NewCastle NH Family Photoshoot |Chacon Family

Happy Fall Y’all! Isn’t that what they say down south? It sure feels like were living in the south lately with these warm sunny days we’ve been enjoying! Its Lynn here putting up a quick blog post to help me soak in a little sunshine from a sun filled family session. On this rainy dreary day, I needed a little does of sun.

I met up with this sweet family one day mid September. As was the way this fall just seemed to go we had a gorgeous night to head to one of my favorite little spots out on New Castle.  This little lady had the most infectious giggle! And can we talk about her adorable Unicorn dress?! I think we all could benefit from owning a dress like that…how can you not smile when you are wearing a dress with a rainbow unicorn on it! If you’ve ever had me take your photos you know I love trying to get a couple with kids and JUST Mom, and then kids and JUST Dad. I think its great how kids react differently sometimes when they are sitting with one parent or the other. Im also wondering if we need to start holding  a contest when I take these pictures to see who can get kiddos laughing more–Mom or Dad?

Dad really got this little lady going!I don’t know what silly jokes he was whispering but it sure got her laughing. Buuuuttt Mom had her cracking up pretty good too!

Ok I will just call this one a tie! 🙂 Although truth be told, this smily girl didn’t need ANY help in that department. I am not sure there was a second we were together that she WASNT smiling. Maybe its the unicorn dress!!! 🙂

We had a special treat on this beautiful night; Grandma was in town from Illinois and we got to photograph her with her daughter and granddaughter. I don’t know about you, but generational photos are so special to me. 

I hope that this little (BIG) dose of sunshine and silly smiles did something to make your humpday go by little faster. Thank you to the Chacon family for spending some time with me and allowing me to freeze time with you for an hour. 🙂

Fall Fashion Photoshoot | Portsmouth, NH

Somewhere buried under lots of fun photoshoots are pictures I took about a month ago for our fashion friends at Pretty Little Things, with hair and makeup by Redhead Studio.

Our fashion partner, Michelle, who owns Pretty Little Things is the brain-power behind these shoots.

I basically just show up with my camera.

The concept behind this particular shoot was a glamping vibe with a retro feel.

Michelle is always pushing me to produce images that are beyond the boundaries of my normal portrait work.

Which I love and hate.

I love shooting differently; utilizing lenses that don’t come out of my bag much, and new lighting techniques. These shoots are an opportunity to me to grow, practice and learn. Last year I actually learned a whole new off camera flash system doing these shoots (which I now utilize with ease). Which is freaking awesome.

Then there’s the matter of editing. I love clean edits. However, editing styles are subject to trends (thank you Instagram filters). Several years ago it was a low contrast matte look, then a pastel light & airy edit, now it’s a dark, contrasty film look – all so fun and wonderful…but I want my photography to look timeless. So this is where I bite my lip and work on edits per the shoot’s vision board.

I take a deep breath and then use photoshop techniques to create an edit that will give the photo the desired look and feel for the shoot …which I jokingly refer to as “ruining my pictures”.

Although I sort of fuss about it, if I’m honest, it’s a nice creative excursion for me. Creating film-like effects has forced me to use different editing tools and learn more about Photoshop.

Learning is always good and playing photography reminds me that this is more than a job, it’s also a hobby.

 

 

Fresh48 Session|Laplante Family

Well, its Lynn again here…only about ohhh…4 months late to blogging this sweet family’s Fresh48 newborn session. I can’t tell you how much I love photographing these… the excitement of getting the call that the baby is coming and then heading to the hospital to meet the newest member of the family never gets old for me! However, there are times where it just doesn’t work for me to actually make it to the hospital; sometimes the new parents just aren’t up to it in those first couple days or the turnaround that they are released in is too quick for us to make an appointment. Capturing those first few days and weeks doesn’t have to be done in the hospital though. For those families that still want those relaxed, documentary style photos we head to their homes for a Fresh48 session. I always emphasize that there should be no additional picking up or cleaning if I am headed your way! My goodness, if you saw my house most days you would know that I am NOT scared of toys scattered about, or dishes in the sink! I am not a guest in your home that you need to entertain but rather someone that is there to capture those early moments that get fuzzy and forgotten about as time wears on.

