Another month gone by already?  It’s time for April’s Life Songs post! I am thrilled to be a part of a life stories project with eleven other talented photographers! In this series, we will be documenting our lives with a different theme song each month. The images in the posts will be taken from a less traditional approach, showcasing “real life” in our own ways. This month’s inspiration is “ABC” by the Jackson 5. It might be worth finding it and having a listen as you browse our blog circle! When you’re done, see the link to the next photographer in the circle at the end of this post

For this month, I chose to interpret the title literally and capture some images of my daughter on her way into school.  This is her last year of preschool before Kindergarten in the Fall, and she ADORES school – I mean, she lives for it.  She literally runs in every single day!  Ironically in keeping with this month’s song, she is obsessed with letters and sounds and spelling out words; she loves her ABC’s

Thank you for viewing my Life Songs post, and please visit Michaela Wickman to see her take on this month’s song!

I was so excited to visit when baby Addie was just 4 days new and honored to capture some images for this sweet family.  Unfortunately, dad and big brother weren’t able to be home for the pictures, so we focused on getting some sweet shots of the girls in the family.  Baby Addie is super lucky to have such a doting big sister and loving mama!   I am thrilled to have captured some content moments between these three lovely ladies, and I hope they’ll treasure these images for a long time!

It’s been a while since I photographed a one year old, and man do I love this age!  They are so inquisitive and precious, and in this little one’s case, so very happy!  Here are some quick images from the sweet baby girl who came to see me this morning <3  

More to come soon!  Lots of hugs, sweet little Lydia!

I have more from this session but just had to post this one super fast

Normally, newborn sessions are scheduled within the first 5-14 days of birth, but this session was a testament to the fact that it doesn’t always have to be within that time frame!  I was heading out of town shortly after sweet Collin made his arrival, and then there were scheduling conflicts and I wasn’t able to photograph him until he was 7 weeks old… But that definitely didn’t stop us from getting some fabulous shots of him and his mama!  My heart is really leading me toward in-home lifestyle sessions when it comes to newborns and this is a great example of the types of images we can achieve, even when babies are past the typical newborn stage.

So without further ado, here is handsome little Collin!

I’m gearing up for all of the sessions coming up in this next Florida shooting trip, and remembered that I never shared these!  I took these on the beach in Anna Maria Island last month, in a rare ten-minute span of cooperativeness from the girls.  It was a beautiful, somewhat hazy evening and I took the opportunity to photograph the girls in these white dresses which are now retired for good (I got so much use out of these dresses that if I never photograph the girls wearing them again, that’s completely fine by me!)  Ha!

I really do love beach portraits and can’t wait to get down to Florida again and shoot some more next month!

A quick sneak peek from my most recent session!

I headed over to capture some images for this sweet family just a couple of days after they arrived back home from the hospital with sweet baby Addie.  The boys were out, but the girls of the family had a really sweet, relaxing time together and I was so glad I was there to capture some of those moments.

More to come! 

Just some quick images to share while I edit the rest of this amazing session from yesterday morning!  Little man was so cute and mellow, and his mama was so sweet and beautiful (as you can see!) … more to come soon!

This session was SO much fun!  Carrie contacted me in late 2011 about doing a snow session, but Michigan (for once) didn’t cooperate on the snow part – we must have rescheduled this session 3 or 4 times.  There just wasn’t any snow on the ground.  Finally, we got snow and headed out quickly to take advantage!  Here’s the thing about this session – it was COLD.  If I remember correctly, low 20′s with the windchill in the low teens.  Normally, this would make kids a little antsy, but I have to seriously give it to the Hill kids – they were troopers like I couldn’t believe!  (It probably helped that their mom was super-prepared and even had the warming packs in their mittens!)  

We started off in downtown Rockford by the Rogue River, and I was thrilled to see that the snow was gently falling – it was beyond beautiful.  And can you believe the wardrobe on this family?? 

We got to our second location and the snow started to really fall!  Here is a family photo with their dog, Gertie

They even brought their toboggan!  How fun is that!

And I like to always try to get a shot or two of just mom and dad, so I loved that they were wanting pictures with just each other

A huge thank you and debt of appreciation to the entire Hill family for being so cooperative, flexible and enthusiastic throughout the session, despite the freezing temperatures and snow falling in your eyes

Anyone interested in a coat like the beautiful pink one Carrie is wearing, check out Courtney’s etsy store Tandem Northwest (I have to say that it was gorgeous in person).  You can also check out Courtney’s blog which features more shots from our session (and thanks for the kind words, Courtney!!)

It’s time for March’s Life Songs post! I am thrilled to be a part of a life stories project with eleven other talented photographers! In this series, we will be documenting our lives with a different theme song each month. The images in the posts will be taken from a less traditional approach, showcasing “real life” in our own ways. This month’s inspiration is “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel.  It might be worth finding it and having a listen as you browse our blog circle!  When you’re done, see the link to the next photographer in the circle at the end of this post

 We have been having incredible warm weather here in Michigan, and we took the opportunity to stargaze a little the other evening!  We went out a little after twilight and stayed until it was almost completely dark (hence the grain you’ll see in these!).  It was so quiet and peaceful, and we had a great time pointing out some stars and listening to the silence – combined with some cicadas

Thank you for viewing my Life Songs post, and please visit Erica Cummins to see her take on this month’s song!