Could Mikaela Be the Most Beautiful Girl in the World?// Pittsburgh Senior Photographer

It has felt beyond incredible to be back in the studio these past few weeks with all of you and your babies. And, no matter how big your babies get, they will ALWAYS be your babies. With that being said, here is the second of two of my pre-COVID session, post-COVID-induced-blur blogs!

I don’t get to photograph “big kids” very often anymore, but when I do, it’s a special treat. I started my career only photographing teens and adults. Believe it or not, I had never even really photographed a child until about 5-6 years ago. So, when I get to photograph someone older, it kind of feels like visiting your hometown after you’ve moved away to a different city.

Mikaela is an incredible young dancer. She came to me to create some images for her that highlighted her dance abilities, but with that fashionable twist I put on things, so that they could help her segue into modeling. I love working with dancers, because they have incredible flexibility and awareness of their bodies, and I love to work with that and mold it into more editorial poses that highlight that without being “dance pictures.” We spent a magical few hours in the studio listening to some of Mikaela’s faves like Prince and Ariana Grande. (Definitely a fun little reprieve from Baby Shark. Hahaha.) I am so proud of what we created and how wonderfully Mikaela posed and slayed it.

To top everything off, Mikaela was just recently signed MMG-NY! So, you know what that means…

***SNAPS FOR MIKAELA!!!***

Three words to describe the session: Simple, Fun, Stylized

(All of my portrait clients choose three words from a list of how they'd like to describe their finished images. You can click on any of the three words at the bottom of this post by the little tag icon to see past sessions that chose the same word. You can also see how different combinations of words lead to the creation of different images.)

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Monochromatic Magic // Pittsburgh Children's Photographer

Wooooo, boy. 2020. What a year, guys!

This is my first blog post in the green phase (…a sentence that wouldn’t have made any sense to me a year ago). Like a lot of you, I went through a bunch of stages throughout lockdown and the following months. There was the “drinking wine in my pajamas and doing jigsaw puzzles all day” phase. That was followed by the phase where I felt helpless and disconnected, so I did everything I could to be a helper to others and to reach out to people with love and support. Then, there was the phase that I’m still in: the “girrrrl, get your butt in gear” phase. No more wine day-sipping (sad face). No more pajamas all day (double sad face). After losing months of time, I am so excited to be back to doing what I love, even if it means putting on real clothing. Haha. Right before the pandemic hit us hard and we shut everything down, I had two sessions that I love love loved. Unfortunately, they were directly followed by the wine/pajamas/puzzle blur, so I never got around to blogging them. Now that I’m back in the studio and creating a ton of images that I’m excited to start sharing soon, I wanted to be sure to give these sessions their due.

We had such a fun day at the studio with Luca, Michael, and Alessia creating this series of images. Mom’s personal style skews more towards modern/streetwear and she was looking for some simple, classic black and white images to display in her home. That combination made my heart sing when I heard it. I decided to photograph the session on a black background and use some moody lighting to help elevate things and pump up the drama. For the first look, I chose a more casual, streetwear-centered wardrobe, while we got a bit fancy with the second. (I always like to have that variety and range in wardrobe for a session. A lot of times, our first intuition for a portrait session is that we want to get dressed up for the special day ahead. While that photographs beautifully and will make for adorable images, it can take us by surprise just how much we also love and end up gravitating towards images that are photographed in casual looks.) We mixed up the posing with some hard and soft (I’m a sucker for a “serious face” group portrait) and included some sweet poses to better show their adorable bonds as siblings.

I was so SO impressed with just how well these three kiddos took direction. Luca instantly understood everything I asked of him and nailed every pose. Alessia is so young and precious, but listened like a little adult and did amazingly. I was most blown away by Michael - what a ham! A lot of the time, the fellas won’t be as “into” the portrait session as the ladies, but Michael couldn’t get enough. HE directed ME and had multiple important wardrobe pieces that he wanted to be sure he was photographed wearing.

This one left me craving more black and white sessions. If you want some beautiful black and white portraits of your babes on your wall, please get in touch!

Three words to describe the session: Simple, Classic, Stylized

(All of my portrait clients choose three words from a list of how they'd like to describe their finished images. You can click on any of the three words at the bottom of this post by the little tag icon to see past sessions that chose the same word. You can also see how different combinations of words lead to the creation of different images.)

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Landri Has a Heart of Gold // Pittsburgh Children's Photographer

There is so much that I could say about Landri. This adorable 4-year old is one of the sweetest kiddos that I've had the pleasure of working with. She is friendly, yet feisty. Spirited, yet dear. Affectionate, yet independent. I see such a strength of character in this little, little girl, and I can't wait to see her grow up into a strong, beautiful woman.

Landri was this year's winner of the annual #POSE4PICKET contest that I run in conjunction with The Picket Fence. She won a complimentary Editorial Session, three 8x10 prints, and a gorgeous Tea Collection outfit to wear during her session. (If you missed this year's contest - be sure to enter next year! It's SO MUCH fun!) I am so grateful that this contest enabled me to meet both her and her mother, as it was such a joy getting to know the both of them.

When planning Landri's session, I knew that I wanted to photograph it on black to emphasize her gorgeous blonde hair and porcelain skin. When I inquired as to Landri's favorite colors, I was told that they were "pink, purple, and golden." What a perfect color palette! I decided to select primarily pink and purple wardrobe and utilize different golden accents during the session (including a crown for the images in her Tea Collection outfit - she needed to be "crowned" the winner, after all!) There were also two other very important objects in Landri's world that I knew we could incorporate perfectly: her lovey/BFF "Baby" the elephant, and her preferred method of getting around on such tiny legs: her hot pink scooter.

Honestly, I could have photographed this little girl all day...

Three words to describe the session: Editorial, Fun, Stylized

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Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (Naina + Mina) // Pittsburgh Children's Photographer

When I had the opportunity to photograph little ladies as fun and spunky as Naina and Mina, it reminded me precisely why I chose to be a children's photographer. By the time we were finished, my cheeks hurt a bit from smiling for so long, and I felt energized by the amount of tiny giggles that had bounced around in the air at the studio that day (seriously - it's like filling up my gas tank).

Naina is creative, artistic 9-year old with a huge imagination and sweet disposition. Mina, 7 years old, is an entertainer: outgoing, playful, and in Mom's words, "just a ham in general." I knew that I had to give these ladies an Editorial Session to match their vibrant, spirited personalities, and was overjoyed when Mom chose the word "colorful" as one of her three words to describe her ideal session. There was only one option, really. We NEEDED to throw a PAR-TAY - a big, colorful one. And, what party is complete without decorations?! To help decorate for Naina and Mina's party, I enlisted the help of Leigh-Anne from Airheads Balloon Art, who made the most ahhh-mazing balloon doggies to tie everything together and really bring my creative vision to life. (If you'd like to step up your decoration game for your kiddo's birthday party, or any other event in the future, definitely get in touch with them - they are spectacular to work with!) Last but not least, what party is complete without glitter? EVERYTHING is better with glitter.
 

SO MUCH FUN in the studio with Naina + Mina this morning. Everything is better with glitter! ✨

A video posted by POSE PGH (@posepgh) on Oct 2, 2016 at 10:08am PDT

And, now, on to the images...

Party on, Naina! Party on, Mina!

Three words to describe the session: Cute, Colorful, Stylized

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