Amy Vining Photography » Modern Portraits for Seniors and Families

Another addition to the SWEET, SLEEPY BABY collection… this is Noah and he’s six months old.  He played around on his mommy & daddy’s bed today and posed for me, before finally giving up and crashing out!  He fought it for a while – gave a good holler or two while his mom was putting him down but it didn’t last long.  He was so sleepy… and sooooo sweet.

A friend of mine told me this morning that I “light up” when I talk about photographing kids.  This little guy is THE reason!!!

This is Cash.  He’s 11 months old and has the sweetest little red hairs on his head!  When I arrived, he was sleeping soundly and his Mom, Shelly, warned me that when Cash wakes up, he opens his eyes and sits straight up, ready to party.

And she wasn’t kidding.

After about 10 minutes of shooting him as he slept, Cash popped his eyes open, urgently sat straight up, looked at the stranger in his room and started crying!  (gulp!)

After a few moments of checking me out as he sat safely in his mommy’s arms, he grinned and flirted and posed for an hour straight.  He’s got many skills; comedy, acting, speed-eating, and home-decorating.  He’s a very talented 11-month old.  Here’s a peek at Cash’s photos.  Enjoy!

It occurred to me that over the holiday rush of family portraits, I neglected to post one of my favorite creative sessions.  A couple of months ago I photographed Sarah with her dog at Cathedral Park.  We had so much fun together and talked and talked and talked.  I’m surprised that we ended up with any photos at all with all the yappin we were doing.  During that session Sarah told me how she has always wanted to get some photos of herself with her mom and grandmother making cookies together.  It is a family tradition and they make the same recipe each time from their church cookbook.  (Modified by adding some butterscotch chips ~ my personal favorite.)

So, a few weeks later I joined Sarah again at her little apartment in St. Johns and photographed the three of them making cookies and talking and playing with the dog and the cat, followed by a session of them walking around Cathedral Park.  Again, we were all talking so much I’m surprised that we got any photos!  And when all was said and done, we ended up with not only some fun little shots of the three of them goofing together, but also a beautiful collection of photos of these 3 generations of women doing something they do often together:  making cookies.

The reason I’m including this in the SHUTTER MOMS category is because I know a lot of us only take the camera out at holidays, sporting events, and other special occassions.  But what I want to encourage you to do is to keep that camera out at all times, and take 30 seconds or 30 minutes taking photos of things that occur regularly around your house.  The kids playing in their pajamas, eating their favorite lunch, spreading peanut butter on bread (don’t forget the close-ups of those sweet little fingers!), and other things that will freeze a true moment in time of your kids just being kids.  Try taking photos of your kids through the upstairs window while they play in the yard, or at the breakfast table!  I promise you will treasure these photos as much, or more, than those you take during special occassions.

Here’s a sample of what I shot of these three beautiful women.  Enjoy!

Another fun way to add to your scrapbook or photo album with out-of-the-ordinary shots of your kids is to get detail shots.  Those sweet little hands and feet and bodies have all sorts of personalities of their own, just begging to be photographed!  I have one client who has photos of her kids feet photographed as they grow, and keeps them displayed in her house.  How cute is that?  This year I got to take that picture for her, but it’s not something you have to have done professionally.  Make it fun – take photos of your kids’ hands while they play with trains and other toys.  Those toys will be very sentimental to you one day as well, and are worth documenting.  Get shots of little hands tying shoes and brushing teeth.  I promise you’ll treasure these later!  Make it a point to pull out your camera right before your kids go to bed – it’s a great time for details shots when they’re all worn out!

I belong to a fantastic online resource for professional photographers called PHOTOGRAPHY MENTOR.  I go there often to learn from photographers around the world that I admire and are willing to teach me everything they know!  (You should check it out, too!)  Along with my membership to this online learning forum I was given a book called FAST TRACK PHOTOGRAPHER.  It’s all about the business of wedding photography and marketing, etc.  The reason I’m mentioning this to you SHUTTER MOMS is that I found a great resource within this book for YOU!  It’s a website/email newsletter called PHOTOJOJO.  It’s such a fantastic place to find help as you’re learning to take better photos with your DSLR.  Check it out, and enjoy!  Come back and tell me what you think!