Traveling Baby

Recently my sister and I, and our husbands, made the much anticipated journey to Europe. What an incredible convenience that I am a photographer and she is a pregnant lady!  :)  Of course we had to take advantage of our beautiful and unique setting; what follows in this post is the neatest photo session I have ever done before! 

We started in Paris. 

Getting up for photos at 6 AM is not fun, especially when one is jet-lagged, but Carrie and Ted were resilient! 

Our session started at 6:45 AM, so that we could work with a mostly deserted city. Which is what we got...until a whole different type of photoshoot started to my left...

Yes, that's right...a photoshoot of the naked-kind..I love the look on Carrie's face! Shocking Europeans!

Moving on... 

The next stretch of our journey took us to Southern Portugal! I was very pleasantly surprised with the tropical feel of this portion of the country. Whitewashed Stucco homes, lemon groves, and deserted beaches surrounded by cavernous cliffs!

So excited to meet Baby Girl Sees in August!! Congratulations, Carrie and Ted!

Vintage Luggage and a Handful of Balloons

Downtown Rockford is one of my favorite places to go for a photography session. So many bridges, interesting buildings, vibrant colors, and secret little corners to use to my advantage!

Aubrey just turned three years old in February, and I am just going to say right now: GOOD LUCK to mom...this little girl is already a little model with sass! 

 

A few weeks ago I found a few vintage suitcases for little cost. I wasn't quite sure if they would work with Aubrey's photoshoot, but I brought them along just in case- OR *just in suitcase*!!  :)

I am so thrilled with the end result!

Black and White Photography is my passion. It is how I started my photography journey, back in the late 1990's on an old Minolta camera loaded with black and white film. The problem that I struggle with in this modern digital camera era is three-fold

1. Getting my photos to have the the same look as the film images that were easily tweeked in the dark room is a tedious, and sometimes unsuccessful, process. Finding the right contrast and lighting is a constant battle for me!

2. The digital SLR cameras are so amazing with their colors that it is difficult to even want to change the image to black and white. 

3. Not every person photographs as well or better in Black and White. I love finding those subjects who look incredible and natural in black and white

Aubrey is one of those people who looks just as amazing in black and white as she does in color! 

 Thanks for another great photoshoot, Aubrey!

An Orchard Morning

Catherine's wedding day was almost eight years ago, but you wouldn't know it from looking at these photographs; her dress fits like she picked it out yesterday! A few days prior to her Trash The Dress session, we excitedly discussed our plans for a sunrise photoshoot in a local apple orchard!

As a michigan resident, I love living here! I love all of the seasons and the quite unpredictable weather. As a photographer...I still love living here. There are so many options for backdrops to a photo session! All you need to do is travel 30 minutes and you can go from a forest to a beach! BUT, it can be very frustrating that a clear weather forecast for the next morning can change while I am sleeping!
So, Catherine and I did not get our beautiful sunrise, but the clouded morning cast a dreamlike lighting that translated amazingly into another wonderful photoshoot!

I photograph Catherine's children constantly, but have only had a few opportunities to catch her on film, so this was a treat for me! 

AND then there were these boots...

(so we walked them across the road to the woods)

We couldn't resist these last two shots, you know, being in an apple orchard and all...