Alexis and Family

I’ve known Alexis since High School, and we’ve kept in touch through Facebook over the years.  I was excited when she contacted me to schedule her family session, and I was even more excited when she was up for a new location.  I’d recently discovered Amelia Earhart park in Hialeah, but had never been there or taken pictures there.  From my research, I saw they had a farm village with rustic looking buildings.  When we arrived, the beauty of the park exceeded our expectations.  It is serious eye candy.  There is water, and trees, and a fake creek with a waterfall, and interesting buildings and artifacts.

Their plaid flannel wardrobe went with look of the area, and in a modern color palette, they made it their own.  Alexis completed the wintery farm theme with hot chocolate with marshmallows and whipped cream (minus the hot chocolate).  I love that working together on a vision, we were able to capture a session that was “So You” for this family!

Hayleigh and Hayden’s Holiday Portrait Session

I had the pleasure of photographing these adorable kids for their holiday portraits last year.  My how they’ve grown in a year!  Hayleigh was more playful in front of my camera, and it was fun for me to hear Hayden speak.  Hayleigh has the most sparkly brown eyes of any I’ve photographed, and Hayden’s eyes have so many shades of blue!  We enjoyed a beautifully cool South Florida day while they played at the park, pausing just long enough so I could capture their smiles. 

Bella’s Newborn Portraits

I was introduced to this mom when she first moved to Florida around a decade ago, and we’ve kept in touch via Facebook.  I was so excited when she called me to schedule a newborn session, b/c from the Facebook pictures I’ve seen, Bella is beautiful!  Meeting her in person was even more special, especially since today she celebrates her 1st month!  This means she spent much of her session alert, and showing off those baby blues! 

My style for newborn photography typically includes the parents, but this session was to focus on baby only.  Mom and I strategized beforehand, and I suggested pulling out whatever blankets, shawls, bows, and other props she might want to photograph Bella with.  I prefer this to carrying a large stock of my own props, because then they are more personal and tell a story.  And mom did a great job!  I especially love the different textures in the first photo, with some ruffly pillows, a neutral bow, and a beautiful, sentimental shawl.  She also has the accessories for all the major NY sports from mom’s home state!  Congrats on the new addition to your family, and I hope to get her in front of my camera again as she grows!

So You by Erica Sue with Sew You by Erica Sue: Where the Wild Things Are

Since Lower Elementary has a Storybook Parade at school, my boys’ costumes usually have a storybook theme.  This year though was big one’s first year in Upper Elementary, and instead they have a Vocabulary Parade.  He got the word “monstrous”, which we figured would go perfectly with “Where the Wild Things Are”.  I made little one Max’s wolf suit, and big one was a Wild Thing.  He chose to create his own Wild Thing that wasn’t in the book, rather than emulating one of the characters in the story.

I used Butterick B3238 for the headpieces (since I already had the pattern cut out from Curious George last year) and substituted ears that we created.  I used Pellon sew-in heavyweight interfacing so the ears would stand up, and sandwiched that between felt. For Max, I traced some khaki pants, and sewed buttons onto an Old Navy shirt.  The Wild Thing is wearing gray pants he already had and we sewed his belly and spikes onto an Old Navy shirt.  Both boys have felt “claws” sewn to their sleeve openings. 

Here are some photos of our pre-trick-or-treating “wild rumpus” as the sun set over our street.
“The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another…”


“…till Max said “BE STILL!” and tamed them with the magic trick of staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once and they were frightened and called him the most wild thing of all…”
“And now,” cried Max, “let the wild rumpus start!”
“But the wild things cried, “Oh please don’t go – we’ll eat you up – we love you so!”

Anna, Jonathan, and Coralee Maternity

After such a beautiful session with this family, I was excited to get them in front of my camera again, this time for a maternity session!  When Anna told me her vision for this shoot included flowers for the girls’ hair, I thought the abundant nature at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park would be the perfect backdrop.  We got a little more nature than we expected as we were pretty much attacked by no-see-ums.  Ugh!  But we didn’t let a swarm of tiny insects stop us!  We just kept re-applying insect repellant and cortisone cream, and smiling for the camera!  I’m still itching the heck out of my bites, but for photos this lovely, it was worth it!