"Violet, sit still!"

Well as many of us know, 1-2 year olds are interesting creatures... I absolutely adore their personalities. I love their joyful enthusiasm and their budding independence. As many grown-ups even can attest, it's not always fun to fully cooperate with someone else's idea for you for over an hour. I myself am not always a fully cooperative type of person at times... ask my parents how fun it was to raise me during my teen years ;) I like to do my own thing, pave my own way, much like your average two year old.... of course, we all eventually learn how and when to control ourselves ;)

Anyway, with that in mind, meet Violet, an adorable little sweetheart who simply wasn't into sitting still. (and can you blame her? she could either run around in a fun big yard and a fun bright-colored studio, or sit and smile like a princess... I know which option I'd choose if I were Violet!) As with most of my rambunctious little subjects, I'm always able to snap those sweet (albeit brief) moments when they're sitting still just long enough for my shutter to catch them. As I am editing this session from last week, I've been pleasantly surprised at how many great shots we snuck in, between the chaos, of course ;) The above shot is one that I love from this session so far..

Hey Bro...

I love these boys. I love their mom too (and grandma, who came along to help!)... Mom & Gma were so considerate during our session, always making sure to not be in the way, but helping when it came to breaks, snacks, etc. :) I think this session captured a great variety of looks from these boys; and I showed a lot of the proofs in black and white; I love that they were shirtless in many of them, I think that gave the shots a classic look, very pure and sweet. This is one of my favorite shots from the session. We actually got several shots of the two of them together, (more than most boys will give me at this age!) some interacting--just being brothers, others nice shots of them looking straight at the camera.

The latest from my fav comic strip...

Hahaha, this made me laugh...

I think I have some competition...

Last week I was fortunate enough to photograph another of my favorite returning families, the Polikowskys. As some of you know, I've been known to let little ones look at themselves on the LCD on the back of the camera after I snap a pic... and I even let them push buttons sometimes... I'm pretty easy-going! Oliver is almost a year old, and he was very interested in my camera, so of course I encourage it (hey, you never know who might be my future business partner)... this little guy was so enthralled with the camera and with all the neato buttons, that he ended up taking this picture! (my blurry knee has never looked better). Notice big sis Grace getting dressed in the background! I have taken the liberty of giving him a copyright notice on the shot. (we wouldn't want anyone taking it and claiming it as their own work, now, would we!)

Just thought I'd share... good work, Ollie!! (we'll just have to work on that depth of field issue of yours..)

two pigtails, two years old, TOO cute!

here's a sneak peek of little Cailin... isn't she adorable?! I am in love with this dress she has on! Mom says G'ma picked out the dress, kudos to G'ma!! Cailin is one of the sweetest little 2 year olds, and like all two year olds, had loads (and loads) of energy. I think we did pretty well harnessing it for some great portraits. Her previews are nearly finished and will all be uploaded soon!

I first had the pleasure of photographing Cailin last fall... brr, I remember that day was COLD!! I also remember her sweet rosy cheeks peeking out from her stocking cap; loved that!

I love this shot!

Isn't this a great one? I don't know what it is, the color, the awesome eye contact, I don't know... maybe all of it! I just love it though... Kian's a sweetie :)

This one might make it onto the studio wall...

Father and Son

Here's a session I did last week; just one teaser image until the whole session is done... this wasn't necessarily a father's day shoot, but for little Kian's 2 year portraits. Dad decided to jump in for a few, and I think he'll be glad he did, this shot is a gem! I love the interaction here.

This is one of my all-time favorite families, they have been with me from the beginning and given me some great referrals. That aside, just the nicest family you'll ever meet. I've even become friends with Mom's parents, all such terrific peeps.. :)

They have a little girl, too, Nina, and she is one of my best little models. Always happy to ham it up for the camera. She's the closest thing to a "real" princess that I've met, I think. ;)

Little Women

here's a sneak peek from my most recent session... not finished proofing these yet, but this is a fun one to share! The Hayft girls were a total joy to work with, what FUN we had!!

They'll be getting LOTS of previews to choose from... I don't envy mom having to make her decisions on this session!

Some COOL clothing links!

I've been wanting to share some links for some favorite clothing sites.
These are sites I've found that I personally love for session apparel... stylish, hip, and happennin... much like Q Photography ;) Hoping this will help my fight against oversized plain white t-shirts... lol

for the hot mom-to-be:
(and some for dad, too!)
http://www.2chix.com/index.asp

adults and teens:
http://www.anthropologie.com/
and
http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/

cool urban styles for kids
http://www.urbanbinky.com/

fresh fun kids clothes
http://kicokids.com/

babies and toddlers
http://www.babystyle.com/

babies, kids and families
http://www.hannaandersson.com/

adorable baby/toddler costumes
Tom Arma Series

hip & funky boys clothing
http://www.wonderboyclothing.com/

maternity
http://www.bellydancematernity.com/

more maternity
http://www.apeainthepod.com/

First blog post...

Okay, so my other photog friends (and a few clients) tell me I must get a blog.

Yeah, I'm hip, I've got a blog now...

I plan to keep at this and post very regularly. I'm very excited to post updates and photos of the new studio, sneak peeks of things to come, and some fun tidbits and personal thoughts on some of my portrait sessions. It'll be a great way for me to connect with friends and colleagues on a more personal level.

So here we go! Bloggin' with Nat... please subscribe, won't you?