This is my 3 third year capturing this family...it truly is my joy to be a small part of their lives. We met through me blogging about the Morrisons. She was pregnant with twins and like many of us, her heart was drawn to their story. Melissa is one of those people that you just want to be around...kind and sweet. We'd like to continue our tradition in the years to come and capture the family every year...growing and changing! I love it!
Can't wait for next year!
Here's some of the pictures I took from my last vacation in Canada. We boarded the HMCS HAIDA and explored every nook and cranny! The kids loved it and so did the adults. There's nothing like sharing history...I can not believe how they packed in grown men. I think the info said 260 men were on this ship at one time - looking at the rooms...I'd say that's crazy! Here's us enjoying the day:
My family. Need i say more?
This was our view from the boat. Beautiful.
This room took me back in time. Can't you almost seeing the people listening, talking, typing...i can.
Here's my honey...i love him for letting me take so many pictures of him...and blog them too!
Adriah was having the time of her life. Except for the tripping hazards every couple of feet it was a kid play land!
This shot was from the engine room...totally amazing! i didn't take a picture of the room cause it was crazy shaped and there's was no one to stand. But here's my fav. part of the room!
Feel like you were there? hope so...more to come!
www.noemiphotography.com
I know I say this all the time but, I hope I never stop saying it...I love my job! I shot this next shoot entirely using my telephoto lens! I have never done that before and I loved it. It was one of those perfect summer days; when taking pictures is so easy cause the kids and parents are having a blast and I'm just there to capture all the precious moments. Such a piece of cake.
Nothing like a slide to get authentic smiles and giggles from your kids...this is an easy one to try at home (or at the park!)
A Daddy daughter moment...
I couldn't forget about Mommy and her precious boy!
I love this family...thank you for trusting me to capture this stage of your life!
www.noemiphotography.com
So...you know I'm a photographer but, I'm a mom too! At birthday parties these two hats constantly fight with each other! i want to sit back and enjoy the party but the other side of me wants to take as many shots as I can because the kids are soooo stinkin' cute! I love chasing the kids that never smile and catching them in a great moment. Here's a few from Adriah's party:
Like my first fondant attempt?
My nephew Dylan. His eyes require close shots...he is gorgeous!
Aidan's super hero pose and yell!
This is our new neighbor JACK! I can not tell you how much Adriah likes him. We're out every nice day playing with him and his brothers...We have been blessed with awesome neighbors!
I loved this shot...I don't even think I took it! But, Mari is deep in thought...it's a reflective moment!
There's no one like Uncle Jeremy...he sings, plays the guitar and more then that he loves our kids.
I love this shot...Adriah loves to help her friends. Here she's trying to push Mari but every time she pushed Mari would swing back and whack her! She kept trying.
AREN'T THEY ADORABLE?
www.noemiphotography.com
This is a HUGE life lesson! I know I'm a photographer and the number person in the world who's going to say "take pictures!" AND I do because you can't go back and get those memories...You can't go back and redo your wedding...you can't go back and capture your 6 month old. I know photography can be expensive but oh, it is worth it! (OR you can come to a FOCUSED Photography Workshop and learn how to take great pictures yourself!)
Here's my case and point...Eliza is 6 months and perfect!
NOW that the pictures are done it's time to print and frame! Another important part of the process...but, that's for another day!
www.noemiphotography.com
These girls captured my heart...aren't they beautiful!
This is one of my favorite shots to get of kids! When you want them to look at the camera but you don't want a "CHEESE" picture smile...Just ask the to show you how old they are! The play it up by saying "How old?" and then, "I can't see your fingers! Show me!" They love it.
The twins!
When it's cold...I love making everyone jump!
So, precious...eh?
Seriously...these kids make my job so easy! I hope these images made you smile...always more to come!
There's nothing like girls at this age...they are ready for anything and love posing for the camera! The mom was the biggest surprise she was ready to jump in and do anything for the perfect picture! These girls were made to be captured! I laughed, jumped, and had a great time with them!
Thanks for sharing your family with me!
