Liam's 1st Birthday Photo Session

This morning, I met Liam and his family at my favorite park for his first birthday photo session.  Mom and I strategized beforehand, and she did an AMAZING job styling this session.  I love the colors of balloons she chose and their family's coordinating outfits.  Liam's outfit was adorable with his matching hat.  Unlike any other one year old I've ever met, he kept it on the entire time!  When it was time for his cake smash, mom was ready once again with a matching bow tie!  She even called me this morning to ask if I had a number one, and I suggested a chalkboard, which looked great against my new steel tub.

Liam wasn't terribly interested in eating his cake, but enjoyed smashing it with his toes.  His favorite part was getting cleaned off in the tub with bubbles!  He had such a great time, he didn't want to get out!  I wish this little man the happiest of birthdays, and hope to get him in front of my camera again soon!

Aiden and Chase's 7th Birthday Party

Aiden and Chase celebrated their 7th birthdays in style this past weekend.  They had a pool party complete with a waterslide, water balloons, cotton candy, and snow cones!  But what's even more important than awesome pool party stuff is that you could tell that these twins are so loved by their family and friends.  Here are some of the highlights!

Bella's 7 Month Portraits

I first had the pleasure of meeting this little lady as a newborn, and have been anxiously awaiting getting her in front of my camera again as I love seeing her smiling photos on my Facebook feed, and couldn’t wait to capture her smile myself!  Smiles were in abundance as I returned to her home to capture Bella in her beautifully decorated nursery, as well as some photos with mom and dad and their furry friends.

Jillian and Michael’s Wedding

This past weekend, I had the joy of attending my cousin’s wedding at Tappan Hill Mansion in Tarrytown, NY.  It’s common for guests to take photos at weddings, but I’m not the average guest photographer, and cel phone photos are inadequate for me.  With my minimal vacation equipment (one lens, one flash, as opposed to the several of each I typically use on a wedding day), I was able to capture some beautiful moments of their special day. I even got to pass off my camera several times and appear in front of the lens! 

The ceremony took place on a beautiful sunny terrace overlooking the Hudson River, followed by an energetic celebration.  A painting was created of the reception as the reception took place, and a game of spin the bottle was played to identify the next dancer to show off their skills at the center of a circle, something I'd never seen at a wedding before!  There was a double Mezinka, a tradition where the parents wear flower crowns, and guests dance around and greet the parents whose last child is getting married, and the weekend concluded with a farewell brunch the next morning.  The overwhelming feeling was love between and for Jill and Mike, and I look forward to many more happy celebrations with this family!

Rachel, Greg, Ellie, and Cullen’s Gender Reveal

When I last photographed this family, one of the shots included a sign announcing mom was expecting an addition to their family!  Having just photographed a beautiful gender reveal, I showed the pictures to mom, and she loved them, and couldn’t wait to schedule her own.  With our schedules, we did this one evening after work, when it was supposed to be rainy and disgusting out.  We had a back-up plan to shoot at a park pavilion, but as I was driving over there, the sun made its way through the clouds, and ended up giving us some gorgeous light!

This family of four also invited some close friends to witness their reveal.  Being a Pinterest user, I knew I’d be able to involve them to participate, not just witness the event.  Having seen confetti gender reveals, I set about to creating my own.  Not having the time or budget for 40 inch party poppers online, I created simple confetti cones out of black cardstock, and folded down and taped the top to conceal the color of the confetti until we were ready.  Check out the results!