Blue Springs, Mo. Family Photographer: The E Family

This has become a favorite location of both mine and my clients this year.  The scenery just couldn't be better and it's a fun and relaxing place to be and explore which helps with little ones that sometimes get bored with just me and my camera quickly.

There was a woman making holiday wreaths that I just had to capture:

...and a rooster (sometimes I get a little distracted).

and I run into this guy every time I do a session here so I though he should finally be included in one.  :)

Family Session in Independence, Mo |Blue Springs Family Photographer

What a fun family!  This was the second time I tried out this location and I decided it was a decent one for busy little people.  Lots of walking and things to look at which means lots of good opportunities for cute candid shots which come in handy when my little clients aren't super interested in looking at me and my camera.  Little Mia actually seemed to love the camera and the feeling was mutual...maybe a future model?  Michael was pretty busy being a boy, but stopped just long enough to give me the chance to capture those amazing eyelashes a few times.  :)

This session was purchased at a silent auction to benefit Marian Hope Center.

  "Marian Hope Center is a unique place where children with special needs have the opportunity to learn, grow, and thrive at their individual pace.  In our loving environment and with the expertise of our highly trained and caring therapeutic staff, kids can optimize their abilities, develop skills, and discover new worlds!"

If you are interested in donating to them or helping out, please click on the link above.

Missouri Town Family Session | Blue Springs, Mo Family photographer

What do you get when you mix my favorite location with one of my favorite families?  AWESOME family photos.  I will admit, extended family photos aren't always my favorite.  Not that I don't enjoy them, but usually the more people you have in a photo, the harder it is to get a good shot where everyone is looking at me with a good expression, eyes open, decent pose, etc.  My friend Tara's family made it not only look easy...it was easy!  WOW are they photogenic or what?  I usually try to share totally different photos in my blog post than I have already shared in my facebook sneak peek, but this first one is probably my favorite family photo ever and worth seeing again.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to get into trouble for sharing this next one, but it makes me laugh...a lot.  Plus it goes to show that even in an almost perfect photo session, there are a few outtakes.  It's kind of like one of those "how many things can you count wrong in this picture" games.

Railroad Bridge, Independence | Blue Springs Family Photographer

I drive by this location all the time and each time I do, I envision photos with this bridge in the background.  I finally got to try it out and there couldn't have been a better family to do it with.  They were easy-going and fun and even found a few good spots to try (I love it when clients join in and share their ideas)! 6 year old Preston was willing and able when it came to posing and was even able to pull of some great action shots! I think this location and session were a success and I look forward to shooting there again...tomorrow.  :)

Every time I look at this one I imagine a little fishing pole in the image and get the Andy Griffith Theme Song stuck in my head.  Now you do too!  You're welcome.  ;)

Union Station Family Session| Blue Springs Family Photographer

The weather has been very back and forth and unpredictable this fall but so far it has always ended up being close-to-perfect weather for my scheduled sessions...until this one.  It was pretty chilly out at 9 a.m. on this Saturday and since the youngest member of this family was only weeks old (see more of her in "Harper's Newborn Session" a few posts down), that meant off to Union Station for an inside shoot.  It was my first time shooting there and I hope to go back and scout out some more good spots inside for next time, but when you have a family of 7 and 5 of them are little people with equally sized attention spans exploring is not the best idea so we stuck to just a few spots.  I shared a few of the color versions from this session on facebook, but I LOVE the black and whites so I decided to mix it up a little and do an all black and white post for a change.

Jackson Family | Blue Springs Family Photographer

This was such a beautiful day for a session and such a beautiful family!  Little Piper and Riley were fascinated with pretty much everything...well, except for maybe my camera.  :)  Looking into a camera and smiling over and over again isn't a whole lot of fun when you are 4 and 1.  Especially when there are so many cool rocks and leaves around!  When you are as pretty as these girls though, all it takes is a quick glance up or a few candids of kids just being kids to get some great shots.

One big happy family...in Higginsville, Mo

This was one BIG family.  With lots of little ones.  And I had to bring my own kids.  WOW, sounds pretty scary, right?  Actually I was lucky...this is one of my wonderful friends and her beautiful (and did I mention big?) family.  There are many challenges to shooting large families.  Getting everyone to look at you, smile, and hopefully have their eyes open.  Figuring out the wardrobe; matching, but not TOO matchy.  Trying to pose everyone so you can see all of their faces.  And probably the biggest challenge of all...finding a date and time that both the photographer and everyone involved have available.  After many, many discussions and date changes we finally decided on one.  When I realized my husband was going to be gone and I had no babysitter there was no way I was going to try to change it.  Luckily, this was not only one of my good friends, but also one of my daughter's best friend's family so when she wasn't busy smiling for me, they got to play.  Then a few days before the session the forecast called for rain.  Lucky for us it held off and we got the job done.  :)

Serendipity Session in Blue Springs

Serendipity is one of my favorite words. It means "happy accident" and it seems to happen so much in the photography business that when it came time to name my business I almost chose "Serendipity photography". Unfortunately I'm not the only one who thought of it. Anyway, this beautiful family/ 4 year old session was just that. As always I had been consulting back and forth with mom to get an idea of what they wanted for the session and to decide on the perfect location for them. Although we did some family shots and a few of darling little sister, Charlee, the star of this session was Kingston who just turned 4 and loves baseball so we chose a local Sports Complex. I almost always try to visit locations prior to sessions to map out a plan and find the best spots for each photo I have planned to take and I was totally ready for this session...I thought. The day of the session I arrive to find the sports complex completely full of pee wee and bigger kids playing football, parents, cars, people everywhere, including all of my "perfect spots". Luckily, the baseball diamonds are way back in the park and were empty so we headed back there anyway and managed to find plenty of great places for photos. As a matter of fact I plan on returning for many future sessions. Serendipity.

Wild family session in Blue Springs, Mo.

What a fun family session! This family wanted a lot of fun, silly, and candid shots which inspired the title of this post somewhat, however we also had lots of "wild" visitors during this session including a deer, two baby bunnies, turkey, and a tick....ew. Our audience...