Tag Archive for: on-location

Captivating Imagery

Five Reasons to Schedule Your Maternity Session Now

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The pregnant body is beautiful, so don’t miss this opportunity to schedule a maternity session.  While you may not feel beautiful at the moment, it’s a joy for others around you to see that bump grow.  And if you think about it, the uterus your baby is growing in started out the size of your fist and will expand until it’s just below your breastbone.  And your body created a whole organ (the placenta) to support your baby while it grows.  It’s simply amazing, which leads me to the first reason.

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Spring Siblings Session: Timing is Everything

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I had the pleasure of photographing my nieces a few weeks ago while visiting my family in Central PA and these sweet girls and their mama were so ready for this photo shoot! That’s one of the many things that makes photographing little girls so much fun – they enjoy the process. Even the youngest enjoyed her time in front of the camera!

three sisters walking in garden

One of the challenges we faced was that their preferred location for group shots was an enclosed garden with limited access – think banker’s hours. While you can photograph portraits anytime of day outside, there really are just two ideal times of day: within an hour or two after sunrise or an hour or two before sunset. For this first set of photos, we didn’t have that option, but were blessed with overcast skies at 4 p.m.! Hallelujah!

little girls in the tulip garden

walking hand in hand in the garden

under a cherry tree

ring-around-the-rosie

The sun peeked out again toward the end of our time in the garden, so we ducked under this pagoda for softer light.

under a pagoda

After sunrise or before sunset, the light is softer and lower, which is beautiful and means less unflattering squinting and shadows. AND it’s more forgiving for the photographer because while I’m shooting in manual mode, I don’t have to make as many adjustments for the light and can focus on staying with my client and capturing emotion and personality. For their individual portraits, we were able to do just that at a public location closer to sunset.

children's portrait

on-location kids photography

And the following morning, just after sunrise, we did another mini session with this sweetheart who just turned one!

first birthday portrait

so big!

My talented sister is a blessing to her daughters in so many ways, but one way that she completely outshines any other mom I know is the birthday parties she throws. Just look at these handmade flowers for her littlest daughter’s first birthday party! What a fun backdrop for a few portraits in their own home!

birthday girl clapping

all ready for her party

first family portrait

Pittsburgh Newborn: When to Schedule Your Session

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On-Location Portraits for the Wiser Senior

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I struggled with what to name this post because it is from a session of a lovely lady who wanted to have a newer portrait of her to remember her by. And calling it a senior portrait doesn’t begin to give this session justice. I found myself really enjoying spending time with Helen and her son who organized the session.

on-location portrait

In this shot below, she reminds me of the quiet confidence I grew to love in my great grandmother.

natural light portrait

She wanted to wear her traditional Korean dress and I brought a backdrop and strobes because the occasion really called for it.

close-up with studio lighting

Her motivation for this session was a black-and-white portrait of her own mother, very much like this one below where she’s seated in her traditional dress.

sitting in her living room

God bless you, Helen! It was wonderful spending time with you and your family!

Outdoor Newborn Photography: Baby Julian

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Most of my newborn sessions take place inside where it’s warm, but given a humid summer morning and an expertly landscaped yard with lots of lovely shade, you can bet I’ll be making the most of it (with mom and dad’s permission of course). And for Baby Julian’s session, we were all in agreement about starting outside before it rained.

Here’s sweet Julian in an outfit made by his very talented mommy, Abby.

newborn-photos-outdoors

It was tempting to leave him in that outfit the whole session, he was so gosh darn cute.

newborn-portrait-with-mom-and-dad

But he’s too cute in his birthday suit so we wrapped him in blankets and gauze.

baby-photos-Pittsburgh

This next series of shots were taken on a hill behind their home. I like that the background is personalized that way.

newborn-photo-shoot

black-and-white-newborn-portrait

mother-and-baby-photos

father-and-baby-photos

We went inside and did a few shots on this beautiful baby blanket that has been passed down through their family. Just look at that face!

Pittsburgh-newborn-photographer

And Elsie, their first “baby” even made an appearance in this shot with Julian in his nursery. I can’t get enough of babies with their pets – although I can’t claim to be an expert in photographing such a challenging combination. This one just fell in my lap!

baby-and-dog-photos

Congratulations Abby and Jared on your beautiful baby boy! Thanks for the opportunity to document your precious family!