Marley Is Fresh as a Daisy // Pittsburgh Children's Photographer

The annual #POSE4PICKET contest that I hold with The Picket Fence always brings such wonderful people into my studio and into my life. Every year, we give away an incredible prize package: an Editorial Session, three images, and a Tea Collection outfit. This year’s winner, Marley, stole my heart from the moment I saw her entry photo, and even more so once I met her.

Marley is silly and spunky and full of personality. She has the most beautiful natural hair and makes the best sassy, little faces. Keeping in mind the three words that Mom picked, I wanted to capture all of the personality and highlight her beauty and the gorgeous, warm tone of her skin. So, I opted to photograph the session on a light pink background, but to tone the images to look a bit vintage and add a bunch of warmth. We chose a 70s theme and even got to include her baby sister, Kamara, in a few of the images. They had great wardrobe in their closet to echo that vintage vibe and I LOVE the Tea Collection outfit that The Picket Fence contributed to the session. It was incredible and SO fitting for the theme. The striped pants are everything and looked so comfy that I was jealous they weren’t available in my size. Going into the session, I had a vision of the final image you’ll see in this blog. It happens like that for me sometimes, where I see the finished image as a flash in my brain, and it’s just a matter of making it a reality. With kiddos, that can sometimes be a roll of the dice, but Marley executed it so perfectly - look at all that attitude!

Some fun facts about the session:
1) The caftan that Marley is wearing in the final image is 70s vintage, a fabulous hand-me-down gift from her grandmother. I melted when Mom pulled it out of the closet and showed it to me.
2) The overalls that Kamara is wearing are also vintage Osh Kosh and used to belong to Mom. I love including cherished, hand-me-down garments in sessions and these were two of my favorites that I’ve photographed.
3) The records came from my dad’s collection. He has a massive record collection and great taste in music.
4) I poked my finger with a sewing needle so many times making those daisy curtains that it went numb for a bit, but, WORTH IT.

Three words to describe the session: Natural, Retro/Mod, Sweet

(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 leads to the creation of different images.)

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True Blue // Pittsburgh Family Photographer

This session was for another wonderful family that came my way courtesy of a charitable auction donation. I truly treasure the ability to give back to the city that has given me so much however I can, and donating my services to charity through auction packages is a fabulous way to do so and to meet so many new, fabulous people.

Little Annie, 3 1/2 years old at the time of our session, was a bundle of energy and cuteness. She picked out her favorite green princess dress to wear for her images, and danced and twirled the time away. Annie has gorgeous blue eyes, and I love that I was able to capture her literal “wide-eyed innocence” in her solo portrait. Baby Charlotte had the most adorable little smile, and you could really see the beautiful bond between the sisters during our time spent together. Charlotte definitely admired Annie and wanted to keep up with her, while Annie clearly adored Charlotte and was a loving big sister, holding her hand, guiding her, and snuggling her tightly. Mom and Dad mentioned potentially stepping in for a family image, and you knoooow my thoughts on this: DO IT! So, we created a lovely family image, as well.

As per usual, I aimed to match the family’s decor. Their family room is filled with darker blue tones and off-white. In order to create images that would still pop a little bit on their walls, I photographed the session with more contrasty, bright lighting and a white backdrop, but pulled everything back in post-production to be warmer and softer. When choosing the wardrobe, particularly for their group image, I chose tones of blue and gray, with a color pop of dusty pink for the baby. I love the harmony of how the colors all mingle so nicely.

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

(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 leads to the creation of different images.)

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Orange You Glad? // Pittsburgh Family Photographer

I looove donating portrait packages to various charitable auctions around the city! Not only does it help raise money for a myriad of amazing causes, but it enables me to meet and photograph wonderful families that I might not otherwise have had the opportunity to meet. This family came to me courtesy of my donation to The Imani Gala, an annual fundraiser held on behalf of Imani Christian Academy. You can read more about it here.

The main goal of our portrait session was to capture a few adorable images for baby Abigail’s first birthday. We decided to also create some images of the whole family together, as well as some of just the kiddos, including Sebastian, 4 1/2-years old, and Marcella, 2 1/2-years old. Dad also really wanted to capture a solo image with the babe, and it ended up being one of my favorites from the day. Right before taking a “smiley” image, Dad kissed her on the cheek as I hurriedly snapped away. It was such a beautiful little unplanned moment, and went hand-in-hand with Mom wanting a more natural feel to the session.

The decor in their home is mostly earth-toned with some gorgeous pops of color here and there. To match this, I opted to photograph the session on an off-white backdrop, but I still wanted to have some pops of color, as well. Mom delivered me my dream “color pop” when she showed me Abigail’s birthday dress for her party: a beautiful, vibrant orange number with lovely detailing. When choosing the rest of the family’s wardrobe for the session, we pulled colors from that detailing to tie everything together. Mom knew that she had a stunning green dress to coordinate with the green accents, and we outfitted the rest of the crew in tones of navy and white. I think that Sebastian’s green shoelaces were my favorite subtle detail.

I’m SO pleased with how these images turned out, and loved every minute spent with this family.

Three words to describe the session: Colorful, Natural, Sweet

(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 leads to the creation of different images.)

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