It has been quite a while since I’ve done a product post of any kind so I thought I’d give you guys a glimpse into some fun changes I’ve made recently with packaging. Ain’t it pretty? My clients often tell me they feel like they’re getting a gift when they get their products, which is exactly how I want them to feel! Now they get even prettier and better protected gifts!

I’ll try to squeeze in some more product posts for you in the future!

I love being able to work with kids so often, but sometimes it is so fun and refreshing to work with all adults (well, and a couple pugs in this case). I can’t tell you how much fun this session was.

We had an awesome group — a newly married couple with their dogs for some family photos, in addition to her mom and sister who are all really close. They were all hysterically funny, and it was fun incorporating some more personal touches into their session, like the wine and the tandem bike (seriously, who else is cool enough to have a tandem bike on hand?). I knew it was going to be awesome when I was laughing out loud reading the pre-session questionnaire.

I had in my mind before I met up with them that if we were having enough fun I was going to make them pose like the classic Goodfellas photo since they’re way into mob movies. We did. And it was awesome. (Not pictured here, though. It was just for them.)

I have a novel in my head of amazing things to say about this family. It was one of those awesome beginnings of a session where the instant we got out of our cars, there was an immediate comfort. I knew it was going to be fun. I knew we were going to laugh a lot. I knew I was just going to be along for the ride (my favorite kinds of sessions). And I knew that because of it, we’d have countless incredible moments photographed for them — funny, sweet, happy, pouty, high energy, cuddly, and loving.

And I was right. I was ecstatic flipping through their session when I got home, and I cannot wait to show them. What a story their session has!

We also had a guest appearance. I’ll give you a hint…

I love when clients incorporate their dogs, especially when they really love their dogs. Ours is very much part of the family, so he gets to be in our photos as well. And I have to say, I loved this dog. Such a sweetie!

This location was a special request for this train-loving, full-of-life four year old. He was one of the first faces I saw on my birthday, and he put me in such a good mood and gave me a lot of great laughs. Such a cute kid and a natural in front of the camera.

Loved photographing both babies of the house. They are both so completely loved, and I was honored to photograph this very precious child. Aren’t they all too gorgeous?

Wow, so I definitely got a little carried away editing their photos, but I couldn’t help it! Look at them! I was saving up this location for the perfect session, and I’m so glad I did because it was perfect for them. I loved this couple, and I knew it was going to be a great session when right at the beginning Melissa totally went for it and cuddled and hugged and kissed her fiance without me having to orchestrate it all. I loved it! She’s so full of life! My absolute favorite shots of the day were her being her, like when she kissed Will’s nose. I’m so glad I caught that! And there are so many more in their full gallery. I can’t wait for them to see them all!

Also, just a funny side note, I like to think that I notice a lot of little things while I’m shooting, but there are always things that manage to escape my notice until I’m going through the shots later. This time, however, I was surprised to realize when I was proofing that I almost wore the exact same shirt as Melissa did in a different color that morning! Does this shirt look familiar? Haha!

Congratulations, Melissa and Will! Can’t wait to see you again for your bridals!

As I was saying in their preview, this session started out with down-pouring rain, lighting striking all around, and not much clear sky in sight. We were pretty worried since they were moving at 4:30 in the morning. I was determined to figure something out, but thank goodness we didn’t have to resort to Plan B for long since the rain cleared 20 minutes into the session.

I could not be more relieved, especially with some of these amazing shots we got! We all got wet and muddy in the process, but you do what you have to do! When we were out in a field it started raining again, and after getting some protective gear for my equipment we kept shooting in the rain! I wish everyone were so laid back and willing to relax and just have fun in their sessions. I think most people would have been worried about how their hair and make-up looked — and not that that stuff isn’t important — but Stephanie was all for going back out in the rain which made for some awesome photos in my mind. I love that in some of them you can see the rain falling if you look closely. So cool! There’s a shot in their gallery of all four of them running out of the field in the rain also which I didn’t end up having room for in this sneak peek. Love it!

This session was so much fun even if we did walk away with some seriously dirty clothes (and cars)! Luckily we walked away with some great images as well. Here are a few of them:

What started out as a very worrisome stormy evening ended up giving us THIS gorgeous sky! And I couldn’t be more grateful (for the change of weather and for the fact that this couple was so amazing that they willingly got rained on and covered in mud along with me this session). I’ll give you more details when I post more from their session, but let’s just say there must be a higher power because my pleadings were answered when the down-pouring rain started to lift 20 minutes into their session. Whew! With them moving at 4:30 the next morning we didn’t have many back-up options.

Here’s a preview of what’s to come.