Are you ready for a laugh? My sons turns 1 today and we had a little party for him this past weekend...Here's the videos! First he was crowned with the birthday hat! WHICH HE HATED! And you'll find his compassionate mother to the right taking "crying" pictures...so cute!
Then we sang Happy Birthday!
Opening presents! It's embarrassing how "into it" you get as a parent but, it's real!
More pictures to come...but, for now, Happy Birthday son. You are an answer to prayer and a blessing to our lives.
...I am in love with this baby! So much so, I wanted to take her home! (Not in a kidnapping kind of way but, in a I would love you forever way I captured her mom at 37 weeks a few months ago and loved it...capturing Garissa ( I hope I'm spelling that right) was pure joy!
I love the texture of mommy's skin against her perfect baby soft face!
She has so much behind those eyes...compelling.
Big brother wasn't impressed with my touching ideas of capturing him snuggling with his new sister...totaling normal for a pre-teen...but I had to try!
He finally gave me a smile...
Fundi...she is beautiful! Thank you for sharing her with me.
This month is a little crazy Leyton's First Birthday ( I capitalized it caused it's a really important milestone :) and Adriah 4th Bday and Matt's (I don't think he would mind me sharing his age with the world) 37th Bday! I'm glad mine is a month earlier cause then I can have April to plan everyone elses parties! AND I'm sure if we were to have more children they would have April Bday's too! Did you know that both my kids had the same due date? weird eh? So, Leyton is going to have an Easter/Bday party on Sunday. We were already having friends and family over so I figured it was the best way to do it! Second born...you know how that goes.
Adriah's party is next Saturday and it's a "Wonder Pets" theme. I am so excited! This is where my creative juices thrive. If you don't know the Wonder Pets, and I don't know why you would if you didn't have a 3 year old who was scared of most TV shows, they are a turtle, duckling and guinea pig that gets calls from animals in trouble from around the world and they hop in their fly boat and save them. Super cute! So here's what we're doing...yes, I have an outline...don't laugh, have you ever thrown a party for 10 three year olds? An outline is required for sanity purposes!
-Welcome guests
-Have the kids work on Circus Wonder Pets coloring pages...each guest will color, sign and hand in...we'll make it a book for Adriah!
-Rally the kids to the living room...where the "phone" will ring and I will pick 3 kids to put on capes then try and find the troubled (stuffed) animal in our home and free them.
-Back to the kitchen and we're making Wonder Pet paper airplanes OR play with the Wonder Pet paper puppets
-Eat lunch - hotdogs, chips and celery - the Wonder Pets favorite food.
-Back to the living room to open presents
-Eat cake - I'm going to try and do a fondant icing...YIKES!
-Lastly, we'll have a red wagon in the back yard through out the party to give "fly boat" rides to the kids.
-Hand out thank you bags and say good-bye!
It's a crazy two hours but, it's a blast! Adriah loves having people over and LOVES the Wonder Pets so, it should be a big hit! P.S. if you're a mom and needed an idea for your kids party...feel free to use some or all of this party!
Here's some of the things I've learned from toddler parties:
-Write on the invitation one parent and no siblings so that you know exactly how many are coming and the parents can help with crowd control!
-Feel free to give the parents jobs! They are just standing around anyway :)
-When you open gifts have all the kids sitting on the chairs or couches but, have the birthday girl and the person who gave the gift on the floor so you don't have them all on top of each other ripping open the gift.
-Keep things moving. I like planning a ton and only doing each thing for a short time!
For Matt...he's kinda getting the leftovers this year. We're having a sushi dinner...we both love sushi and have recently invested in a nice set to be able to roll and create our own! I love you honey but, 3 weekends of birthdays I'm going to be pooped out! (does anyone use that saying anymore?)
The sun is shining! Spring is here! Easter is just around the corner...love this time of year.
I love this family. If you follow my blog then you might recognize them from previous shoots! They are wonderful and so easy to capture. I had a blast editing these pictures...there's something so life giving about being around a baby! Andrew is perfect! Sarah I hope you have been saving cause there are so many cute pictures!
