This is going to be one seriously cute baby

Mary and Ryan came to my studio this evening for maternity portraits.
Cute mom + cute dad = cute baby!
They will be back in December so I can photograph their new baby boy. Mary is one of several doctors and/or residents who have come to me for maternity and newborn portraits. Since Mary is a pediatrician, I'm very curious to see if she will handle her baby boy with "new mommy jitters," or will she move him around like a pro? I can't wait to find out!

Thanks to Mary and Ryan for trusting me with these special portraits. I'm really looking forward to our next session.

Ballerina Portrait Contest - Semifinal #2

Here is the second round of our fun little contest. Vote on your favorite portrait - the winner will move on to our final contest and have a chance to win a set of Moo cards from Center Stage Photography! I get to choose the portraits to be included on the Moo cards. Have fun voting! (See the Oct. 12 blog entry for more information. Also, if a portrait does not look clear, please click on it to see it better.)

All ballerina sessions are now edited and online!
Remember that you have until Oct. 31 to place your order
at the Early Bird Special prices.
All portraits from this event will stay online through Dec. 31.

By the way - some of you have asked about holiday cards. We have 30 designs for choose from, from Victorian to modern. You can stop by the studio to see copies of each one; or soon we will have a gallery on our web site where you can see each design. Prices are the same as for our holiday card mini-session portrait event -- you can see pricing in our Sept. 14 blog entry.

EDITED ON OCT. 26 - Portrait #6 won this round, and will move on to the final. Congratulations!

#1

#2

#3
#4

#5
#6

Ballerina Goes High Fashion

Today was this girl's 10th birthday and I had the honor of spending part of her special day taking her portraits. She spends lots of time each week in a leotard and ballet slippers, but tonight I wanted to do something different with her - we went high fashion - blowing hair and all! I even talked her into keeping her very chic little coat on for part of her session.

Happy birthday little Miss J!
(click on the photo to see it bigger and more clear)

Oh Baby!

This baby girl had her three-month portraits taken today. She wore a beautiful baptismal gown that one of her doting grandmothers made for her. I've taken her mom's maternity portraits, and her newborn portraits, but I haven't seen her since she was a week old, and my goodness how she's grown. I can't wait to see what she looks like for her 6-month portraits in January.

Thanks, Dana, for bringing her today. Here's a sneak peak - including one with what you called the
"over the top" hat -- I couldn't resist!

Ballerina Portrait Contest - Semifinal #1

Our ballerina portrait mini-session event was a huge success this year - so much so that I'm still editing portraits for some of my last sessions. I photographed almost 60 kids - nearly all girls, over three days in late September and early October.

We thought it would be fun to have a bit of a contest. We will have several preliminary contests, and the winner of each will then move to the final contest. Once we have a final winner, the subject of the portrait will win a free set of Moo cards printed with portraits from their session (I get to choose the portraits to include). If you haven't seen these darling little cards, check out www.moo.com. Everyone who sees them goes crazy over them -- I carry some in my purse of my own kids to show off. A modern little brag book, I guess!

Posted below are the first six portraits in the contest (I'm going in order of when the session happened). Vote for your favorite portrait. This is not a cute kid contest - I happen to think that every child I photographed for this event is equally beautiful :) . Get your friends and family to vote! This poll will close in one week. I will annouce the winner at that point and post the next preliminary poll.

EDITED ON FRIDAY, OCT. 19 -- Portrait #2 won with 37 votes. #3 had 36 votes. Since it was so close, both will move on to the final contest.

Have fun!

Portrait #1

Portrait #2

Portrait #3

Portrait #4

Portrait #5

Portrait #6(click the photo to see it full size)
You can vote by clicking below, or go to:
http://www.polldaddy.com/p.asp?p=119525

Beautiful new family

Katie came to me a few weeks ago for her maternity portraits, and this evening, she and Michael brought their new baby boy for portraits. Newborn sessions are always fun, and challenging, and memorable, and this one was no different. Katie and Michael are both very fun to work with.

The couple let me try out something new. Many of my clients come to me for my "low key" photography - that is, low light and shadows on dark -- or black -- backdrops. Tonight I wanted to try something a bit different -- a more high-key look. They were game - so we did both - low key and high key. I hope they enjoy the results!


Congratulations to Katie and Michael - wishing you many fun times with your new baby boy.

Fun with plexiglass

I had a fun session this evening -- this little guy, who is a frequent guest in my studio, spent most of his time staring into the reflection in the plexiglass I had him sitting on. This baby's mom loves portraits of her four gorgeous kids, so she couldn't resist getting his 9-month portraits done. Luckily for her, we were able to distract him from the plexiglass long enough to get some nice portraits. Of course, is there little wonder why one of the best portraits happened before I got the plexiglass out?

Enjoy! Your proofs will be ready shortly. See you for baby's 1-year portraits in a few months!

(click the image to see it larger)

This Mom Appreciates Portraits As Art

Today I photographed a session for a mom who truly appreciates portraits as an art form. The decor in her beautiful home is a testament to that. Beautiful, black and white portraits adorn her walls. We did both studio portraits and outdoor - she has the sweetest little sofa that we took out by the pond for some creative and fun portraits. But the question is, will Michelle remain true to black and white? Or will she decide she needs a bit more color on her walls? I can't wait to find out. Michelle - enjoy this sneak peak - your proofs will be ready soon.

And thank you for choosing me to photograph your sweet, sweet little girl.
(click on each portrait to see it bigger)