Sophia and Olivia {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I see Sophia and Olivia every month and it's fun getting to see them change ever so slightly each time. Sophia just becomes more and more beautiful and playful, and adorable Liv has slowly revealed more and more of her happy personality to me. This was the first session where Liv and I hung out a bit one on one because it turns out the trick to her smiles is to hide her mama, Melissa. 

 After the four of us took a walk through the scenic park, Liv and I played on a swing and the slide by ourselves for a few minutes. She wanted to be held so we played up-down and I was able to get her laughing with a few tickles. I'm so excited to finally see a happier side to her!

As always, thanks Melissa for having me capture these amazing times in your girls' lives! See you in about 5 weeks!

Maya at 3 and 6 months {WNY Portrait Photographer}

  Sweet, sweet Maya! When I met her and equally sweet mom, Renee, I knew I'd be in for loads of super girly portrait sessions. I was first asked to take some portraits of her for a children's boutique site. Quick, in and out 15 minute session, right? Wrong. Maya is the outdoorsy type and was not in to the studio setting in the slightest. So, we packed up and headed outside where we were able to accomplish the necessary shots and get some beautiful portraits in ten minutes. She is one of the cutest babies I've ever photographed, and so sweet. 

Maya and mom came back a week ago for her 6 month session and not much had changed, she was bigger but just as lovely. I am just in love with her big brown eyes. We were scheduled for a mini session so I knew I wanted to pick just the right thing right away; the tiled backdrop and white floor were a given for a girly session with over-sized pearls and her collection of beautiful headbands and rompers. We included my white rocking horse for a few of the portraits and Renee showed me a collage from one of her boy's portrait sessions that I recreated with some very feminine touches.

 Thank you so much Renee for coming to me for your children's portraits. You have such beautiful children and I can only hope they grow up to be at least half as wonderful as yourself!

Charlie Turns 1! {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Well, Blogapalooza certainly didn't turn out as expected! Next time, I know better than to try and put together 100 blog posts while simultaneously trying to choose my recipients of the latest Giving is Awesome campaign. But, moving on!

 Charlie turned 1 this October! His mom, Jeanine, won the Portraits for a year contest so we scheduled a Cake Smash and portrait session for the little cowboy. He'd gotten so big (and skinny!) since I'd last seen him and was all smiles... until the cake came out. And than it was hit or miss, but we still managed to get some sweet looks out of him. 

 Jeanine, he is becoming a real looker and I look forward to photographing him, and the rest of your family, throughout the next year!

An Anniversary Session {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Boy, I'm already behind my 4-5 blog updates a day goal! I gotta stay on track with Blogapalooza! 

 This is Cami and Jim, high school sweethearts. They've been together for a million years and are perfect (seriously, perfect) for one another! They're funny, kind and have a beautiful family that I get to see through my lens rather frequently. I'm fortunate enough to share in their children's growth and so it was even more special that they asked me to photograph an anniversary session for them. We had a mini session at a local Veteran's park one chilly morning and the beautiful and young couple got to have fun and make out a little bit without wrangling their 3 boys. These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thank you Cami and Jim! It is my deepest wish to document many decades of anniversaries for the two of you, I'm so appreciative that I'm your family photographer.

The S Family {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Welcome to Blogapalooza! I took the last two months off since I was way swamped with portrait sessions and wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to enjoy my daughter still. So, since I'm officially on staycation for the next two weeks (after a nice mini vacation last week) it's time to play catch up! I figure I need to post 4 a day, sometimes 5 (!), to get all caught up. 

 To start, I wanted to share this fabulous photographer giveaway with any other's who might read my Blog. Head on over to http://reveriemine.com/christmas-giveaway-day-one and take a look at all of the great prizes. I don't know about you, but I'd be pretty excited to win this great photographer swag!

 And now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

 I can't say enough nice things about this gorgeous family below. Jeff and Megan are wonderful people and destined to be the cool parents that all of the neighborhood kids wish their parents were like. I know, because I kind of wish they were my parents. From Jeff's awesome cooking and music industry career to Megan's thrash dance encouraging and music lesson's around Rage Against the Machine, the kids Whit and Ellie can only be destined for a lifetime of awesome. I'm very fortunate to call them my friends and can't wait to watch the kids growing up!

