Holiday Cheer and Chooo! Chooo!

More fun holiday photos of some ultra cute and sweet kiddos! I am a bit biased... one of the little guys is mine. We had a great time at the train park this week with all of the festive decorations. Again, GREAT photography practice! Here's an example of styling a group of children using a simple color palette, simple clothing on the boys allowing the star girly girl to show of that fabulous outfit, without being over the top. It was certainly a workout to get ALL of the kids together for a few snapshots, but we did it.. thanks mom's! Oh, and a little bribery never hurt anyone... thank goodness for lolly's! The unique expressions on each of their little faces in this first shot... priceless!

Beautiful Growing Family!

Here are a few images of one beautiful family who's going to welcome another boy in February! I couldn't be happier for them! I helped this stylin' mom with their clothing for a session with Tami Proffitt. I simply mentioned that her sweet boy should REALLY wear the awesome plaid shirt and adorable hat... and that her darling sweater would be great, showing off her little bump! She had already picked out some great options for she and her hubby, who is also quite stylish. So did I totally style them, no... just gave some input. Great color combo, layering and accessories. I HAVE to share some of these amazing pics! They are  of some of my favorite people in the world! LOVE this family...

My all time favorite photo of this SWEET boy!

Winter Wonderland... Favorite *Session* of the Week!

So I am a bit early this week, but with the holiday and all I thought I would go ahead and post now! Plus, I could hardly wait after seeing these FUN FUN FUN shots of adorable cousins in the snow. I should also mention, these cuties are my extended family :-)! So loving the plaids and vests. The boys matching vests are wonderfully offset by the plaids of their cousins' beautiful dress and the plaid shirt and - HELLO - leopard Santa hat rocked by her brother! LOVE that touch! The sled in the snow, the quality and crispness, the candid smiles and giggles, the beautiful background and gorgeous kiddos... is there any question why this is my fave of the week? Merry Christmas to ALL!

Photos in a winter wonderland by Greater Good Photography in Minnesota

Taken from the Blog: AMAZING!!!

"Greater Good Photography is a non-profit custom photography business created to raise money for charitable organizations. The images you purchase are not only recording special and important moments in your family’s lives, but also financially contributing to some really great local and nationally known non-profit organizations and charities. I am currently supporting  Susan G. Komen For the Cure, The Nature Conservancy, The March of Dimes, and Second Harvest Heartland Food Bank, but if you have any other great charities or educational organizations close to your heart that need help, please let me know!"

Gray, "The New Black?" My Fave of the Week!

So is gray really the new black? This question has been asked for years now. I am certainly seeing more and more out there and quite a bit in photos too. It's become my favorite color to style my family and clients in! It's a color that looks GREAT on every skin tone and looks darn good in portraits. This week my favorite styled photo comes from Brenda Bisharat Photography. I am loving the sweaters and fabulous girly gray dress... this family is adorable! Part of their session was shot in front of an old barn for portrait perfection!

My Serious Santa

More practice with my camera and editing skills... my little Santa is so darn serious when it comes to photos. I took him to the "Duck Park" for some fun... as you scroll down, you'll see what happened just before leaving! Here's a favorite combo of mine, red & gray! You'll see more of this color palette on a few more kiddos in a blog post later this week. Cannot wait!

OOOOOPS!! After feeding bread to the ducks, and himself, off went the hat, into the pond. I yelled, "NO, not your hat!" He said, "Mommy, it for the ducks!" How generous of him... :-(

My Styling Checklist

When it comes to styling for photos, I think about five very important aspects...

COORDINATING (not matchy), COMFORT, LAYERING, ACCESSORIZING, CAMERA READY

Here's a look at my own holiday portraits. The inspiration piece... my son's soft plaid button down, layered with a thermal. I just loved the colors of soft gray, dark blue, purple and lavender.  My little guy LOVES his Vans, so I paired his outfit with new gray ones. Then...I stumbled upon a fabulous etsy shop full of hand knit goodies! I had his visor hat made to coordinate. Check. {Loopty Loo Designs} did a great job! Luckily my husband had this light gray gingham check shirt hanging in the closet that coordinated perfectly. Check. As for me, I was excited to layer my cozy sweater with ruffle tank and accessorize with a snazzy jeweled belt.
Oh, and get the chance to wear my most comfortable new black boots! Check.

 Now, what does "camera ready" mean for THIS stylist? When looking through the camera, my goal is for the photographer to see that the color palette, patterns and textures are appealing rather than distracting. I really try to enhance THEIR work! I thought our color scheme was soft and appealing and we looked comfortable in our clothing . Check.

Tami Proffitt did an excellent job capturing my little family during our min-session. Her fun loving and patient demeanor allowed all of us to have a stress free session full of laughs. Thanks, Tami!!!

