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.  :)

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?

300 Fan Give-Away Winner is.....

Congratulations to Tonya! She was the 8th person to comment and the winner of the 300 Facebook fan give-away! If you were not a winner, make sure you stay tuned to my Facebook page for the next give-away and other specials and promotions. Don't forget to tell your friends to "like" Heather Neal Photography on Facebook. The sooner I reach the next big number the sooner I will do another give-away. :)

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.

"300 Facebook Likes" session give-away.

To enter simply comment below. Leave your name and your e-mail address. Winner will be drawn (probably old-school pull name out of hat style)and announced Sunday, September 2nd. You will receive a regular one hour session. Newborn sessions and extended families of more than 5 people excluded. Will travel but travel fees will apply. Good Luck!

Back To School Mini Sessions!

Are you really, really excited to pay a fortune for those wonderful school pictures? Book a Back To School Mini Session and this year you will have some school memories that you are proud to frame. For only $60 you will receive 7-10 high resolution images on a CD with printing rights. Back To School Mini Session will be Saturday, August 25th. Times still available:

3:00 p.m.
3:30 p.m.
4:00 p.m.
4:30 p.m.
5:00 p.m.- BOOKED
5:30 p.m.- BOOKED

Will open more times as needed To reserve your time and get all of the necessary information
e-mail me: heather@heathernealphotography.com
contact me on facebook: Heather Neal Photography
or call me: (816)582-6238

Blue Springs Engagement Session

Engagement sessions are probably my favorite kind of session. Maybe that is because I have been lucky enough to have such awesome couples! LOVED this couple. They had lots of ideas of about what kind of props and photos would best capture who they were as a couple and the result turned into LOTS of awesome images that really tell the story of who they are. For those of you who do not know their story...they worked at Disney together, attended Oregan State together (hence the duck whistle thing), and liked vintage style, and music. I think we were able to capture all of those things, plus their love for each other quite well! (They were laughing because I tied the Mickey balloons to my camera bag and we just heard a POP and turned to see that all but one had escaped and headed into a tree). I got entertained while I worked! If it wouldn't have been SO hot out, I would have stalled a little here to enjoy it longer! Shared the color version of this on Facebook, but love the black and white too! Also shared a similar one to this on Facebook, but I like this one too. Looks like he is whispering sweet nothings here right? Not exactly. I would love to take credit for knowing there would be a Mickey at the Soda Shop, but it was pure coincidence!