A while back I posted the sneak peek for this family and spoke to how we came up with the location. I am done editing and the clients have their prints – so it is perfect timing to show a little more from our adventure, including their totally adorable kitten!

I am doing a shoot tomorrow and part of it will be in the “amber room” at the Guthrie. It reminded me that I had been there once before with some fellow photographers and the boy. I hadn’t blogged these pictures yet, so I thought it was a good time to. He looks so much smaller/younger in these pictures yet I can see he was full of wonder and determination. It is amazing to think it was just about six months ago. . .  As a side note – the Metrodome ceiling had just collapsed, which you can see in the picture below.

I am editing a newborn session I had over the weekend and am struck yet again by how different it is to edit these pictures. I strive for a “natural” look;  I don’t want the baby to look “over-processed”. However labor, the elements, hormones and those sharp little infant nails are not kind to baby’s skin. I find babies often need quite a bit of work to give them the look we expect of a newborn – fresh, smooth, dewy, new. . .

I thought I would post a few before & after examples to illustrate what goes into editing newborn pictures.

This little guy is totally cute and a champ at sleeping while I posed him. He was a little older (almost 3 weeks) and had some acne and flaky skin that needed to be addressed. I was able to smooth his skin, getting rid of the flaky quality as well as removing the couple of scratches he had and the acne on his nose.

I find with newborns there tends to be more uneven skin tone/color. Here, this guy had a yellow cast to his skin in the “T” zone while around that was more magenta. I evened this out for the final product.

Sometimes I am so focused on the baby I miss things, like the blanket being wrinkled! Luckily this can be fixed as well. BTW – I knit this hat. Isn’t it cute? I must make another!

Let me start by saying that I don’t normally take my child to a session. It just so happened that I was photographing my sister-in-law and her family. After their shoot we wanted to get a picture of all the cousins, so mid-way through my SIL’s shoot my husband stopped by the our kids. What happened next was hilarious and only made better by the fact it was caught “on film”.

BTW – I love how in the first picture you can already tell they see my son’s approach. . .and “swan dive” is probably the best way to describe what he did. Luckily no one was hurt; it was good for a laugh.

Here I am finally posting a maternity shoot I took in April. What I can say? This mom was (is) GORGEOUS. I still can’t believe she was just three weeks away from giving birth. . . she looked so great.

It is pretty funny how I actually met her. My oldest daughter can be quite persistent to put it mildly. When one of her teachers announced that anyone who got permission from parents could take a crayfish home after they were done with the unit, my daughter got it in her head that she not only needed one but needed one of only two that had eggs. In order to accomplish this, she needed me to come to school with a vessel we could transport this new pet home in. After much begging and pleading, I agreed to met her at school exactly when it ended so she could be one of the firs to her crayfish.

When I got there, I noticed her teacher for this was pregnant. I was shocked to hear how far along she was; she just looked so great. Pregnancy really suited her! That evening I wrote her a note about having a shoot. Within the week we were shooting.

Although it was April, it was COLD. It had snowed the day before and there was a bit of a wind. To their credit, they never complained. They came prepared with more outfits than they needed and lots of accessories. Perfect! We incorporated the best ones and had an awesome time. I just love the connection between them; they were naturals in front of the camera!

I really love adventures – especially when I am the person suggesting them. So when it was time to meet up with this family for their shoot, I suggested a new place I happen to pass a lot while driving on the highway. Other photogs might relate to how you always keep an eye out for new locations when driving! I told them I wasn’t sure if it would be great or a bust; I hadn’t had a chance to check it out beforehand. However they were up for the adventure – so we went for it.

At first I wasn’t sure if it was going to work out. There was a LOT of mud and muck, however the dad found a small path of dry land and the location turned out to be gorgeous. The light peeking through the clouds was also perfect. It was a bit windy at times, but even that died down after a while – but not before capturing some classic “wind-blown” looks. Here is a sneak peek at this beautiful, adventurous family:

I know your birthday was over a week ago, but mommy has been tied up getting your sisters ready for school. Happy Birthday to my sweet baby boy. I had been told that raising a boy would be different from the girls and special in its own way. . . how true that statement is. I treasure your “boy” energy and what it brings to to house full of girls. I love you monkey!