I shot this family a few months back when the new kid on the block was just two weeks old, now she recently just turned six months old (time flies!) She has trades her wrinkly newborn features for a true photogenic beauty. It was funny because she seemed to be teething, thus not as smiley as her beautiful self, but wow- did she wow me with her eyes and occasional spurts of laughter that mom and dad managed to get out out her in spite of her sore gums! Oh how she proved me to be a gem! And her eyes, in some of the pictures, just make your heart melt.

Curls, blue eyes and tons of cuteness! Girls will drool over him in years to come! What a fun session! Although he wasn’t too happy in the barrel at first, he made wonderful pictures just by being his adorably handsome self!

There are many events in life that almost demand having a photographer present to capture and frame the memories for posterity: a wedding, the welcoming home of a newborn child, graduation. But many don’t realize that sometimes, the every-day moments at home, like sitting around on the sofa or cooking in the backyard are just as important to preserve as the momentous occasions in life. That is why we do all of our family and newborn sessions in our clients’ homes. Some of our most fun photography jobs have been centered around capturing the ups and downs–the unscripted moments at home. When I started as a photographer, I would practice at home, using my family members as guinea pigs. My first real ‘session’ featured my son and a bowel of spaghetti. He was only one your old at the time, and got marinara all over his high-chair and himself, but it made for beautiful and colorful images. So, next time you catch your child making a mess and she looks at you with her innocent, puppy-dog eyes, instead of sending her to her room, take a picture, or call me and I’ll take a few for you!

There is something soothing about looking into the unique grey-blue shade found in newborns’ eyes. I remember waiting with anticipation for my son’s eyes to mature, and hoping that he would keep the same baby-blues that my husband has been blessed with. This baby got to keep hers, luckily, and my lens loved them!

At 7 months many children reach certain milestones such as sitting up, lunging forward (to crawl), and standing while holding on to something. Here Weston proved to have an additional milestone: cuteness all session long. What a fun little tyke!

Recently a group of friends, my son, and I went to Pendleton’s Country Market to see the Butterfly Bio-Vila. We had a small tour (perfect length for the kids to stay entertained) and a tractor-pulled hayride to the Bio-Villa. The tractor ride passed a right-turn only maze for the kids to play in afterwards and an area where kids can climb up towers, tires, and tricycles and have fun in the country sun. The main attraction was the butterflies. I loved seeing all the kids getting so excited about the butterflies and seeing butterflies actually coming out of their chrysalises and dry their wings! All the little kids ran up and down the brick road looking at the caterpillars on the parsley and butterflies fluttering around, occasionally landing on one of us and on nearby plants.

Something that really was fun to me was tagging the butterflies after playing around and after most of the crowd had left. They brought out some butterflies and placed a small sticker on their wing, and placed them on our heads and hands to let them warm up and fly away. The sticker has a number and can be tracked via internet! We can track them by visiting Monarch Watch. They told me that these butterflies should be in the system by Jan… I guess it will be fun to see where our butterflies end up! Of the three butterflies we tagged, I only got one tag code which was MLS 911. Let’s see how far she gets (she was female)!

Showing us the caterpillar’s antennae

Some kids (and parents) went into the no-left turn maze.

Butterfly coming out of its Chrysalis

The children loved going on a small bike ride

Some children took their pics in front of the caterpillar grow chart

Pushing along with a toy dump truck

“There’s a butterfly on your head!”

The Sorensen Kids were such beauties! They clearly expressed their personalities in front of the camera and told a tale with every step! Children always seem to bring out a fun side to photography–mainly because they are so unpredictable and have their own agenda!