The Joys of Family

Being a mother, I know the importance of catching those special moments of your children. Like with my own son, I wanted to take pictures of him every day. However, when you get to your second child, taking time to take photos can prove to be a little bit of a struggle, because you are most likely chasing after your oldest. Nevermind, if you find out you are having twins the second time around! So, when a mother from my playgroup asked if I could take a few photos of her twins, I just knew I needed to help her out. That's what mothers' do for each other.

I was incredibly excited, because even though I had photographed plenty of children, I had never photographed newborns. We tried to coordinate an outside shoot, because I am a firm believer in natural light, however, the weather never wanted to cooperate with us. So, we decided on a rainy Sunday, we'd all get together inside and make it work (not to quote Tim Gunn or anything!).

First up was little Miss Logan.

Logan's mom made sure to tell me that Logan is the twin that likes to have the attention. I soon noticed that when I stopped talking to her or stopped taking her picture, she would give me a look that said "Hey, what about me?". But when that camera was on her, man did she shine!

This image just makes me melt.

 And yes....her toes were painted for the occasion. 

Next was Connor.

At first, Connor was so serious. I think it was a combination of being tired and a little fear of my massive flash and camera.

But eventually he started warming up and we had a lot of fun!

 This shot makes me crack up every time I look at it.

And then it was time to rest again.

Now let's see these two together!

We took a break with the twins so they could rest and eat. And I got to hang out with their older brother Jack(who would be the perfect friend for my little guy) and take some shots of him.

Just to see how similar our boys are, I asked Jack to "smile". This is exactly the reaction I'd get from my son too and I love it!

Things were starting to wind down, it was getting to be nap time for everyone. We all sat down for a group family photo. To get this, I climbed behind a couch (very stealthily I might add) to make sure I could get the shot. Aren't they the cutest family?

I had so much fun at this shoot, it didn't feel like work. I got to meet a new friend for my son and I have a feeling a new friend for myself as well. I hope you all enjoy these photos as much as I do and thank you for letting me be a part of your family for the day.

Here is one last parting shot of the twins. 

Tracy & Dave: Part 2

We left the beach and headed over to the arcades in Salisbury. The two of them said they were up for some fun and who can resist a game of Skee Ball?

 

Apparently this game gets intense!

Dave lining up the shot like a pro-bowler. And it's a 40!

I love the way he is checking her out here, it's like they are teenagers again.

I turned around to find this game and thought it would make for a cute shot, turns out the two of them love Wheel of Fortune, so it was perfect!

Now on to their favorite game. I think it's healthy to have some competition as a couple, keeps you on your toes. I was afraid to get to close, because these guys mean business!

Can you guess who won? Tracy! 

Apparently there can't just be one Joe's Playland, because there was another one across the street. We headed over there just to see if there was anything different. I made sure we took advantage of Zoltar, it always reminds me of the movie Big. Although, I don't remember the fortune teller looking like Jesus?!


Tracy getting some confusing messages

Dave seems to like his fortune

We were found a couple of driving games that they wanted to play, but what's funny about this shot is, the game wasn't working! So they just sat there and pretended to play. 

You can't play arcade games without stopping for some fried dough!

Lastly, I like to ask all my couples what they feel makes a relationship last/work. The most common answer I get is communication. Tracy and Dave clearly know that this is important, but they also think that having fun together is vital to a healthy relationship. I think Tracy said it best when she said to make everything count. Even simple tasks like going over bills and grocery shopping can mean something. And be weird with each other. Well, I'll drink to that, because just by looking at them, they are still totally in love with each other.


I'll leave you with one last sweet picture of the two of them. And check out my soundtrack page for a song dedicated to Tracy and Dave. Thanks you two for making this such a fun shoot! 

Tracy & Dave

Adventurous. Spontaneous. Ambitious.

Those were the three words given to me by Tracy and her husband Dave, when asked to describe themselves as a couple.  

Tracy and Dave met back in 1996 when they both worked for the same company, just different jobs. Job changes had them parting ways for a little bit, but then somehow found their way back to each other. Just before 9/11, Tracy and Dave starting hanging out as friends. Then something shifted and with one kiss, that line between friendship and love became a blur. Now they have been together for 11 years and married for 5 as of October. 