 We met at the beginning of October for this casual family session at my favorite local park. Ellie ate grass, Whit dragged around an entire tree branch and Jeff and Megan made out a little bit. So, all in all it was a successful session! These are some of my favorite shots.

 Megan and Jeff, thank you! A girl couldn't ask for better subjects or friends. 

The H Family {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I met the wonderful H family just after shooting a maternity session last month. It was their first family session and I was prepared to work with their two very different, sweet girls. Ash was bold, bug collecting and ready to go from the start. Kenz was shy and slow to warm up but easy to bribe. Jessica and Mark were easy going about the whole session and make a great couple. For a first family session I think they did wonderfully and I had a ton of fun with the whole gang! These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thanks so much H family! I hope you loved your first session!

Amanda's Maternity Session {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I had the chance to meet Amanda and her fantastic family last month when we shot her maternity session. It was a great day to shoot and everyone had a great time! Their little girl will be joining them early next month and they booked a Watch Me Grow Session in anticipation of her arrival. Big sister Cora is so excited and told me she could hardly wait for her little sister to get here.

 These are a few of my favorite shots.

 Thank you so much Amanda and family! It was such a pleasure meeting all of you and will be even more of a pleasure to meet you newest darling.

Grayson is 3 Months Old! {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Grayson is the cutest little moose and I am convinced he will grow up to be a line backer! At just 3 months young he was already 17 pounds and healthy as a horse- he even sits! 

 Grayson's mom is Toni the baker and he has a Watch Me Grow package for his first year. It's actually a lot of fun and astounding to watch this mighty little man grow. These are some of my favorite shots!

 Thank you Toni! The boys are handsome as ever!

Baby Kaleb, 1 Month New {WNY Portrait Photographer}

I first met Kaleb and his mommy Jennifer when he was 15 days young. He modeled a sweet hat for me and came back two weeks later for his newborn portraits. I loved his little belly. These are a few of my favorite shots!

 Thank you Jenn and Kaleb! I wish you and daddy all the happiness in the world!

The M Family Session {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I met the wonderful M family thanks to a referral the day after Angela's maternity session. Jessica, Colt and Bella were visiting the area from Florida and had two days before Colt had to return home. Jessica is from the area and it was nice getting to know the family and here the story of how she and Colt met and fell in love. Bella was a joy to photograph and play with. These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thank you all so much for taking time out of your vacation to meet with me! I hope everyone back home enjoyed seeing your new family portraits showing our beautiful fall. Many thanks to Angela for the referral!

Angela's Maternity Session {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 There aren't enough nice things I can say about Angela. She is by and far one of my favorite people to work with. Last month she scheduled a mini session to document her beautiful, baby figure and let me go nuts. Because of the pumpkin drought, we ended up driving around like mad women looking for a good pumpkin patch since the usual suspects were shockingly empty. We also stopped at Wagner's Orchard for some country girl shots. What was going to be a half hour session plus driving time turned into 2 hrs. of shooting, almost as much time in driving, lunch and a near arrest (I honestly didn't even notice the enormous Air Base directly in front of me behind the pumpkins until the officer said he knew I wasn't photographing it, right??). It was a simple and sweet session and possibly my new favorite maternity set. I even made a guest book for her baby sprinkle of our favorites with some great pumpkin quotes. These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thank you Angela, I can't wait to meet your beautiful, healthy and loved baby. Remember that to be a good gardener, grow pumpkins.

Aubrey Turns 2! {WNY Portrait Photographer}

Last month I shared this cutie's 2nd birthday Cake Smash with everyone. A week later was her birthday party and I was there to capture the fun for Aubrey and family. To go with her carnival themed Smash, a tutu was made for her in her favorite carnival colors and there were carnival accents all around! She and the rest of the kids had a blast running around and playing with the bean bag toss. She was really into her cake (obviously!) and received many thoughtful gifts. This little girl was surrounded by love. These are some of my favorite shots of Aubrey in action!

 Thank Kym, as always, for choosing me to photograph your beautiful family!

Having a baby? Know someone who is? Make sure they check out this link to win a custom creation from Monsters and Me and a gift certificate from me!https://www.facebook.com/notes/bossy-photographer/bossy-photographer-and-monsters-me-contest/257490947627094

Introducing Baby J! {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I had such a hard time giving Jaxson back to his mama at the end of our session- he was the quintessential perfect baby! There are plenty of reasons to love this little guy. We started out with some modeling for my vendor friend, moved onto the family shots and then headed to the studio to finish up his sleepy shots. He was an incredibly easy baby to work with. Mom, dad, brother and sister are so lucky to welcome him to the family! These are some of my favorite shots!

