I was in a horrible mood on the car ride over to Cannon’s house.   I can’t even remember what exactly it was that had me down in the dumps and on the verge of tears as I  jammed CD after CD into the player in search of a tune, anything at all that could pull me out my funk and give me the right frame of mind to have a great shoot with a family I adore.  No dice.  Then I walked in and Cannon gave me a big, gummy grin as he beat his chubby legs against his momma in excitement and poof – just like that – I smiled right back at him from the inside out and the funk was finished.  I have decided that a baby smile might just be the best bad mood remedy on the market.

And Cannon is particularly charming, its hard to believe that the tiny little preemie I took photos of when he was 4 weeks old has grown into such a rolly-poly little boy.

Even though Cannon is only 6 months old, he’s already dodging kisses like he’s embarrassed…  You start stealing your kisses from baby boys early on I think.

We drove around in search of green grass unaffected by the brutal summer heat and though it took awhile to find the right spot, Cannon seemed to enjoy exploring grass and dirt like a wee boy should.

We had to play up all Cannon’s cowboy gear.   His cowboy hat is a little big for him still but it was too adorable to pass up, especially while sporting a diaper.

Here’s a slideshow of the shoot, it was a lot of fun for me, and here’s the online gallery too.  And I had to put these up on FB, of course.  Thank you, Cannon, for making my day!

Posted by Mel @ 3:17 pm, in Portraits, Wee Ones | 1 comment | Permalink

I was sad to miss my neighbor Cadence’s first birthday party back in June, Tracy and I were pregnant together with our babies and its still hard to believe that more than a year has gone by since Cadence was the new kid on the block.  The week after the party  I asked Tracy if I could walk across the street with a baby, a cupcake and a camera to treat myself to a replay of the big event.   This is what happened… I would call it a smashing success!

Happy belated Birthday, beautiful Baby Cadence.  I’m so glad that you came along and that you get to grow up right across the street from us, the best is yet to come!

Posted by Mel @ 4:10 pm, in Personal, Portraits, Wee Ones | 8 Comments | Permalink

You might guess that its easier to take pictures of family members than clients, at least that’s what I would have guessed, but Sam and I talk often about how its the opposite for us.  We wish we knew why.  Is it knowing too much about someone?  Wanting to say too much about someone?  Are we relying less on instinct with someone we know?  Are we afraid of showing them how we see them?  All of thee above, maybe, but mostly I just can’t maintain a professional self with my family and friends, I become a fit of giggles holding a camera.  But I wanted so badly to take photos of Olivia, good photos, something for her husband and son to remember this time by.  So I asked if I could try.

Olivia’s husband Lincoln has been Sam’s brother since they were nine, blood is a mere technicality.  Lincoln lived with Sam’s family through high school and just about every story Sam tells begins with, “My buddy Lincoln and I….”  When I was first dating Sam, Lincoln was the person in his life that I was the most nervous about meeting for the first time.  So if that gives you any idea how important these folk are in our life, well, you know how difficult this shoot should have been for me because Olivia has become my sister too.

But it wasn’t really that hard.  For one thing, Olivia is gorgeous so that was easy.  And I didn’t have to direct too much, I just kind of watched her be.  We both laughed a lot because it was a little awkward and strange, to play model and photographer for an hour like little girls role playing.  But I’m really glad we did it and I was happy with what I got.

When you pull up to Lincoln and Olivia’s place the driveway winds your car around the cottage like a hug as the sun dances through the trees. Its one of those places that has good energy though I’ll never know if its because it was always there or because Lincoln and Olivia put it there.  I’m slightly obsessed with the shed out back and the barrel rings that hang on the side, rough with rust but round like a baby bump.  The garden was feeling a little too cliche but I liked the tomato shots anyway.  The daisy shots were my favorite though because they were the most Olivia to me.

I worked on this edit yesterday while Olivia labored with Milo Arthur, who joined our world at 11:57 weighing 7 lbs, 11oz.  I’m so tempted to share photos we took at the hospital yesterday but I think they should be the first to post pictures when they can.  So stay tuned for those, we’re just so thrilled to have Baby Milo here.  Something tells me that an adult Fiver will start a lot of stories with, “My buddy Milo and I….”

Posted by Mel @ 5:46 pm, in Bellies, Personal, Portraits, Wee Ones | 3 Comments | Permalink

On May 17th, Jasper’s family welcomed her baby sister, Amanda Reece.  Sweet Baby Reece was just four weeks old when I took these shots of the family together.

This shot cracks me up.

Don’t let it fool you though, Jasper has a surprisingly positive attitude about her baby sis.  She always calls Reece by her name, she never refers to her as “the baby” or anything else, just “Reece”.  Which is pretty thoughtful, if you ask me.  And she gives quick kisses and hugs, if you can catch her in the act.

Getting into a chair is a little harder than it looks when you are Jasper’s size.  Pretty cute for photos, though!

Jasper is all about sharing, I love this shot where she shares one of her favorite story books with her little sister.

Baby Reece is surprisingly expressive for such a wee thing, I love it…

Congratulations to Joy and Reggie on another beautiful little girl!   Here’s a slideshow from the session and if you would like to see the online gallery, click here.

Posted by Mel @ 8:13 pm, in Newborns, Portraits, Wee Ones | No comments | Permalink