It’s Nearly Springtime, That Means Wedding Season is Soon Here!

I’m just a tad bit exited for the 2018 wedding season! After a few years of working for another great company photographing weddings while my children were little and needed more of my time, I am excited to begin offering wedding photography again through Captivating Imagery! And to kick things off, I’ll be at the Cavanaugh Bride Show in Cranberry today to say hello again to fellow vendors and meet new brides and their trusty sidekicks!

And just to reassure that this comeback to photographing weddings for Captivating Imagery isn’t a coming out of hiatus, here’s a smattering of some of the weddings I’ve photographed for the unmentioned, yet awesome, company I worked with for the last few seasons.

a grand entrance to their wedding reception

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wedding vows

kissing at West Park

bride and groom walking through Sewickley

bride and groom at Avonworth Park

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bride and groom on the field at PNC

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embrace after the ceremony

ceremony

bride getting ready

beautiful bride

dancing at the wedding reception

Pittsburgh Newborn Session: Photo Shoots can be Exhausting for Babies

This recent newborn session was chock-full of cuteness with a sweet baby girl and her siblings. So I’ll just start with my favorite: I can’t get enough of seeing these siblings love on their baby sister.

big brother holds baby sister

What better place for a family portrait than a couch, especially this one with lots of nearby windows and soft natural light!

family portrait on the couch

This baby girl is in for lots of kisses and tickles from her big sibs!

brother and sister checking out baby

kissing baby sister

This session was such a breeze, but this baby girl wasn’t able to fully sleep though all of the passing back and forth and an outfit change or two. So I suspect she was ready for a long nap after I left!

daddy and baby

Isn’t it sweet to see a parent look into their baby’s face? It’s such a sweet expression of love! I love photographing newborns one-on-one with mom and dad for just that reason.

kisses from daddy

smiles from mommy

mommy snuggles

And I hope that mom and dad got some rest too! Life sure looks busy with three little ones!

Multi-Generational Family Portrait at McConnell’s Mill

After posting about a December engagement session at McConnell’s Mill, I didn’t think I’d get back out to this lovely state park until closer to spring. But a family wanted to get together for a very special portrait with the parents who started it all, their children and grandchildren. I suggested McConnell’s Mill because it is lovely all year round.
However for a family portrait of 13 in January, we hopefully watched the weather. We were hoping for temperatures above freezing and I was personally hoping for there to be snow because it is so beautiful to photograph portraits in the snow. These two desires were met thanks to a week of snowy skies and a quick rise in temperature before the snow had a chance to melt. What a blessing!

multi-generational family portrait

Here are the three sons. Just because they’re all grown and have families of their own doesn’t mean they are too grown up for a portrait together.

three brothers

And here are the smitten grandparents and their grandchildren.

grandparents and grandchildren

We also did individual family portraits. And I have to say, these kiddos were troopers!

family portait by the mill

family portrait on the lookout

family portrait in front of the covered bridge

And last, but not least, the ladies who organized this family portrait. Well done, ladies!

the ladies who organized this portrait

Birthday Party Photography: Enjoy Your Party And Let Me Capture It For You

I had the pleasure of documenting this sweet two-year old’s birthday party at Party Lane in Mars, Pa. It was a snowy weeknight and as I was driving to the party, I was concerned that the turnout would be a disappointment, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a terrific turnout for this sweet little girl. She is a huge Toy Story fan, so her mama went all out and threw her a party complete with a visit from Buzz Lightyear!

birthday girl meets Buzz Lightyear

Toy Story themed birthday party

Party Lane is a fantastic place for little ones to play and it made an awesome setting for this party.

party girl at play

They may have turned down the lights, but this little one’s smile lit the whole room! Happy birthday sweet girl!

Happy birthday!

Time for a quick family portrait!

a quick family portrait at the party

This mama said she wanted to be able to enjoy her daughter’s party without having her phone out the whole time to take photos. That way, she could savor the moments and let the photo-taking up to a pro!

yummy cake!

Also, lighting like this can be a challenge for your average cell phone, so having properly exposed, color-corrected photos is another bonus!

hanging with her daddy

I didn’t include photos of any of the other guests at this party because I don’t have permission from those families and want to respect their privacy. But just look at this cutie pie taking a phone call!

talking on her phone

Birthday parties sure are fun!

playing peek-a-boo

I’d say, this mama adores her little girl, wouldn’t you?

kisses from mommy

Pittsburgh Newborn Photos: Siblings Can Sweeten the Session

In my personal experience, our oldest wasn’t super excited about the birth of his brother. He was indifferent at times and jealous at others (thankfully, they’ve since bonded and are best buddies now). And I’ve photographed other families who have had similar experiences. But when there are big sibs who are actually excited about having a baby, the newborn session just gets that much sweeter. I love to see this and it is a treat to photograph it. In the past, I’ve written about times when sessions were a struggle for big sibs and this recent session provides a great opportunity to write about times when including siblings in the newborn portrait just amps up the sweetness!

the whole family on the couch

adoring their baby sister

big sister and baby sister

taking care of her baby sister

One cute thing about these sisters is that they kept wanting to touch their baby sister’s face. Their mama kept encouraging them to touch her tummy or toes instead, but they couldn’t resist. So cute!

sisterly love

I can’t put my finger on it, but photographs of my two boys together have super powers over me. They completely capture my heart. I hope this mama feels the same way about this photo.

all three daughters

mama and her baby

father and daughter

This next photo at the door was taken there mainly for the natural light, but as I was editing it occurred to me that this could have been what it looked like when this mom and dad brought their third daughter home. So sweet!

the whole family

What a breath of fresh air seeing this sweet family in their first days with their three daughters! I’m blessed to be able to capture such a special time in a family’s life.