Thank you April and family, he is the sweetest baby I've had the pleasure of working with!



And don't forget to enter the Monsters & Me Contest to win a custom newborn hat and gift certificate for a shoot.

Monsters & Me Contest {WNY Portrait Photographer}

   Who wants the chance to win an awesome hat by Kristina the Amazing from Monsters & Me? Who also wants to win a session from me, the Bossy Photographer? You do, right? I thought so!

 Kristina and I have been teaming up over the last two months to create beautiful crochet items and images and now you have the opportunity to be a part of it! We want you to send us your design of a new hat or headband you'd like to win. If chosen, Kristina will create the pattern and crochet the item in your choice of colors and you and I will have a mini session of your fab new threads on the newborn in your life. 

 Want to know what to do next? Check out the images below and follow the directions at the bottom of this post!

 Kristina and I will be accepting entries from 10/08/11 until 10/22/11 so you have two weeks to get your design on and come up with your creative design. We want you to draw out your design- front back, side to side- and submit it to my fanpage on Facebook. Include your baby's birth date or due date and what inspired you to come up with your design. Make sure you head over to Monsters & Me, Like their page and tag them in the submission! We'll add them to an album and choose a winner (or two) to be announced Monday, October 24th. That's it, that's all you have to do to win a custom design of your's and a mini session with me!

 Good luck and have fun everyone!

Halloween Makeover and Photo Shoot October 8 {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I'm teaming up with Kym from Gyrly Gyrl Kids Spa for some super fun Halloween photo shoots for your little diva October 9.  Sessions include Hair and makeup by Kym, a tutu from favorite Tutu Glam and a mini shoot with me! Shoots are by appointment only so call Kym at 716 957 0736 to book your's!

Monsters & Me on Kaleb {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Kaleb was my first September baby to photograph and he modeled part of the Runts collection for Monsters & Me. He was a very sweet little boy and one of this year's smaller newborns. His mom Jenna and dad Kirk were on hand to keep him calm and comfy, especially since he did not like naked baby time. 

 This adorable grape hat is a new favorite in my growing collection of props from the fabulous Kristina and these are some of my favorite shots from the quickie session and soon I can post some from our full newborn session.

 Thanks so much Kristina for the beautiful hat and big thanks to Kaleb's mommy and daddy!

Balloons 6 {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I finished up the Balloons series at the beginning of this month (I had so many August sessions I'm just now starting to Blog September's!). I had met Bailey through her cousin, and my friend, Toni. I cannot remember the exact circumstances, but I'm pretty sure we were meeting for Toni's world famous cakes and to ready Kagen for his princely balloons session.

 I asked Bailey what she liked to do and she said swim. Now, being summer time, that is the top answer I received the last two months. I had already envisioned an in-the-water set after finding this great 1930's swimsuit at a local vintage consignment shop. Of course it was slightly too big for her, but I wasn't about to put pins in something so graciously loaned from Next Generation. 

 The location was easy. I live fairly close to a path that follows the river and is lined with large concrete slabs and rocks. We followed the path a short way to an area that wasn't too overrun with pedestrians and shot away. 

 In editing the shots, I grittied up the files a bit so they looked like they'd been around for awhile, added a bit of texture and did a lot more color play. I created a couple more of my own actions and played with the levels and opacity in each layer to achieve the look I wanted in each image. These are some of my favorite shots.

Thanks for doing a great job Bailey!

 This was the final set in the series, so many more thanks to the families who participated and the kids who modeled. I had thought this would be a bigger project than it was but it turned out to be just right. It helped recharge my creative batteries, work out a new way of editing and get me to be back in control of my sessions. Now I have a slew of other ideas that I'm collaborating with some amazing crafters on and can't wait to continue doing these mini series for myself. Keep an eye on the Facebook page for casting calls!

Preemie Crowns by Monsters and Me {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I thought I was imagining things until a new mom told me the staff at her delivery told her they've mostly been seeing 8, 9 and even 10 lb. newborns here in Buffalo this year. We certainly grow them big! Which is wonderful, but also meant the brand spankin' new crowns I'd purchased from Monsters and Me were a wee bit small for my typical newborn. But they're perfect for some of the preemies and smaller babies I get in. 