I'm starting to decorate my house with pictures of our family. One of my dear friends made the startling realization that I take tons of pictures and don't have many up of my family! NOT GOOD! So, in my normal over-achiever way, I got right on that project! I have had tons of fun looking at pictures, going through old albums, pulling out old frames and more then anything...dreaming about how I want to display our life in our home! It's so much fun! Of course it's going to take me forever to get it perfect but, I'm loving the process so, I don't mind. My highlight, so far, has been listening to Adriah's comments and memories as she spends time gazing at each image. She remembers so much! People's names, where we were, what we were doing and more! I'm talking details...more then I remember! She's an amazing little girl...I loved looking through photo albums with her today. Maybe someday she'll read over past blog entries and know how much it meant to me. :) Love having a little girl for that reason. I could just see Leyton saying, "What mom, you have a blog?"
AND FOR THAT REASON everyone needs to print their pictures. They do nothing for you in your computer. PRINT! PRINT! PRINT! And love decorating your home with your family memories. It will make you smile and it will cause others to feel like they know you and your family more...just by looking at your memories. Doesn't this make you want to come over and help me? Nope. You can't. I'll take a video when I'm done and show you my finished product.
I love my new home...I'll love it more when it's filled with our memories. Until then, it's just a house.
These pictures are precious! I wish I could have video this whole shoot! This 3 year old little girl directed me at every turn...she knew how to work the camera! I did nothing but, listen to her and snap away. She posed, gave me suggestions for angles and ideas for pictures! Never before have a had a subject so young and so intuitive to photography. I loved it!
So sorry for making you wait...I thought I had uploaded these pictures to the blog draft file before I left but they weren't there! SOOooo...that's why you had to wait until I got back from my vacation. Please forgive me.
This family was special. The boys were a riot and the mom was so joyful. We had a great time and laughed all the way through the shoot! Aren't these boys beautiful?
Her laugh was so contagious. I kept asking her to laugh just so I could giggle with her.
I love capturing moments. Any boring moment can be cool just cause it's mom hanging with her boys.
Perfectly innocent...or at least that's what he wants us to think!
Isn't she radiant?
This next picture was taken after he fell in the snow/mud puddle! Mom was not happy (and rightfully so!) and he couldn't care less about ruining his perfect pictures clothes...he was more interested in showing me the dirt on his hands! Gotta love boys. I have no idea what I'm in store for...that's why they start so little...to ease us in!
It really was my pleasure to capture this family. I am blessed in what I do for a living and how it impacts lives! I love it!
So, my goal on Friday was to get as much of my taxes done as possible instead I stalled all day...talked on the phone, did laundry, played with Leyton, took pictures cleaned the kitchen, read, google some new photographers, checked out my regular blogs! Yeah, not so mature. I totally knew I was doing it and I was okay with my procrastinating. Anyways! This is the result of putting off taxes and spending time with my son who, by the way, is the happiest kid on the planet!
These two were taken before I stripped him down and I was going for the "bad boy" look...he can't pull it off!
This one is my favorite picture from this shoot! He's so perfect! And it reminds of a picture my grandma would have in her collection...totally vintage!
Seriously...you'd think I said the funniest joke ever! I didn't. I was throwing his jogging pants over his head and taking them away. It's the little things that get him going!
Look at those precious eyes! All you mom's reading - don't be afraid to get close!
I love this one cause it looks like he's talking to someone beside him...he's not...he's just the happiest kid ever!
For all those wondering how you can get these amazing pictures...well, it's starts with having a beautiful subject to capture and ends with an atmosphere that's stress free! Having a photographer come to you house is so much better then the stress of a studio...but, that's my personal opinion.
I loved capturing this mom-to-be and her teenage-like son! I must admit that the beginning was a challenge cause I had to win him over but once he saw I have skills...he didn't want to stop! Seriously he kept asking, "Can we take a few more?" I love it! These are my fav's:
Isn't she gorgeous??? And 37 weeks pregnant too...amazing.
I love mom and son moments...i hope Leyton lets me hug him when he's pre-teen.
I just loved the motion in this picture.
Spider-man...
