Mommy and Me Portraits

There is a saying by Washington Irving that says “A mother is the truest friend we have.” I couldn't agree more !

Mother’s Day is coming up! Regular and mini sessions are available. Please call or email for details.

Yikes its been a month !

I can't believe I haven't blogged in over a month. To compensate, I have two posts to add today. Yay ! First, a Belated Happy Valentine's Day to all my followers.

Watch for the next blog post about the upcoming easter minis.

Before & After peek | North Metro Atlanta Newborn, Children, Family and Senior Photographer

I thought I'd share one of my favorite pictures from my last session of 2011. I was very fortunate to catch  this Super Hero face. I'm told it scares away the bad guys. Now who wouldn't want to be a damsel in distress if there's a super hero this cute who's going to come to the rescue ?

The Before & After will enable you to see the difference between getting portraits at your favorite neighborhood portrait chain and a custom portrait with a professional.

This picture was taken  indoors with very flat lighting. There was a huge chandelier above his head which worked for me as a hair light giving the lovely shine to his hair. In post processing, I brightened his face some to give it a soft glow. I then removed a red spot that looked like a bug bite on his right cheek and finally finished it off by removing the white stain from the vest and the little thread hanging from near the button. I think its the small details that go into creating a good picture.
And yes I used a nekked powered down flash to directly illuminate him. I could have thought of bouncing the flash across a wall and positioning him better and a million different other things but guess what? I would have MISSED THIS SHOT  because it was completely. impromptu.

Christmas Session : M's Session peeks | North Metro Atlanta Newborn, Babies and Children Photographer

With not being able to do much else today, I finally had the time to blog this session from the holidays last year ! The pictures were already delivered to the client but I got tied up with other things and they never made it to the bloggie ....

I was lucky to be shooting Miss M in her grandma's beautiful home. It was totally awesome and chic as you will see from some of my favorite peeks below ..

And in case you were wondering what my typical before and after looks here's a sample -

Yes that is my OLD camera case in the background. I now carry a new trendy backpack from Think Tank Pro. The rest of this gallery can be viewed on my website

My Fairytale Shoot | Atlanta, Alpharetta, Woodstock, Marietta, Roswell, Canton Children's Photographer

I was sitting around one day in this quaint quiet little spot in the woods pondering on the nuance of life and other petty (or not!) matters. The only inhabitants around were little squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits. Then,  I heard a soft little crunch. Like something was walking amongst the leaves. What did I find? A small little fairy gently treading around. She had her back to me at first and didn't see me. Boy was I lucky I had my camera on me !

The minute she heard the shutter click, she turned around and caught me. And then gave me the cutest of smiles !

In her hand she held this miraculous invention from Pixie Land. Supposedly, it makes people of all ages happy. She went on to show me how its to be used

She then followed me home and up the stairs ...

She was trying to fly but for some reason her wings weren't levitating her. Maybe because she'd temporarily made her wings disappear ? (FYI - Little Fairies have the cuteest bellybutton...)

She followed me into my studio and didn't know quite what to do.

She got out her magic wand and  was content standing giving me sweet smiles ...

The rest of her gallery can be found and viewed here.

Custom portrait photography and why consider it | Woodstock GA | Children's & Newborn Photographer

We have all been to the picture store at the mall or within our favorite discount store. Myself included. We have all Ooh-ed and Aah-ed at the portraits the first time. Not so much the second time. By the third time, they have started looking boring and posed. To top it, if you have kids who just don't want anything to do with getting pictures taken and won't smile or even look at the camera, you come away without liking any of the forced smiley pictures. I recently had the good fortune of photographing a family who were very disappointed with their experience at a mall studio. Good fortune because I got a chance to introduce them to the wonderful world of custom portraiture. Portraiture thats not forced. Portraiture thats done out in the open where the children can continue being children. Portraiture not done with the standard boring backdrop. At the end of the session, they were very apprehensive and didn't think I had managed to capture anything worthwhile (from their viewpoint where they felt the kids didn't want to do anything in front of my camera). When it was time for the in-person demo, I met with the dad and he was blown away. So much so that he had a hard time narrowing the pictures he wanted. In his words "we want them all !"

If you haven't ever considered custom portraits, give it a try. The difference in the pictures will speak for itself.

Easter Mini Sneak Peak - "Little L" {Woodstock, Roswell, Marietta Children's Photographer}

Last week I shot a few Easter mini sessions. Here's a sneak peak at the first one. This little guy was as shy as he was adorable and just wouldn't break the ice to pose for me. Although I had a cute Easter scene set up, I realized he wasn't going to sit there and let me take my shots. So I did the next best thing - I shot him unposed ! I put on a long lens and kept my distance and clicked away when he didn't quite expect it. Here are a few pictures showing his different moods . The only time I got smiles from him ?? Either when I put the camera away to play ball with him or when I asked him to pose with his Mommy ! Moms and beach balls are perfect recipes for getting the giggles and smiles :-)