 Micah was my always-beautiful model in these two crowns. I'll be posting a new casting call soon for babies 3 weeks and younger for the brand new and slightly larger crowns I just received last week in about 2 weeks so keep your eyes peeled!

 Many thanks to Cami for bringing sweet Micah out! Kristina thank you, as always, for sending me such wonderful props that my clients love and help lend a something extra to my work. It's been awesome working  with such a considerate and rad vendor!

Balloons 5 {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I knew I wanted a ballerina to participate in the Balloons series and dancer Madeline fit the bill. She is lovely and graceful and a bit of a diva. But despite the diva in the girl, she listened great and performed each move to the best of her abilities. Wanting to shoot on the beach, she was a real trooper working with me in the rain (it helped that it was still a warm day). 

 I knew I wanted a silhouette of her leaping through the air with the balloons trailing behind her. We did about a dozen takes of the leap and this one of her about to land was my favorite. The back foot is a little awkward but, otherwise, I love this shot. 

 Shooting silhouettes is like shooting a secret person. The shadows wash them in anonymity and can help create a strong mood- loneliness, danger, mystery and more. I feel like these images became lonely as I processed them in Photoshop. It was one of the last great weekends of the summer, but raining and so the beach was empty. In truth, we weren't allowed to be on the beach when we shot but I talked to a couple of lifeguards and made sure we went far enough down the sand that they could truthfully say they couldn't see us to know we were on the beach.

 Most were processed similarly to the other Balloon sessions, but the texture is noticeably heavier to compliment the feel of the wet sand. These are some of my favorite shots. 

 Thank you for doing such a wonderful job Madeline!

Balloons 4 {WNY Portrait Photographer}

  Kagen is a funny little boy. He talks in crazy monster-sounding voices that irritate his mother, has the greatest laugh in the world and thinks his mother is a laugh riot. Kagen is also the son of my fabulous baker, Toni. Of course he was volunteered for the balloon series (which makes sense since most of the participants are within 2 degrees of separation to him. 

 We were originally going to shoot this on the beach but we ended up at the solar park in a different scenic area. I had a Little Prince theme in mind when planning and so Toni made the crown and I picked up the fake sword. I'd imagine old jeans shorts with rough hems but Toni is too responsible a parent to own them. 

 There were phone towers in the backgrounds of a few of these shots that I (obviously) edited out. I used digital fill flash to brighten his face on a few (from the Kubota action pack), added some texture and grunginess and, after color correcting each image individually, ran some through actions. My favorite action packs are the Pioneer Woman packs. There are two and both are free and have almost a dozen actions each.  I have collected a lot of different paid actions and packs but her's remain my favorite. I've used some of them in my own action recipes and really enjoy adjusting the opacity on the individual layers. 

 A couple of these are with my own action recipes, the other two are P.W. actions mixed with textures and the odd random recipe to provide some "oomph!" These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thank you Toni and Kagen! I'm so happy with these (and the rest of the series) have turned out, Kagen did a great job!

Julia, 4 mons. {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 This sweet little girl's session was a two parter. Julia's mom Jackie and I met for the first half at the local park and because of the need-to-nap crankies decided to finish up in-studio when she a bit more rested and dad could be there for a couple of quick shots of the three of them.

 Her nursery theme is bees and so Jackie had her dressed in her adorable bee outfit and brought a couple of cute bee items for the studio. She also had her in her fairy princess and tutu outfit which looked perfect with the pink fur and embellished crown. Her christening gown was the whole reason we decided to finish up in studio when she was not feeling sleepy because it's such an important outfit to her parents. 

 All in all she looked beautiful in whatever they dressed her in and is one of the happiest babies I've photographed! These are some of my favorite shots.

Thank you Jackie for being a sport and bringing your gorgeous girl to the studio. She really is just such a doll!

Flower Headband by Monsters and Me, on Micah {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Poor, poor Micah is starting out his illustrious modeling career by showing off beautiful, handmade girl's accessories. Kristina at Monsters and Me send me this (and a matching) headband for twin girls I was hoping to photograph. Due to some complications I haven't yet had the pleasure of photographing them and so moved on to finding other newborns that I'd already had a chance to photograph. Darlings Evalynn and Micah were going to model them together for me, since I was looking for twins after all, but E came down with a little fever. I figured one was better than none and decided Micah would look just as cute in a flowered headband as any newborn baby girl. These are a couple of my favorite shots of a great product from a fabulous vendor. 