Here's a few more of our precious moments:
One of my favorite families to photograph is the Grubers and their twin girls! Probably cause they are some of the sweetest people on the earth. We've become friends since I first captured their girls at 6 weeks almost 2 years ago. We do our summer shoot every year and then last year Melissa has this idea to do an extra shoot in the fall for Christmas pictures. Have 6 families come for a 45 minute shoot at the orchard for 1/2 price. $225 plus tax. I'm waiting to see which Saturday won't be a wedding and I'll get it on the blog. The first 6 families will get the discounted price and a slot for the shoot!
Melissa sent me this email last week and I wanted to share her cool photo ideas with you:
Hi Noemi- Thank you so much for you kind words! I love your blog and enjoy reading it all of the time. I just started a blog...mostly for the girls, here is the web site: http://mkgrubergirls.blogspot.com/
Yes, I would love to be part be part of the photo shoot in the fall...and the Apple Orchard would be perfect place and the timing would be great. I love your family pictures from last year at the Orchard...so that would be so much fun. Thank you for thinking of doing this...I think it will be great! Hopefully, it will be great for your business too :)
I can't wait to see your photos from Vegas...I read about you forgetting your camera and it made me laugh...I am the same way...worried about so many other things, the one thing I really want to remember I forget and it is typically the camera. I am working on a 365 day project...taking a picture everyday...there is a link on the side of it on the blog. I LOVE it! Now, I just want to get a new camera, which is on my list of things this year...I am hoping by Christmas I can get one. But, for now I just use my little Canon point and shoot.
I have been thinking about you and was going to email you this picture (see attached). I just made a new frame from an old window and put all of the pictures from our last shoot with you. I love how it turned out and wanted to share it with you, since the beautiful pictures are your work.
Also, let me know what dates are open in June for the girl's 2nd year pictures...I can't wait. I am already looking for outfits! Thanks again for being open to this idea and I hope it is a good one for you and your business.
Talk Soon! Melissa
Conversations with Melissa and other mom's has really caused me to this about hosting a Mom Focused Photography Workshop! Basically over 3 week nights (once every other week - giving time for you to put some things into practice) I'll go through camera basics, photography tips, lighting techniques FOR MOM's...how to find cool spots in your own home and capture your kids through out the year! What do you think? Any interest? I'm thinking about doing it in the fall. I'd love your feedback though.
Thanks again Melissa for sharing your blog and your pictures!
www.noemiphotography.com
I chopped my daughter's hair! Over the past few days during our daily brushing routine Adriah has asked for short hair. So I gave her a shower and planned to cut it to her shoulders...that's it...no more. But, instead I didn't notice that she was slouching and so from the first chop it was too short! At one point she turned around and said, "that's a lot of hair mom" I replied, "I know!" It looks adorable. I just have to get used to her having short hair!
See for yourself.
She's gorgeous with long hair or short hair!
Taking pictures outside is part of living in Minnesota. Thankfully I had this family that was willing to brave it for great shots! Genit is a wonderful mother! Her little boy loved looking at my pictures more then being the subject...maybe he's going to be a photographer when he grows up!
Thank you for the priviledge of capturing your family!
I had a reader send me this email and I had to share it with you in hopes that it would inspire more to get out their cameras and share the gift of photography! I want to hear your stories too! Dear Noemi,
You don't know me, but I know you! Ha, the gift of the blog. I have been reading your blog for over a year and have loved the photos, inspiration and energy! I just wanted to share with you a bit of something I did, inspired by your early January blog about photography being a gift.
A friend of a friend asked me to take some photos of her daughter's 10 day old baby. We ended up stopping by unannounced and I took over 100 photos very quickly. This is a young family, four kids in less than four years! I am just an amateur (as you can see!) with a decent camera and some passion for capturing faces. I tried to instill some love for reading by taking a photo of each kiddo holding a favorite book.
Thanks for the inspiration. I hope that at least half of everyone who reads your blog does this at least once. If I get some outdoor photos of this family in the Spring, I will send some to you so you can see my real talent, LOL.
God Bless you and your beautiful family! Nancy
p.s. I downloaded these photos to Shutterfly.com, printed about 80 and put them in an album I bought on clearance at Target. Cost: $30. Mom's reaction: Priceless.
THANK YOU NANCY! I love real stories...especially when I know it will inspire others!
www.noemiphotography.com