I love being able to photograph a family as it grows. Each year brings new milestones, growth and celebrations and happen so quickly it is not always easy to make sure they are documented. Therefore, it’s a huge honor to create a visual history for a family and photograph them each year. My first session with Rudd’s was a maternity session, before Michael was born. I then photographed him as a newborn, and today we get to see him at one year old! The Rudd’s are expecting their second baby so there were many reasons to take pictures. It is such an exciting time in their lives and I feel lucky to be a small part of it as their photographer. I think after three sessions, it’s safe to say I’m their photographer, right?

Can you believe those blue eyes? I brought along a kid sized wooden chair and it was perfect for Michael. He liked to play a game called “take off my hat” and it didn’t last more than a minute on his head :)

he’s going to be a great big brother.

When children grow so quickly there is almost an urgency to getting pictures done. Each birthday brings with it new discoveries and milestones and before you know it they are going to school and teaching you things you didn’t know. I tend to get ahead of myself, however, so let’s slow down and enjoy Abbey at the age of two. While her parents started the adoption process well before she was born, it wasn’t until recently that they were able to bring her home with them. Although baby pictures were no longer an option I was excited about the prospect of a family / portrait session and creating images they could always look back on from this time in their lives. I was conveniently already in Michigan for a wedding so arranging something back in my home town was not a problem. I met with Abbey and her family on an early evening when the light is soft and reminds you why summer should never end.

Since we wanted to get a mix of family and individual images I started with everyone together and asked them to have fun and play. Abbey loves to be swung and lifted high into the air so it was easy to document their interaction.

We also got out some bubbles and just had fun on the gorgeous late summer evening. While it takes a little while to get used to, I think natural interaction leads to better images and adds variety and life. As I edited the images I also realized that it was a change of pace to photograph a child who is untrained in the art of “smiling at the camera” aka. scrunching their face or becoming shy upon it’s sight. The result is a more honest portrait of Abbey and her interactions with me.

she’s just adorable. We ended the session on the boardwalk and once again had some fun playing around… I love the last set of images and the great reaction Abbey has!

this is what summer is all about: playing outside, running around, getting wet, having fun… and add going fishing with gummy worms to that list. more to come!

Gabi has grown so much since I last saw her. I photographed her as a newborn and now almost a year later she’s turning into quite the little girl. Loads of personality, she smiled and laughed as her grandma entertained and wasn’t afraid to show her displeasure at standing on the grass. She was wonderful to photograph and I don’t know how you can resist her cute little grin! Gabriella, you are one sweet little girl.

Don’t stand still girls – run around your parents! Not the traditional shot but I think a welcome change from the usual.

this backdrop was right outside their house – isn’t it gorgeous?

The whole family got together for a few before the girls had a ride in their sled…

too cute! now who else is up for some winter fun?

my niece is the cutest watermelon eater. Like any good photographer aunt I took some pictures of her over the 4th of July. Playing in the pool, eating watermelon and sharing some with her best friend Lexi are among the things I documented. Are my kids going to be as cute?

Julia and Lexi are best friends and I’m not even kidding when I say that. They could entertain each other for hours, too bad we don’t live closer! Playing in a backyard pool is a must as a child, and Julia’s fav activity doing so is pouring water back and forth and back and forth – and sneaking drinks in between too. Don’t drink the pool water Julia!

Today is your day, fathers and thank you for all that you do. It’s only fitting that I share a preview of this wonderful family of three soon to be four! I had a whirlwind day yesterday in Rome, NY  photographing Abby and Andrew’s wedding and then a session with the S family. It ended up working out really well even though for this session we had to wait out the rain and then brave some serious mosquitoes to make it happen. In the end it was definitely worth it and it was great to see Diane and her family. Diane and I ran track together in college and so we spent some serious time braving New York winters on runs. My time running track and cross country in college and high school hold some of my dearest memories and Diane was one of the kind upperclassmen that took me under her wing when I first came to Houghton. That time goes so quickly and now she is now three weeks away from her due date (she’s having a girl!) so we snuck some maternity photos in at the last minute and of course photographed the whole family as well. Look for the rest soon and fathers enjoy this day!

This father’s day session took place a few days ago and you’re going to have to help me keep it a secret from Maryn’s dad (I’m fairly certain he’s never checked my blog or anything so we’re safe unless you leak it). I knew going in to this shoot that Maryn was an active little girl, like most one year olds. She had some toys so we played and ran and read some books, and through all of the action here are some of the moments that I captured. She has the most adorable little smile and is one of the happiest little girls, so it was a lot of fun to spend time with her and document her growing personality.

When Maryn looked at me I brought up the camera quickly to capture the honest look that she had. I didn’t have the camera as a barrier between her and I so that I could interact with her and get some of the expressions you see in these pictures. Photographing one year olds isn’t easy, but it’s rewarding. They have no programmed reaction to the camera and by being outside and playing they share so much of their personality… so much more than in a studio.

I love Raggedy Ann dolls, and so does Maryn.

We had some fun playing on the benches outside and hide and seek brought this big smile out. Adorable! These are going to be the perfect Father’s Day Present.

I photographed Eva in New York several days ago, and I’m happy to have all of the images finished today on her birthday! She is a doll, and quite the voracious reader as you will see. Once we gave her a few books she didn’t want to part with them. I also had the privilege of photographing Eva when she was born, so it’s been wonderful to see how much she’s grown up in the past year. She’s not a baby anymore and growing up quickly

There are so many images that I love from this session, and I think grouping them together would be an awesome way to display them… and if I had any advice to give people when displaying prints it would be to not be afraid of going big. Have you seen how one 8×10 looks on your wall? It looks lonely. You either need to group them together, or get something larger (16×24 at least) so it can be a centerpiece. Trust me!

She’ll be walking soon!

It was wonderful to photograph Eva again and hope she has a happy birthday! To see the full set of images head over to the gallery and create a profile to log in and see them. Enjoy!