautiful. After the formalities we went outside to get more shots of just the happy couple. The only problem was it was the middle of August in Las Vegas. We stayed out to get as many pictures as we could before we all felt like we were sweating through our make-up and clothes. Luckily these two still had fun and we got some un-traditional shots.

The reception was held in the same hall as the wedding, and one of my favorite parts was a home constructed sign, it was so simply made, but with the back lights it looked absolutely straight from a fairytale, which fit my little sister perfectly.

After taking their wedding pictures, and counting them as friends, I would think taking their newborns pictures would be a snap, but I wanted to impress them so badly it really rattled me. You see, their last photographer was amazing, she caught great pictures on the beach of their first son, and I was just scared mine wouldn’t measure up. None the less, the session itself was a lot of fun. Big brother definitely needed some extra attention, and we got plenty of pictures of him alone. Then it came time to take little brothers pictures and he ate it up. He was an easy target, full of laughs and smiles and sadly, pee. Yes, this was one time the little boy got me while we freed him of his diaper for these shots. There is just something innocent and pure about a naked baby they are just in their element… but disaster sometimes strikes. But aside from that one accident we had a pretty fun time, tho by his third outfit the smiles were gone, and mommy looked tired. Hopefully she was slightly impressed with the pictures. After all, I was the first to professionally photograph this little one… on his mommy’s wedding day, when he was still a wee thing barely making his presence known through her wedding dress. The little baby bump only made the day more special.

Armed in her explorer gear and tennis shoes, we sent her to look through the grass and flowers. Letting her run around on her own let us get this picture of her checking out the long grass. I lowered the temperature of the picture to make it look antique. I love these shoots the most, because parents aren’t just looking for smiling at the camera shots. The best photos don’t require acknowledging the photographer.

Somewhere in the cosmos someone was laughing hysterically when my boss’s fiance, whom I adore, asked me to take pictures of the happy couple. Nothing tests your abilities as a professional photographer like having to ask your boss to kiss his fiance while you capture that moment. Never the less, we met in the morning and the lighting was perfect for their intimate moments. While we had plenty of pictures of them smiling at the camera, my favorites were the ones of them looking at each other.

This picture surprised me, I was simply looking to silhouette them together, but when I was playing around with the shots in lightroom, I changed the entire look altogether. This is one of the preset filters on lightroom, and when you mess with the exposure they seem like they are in front of the brightest moon ever, instead of the rising sun. At the end of the day, I loved this photoshoot because of the interesting way it opened my eyes to untraditional pictures. Thanks boss.

Just a short month later, the young love birds welcomed their tiny little joy into the world. Normally, newborn pictures can be very easy by taking them when the child is asleep. They are easy to move, undress and situate without much fuss. The great thing about this very aware little boy is he stayed awake the entire photo shoot, but was never really fussy. He eve let us pose him with a adorable little teddy bear. I aged that picture, fading the color slightly to give it an antique feel. The edges are just a hint darker framing it. The little boy was so well behaved, he just looked right at the camera with the most serene face. Together the family fit together perfectly, I was just there to capture their time together. Parents can sometimes be the hard ones to deal with in newborn shoots, especially when it is their first born. But these two were so easy going, and not over-protective that the shoot went so smoothly.

The way she cradled her little boy, and the way he cozied right into her neck, she was a natural. I did run into one interesting problem when trying to get a full length nude. I had only worked with girls, and making sure nothing made a special appearance during the shoot was tricky. Luckily, once again, the baby boy let me mold him into the perfect position, and we walked away with some beautiful photographs.