Clothing can be a great way to set your family photos apart.  When we set up a session I send you some suggestions and a small clothing guide with some example photos.  This family did a fantastic job of coordinating their outfits (even after a small wardrobe malfunction – baby girl’s outfit was too big that morning and everything was switched up at the last minute!).  Notice that their clothing pieces work around the colors in the baby girl’s dress, and neither shirt is the same color, one is navy and the other has a subtle purple tone.  The family is not dressed too casually, but at the same time they aren’t too dressed up that the picture loses who they are on an everyday basis. 

Kudos B family   Enjoy the sneak I put on here in return for your inspiring arrangement!

Last year, Leslie, of Happy Cakes Creations and I teamed up to take product shots of her awesome Halloween Costumes, hats, and hair clips for girly girls!  This year, she has some new Halloween Collection choices  – but no worries – last year’s costumes are still available too.  While I didn’t have time for a full photoshoot, my little munchkin modeled and couldn’t get enough of them! She was sad when we were finished.  A lollipop really sealed the deal! 

Halloween really is right around the corner.  Contact Leslie for your costume! She’s really fun and easy to work with – and super happy to help out with custom requests.  She ships everywhere. 

Visit their Etsy Shop or website to order.

Below : Pebbles, Pirate, Strawberry, Witch   (Featured on her website – ghost, flower, ladybug, pumpkin, cowgirl, bumble bee)

Time for a family portrait!  This family met me at Red Bank National Park (I really just adore all of the areas this park has) and we sweated our way through the session.  Has this summer been HOT or what?!  Anyhow- the sweating didn’t effect the pictures, and the session didn’t take too long! Outdoor sessions are fun and typically take about an hour.  They are also great for kiddos because they get to take breaks, run around and play, and I can simply chase them around.  I like to try and see the world through their eyes. 

The “beach” you see here is actually the Delaware River overlooking Philadelphia.  This “beach” can be hit or miss- and we happened to hit it on a pretty day.

What’s really neat is that this fun little girl was born the same exact day and year as my little munchkin!  It’s neat to see how children develop differently - she was SO chatty!  Mom called her a parrot  

Hope you enjoyed our session “M” family!!

I was super excited to meet Miss Lily again! Allllll the way back in 2009   I did her newborn pictures.  She was an easy peasy newborn – and again she greeted me with a smile – but she was SO much bigger.  These babies grow at an alarming rate.  She couldn’t do anything and now she is her own little person.  Mom is super in love with everything ladybugs so you will notice her “subtle” attempts to make her little one just as in love with the bug of ladys. 

Cake smashes are such a fun way to celebrate  baby’s first birthday – it says “Hey, I can finally get off the milk and eat some cake”.  Each child really reacts completely different to the cake too.  Some one year olds jump in with both hands and love it, while others are really irritated by the process and the icing.  It’s neat to see each individual personality pop out.  There is an absolute mess at the end, but who cares? It’s fun to make a mess sometimes! 

I can’t handle this shot- I just want to eat her up <3!!

FYI! I will be on vacation starting Thursday night and will not return home until Sunday, August 22.  I will have NO internet access – the phone is being turned off and the computer is staying at home   If you have a gallery that is currently active- check your email box!  If you have a pressing question or request I will be around all day tomorrow (Thursday) so feel free to shoot me an email or I can chat with you when I get home!

And what fun is an update without a picture?  This is my little sugarbear at the beach a few weeks ago.

The little star of this family is my daughters buddy in her Gymboree class.  They started Gymboree together when Abby was the “old” baby at 2 months, and this little gal was SOOO much younger at only a couple of weeks old.  Can you believe how that age difference seems huge when they are first born and now there’s pretty much no difference?  Anyhow- both girls have gotten so big!  Unfortunately for us, they are moving this month- but will hopefully be back to visit!!  We went to Bellevue Park – a park that I have been waiting to shoot at because there are so many pretty areas! I finally got the chance and I was super excited   Can’t wait till the next chance!

Loved spending time with you M family   Glad I could capture the end of your stay in Delaware!

I spent a long time with this family!  If you think getting one baby settled, calmed, and ready to go for pictures – imagine 2!  One would settle and the other would perk up.  It was a constant cat and mouse game.  This day was HOT outside too.  I ended up passing out when I got home out of sheer exhaustion.  Carrying all the equipment in and out was enough to make me sleepy

They were just the sweetest babies though- so teeny tiny, and the way they curled up together was completely precious.  This was the first time I did twins and I was so excited.  They were a week past the golden two week age point that I prefer to shoot newborns in- but when babies are born early, and these babies were quite a few weeks early- they tend to be sleepy newborns for a bit longer. 

You may remember this gorgeous momma to be and daddy – http://www.melissastottmannphotography.com/blog/?p=1201 

Well, as all babies do, he arrived!!  Mom is super into pirates and pirate themed his nursery – so we played around with the theme and embraced the plank!  Of course, it was essential to still get the classic baby shots! I custom created his birth annoucements into a babyish pirate- without getting too skull and crossboney.  I really like to take a theme and run with it – I’ve gotten to do that quite a bit this summer and I am really enjoying making each session unique to the customers.  It’s nice to know that no one else has portraits quite like yours!

He slept in spurts – so I used my opportunities when I got them!  His shots turned out gorgeously because mom and dad stayed nice and calm.  They let him have his moments where all he wanted was to be cuddled.

Did I mention that Dad is a police officer?  We ran with that too and put the little man in his uniform hat!  This was a much more difficult task than we anticipated

  Time to enjoy baby M….

So I have this best friend since 3rd grade (she was the original person that pushed me into making photography a career- puh, what did she know ?) that gives gift certificates to her friends when new babies come along!  Just wait till said friend gets prego and has a baby – that baby will be all over this blog!  I digress…

Anyhow-  little man B’s momma is a fab friend of my friend – are you lost yet?  My daughter and her older daughter are 9 months apart so we’ve had a couple of get togethers and she just had her little guy.  Are you following this long plot to nowhere?  Sooo here he is on my blog!  We actually had this session scheduled for a couple of days before it happened, I showed up, and suddenly didn’t feel well – it was a disgustingly hot day – and had to leave – I certainly wasn’t giving her my best- and boy- I was embarrassed.  I can honestly say I have NEVER had to leave a session – good thing it was a friend!  However, I showed up nice and rejuvenated just two days later.  Mr. B did not want to be undressed and sleepy though, and gave me a bit of a run for my money – however – we wore him down for a couple of shots-  and I had some fun photographing adorable Miss M, his big sister!

How sweet is she?!  I have never had a two year old so willing to give eye contact and work with me! She was ready to smile and shine!

In the past, I have mentioned lots of my newborn tricks (heater, going slow, comfy beanbag).   These tricks have proved quite successful, and with this sweet dolly baby they worked like a charm.  However, there are sessions where the baby simply does not like any of my tactics and refuses to do anything I request – I go with it and accept the small infant’s preferences and photograph an awake baby after I give it a good hour or so and no sleep happens!

Back to little Miss R.  Isn’t she the sweetest?  It was a warm day, so after getting all of the main indoor shots completed I gave the option of heading outside.  Mom was down for the ride, so we put her (not mom, the baby) in the carriage and headed out into the backyard – then came around to the front of the house for a “bringing baby home on the front porch”.  I’d like to try a basket on the front step with a stork message – maybe the next newbie session… excuse the stream of consciousness   Anyhow- she did fantastic and didn’t make me pull out all the tricks I had up my sleeve.

It was so much fun working with you W family!! See you for our 6 month session <3