Balloons 3 {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 My wonderful friend Toni, from Cake and Dazzle, recommended I get a hold of this munchkin's mom about her participation in the Balloons series. So I met Carleigh and mom Sara briefly about a month ago to see if her manners were everything Toni had prepared me to expect. They were that and more.

 Upon seeing Sara I knew I had to have her participate in the shoot too. This is one gorgeous mom and daughter team with big doll eyes and engaging smiles. I picked up an outfit for her at a vintage and consignment shop that I thought would compliment the dress Carleigh was all set to wear.

 We shot at a scenic location in a business development that I like for it's tall grasses and abundance of Queen Anne's Lace and thistles. It was noon so I used fill flash to fill in the shadows on their faces. In keeping with the rest of the series I desaturated the colors but went with less textures and instead used layers of digital paper for a subtle something extra on some of the images. By request, I also took a couple of shots of Carleigh in her white play dress since she likes it so much. These are some of my favorite shots. 

 Thank you Carleigh and Sarah, I had a lot of fun!

Monsters & Me on Evalynn {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I get the opportunity to work with several vendors and once in a while we collaborate on collections. This sweet apple hat is part of the new Runts collection by Monsters & Me. Kristina crochets all of her specialty items and the quality is fantastic. Every item she's sent so far- including 2 purchases, 3 fruit hats, flower headbands and a newborn corsage- have quickly become new favorites in my collection of props and accessories. 

 I called on Evalynn, who's recent newborn session I posted, to model the adorable little hat. I'd hoped to shoot it in an apple orchard but Buffalo weather being what it is it didn't seem to quite pan out. Instead, I shot against the wooden wall I adore, outdoors but in the shade, used a crate I picked up at JoAnne's for $7 and painted, a pendant banner I made not too long ago for portrait and Cake Smash sessions, pulled out a couple fake apples from my Oz shoots a few years ago (and a bag of real ones from E's parents) and grabbed up this rustic looking fabric from my studio.

 I'd planned on lots of cute baby butt cheeks but it was a little breezy for the darling so I loosely wrapped her in the cloth and used a pillow to prop her in place. Shooting was only about 15 minutes, but babies being the finicky creatures they are we took about an hour total between diapers and feedings and readjustments. And just when it seemed like Evalynn was not going to cooperate at all and I might have to reshoot, she settled into a cozy slumber. These are some of my favorite shots. 

 Thank you Sarah and David for loaning precious Evalynn to me, and many thank you's to Kristina from Monsters & Me for trusting me to photograph your lovely items.

The J Family {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I met the J family the first time 2 months ago when I shot a picture of 7 grandkids for what must be a very proud Papa. The beautiful matriarch of the family, Jillian, hired me to do a family session and we decided that a beach set was a must. We ended up postponing this session a week due to weather and, though it wasn't much more cooperative when we met up, the family photographed beautifully. Throughout the entire shoot it was rainy and gray, but as soon as we started heading back to our shoes, umbrellas and cars the sun snuck out and we got a peek at some breathtaking light. So it was back to the beach for us for a handful of grand finale shots and sunshine. These are some of my favorite shots. 

 Thank you to  the J family for being such troopers! You did an awesome job and weathered through  the weather (ha ha) with me.

Balloons 2 {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Taylor's mom responded to a casting call for a back to school shoot a month ago. Shanelle emailed me saying Taylor is self-conscious because of her size and that this would do wonders for her self-esteem. Taylor didn't fit the bill for that shoot but I was all too happy to have her join in the balloon fun.

 So we met up to go shopping at the vintage shop and found this great Ralph Lauren top and shorts combo. Next, I went through my books and picked some good ones out to go with the picnic basket, handmade blanket and the awesome watch necklace for our beach session. 

 At the session we asked mom to go do her own thing (watch from behind the trees) so Taylor could relax and focus. She did an awesome job taking direction and before we left a woman told her how nice her photos were going to be because she looked so pretty. Since then, Taylor's been talking up a storm about how pretty she is and I couldn't be happier.

 To get the look of these images I desaturated a lot of the color, added canvas and watercolor texture to many of the shots and threw in some "film" scratches and imperfections.

