SLR-Photo

What started as a professional portrait with a lovely woman named Tina ended with some beautiful images of her 2 year old son Tyler.

The gazebo in Chatham was the perfect location to show off Tina’s beautiful bright eyes and light hair.  It was one of those magical Spring days we’ve been having.

Tina’s son Tyler was patiently waiting with his great-grandmother who was celebrating her 85 birthday that day.  Now it was his turn to shine.

What great smiles we got!  Tyler looked like such a little man in his khakis and hush puppy shoes.  Made me think of my boys when they were young.

This image above is one of those “what is he thinking” image.  Beautiful!

Tyler is so lucky to be growing up with his great-grandmother in his life.  And the best part for me was when she arrived…I looked down and saw she was wearing red shoes.

I truly hope that when I turn 85…I am wearing red shoes!!

When Nikki called me for a outdoor portrait in March, I never thought we’d pull it off!  I was so happy when the weather held out on Sunday for another beautiful day in our string of early Spring days.

We started out with several family shots, had fun chasing her adorable niece and nephew Emily and Simon, and then ended the session with some fun shots of everyone really enjoying the gorgeous day.

It’s funny that once siblings start getting married - just the siblings isn’t a photo that we often take.  Here they are - all grown up!

In the end - it’s always about the kids.  Twins are definitely hard to get smiling together - or even sometime just both looking!  Here is a good one!

I love having everyone lined up and running toward me.  Sometimes I think they are all waiting for me to fall backward as I am trying to run to keep ahead of them.

I’ll end with this shot - always funny as I am lying on my back on the ground.

Happy Spring to all!!

Who doesn’t remember all those photos lined up with our cousins.  Now I understand what our parents went through trying to get the perfect shot.  I had a blast with these kids - all at different stages!

Here is Matthew loving his new little baby sister Cara.

Ansley and Gia did a lot of little girl giggling that cracked me up!

Sean held Ryan just for a moment before he tilted over holding his little brother!

The next images were individual shots that I did of the older kids.  I let them let loose a little with some silly faces and got a beautiful display of funny shots!

You wouldn’t know that Reed is just 3 months old here with his Mom and Dad.  I captured that moment where he was sitting up looking like such a big boy!  Precious smile!

I love seeing all the little baby parts - the hands, ears and little feet in the background.

Here is Reed with Mommy getting ready for a nap.

It wouldn’t be the whole story if I didn’t talk about Hank.  Hank greeted me at the door and was such a good dog - watching me set everything up and wanted so much to be in the photos with the family.  Is he smiling??

When I first met the Culligan Family - I was in love with the curls on the girls and their quiet nature.

This is Molly who was really confused when I started singing her “The Molly Malone”- which I am proud to say I know all the words to!  The real smiles came when Daddy was doing something, unknown to me, behind my back!

This is Claire with the beautiful smile.  I love how the light caught just the side of her hair.

This is big brother Brian, the Lacrosse player who was also laughing at Dad behind my back.

I love the 3 kids together - showing off the last of the fall colors and showing how much alike they look!

It was a pleasure to meet such a nice family - - next time I’ll have to learn the words to a song with Claire and Brain in them!

I ventured North to photograph the Green family and was totally entertained by their son Joey who really enjoyed himself in the leaves.

Here he is totally cracking up as his Mom threw leaves at him.  Must be something about the freedom of it?  Maybe the crunch?

I love how every family has their thing. Their thing that they say to their kids and they get a great response.  In this case, Daddy says “touchdown” and Joey throws his hands up in delight!

Just a little walk in the woods with Daddy.  I love how the trees, especially above, really frame the image.

I suggested Naritar Park for the Fitzpatrick’s portraits to take advantage of the beautiful fall colors and the warm light in October.  And that we had!  Below are a few of the first images -

What surprised me was when I started playing around with some of the images of just the girls.  I loved the black & white and antique black & white as you will see below.

This last picture reminds me so much of one of those images that come in the Hallmark frame that says “Sisters” on the bottom!

I visited a family on Watchung Lake on Sunday to help celebrate a 45 year Wedding Anniversary.  I love when families can all get together for such great occasions and add family portraits to the mix.  Everyone I met was great - however, there were so many in such a short amount of time - here is a sampling…minus the names…

I photographed several groups of kids and was thrilled that the gentleman behind me was doing some crazy things to make the kids laugh and smile!

After I photograph the families together, I like to end with what I call the “crazy” photo.  Here are a few…

Lastly here a few more of the family.  What a great time I had meeting everyone!

The West family is here in New Jersey for a 2 year work contract.  I have to admit since they arrived about 1 1/2 years ago now, we have had the wackiest weather.  I almost want to apologize to Candie…like I am responsible for the weather in New Jersey.  Well, thank goodness we were blessed with a beautiful day for their fall portraits (we won’t talk about how many times we had to reschedule for rain!).

The colors were in full burst and the family looked great at Naritar in Peapack.

Here is Rylee with big brother Mark.

I think I proved that these are pictures that you won’t be able to get in Texas.  Maybe someday they will look back at the pictures and forget the horrible Spring and Summer!

Look how adorable Rylee looks in her halloween costume.  This one’s for you, Grandma!!

Take a walk with me and the Nelson Family.  We had one of those perfect days last Sunday at Natirar Park in Peapack.

This is Anna - so happy to be running around at the park.

Emma just loved the leaves.  The image below showed just what she wanted to do while she was there - walk in the leaves and listen to them crunch.  Shouldn’t we all just stop on a Fall day and do the same thing?

One of those moments that makes you feel small.  The enormity of the tree…and the sheer joy of a little girl.

A perfect day wrapped up in a great family photo!