how to dress for family photos.

November 17, 2015

Sometimes all the stars align and everything goes perfectly during a photo session. Mom kills it with the outfit combos, the kids smile on command, and the sun is exactly where I want it to be. It doesn’t always happen, but it happened on Sunday with this beautiful family.

I get TONS of questions from clients asking advice on what they should wear for their sessions. If you want your photos to be Pinterest worthy, I’m going to need some help. First, really think about what season you want to represent, and base your color scheme on that. Plaids for fall, bright colors for spring, reds and golds for Christmas. Neutrals work for every season. BUT, and this is a big BUT, only ONE person in your group can wear something loud, like a plaid shirt. The rest of you need to wear solids, with pops of the loud in the form of a scarf, bow, collared undershirt, etc. This also works with a bold color. Christmas photos for example, everyone in the family should not be wearing red sweaters. Choose one person to rock the red, then have others wear a vest, scarf, or bow with red. Even pants, I love colored pants.

Try not to be too matchy, matchy. This family had father and son wear the same (loud) shirt, BUT dad put a sweater over it. Pops of loud, but not too much. Brilliant. I REALLY love how mom thought things through and made sure no one clashed if paired together, even extended family. Grandma and uncle blended perfectly.

Brother and sister look especially good together, which is super important because kid-only photos are almost as important as full family ones. Mom even had a gray blanket to use. Perfect, perfect, perfect.

If you want to dress your kids in matching outfits because that’s what you like, PLEASE DO. I’ve had families do this in the past and their kids looked adorable. If you have your heart set on loud shirts or red sweaters, go for it! These are just guidelines for those of you who want my advice. Don’t want it? Don’t take it! Do what works for you and your family. Hope this helps everyone prepare for Christmas minis which begin this Saturday!

boss lady.

November 5, 2015

Meet my best friend. Her name is Kristen Dispenza, and she is the Queen Bee of Mary Kay in our little community. Last month she became the first ever Pink Cadillac driver in Batavia, which of course she got for free because her and her Diamond Divas totally crushed it.

Today is a huge day for Kristen, because one year ago she opened The Glam Spot (located in the Harvester Center) with her partner, Carrie. These two boss ladies opened this facility so that they could share their love of Mary Kay products as well as the business with ANY woman who wanted to learn more. Both Kristen and Carrie also gave up their other sources of income so that they could pursue Mary Kay fulltime. Now they are both living the dream, and THAT is something to celebrate. Congratulations!

camryn turns one & so do i.

October 30, 2015

Happy birthday to my beautiful first model! I cannot believe it was almost one year ago today that I had my very first session with this sweet little girl.

Since it’s coming upon my one year anniversary as a professional photographer, I would love to share with you how I got started.

I have always taken good pictures. I have “the eye” as my friends and I like to call it, but I wasn’t confident enough to really put myself out there. I didn’t want to look silly. Last November one of my besties called me to ask if I could take some newborn pictures for a friend because her little one cried through her whole first attempt at a session. My first instinct was to tell her absolutely not, I have never taken pictures of a newborn baby before, and I am not trying to make people think that I think I’m a professional photographer at this point. But my friend made me feel so good about myself, like I could do anything. Like I was already a professional to her. So I googled how to use my Rebel for newborn photos and accepted the challenge. One year, lots of YouTube videos and some serious upgrades equipment-wise later, here I am.

I cannot put into words how grateful I am to my friends Lindsay and Becca for giving me the confidence to follow my dream. And also to the people who hired me when I was just starting out, still learning, and giving me such amazing feedback. To say thank you to everyone who has helped me make my dream a reality, I am thrilled to give away a family session to be redeemed in the 2016 season. No need to enter, no need to share my page or get me “likes”, if you hired me during this first year to take photographs of you, your kids, your family, you are automatically entered into this giveaway. Thank you again to everyone who believed in me and my art, I only hope that I made you feel as good in your photos as you have made me feel this past year.

grasso strong-er than ever.

October 28, 2015

Many of you from the Batavia area know the Grasso family and their story. This past winter both Nick AND baby Gia had to undergo extremely scary and invasive surgeries that led to weeks in the hospital recuperating. I am so pleased to be able to say that: both Nick and Gia are stronger than ever, prayer works, this beautiful family is moving on. So now we can talk about something else, like how pretty Beth is.

a day in the life of a newborn session.

October 26, 2015

I get lots of emails and messages about newborn sessions. I will be the first to tell you that I am NOT a master newborn poser. I am not a tiny baby whisperer. I specialize in toddlers and uncooperative boyfriends/husbands (because let’s be honest, they have almost the same temperament). I try to make it very clear what I’m about as to not disappoint clients looking for magic to happen. If you want magic, you’re going to have to go to a studio and pay studio prices. I have considered choosing a seminar to attend that focuses on newborn poses, and when I do, you’ll be the first to know.

Also, it is important for people to understand that I only work with natural light. So if you have a baby in the colder weather and do not have a decent amount of natural light coming into your living room, master bedroom or nursery, I cannot help you. Summer babies, call me anytime. That being said, here is a look into what goes down during a typical cold weather newborn session. Family pictures are always included because I do not spend a lot of time posing your new baby. You’ll get a few portraits/birth announcement options, and that’s pretty much all that’s promised, the rest is heavy on the lifestyle. The art of the everyday. The good stuff.