Neven, 7 Days Young {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Neven's mom, Stacey, was the big winner of my Giving Is Awesome giveaway back in June. Back than we did a maternity session for the first part of her prize and now that sweet boy Neven is here with us we finished up the won sessions.

He was so easy to work with and mom and dad seem to be doing awesome (if without less sleep). We shot a LOT. Four hours flew by before I said goodbye to the newly enlarged family and locked my keys in my studio. But, moving on... This is the nomination received for Stacey.

"Stacey has been through a lot in the past few months and that is why I think she deserves the custom portraits.

It all started 7 months ago, when Staceys father was diagnosed with Leukemia. Stacey was really close with her father, they even worked together, so this was devestaiting to their family. Determined to beat the cancer together, the family pulled together.  Stacey and her husband even decided to finally stop putting off having a baby, so that Pat (Stacey's dad) would be able to meet his first grandchild. After spending so much time at the hospital with her father, through a bone marrow transplant, and rounds of Chemo. Pat's cancer would not relent.

Pat fought a good fight, sadly though, in February, Pat lost the battle with cancer. Although he didn't get to meet his grandchild, cause Stacey isn't due until August, they were able to tell him the sex of the baby on the day he passed away.

Please pick Stacey because she deserves to start some beautiful memories for her son and also her family. Starting with a custom portrait maternity session with you!!!"

These are some of my favorite shots.

Thank you Stacey and Brian for bringing this sweet boy out for his closeup, now comes the fun part of spending your $200 printing credit!

 Kristina, thank you again for a terrific nomination and being so awesome all around.

Big Family, Lots of Love {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I was hired back in April to photograph the extended family of one of my favorite client's. Melissa and Howie are the proud grandparents of those four crazy Hoy girls and set up a session that unfortunately had to be rescheduled to just this last month due to family scheduling. Since they were all back in town for a big wedding two weeks ago we took the opportunity to get together, rain or shine! (It had actually stormed that morning, but since they didn't know when they'd all be together again we took a gamble and headed to the beach anyways.) Each of the 7 grandkids are amazing and obviously very loved by their Abuela and Papa Howie. 

 These are a few of my favorite shots.

 Thank you Melissa! You and Howie are blessed with such a big and caring family!

Balloons 1 {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I recently came to the realization that I'd been letting my shoots get away from me. It's easy enough to do when there are large families or kids who are a bit more rambunctious than others. Parents have busy schedules to keep to get kids to karate, dance or Grandma's. There are naps to schedule around and breaks for food and snacks. And tears. Sometimes there are lots of shrieking tears.

 I'm often told I have a ton of patience by parents. I have to. But, I also have to keep a fresh and creative mind. So with that, it was important for me to start a series of children's images that were just for me. I told the parents not to say a word, just stand back and let me do my job. If food bribes must be involved I have to be in charge of them, that way the kids pay attention to me, the person with the food and the camera. Otherwise I'm not the one in control of the session. 

 I put out a casting call on my Facebook page looking for kids who listen ridiculously well. I made sure to say I needed kids of many moods. Sulky, smiley, serious... As long as they took my direction well, I wanted authentic looks from the kids, not big "cheese"y smiles. I got a good amount of responses and met with some of the families about shooting. 

 The first person to show up before my lens was Sophia, who I've shot twice now for her family. She can be a bit moody and contrary, but she photographs so well that I had to give her a shot. I planned her outfit with her mom, enlisted the assistance of the family pet, borrowed some suitcases from a vintage shop, picked up a dozen balloons and headed to my favorite park. 

 We shot for about 45 minutes and Sophia did surprisingly well at listening and following directions. I was in charge of her Graham crackers and the session. Post- processing was nice and easy since I already had a finished product in mind. Muted pastels and lots of textures. Some heavy grain, a fair amount of vignetting. 

 I'm in love with the beautiful vintage-style images my peers have been putting out, the whimsical imagery from sites like reverie.com and that I've been pulling from pinterest.

 I chose the balloons to be a recurring theme in my recent sessions (and three remaining). I hate balloons. They scare me. I have no idea why, it's completely irrational but they do. I also fear clowns, but I think more people will be able to relate to that. Anyways, I chose balloons because they are pretty and fun (in theory). Children almost always like balloons though so they were a good choice. I wish I had had more time to find the bright, round balloons but time being what it was it wasn't going to happen.

 The results made mom Melissa and I both giddy. I try to be humble and not gloat, but I genuinely love these images. Maybe, just maybe, Bossy's got her groove back.