I have known Tracy now for quite a long time, but it wasn't until the last couple of years that I've gotten to know her on a more personal level. Some of you may recognize her from last year's blog, http://kristinesoares.blogspot.com/2011/10/diamonds-are-girls-best-friendcontinued.html.  Since I started to get into the "business" a little more, Tracy and her business partner Jennie have been thoughtful enough to include me in little meetings(which really ends up being drinks and a lot of laughter at times) and social events. 

Dave, I've met a few times and has always been very sweet and sometimes quiet. But I will never forget when both Tracy and Dave came to the rescue at the last hour, for my wedding 3 years ago. The two of them took charge of grabbing all the decorations for the reception and setting them up the day of the actual wedding. I don't think I could ever thank them enough for that.  Well.....maybe with a few photos?

We met at Salisbury Beach State Reservation. And it was a beautiful day to shoot. 

There is something to be said for shots of people walking away and holding hands. You may notice it's a favorite of mine. To me, it symbolizes the journey that you take with the one you love. It may sound corny, but it's true. No matter where we are in life and where we are walking, as long as you have that love by your side, you feel you can do anything. And that things will be okay. 

The next shots are in a sequence. I can't tell you just how funny and goofy(I say in a loving way) these two are ,but I can show you. I asked Tracy to lean back a little against the rails, while Dave slowly lean in for a kiss. Dave took this as "Oh...walk like a zombie ballerina and pretend to kiss her? Sure!". Just awesome.

Notice the pointed toe.

Hilarity ensued.

I love this shot of the two of them.

I could tell that Tracy and Dave are the kind of couple that just want to have fun. And I love that about them, they don't take themselves too seriously. They were so comfortable being silly, that I preferred to shoot that then just standard poses.  First, I caught Dave blowing raspberries and then I whipped around to catch Tracy doing moose antlers at him at the same time!

Attempt at serious pose??? Nah...but it's still adorable.

I asked them if there would be a movie about them, what would it be? Tracy said Romancing the Stone would be a good fit. A little romance, but of course some adventure thrown in. These two love to travel. They mentioned how unbelievable their trip to Alaska was, full of helicopter rides, gambling(Tracy won!) and whale watches. Dave is into climbing(ice climbing I believe?) and the two of them are plane enthusiasts. I thought it would be fun to get a little more nature in the shoot, so we got under a couple of beach trees.

Here is a sweet one.

And then of course Tracy just HAD to swing in one. I absolutely snorted out loud when I saw Dave's face he was making in the bottom right shot.

Speaking of adventure, we headed to the next stop for our shoot. Can you guess where? Here's a sneak peek. Stay tuned for Part 2!

The Places You'll Go!- Mr N, Miss M and Mr. H

Last but certainly not least, I give you Mr. N, Miss M and Mr. H. To make things a little simpler, I'm just going to refer them as the Three Musketeers. 


When I reached out to some families to take part in my mini-session marathon, I was happy to receive a message from their mom. She told me she had 3 kids, ages 3, 6 and 12 and never had professional pictures done. First of all, it's amazing to me when someone can raise one child, let alone 3(and still look fabulous as she did when I met her). And secondly, to raise 3 very well-behaved children spanning those age ranges is another amazing feat. These kids were polite, respectful and fun. I couldn't wait to photograph them and their enthusiasm was great too. Miss M gave me a very exaggerated "YES!" after each item I told her I brought for them to play with. 

We started off with our "formals".

I like to tell parents that sometimes even the non "perfect" photo makes a great image. I find this to be especially true with kids.

They aren't all posed the same way(note how each of them are doing something slightly different with their hands)

They aren't all looking in the same direction. I love how sweet this one is!

And sometimes, we must all give silly faces. This helps to ease any nerves. I often play a game to see who can give the silliest face. Who wins here? They are all pretty good!

Now it was time to let them run off while I grabbed a few single shots of the kids. First up, Miss M. She certainly knew how to pose and just look at these eyes!

Then it was Mr. N's turn.

And lastly the youngest, Mr. H

And then we were off to the animals! They apparently needed a closer look!

I guess they got bored with the animals, or so Miss M pointed out. So I let them go do their own thing. Mr. H was overwhelmed with options, so I snapped this one of him quickly before he took off in a million directions.

Miss M grabbed the books and started reading.

Mr. N got a hold of the bubbles.

It was time to wrap up. It was a blast to work these guys and all of the families that joined me that day. I feel like it was such a success that I definitely see more of these in the future. 

I'll leave you with one final shot of the Three Musketeers. This was another one of my favorites from the entire day.