I headed to the home of my clients on a warm day in late June.  I was greeted as I got out of my car by two sweet little curly haired cuties, anxious to show off ‘their’ new baby! Soon enough these two were introducing me to their sister and showing me how they could hold her.
It wasn’t easy, but we eventually convinced these two sweet girls to ‘let’ Mommy hold her so we could take some photos with all the family! 🙂 

What I love about these family photos, is that they’re REAL. The big sisters checking out the baby, Mom and Dad are quietly explaining that they need to be gentle with the baby, but still letting them poke 🙂 and touch her. Thats real life! As a Mom I remember bringing home our youngest and wanting his (VERY EXCITED!) big sister to feel comfortable around the baby, but also knowing that toddlers don’t know their own strength! 

Once we’d kept the two older girls in one spot for long enough we headed out into the living room to take a few photos of those sweet little details that you SWEAR you’ll never be able to forget! How your newborns fingers wrapped so tightly around your one finger, or how they fit perfectly in the crook of your arm. You can’t believe you’d ever forget…but sadly we often do.

As I photographed this sweet little newborn I loved how her two sisters ran in and out of the room…alternating between interest in what I was doing, interest in their sister when she cried, and really just doing what kids do! Thats the wonderful thing about being in home for these sessions; they are surrounded by THEIR things, and feel comfortable coming in and out as they please.

As I look at these pictures, I can’t believe that she’s already 4 months old! And if *I* think the time has flown by I am sure Mom and Dad do too! Why does time have to do that? How I wish we could invent a time machine that freezes the sweet moments that happen in our lives…the in between moments that you just want to soak up for a little longer before it passes! Well, until that time machine becomes a real thing (really, is anyone working on this?!)…I guess we will just have to rely on our photographs. ❤ Thank you to the LaPlante family for welcoming me into your home to capture this time for you…and letting me have a few baby snuggles 🙂

 

Morgan’s Ultimate Senior Portrait Session | ME Senior Photographer

I’m going to try very hard not to share every.single.image from Morgan’s shoot, which is going to take a great deal of restraint, because I’m in love with them all.

I photographed Morgan when she was in 8th grade, and her sister a few years ago, and I knew from these past interactions that the fashion was going to be ON POINT.

I also knew this shoot was going to be epic, because Morgan wanted to be photographed on a sailboat, and honestly I couldn’t think of anything greater than photographing her on one.

Morgan’s mom is the unsung hero of this shoot because she worked behind the scenes to get the boat(s)/locations squared away.

When I met them at The Crown I got a peek into the trunk at her outfits, accessories, and shoes. I squealed with delight (on the inside, of course) …I think…actually I may have squealed out loud. It’s all a blur now. Anyway, I LOVED Morgan’s style.

We headed over to the yacht club and (with permission) boarded some of the boats. And then we took a short boat ride out to a catamaran for some more pictures. 

It was everything.

Morgan was so fun to photograph, and honestly if the shoot had ended right there it would’ve been A-Mazing…but we had planned a 2nd destination, so we hoped in our cars and headed to Odiorne Point for some additional photos.

I had only shot one other time at Odiorne, a few years ago, but remembered some really cool graffiti walls that I wanted to find. I thought the graffiti would pair well with Morgan’s edgy urban mini skirt and she was game for an adventure, so we set off into the woods to see if we could locate them.

Unfortunately the area that had the graffiti was filled in with large boulders, but we made the best of it by using what we could of the space, and the filler boulders.

Per usual, my squirrel-like perceptions lead me to spot a bridge on the way to Odiorne Point that I felt was perfect for photos. I’m sure it wasn’t what they had in mind when they thought of that location, but they trusted, and we walked over to he bridge. Honestly the bridge shots are straight up eye candy for me. Photographers dig lines. The pants. The bridge. All the lines.

Soon we couldn’t deny that the sun was setting and we had one shot left…a water shot. Morgan slipped into a gorgeous lace dress and we scoured the muddy shoreline for a spot for her to enter the water.

We stole the last few minutes of daylight getting our water shots.

It was such a fun shoot, I rushed home to upload her images; opening those files was like opening a treasure chest.

Thank you Morgan and Anita for a wonderful, adventurous photoshoot.