 These are some of my favorite shots, I'd love to hear your thoughts on them so leave a comment.

 As always, thanks goes to the family for coming out and stepping in front of my lens. xxoo

Gabe Turns 2! {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Gabe smashed a cake the same day as Miss Aubrey for his 2nd birthday! We met recently when I photographed his new little brother and mom Cami really liked the idea of a Cake Smash session for him. Toni at Cake & Dazzle whipped up an adorable fish themed cake for him which certainly ended up Smashed (with a little help from mom). He is one of my more contrary clients and mostly wanted to do the opposite of everything we said but we managed! I have a soft spot for meltdown pictures so one of them is below with the rest of my favorite shots.

Cami, thanks again! I hope Gabe enjoys his party and everyone enjoys the photographs!

Jaxson is 8 Weeks Young! {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Jaxson recently turned 8 weeks old and is already growing so big! I met him with mom and dad, Kristin and Tony, for a very quick family shoot at the park and some creative shots. All day before the shoot Kristin was sending me links to fun portraits that she liked and so I promised we'd put a spin on some of them for her. She loved the results and these are some of my favorite shots.

 Happy two months to the three of you!

Aubrey's Cake Smash! {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Aubrey's turning two in style! Her mommy Kym is having a carnival to celebrate and to get everything kicked off right we enlisted Toni from Cake & Dazzle to create this fun and festive box of popcorn cake. The box was all cake and each piece of popcorn was individually sculpted from marshmallow!

 Aubrey isn't much a of a smiler but she spent a good chunk of her Smash grinning like a little crazy person. These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thank you Kym! I can't wait to photograph her birthday party in a couple of weeks!

Micah, 6 Days Young {WNY Portrait Photographer}

New baby boy Micah is the youngest of 3 boys! He also happens to be the quietest! His mom and dad found me through the fabulous Toni at Cake & Dazzle and have been by twice for shoots, this newborn session and a Cake Smash for their middle son. We started off the session at a playground nearby to help the two older boys burn off some energy (didn't work!) and moved onto a scenic park for family shots. After, mom Cami and her sweet baby boy came back to the studio to get some solo shots while dad Jim occupied the other two. Micah was such a sweet boy and very easy to shoot. I'm really looking forward to shooting the rest of their package sessions throughout the next year. These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thank you so much Cami and Jim, you have such beautiful boys and I look forward to watching them grow! My gratitude also goes to Toni, who's work you can find here.

Amelia and Abby {WNY Portrait Photographer}

  Amelia is one of the happiest little girls I have ever met, she is just such a sweet baby. She came in for her 6 month session a few weeks ago with mom Jessica and bigger sister Abby (she has 3 altogether). I've shot this family 7 times now and each time is even better than the last. I just adore them. 

 Since Abby was having fun playing in my studio wardrobe and props we snagged a couple of quick shots of her in one of the lace petite rompers. She has a boyfriend now and we got the best smiles out of her every time we said his name to her. 

 These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thank you Jess- keep your eye on you inbox for a special thank you for being a super referrer!

Olivia, Take 2! {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 When I last met Olivia I spent just over 2 hours with her and big sister, but I got a lot more unhappy faces than not. So I invited her and mommy out for a quick reshoot. We got a few happier ones, but this time she mostly wanted to "talk" about the birds squabbling at the park. These are a couple of my favorite shots of the beautiful Miss Olivia.

Newborn Evalynn, 8 Days Young {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Evalynn is the sweetest. We shot twice and she was just as sweet in studio as she was outdoors so I'm photographing her again next week for a vendor. Her parents are just over the moon with her and she has the cutest big brother. These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thank you Sarah and David, she is just too precious!

Strawberry's Cake Smash {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 Oh, Strawberry. You've made me such a happy mommy this last year. Happy birthday to my sweetheart.

 Born two months premature my daughter's first birthday is such an exciting milestone for us. We asked the wonderful Toni from Cake & Dazzle to make our Smash Cake to reflect the birthday cake we'll be cutting at her birthday party. Strawberry, of course, couldn't have been happier. How it is that I have such a scrawny girl is beyond me.

 The only problems were that midway through the session Daddy wanted to switch flower barrettes (and naturally the best shot in the bunch is the mismatched one) and that she became tired at the end and started her fake cry. Otherwise we had a great time and these are some of my favorite shots.