Here are some from our holiday mini-session and a link to her blog post!

http://tamiproffitt.blogspot.com/2010/11/recent-family-session-phoenix-family.html

O Christmas Tree... Lot

For nearly every holiday it has become a little obsession of mine and my friend Natalie, to STYLE our boys for some fun snapshots. We are both working on our photography skills so it gives us a reason to practice! This year Natalie ordered these adorable shirts that were perfect for our session location.

We decided to pair them with different check/gingham shirts and of course.... matching Converse.

We have taken them to this fun spot for photos, the past two years.

The boys have fun running through the Christmas trees, eating their lolly's, visiting with the birds and chickens and sitting on the big black truck.

Here's just a few off of my camera from one of our many "sessions" I will be posting this season and

 throughout the year ahead.

Favorite Sunday Styled Snapshot

There were many, many wonderfully styled photos posted by amazing photographers, local and across the nation, the past few weeks. This little darling caught my eye, all cozy in her boots, sweater and scarf. Love the fall leaves surrounding her and the expression on her face! You'll see a few more of the family... and even their dog... all in matching scarves. Although "matchy, matchy" is not my thing... I have to say, these images are SUPER cute! Great work, Jenn Hoffmann Photography! I am SO proud of my dear friend and her booming photography business. Visit her on Facebook and blog for some GREAT deals during her "12 days of Christmas" ... it starts TODAY!

Check the images out here... http://jennhoffmann.blogspot.com/2010/12/its-beginning-to-look-lot-like.html

'Tis the Season! My Weekly Favorite...

When looking through many photographer blogs over the week, I was hoping to find a session or snapshot that looked very "HOLIDAY." Boy, did I find it! This precious photo was taken by Kim Lind Photography. The sleigh, red cocoon and white fluff are the *perfect* touches that made me say... THIS is the one! Seriously, when I saw this, my jaw dropped. Enjoy this holiday sweetness!

Snuggable Sweetness x2!

When you see these boys, your heart will melt. Mine certainly did! I styled these two miracles for their very first photo session. What a privilege it was to work with their amazing mother, who I just adore. I am so grateful we have reconnected. Nearly a decade ago we met through my husbands brother. Gods plan took us on different paths and years later, here we are. I can't be more thankful for the time I have been able to spend with her and these sweet babies... oh and her awesome extended family too! They were all in a recent post. :-)  I feel grateful to have reconnected with such a wonderful person, friend and mother.

I am beyond thrilled she is experiencing this wonderful joy called motherhood.

Looking forward to watching baby {C} and Baby {A} grow!

Photos by Nicole Curtin Photography

Baby {C}

Baby {A}

Seriously Snuggable!

XOXO

Sunday Fave!

Here it is, my favorite styled snapshot of the week! I was JUST turned on to this awesome photographer this week by a friend, who's friend in CA used this photographer. I am in love with this image of this little girl with a fun flower headband that enhance her big brown eyes. The bright yellow in her sweet plaid shirt is picked up by that awesome velvet chair. 

This image is totally eye-catching... such great textures too!! 

Great work by Moments to Remember Photography!

DARN... I don't like it when I can't post pics directly from photographers blogs I so want to give you that visual NOW! I guess some photographers don't like others to copy and paste their photos, which is totally understandable. But, I promise, you won't want to miss this. Click on the link to see the sweetness!

http://www.mymomentstoremember.com/blog/2010/11/03/yuba-city-childrens-photographer-gracie-turns-1/

Three Generations

Yesterday was a first for me... EEEK! I was the one behind the camera, taking photos of a family I helped style! I must say, I was on a complete high after this session. I got in my car and was chomping at the bit to view my MANY images. This family was so laid back, new what they wanted and had total confidence in me... which totally put me at ease. I don't call myself a "professional" .... I am still learning each time I pick up my camera to shoot in different lighting and locations with my son or other family members. I was more than happy to take these photos, not only to capture this precious time their family would all be together for Thanksgiving, but to in turn, get some great practice with people other than my own family!

My time with these beautiful people... and when I say beautiful, I mean inside and out, was wonderful. It went by way too quickly and if the darn moon hadn't started to peek through the clouds, I would have had my camera out a lot longer! I was able to capture seriously, GORGEOUS smiles of three generations. It's crazy how paths cross and wow, am I glad ours did... again! 

I was contacted to help style the tiniest of this clan for their newborn session as well as this BIG family session. I came up with some specific options for all the kiddos and gave the adults some suggestions to think about as well. They went for the blues and grays and boy did it photograph well! They really pulled together such GREAT outfits, it made me giddy, seeing them all together. :-)

I think you'll see exactly why I loved this session. This family couldn't look any more like family, right?

Here's a peek of my time with the ever so fun-loving and stylish, {T and S Families}!

Love you guys!

See, they just can't get ANY cuter!