SLR-Photo

Kyra came in for her communion portrait and I was immediately drawn to her beautiful blue eyes and sweet disposition.  She was chatty and so polite.  She changed into her dress and had the confidence that most of us wish we had!

Kyra was a natural in front of the camera - taking direction with ease and adding her own flare.

I showed Kyra a photo that I have hanging on my wall in my living room of my dad during his First Holy Communion.  These images reminded me of classic photos that will hopefully last generations.

As you can see, I had a hard time deciding what to post because there were so many really nice images of her.  Her I converted to black & white - I love the way the light hits her very cute up-do.

The last thing I did was take down the background and photograph Kyra in natural light using the famous painting in my living room as the background.  I thought it was beautiful framing her face.

How nice it was to meet Kyra - I look forward to watching her grow.

Lisa VanDerMeiren, a bride-to-be this summer, planned a special day for her bridal party, some family and close friends.  Instead of the traditional Bachelorette party, Lisa planned a special “Women Build” day where they got busy building a house currently under construction in Somerset, NJ for Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity.

What a way to give back!  Lisa’s friends and family totaled 20 in all - and all hands on deck.  Clad in special custom made t-shirts, the party built scaffolding, mixed cement and helped frame the house.  Their day included a fabulous lunch provided by Habitat volunteers.

Here the bridal party warmed up for Lisa’s wedding day using hammers instead of flowers.

Lisa beamed at her friends and they talked about what a great opportunity it was for them to all get to know each other.  What an extraordinary thing for Lisa to organize!

We wish Lisa and Rob much happiness and blessings for their new life together.  Watch for Lisa’s story in the Spring edition of New Jersey Bride magazine.  For information on how to donate to Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity, go to www.rvhabitat.org.

I photographed Emily almost a year ago and am in wonder, once again at her poise and presence in front of the camera.  This time around we stayed inside for more studio type images.  Every image, I am amazed at her eyes - they really become the focal point of many of her shots.

I think Emily should be modeling for some sort of natural products.  She need very little make-up and her beauty on the outside matches her beauty from the inside.

I love this image below because it shows those long thin legs of hers - just sort of wrapped around herself - and she looks comfortable!!

I love this look on her face and the way she looks at me - sort of intense, but friendly.  And she is so patient with me as I run around adjusting lights.  I love the light on her hair in this image!

To finish our session, I posed Emily in front of a painting that is hanging in my livingroom.  It was painted by my aunt and holds a special place in my heart.  Emily brought it to life in such a beautiful way!

Thanks Emily - you are a beautiful soul!

We had our first official “McIntrye Boys” photo shoot on Friday.  But first, I’m going to start with their big sister Maison.  Maison, who many of you will recognize as my Website covergirl, turned 3 in March - very close to the arrival of her brothers.

She was so good, smiling up a storm.  It always happens with Maison - I end up capturing one image of her that just takes my breath away!  Here it is.

Then on came the music and she danced herself silly!  It really brings out the joy!

God blessed the McInytres with Chase and Tyler on St. Patrick’s Day!  Here is Maison posing with her brothers.

I hope I got this right - this is Tyler.  His furrowed brow was how I distiquished him from his brother.  I is on the left above and shown below.

And below is his brother Chase.

My goal for the session was to get them sleeping together.  You would think when they are this little and used to sleeping together that it wouldn’t be so hard….well it finally happened and we were able to capture this precious images.

What I see in this image above is the shape of a heart.  Do you see that?

I am overwhelmed at the beauty of this image - friendship, trust, innocence are the words that come to mind.

When I first walked in and saw Michelle, I could not believe that she looked so great with what I am sure is so little sleep.

I wanted to end with this image because I thought it was in definite need of a caption.  The look on Maison’s face says it all.  I told Michelle while I was there that I can’t wait to watch these boys grow!

I had a great time photographing the Farrell family.  Our goal was to get the boys with their 2 adorable dogs.  I try to go into a shoot like this with extreme flexibility - because you have no idea how it will work!

We have the smiling photos and then we have the “don’t smile” images.  What I loved about these two images of Jack and Matt is that they seemed to be somewhere in between.

Matt looks to me to have a secret that he doesn’t want to share.

Jack was in a good mood despite the fact that I had to pry his cell phone from his hands!

I love this image in Sepia - their natural brown tones really come out.  And I love the whole - Mom with her boys image.

And we did it!  Here are the boys with Bandit and Bell - I wouldn’t say that they dogs are actually smiling, but they are definitely posing for me!  Treats for all after a shot like that!

Lastly, I wanted to include one of the outtakes…it just goes to show you that a Mom has so many roles - including referee.

I had to start with this image because Rylee is walking!  Yeah!  Almost one and a girl on the move!  She arrived all dressed in her Easter best.  We started with a few angelic shots and then moved into adding the Easter goodies.

Her first reaction of the Easter grass was so funny.  She did not like it in her fingers.  But soon after getting used to it, our “Extreme Rylee” started tossing the eggs - how funny!  Her Mom got a real workout trying to keep it all together!

I love this image - so photojournalistic!  She seems so sweet and innocent - you should have seen the eggs flying!

I think at this moment she was praying.  For world peace of course…and that her mother didn’t punish her when she got home!

As we moved onto the swimsuit portion of the competition, Rylee was sporting a little red number (no bikini says Dad!)

No harmful UV rays for me, says Rylee.  Is this too cute for words?

I had to end with this image and ask all you Texans for a good caption!

We love you Rylee!  I figure, someday years from now, Rylee will come back to New Jersey from Texas and hunt me down for taking all these pictures!