 Where did the year go?

Personal Work {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I thought tonight might be a good night to share some of my personal projects and images with everyone. These were shot throughout this year and are a good idea of the kinds of things I like and the kinds of events I enjoy covering.  

 So, clockwise from left to right, these are some of my favorite shots. 

 Top Left: This creepy doll was a resident of my yard for about a week because no one dared pick it up. It looked like the kind of thing that might inspire a quality B horror flick and one day it was gone as suddenly as it arrived. This was photographed at a friend's request, after I text the lover of all things freak, a camera shot of it. He loved it. 

 Top Middle: We don't trust people who don't like garlic. Our family is crazy for it. We usually have plenty on hand and lately have been using plenty of it in our new favorite dish of broiled mussels. Our recipe is loosely based on my favorite food blogger's own. It gets thrown on restaurant style mushrooms, potatoes, homemade pizza, pasta... it's our favorite spice. 

 Top Right: This guy was hanging out at the farm I was so graciously granted permission to shoot at recently. He was a rescue, as were his two mates, and the gentlest horse I've ever been around. His owner told me I was welcome to take the horses out to join the shoot and even though I've been around horses much of my life I was a bit nervous about possibly spooking the three. I approached with marginal caution and convinced them to join us. They were wonderful with the two young girls I was shooting and I can't wait to shoot some more with them.

Middle Left: I used to have a really beautiful tree growing next to my balcony and this spring I decided to document the change of seasons as it grew buds that eventually gave way to leaves. I've since traded in that gorgeous tree for a beautiful river but this is one of my absolute favorite shots from that series of images. The rich brown toning make the shot for me, as does the full composition. There's actually quite a bit of negative space in this image but to share with you, my friends, I wanted to show more of the detail of the promise of what was to come. 

Middle Right: Lightpainting of Tianna. One of the greatest friends a girl could ask for and one of my favorite styles of shooting. I love the energy and emotion I not only get from these kinds of images but also that the subject and I each have to put in. I'm currently working on funding for a series of these images to be shown. If you appreciate them, please check out the 50 Ft. Woman and consider a contribution! WNY is hemorrhaging money and not enough is going to support the visual arts. 

Bottom Left: I recently made the acquaintance of Mary Lou, the local Luna Bar spokesperson, and she invited me to come shoot an event and say hello to nutritionist Mary Jo (pictured). It was a very informative event and amusing since cookies are what brought Mary Lou and I together. I enjoy shooting events with public speaking or live music.

Bottom Middle: I'm not sure about organized religion anymore. I do know what I believe to be sure and I do know there's even more I'm not so sure about. I do believe in Peace. It's especially important to me to spread the word of Peace with everyone after reading the absolutely horrifying death threats and comments made on the Facebook page of Fox News by some Christians towards Atheists. To me that is bigotry the same as homophobia, racism, class ism, etc. and there is no room for it in my life. I don't think those are lessons Jesus taught. So, peace dude.

Bottom Right: Sometimes I like excitement and danger! And firemen! Last month, on the way to the zoo with my family and friends we saw the sky filling with black smoke. It was incredible, and awful and curiosity got the best of me. We drove around for a half hour looking for a way to get close to the smoke so I could shoot the fire. It turned out that the Niagara Lubricant plant was exploding. Actually, at the point when I slipped through a broken fence and got so close I was sweating and talking with a fireman it was only still on fire. It exploded about 5 minutes into my shooting. And about 10 minutes later I realized Hey, this building is on fire, exploding and I'm only 30 feet away... where's the car again? and we continued on our merry way to the zoo. The full frame image is one of my favorites I've ever taken. My middle name is Danger.

The Santana Family {WNY Portrait Photographer}

 I love shooting families full of strong and sure women. This one was no exception, with ridiculously awesome family members and respectful guys. Shannon booked with me after seeing a lot of my work floating around and hearing about the mini session special ten days ago. She booked double and it allowed us plenty of time to get some shots of the whole gang. 

 There are 3 girls in the family- Shannon, Manan and Kiernen- and even the littlest one was in charge and full of can-do attitude. Bill spent much of the session helping with the three kids and telling his wife how beautiful she is and their son Alex helped out by carrying props around for me. All in all this is a great family. These are some of my favorite shots.

 Thank you so much Shannon, I can't wait to get together again in a couple of weeks!