This fabulous mom sent me a pic of what she had done with her family session from this fall, and I realized that I had failed to blog them, yikes!, but I wanted to be sure and share this fun family with you.  She had incorporated the words: bikes, racquets and flowers in her wall arrangement, I love it!  That was exactly what we were going for, when I asked her during our consult what she could tell me about her family, she relayed that were a family of very active outdoor boys, all with different interests, then throw mom in the mix, camping and roughing it with the best of them, but their family has a very affectionate lovey side as well, she said they love to watch movies all cuddled up and cozy on the couch like a bunch of puppies, so even though they have boy craziness going on, it is well balanced by lots of laughs and love.  It was so fun to photograph them together, piled on each other and then switch gears and have them work what makes them unique and show the different dynamic they each bring to their energetic fun family.  (by the way,  I love great pics of siblings together, like the one below, when I am working on them in post processing I often get teary when I think of how the mom will react when she sees her kids with their arms around each other and looks of pure joy on their faces.  I always tear up when I see a pic of my three together enjoying life.)  Thanks for a fun session!

I love this little guy, I photographed him as a newborn (you can see them here) so was thrilled to be able to see him again for his 7 month pics.  He is so sweet!  He started his tongue trick the morning of the session, I love this age, they are always discovering new things and super excited about everything around them.  This turned out to be the quintessential holiday shoot, going for a ride in the snow and warming up in front of the fire. Love him!!!  This wheelbarrow was his great grandfather’s when he was a boy, I can’t wait to take pics of him pushing it and toddling along.

(I am so far behind on my own Christmas list, I’ve been happily working like a maniac but neglected my holiday duties, got to get those Christmas cards out…. so if I am bad about posting the next couple of days you’ll have to forgive me!)  Enjoy!

Can you believe it is almost Christmas?!?  After working on this little Santa, I’m pumped, ready to go….I’ve been doing so much for work lately, I’ve really got to get this holiday stuff done, most importantly, shopping.  I did get one gift for the kids last week that I am so excited about, not necessarily the gift itself, I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces Christmas morning.  I’ll share with you on the 25th what came into the Graham household, I can’t risk them finding out beforehand, the element of surprise is everything.  Now on to this adorable bundle.  I love repeat clients/friends!  I love watching them grow and welcome new members into their family.  I photographed big sis last year and was smitten by her charm then I got to meet this little guy…… he was great, too old for the super rollie pollie poses but just right to show me his gorgeous wide awake eyes.  It’s always fun when the toddler is excited to see you and play, so of course while babe had a snack I had to take advantage of time and get the tour of the new big sister’s room.

I love these Texans!   We meet them when we lived in Fort Worth, Colton and Anessa are dear friends of ours, we consider them our family.  They came to visit us this fall before the snow fell so we decided to take advantage and get some shots of them together, a “love” shoot.  It was different since they are such good friends to get that hot thing going, whenever we attempted to conjure up the smolder look we would just break out laughing, but as soon as we got the chuckles out and they focused on each other it was magic.  They are the most amazing, generous, kind people, we are so lucky to call them friends.  (side note)  They decided to take the kids to Toys R Us and let them each pick out a toy within a certain limit, it was quite a sight.  Our kids have never been to Toys R Us, I think that might make me the worst parent in the world, but it was so fun to see their eyes get as big as saucers when they saw all of the toys lining the walls and filling the entire warehouse size store.  Anessa was with Hailey and told me that when she saw what she wanted she fell to her knees raised her arms to the heavens and gleefully said, “this is it, this is the one”.   They were as happy as clams for the rest of the week.

I will admit, that if you had asked me before this session I would have said I prefer to take pictures of a baby when they are 5-10 days old, you can get the most snuggly, curled up poses before they really wake up in this world.  After this session I may have changed my tune, yes if you are dying to have the curly poses then the newer the better, but this session had the best vibe.  I have had mom’s call me when their babies are a little older and they are concerned they missed the boat.  Not so.  Preston was exactly one month when we did his session and it was fabulous.  They are a different look than the curled baby poses, but I love these.  Preston’s little personality was already emerging, he was grinning from ear to ear and so smiley.  He was trying to coo and respond to our happy voices, and when that tired him out he fell asleep and let us get these gorgeous shots of him and mom together.  It couldn’t have gone any better.  I was especially touched by mom’s tender heart, she would look at him adoringly and then get teary, when I’d ask if she was ok her reply was, “I’m just so in love, he is so amazing”.  Then I couldn’t help but get teary too and we would both look down in awe at this wonderful little babe.   Thank you for trusting me to document this time in your lives!

Here it is, the last session that I have to share with you that involves fall colors.  We were out and romping through the leaves on what I think was the last nice day before the crazy snow hit.  When I look at these pictures now it seems like forever ago that we could play outside without freezing.  The kids were troopers, even though the temperature was dipping, they had so much personality, I love photographing spunky kids that are full of energy and give me a million different looks, so fun for me!!!!  Thanks guys!

I love this age, you will not see me dancing around like a monkey but instead responding to endless smiling and cooing while seated.   We were so lucky to take advantage of a warm-ish day, it was weird, we were just ahead of a crazy storm and didn’t intend to get this little miss to show her bare buns, but it was warm and cozy in the trees and she was delighted.  She is so precious, she was a rock star the entire time, and it is a blast for me to watch adoring parents with their new little wonders.  Thank you for letting me capture your gorgeous girl, she is fabulous!

I love the Christmas season, I can’t believe it is already here!  Time flies!    I have the Christmas music softly playing and the aroma of the freshly cut Christmas tree we “hunted” in Red Lodge with friends yesterday wafting through the air .  I am also, loving editing these pics from the fabulous minis we shot at Gainan’s downtown recently.  These families took advantage of the last minis of the year at an incredible place.   I adore working with the staff at Gainan’s they are so friendly and everything always looks amazing.  (An added bonus – we raised $400 for the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Club)   Thank you to the wonderful families that came with their smiley faces.  Enjoy!

I photographed this couple a few weeks ago, can you believe how drastically the weather has changed? crazy!!!!  I met them for a wedding consultation and immediately fell in love, I was so excited to do their engagement session and get to know them better as a couple before their big day in 2011.  They were smokin’ hot.  I recommend an engagement session before the wedding so that we have a chance to work together and get comfortable before the stress of the wedding day, mostly it’s for the guys, so they can get over their nerves and see that it can actually be fun.  This groom to be had no problem, he worked it right away, they were so connected and in tune with each other, we had a blast. I can’t wait to photograph their wedding!  Congrats guys!

I had been anxiously waiting for the day that I would meet and photograph Phoebe, her baby to be session was one of my all time favorites (see it here), I was so excited to meet her!  She didn’t disappoint.  She was so tiny and adorable and of course, mom was stunning.  One of my favs is the sequence with the new big brother.  He did so well for a little guy, but the first pic is so classic, I love his disgruntled, “why is this baby here” look.   First borns have it rough when the new babe comes along and turns their world upside down, but look at how just a second later he is smooching on her and then laughing.  I have no doubt he will be a fab big bro.  Congrats on your new bundle of joy and thank you so much for letting me document this special time in your lives!!!