Blue Springs Baby Photographer: Charlee turns 1!

I photographed little Charlee and her beautiful family last summer and loved the results so much they are proudly displayed on a canvas in my studio so when her mommy contacted me to let me know Charlee was turning 1 I was SO excited! Turns out Charlee didn't quite share my enthusiasm about this session and wasn't really in the mood for photos but you would never know it by all of the great shots we got. When you are this cute I think the camera is your friend whether you like it or not.

Blue Springs, Mo Children's Photographer: Valentine Minis

My first Mini Sessions in the studio! So much more convenient than on location or in my home! It was so much fun seeing client's from a family session this past fall and photographing my friend's kiddos for the first time!

Blue Springs, Mo Baby Photographer: Hadley, 3 Mos.

You might remember adorable little Hadley's newborn photos from what seems like a short time ago, but at just 3 months old she's a big girl now.  Hadley is one of my "Memory Maker" babies and it is already so much fun to see how much she has changed between sessions.  I can hardly wait to see her again at her 6 month shoot.

My kiddos, Downtown Blue Springs| Blue Springs Child Photographer

Since opening my studio in downtown Blue Springs and spending more time there, I have been scoping out all kinds of good spots there that would be good places for photos.  I decided to try a few of them out with my own little ones for our annual photo session and love how they turned out.  It's also fun to have this location displayed in our home since it has become a part of my life.

On another note, there is a reason why I only plan on 1 photo session a year with my kids.  Although I often decide to do last minute little mini sessions here and there and lots of candids through the year, one full session is sometimes all I have in me.  My patience is almost unlimited when it comes to other people's kids.  I tell parents to just have fun and not take it too seriously so the kids will be happy and it will show in the photos.  I remind them that the moments I capture in between the "poses" are often the favorites in the end so it's not that important that they look at my camera and say "cheeeeeese".  And if I ask them to do something and they aren't real into it, I don't take it personally...we just move onto something else that they enjoy more.  When it comes to my own kids all of that goes out the window though.  I am the photographer AND the frustrated parent who really wants these photos to just turn out.  I often have spent months imagining what I want to do for their session and picturing certain images in my head and get annoyed when they aren't happening in reality because of lack of attention span and cooperation.  I think we managed to have a little fun for this session though and get some Christmas-card-worthy shots of my "not so little" babies too.

Meadow and Kale | Blue Springs, Mo Child Photographer

Although I have used this location many times in the past, I've never been quite as excited about it as I was for this fantastic session.  It's pretty wide open so on a sunny day you get squinty people who are practically glowing from the harsh sunlight and the only shade is provided by trees which usually leaves a mixture of splotchy light and shadows on faces.  This particular day was a perfect overcast day though which allowed me to take advantage of many of the beautiful spots here that are often not ideal due to the light.

And the cuteness of my little models...are you kidding me?  Meadow used to be in gymnastics with my own little gymnast, Marissa and we miss her a lot.

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.

Norah...2 years| Blue Springs, Mo. Child photographer

This session had everything a photographer could ever hope for...beautiful fall weather and trees that had just peaked in color, perfect location with a variety of tree lines, old barns and buildings, cool fences and much more, and an ADORABLE little blue-eyed redhead.  I decided it was a good thing we scheduled the session for an hour before the closing of the location or else I might get carried away.  Unfortunately we didn't have to worry about that anyway because little Norah wasn't feeling so well and by the time the hour was up she was more than ready to be done, but she was a trooper for sure and under the weather or not, she was a great little model.

And how much do you love the blue chair?  This chair is proof that photographers see things differently than most people.  I had been driving past this thing for weeks and finally decided I was going to stop and buy it.  Knowing Norah's session was coming up and that her red hair would be gorgeous against the blue I just left it in the back of the car.  That night my husband and I went to dinner and to run a few errands and when he opened the back of the car and saw the chair he was not the least bit surprised to find unusual furniture there because that is normal.  He simply said  "That's kind of ugly".  He went on to elaborate on how the paint was chipping and there were rust spots on it...all of the things I love most about it and that make it the perfect prop.  :)

Quinn is 1!....Blue Springs, Mo Children's Photographer

I can't believe it's been a whole year since I was shooting little Quinn's newborn photos!  I love seeing how much my littlest clients grow between sessions.  I think he must have remembered what to do because he ROCKED his 1 year session!  So many cute expressions and although I'm not sure he actually ate any of the cake he had a great time smooshing it and "talking" about it.

Back to School Beauties

Didn't have a huge response to my Back to School Mini Sessions this year. There was a lot of interest, but I think I picked a bad weekend. If I do it again next year, I think it will be earlier in August (before schools have started up, but I would love to hear your feedback on why you would or would not schedule one next year (and why or why not). Anyway, I still consider it a HUGE success. Got some adorable shots of my own little girl and then got to hang out with these fantastic girls from our gymnastics family at their mini session. Aren't they gorgeous?

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.