Family and Children’s Portraits at Highland Park

/by

Highland Park has been a long-time favorite of mine for photo shoot locations, so when I was contacted by this precious family about doing a session there, it was a match made in Heaven. Their little ones are all charmers and even though it was a chilly morning in October, they were such troopers throughout the whole session!

family portrait at Pittsburgh park

We had originally scheduled for a date in September, but had to postpone due to the rain. I’m so glad the flowers were still in bloom, because I love this shot of mama and her baby girl.

pittsburgh-portraits-006

And here’s a proud papa and his little gents.

pittsburgh-portraits-037

And of course, we switched it up and got father/daughter and mother/sons shots too!

pittsburgh-portraits-025

pittsburgh-portraits-038

And now for some close-up goodness. Each one of them melts my heart!

boy portrait

toddler portrait

pittsburgh-portraits-017

These kiddos are so happy! What a great way to start the day!

Pittsburgh Engagement Session

/by

I’ll be photographing Taylor and Brandt’s wedding in 2017 for George Street Photography. We got to meet for the first time at their engagement session in Oakland—Panther Hollow, to be exact. It was great getting to know them and their doggie, Zeus, who sometimes stole the show. You’ll see what I mean in a bit.

engaged couple and their dog

I’ve never really spent any time under this bridge before, but it is a nice location for sure!

pittsburgh-engagement-session-002

This next shot at Schenley Park is one of my favs of them. They’re having a good time and it’s contagious!

Love in Schenley Park

Ok, here’s where Zeus starts to ham it up. While this shot was planned, there were several unplanned shots of him getting in between his parents. It was very funny, but Taylor and Brandt were smart to bring along friends to help with entertaining Zeus while he wasn’t being photographed. Otherwise, I think Zeus would have been photobombing the whole session!
couple with their fur baby

Taylor has been busy on Pinterest and this is our take on one of her pins. Now who’s pinning who?

pittsburgh-engagement-session-005

And she even brought this cute sign for Zeus to wear. And he wore it like a champ!

She said yes!

What a fun session! Thanks Taylor and Brandt—looking forward to your wedding next year!

Studio Christmas Portraits

/by

I adore photographing this family and have enjoyed seeing their baby boy grow over this last year. He’s getting a little tougher to capture as he’s on the move now, but I think we found some sweet shots of him in their Christmas session.

peek-a-boo baby boy in reindeer hat

This is the first blog post I’ve shared from this family, so I’ll be going backwards this winter to catch up on some blogging, but for now, tis the season for sharing Christmas photos!

baby boy with J O Y

One of my tricks for active little guys and girls is to put them in a big chair that’s not too high off of the ground. This cutie pie was more adventurous than I thought, so we had to have mom and dad just off camera to be there to grab him when he got too close to the edge of the chair.

baby boy in big antique chair

And here’s the whole family. Aren’t they sweet?

Christmas family portrait

And this last shot is just a glimpse of him crawling out of the photo. Photographing a crawling baby or toddler is like an aerobic work-out for all involved. It gets easier when little ones can start to understand more and you can use motivators like candy! I’m not ashamed to say that I have candy on hand anytime I’m photographing my own boys! But I completely get it when a parent wants to wait until after their child’s first birthday to introduce sweets. I did that with my first son (my second got lucky that I caved in on that stance the second time around – his first lolipop was in our Christmas photos when he was 9 months old and it worked like a charm!)

baby boy on the move!

It can be challenging with a little one on the move, but what a precious time to capture that developing personality. And his mama cares very much about capturing all of these special memories! Many wishes for a blessed holiday!

In-Home Christmas Family Portraits

/by

I was blessed with a referral to photograph this sweet family in the spring. And when they were ready to schedule a session as a gift to grandma and grandpa, I was thrilled!

Christmas-family-portrait

It was a chilly November morning and there was even some snow left from the first snowfall in their backyard!

At-home-family-portrait

We knew the kids wouldn’t want to be out in the cold long, so we kept a brisk pace, making sure we got some keepers on the way.

Outdoor-family-portrait

Love this baby girl’s sweet smile, all swaddled in her blanket!

children-Christmas-portrait

We went inside after about 20 minutes and captured some more groups, but the kids’ individual portraits are some of my favorites from this session.

baby girl with parents close-up

What a little lady!

girl close-up portrait

Big smiles from the big brother!

boy close-up portrait

And this last one is a blessing. I’m always pleased to get a good shot of an active toddler. This guy is smack dab in the middle of the toughest age to photograph. And I think he sparkles with personality!

toddler close-up portrait

Merry Christmas!

South Park—Pittsburgh Winter Portrait Session

/by

Last week, I found unexpected joy in photographing Gabi and David at South Park. They’ve been married for a few years and wanted some updated photos, but I was surprised when they were looking to schedule an outdoor session in December. They love the outdoors and a studio session was not what they were looking for, so we scheduled and hoped for no rain.

couple kissing portrait

I was worried about them being cold and miserable spending an hour outside in 40 degree weather (I tend to hibernate like a bear during the winter), but they didn’t seem to mind the cold and actually had fun with it! Maybe I should shake up my habits and get outside more during the winter?!

Winter-portrait-couple

I had so much fun photographing this session and realized how silly I was to suggest waiting until spring. I was thinking that everything is cold and grey during the winter and that they probably wouldn’t like it if their noses and cheeks were rosy in the photos. But can anyone deny their charm in these photos?

couple kissing at South Park

The first three images in this post are in color, and I’m so pleased that the scenery at South Park offered lots of beauty and Gabi did a great job coordinating their wardrobe to compliment the winter hues. But some of my favorites form this session are black and whites.

Winter portrait photography

These two started out a little shy—it takes a while to get fully comfortable with a camera pointed at you. But as they warmed up, the flirtation was so much fun to capture!

South Park Pittsburgh

I will never tire of this set-up: updside down on the ground. Everyone looks stunning in it and the light is just right on an overcast day.

Upside down on the ground

Gabi and David, thank you so much for the opportunity to document this chapter in your journey. And for opening my eyes to the joy of photographing portraits outdoors in the cold! Blessings to you!