(We posted this last Spring, but wanted to bring it back for this year’s Spring family sessions!)

Thinking of doing a family shoot this year, but nervous about finding coordinating outfits for a group? We’ve got you covered! All you need is one piece to get started, and it’s a breeze from there.

Stylists know that the key to group styling is a balance of colors, textures, fabrics, and patterns. This guide will give you an example of how to achieve this balance, while still keeping the group comfortable and stylish. We’ll give you one example here, but this concept can be applied to any season and any look.

All pieces shown are from J.Crew. Happy Shopping!

Happy Birthday, baby J! This little guy has the sweetest personality, as you can see in his photos. He was hesitant of the camera at first, but quickly got into the photoshoot groove, playfully interacting with the camera for the whole session.

We’ve had a lot of nautical cake smash themes this year, but nobody had done an ‘under the sea’ set until this one! I loved making all of the creatures, and J was mesmerized by the fish swimming around him. Thanks to Sweet Indulgence for the friendly shark cake!

Remember this cutie with his planes and snowboard? Throwback Thursday is my good excuse to share more family photos from K’s session. We wanted the session to be really fun, candid, joyful, and kinetic, so we laughed, smiled, and kept things moving. Don’t you almost want to be a part of this family after seeing these? So stylish and fun!

~Mariah

Storyboards are my favorite product that clients order. These are my favorite because they are super customizable and are beautifully stunning when displayed on a wall.

This weeks featured size is a 16×24 storyboard.  These 16×24′s are very popular for all types of sessions.

16×24 storyboards are one of our most popular sizes by far! The tricky part my clients face is picking the right amount of images and the orientation because it really matters!  This week tip I focus on 3 to 4 image storyboard because thats the average number picked.  I’ve done up to nine images on one board though!  These are great visual layouts to help pick images because whether its a canvas or in an Organic Bloom frame the goal is to make the images look balanced.

I first met this happy baby girl back in 2011 when she and her big brother visited our studio for portraits.  We stayed in touch online and through the wonderful community of moms at Bellani Maternity over the years.

We were on our Holiday break this year when I saw the story spread over facebook.  A family in our community was struggling with the recent diagnosis of their young daughter.  She had gone into the doctors with a stomach bug and then their world had changed.  I soon found out it was Belle and her final diagnosis was pre-B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) .  I just couldn’t wrap my head around the sudden news.   I sent mom a message as soon as I heard.  Whenever she was ready, whenever Belle was ready, I wanted to be there for them in any way that I could.

I have worked with many families fighting childhood illness through The Tiny Sparrow Foundation over the past few years.  It has been the most meaningful part of what I do as a photographer.  I know how much photos can mean to families fighting through treatment and recovery.  I also knew how much Belle’s beautiful curls meant to her mom.  Not for their physical beauty, or the soft way they framed her baby doll face, but because they were a symbol of Belle’s babyhood.  They were a symbol of Belle before their world was turned upside-down.  I know I would have felt exactly like Belle’s mom did.  Yes, those curls will grow back, surely more beautiful than ever, but I would have wanted to hold onto them as long as I could.  I had to get to the hospital and capture Belle’s curls.

Belle and her mom are some of the strongest girls I’ve ever met.  Mom has been incomprehensibly positive and tenacious for her daughter.  They amaze me and everyone else they meet.  Belle had already fought through over two weeks of treatment and wasn’t feeling great the day I visited.  We had endless fun, girly, dress-up toys to make her smile, but she mostly wanted her Elmo, her mommy, and her cozy blanket.  You know what?  That Elmo and blanket looked pretty perfect to me and there is nothing more beautiful than a mother’s love.

Plus, this isn’t the last photo shoot you’ll see with Belle here.  We’ll be catching up again, when she’s feeling much better.  She has plenty of tutu-twirling ahead of her!  This summer, her hair will be growing back and I probably won’t be able to keep up with her as she runs around outside.  For now, I’m happy to have captured those sweet curls before her next chapter begins.  You can read more about Belle’s story in her mother’s words on the Kent Macaroni Kids Blog.

If you would like to help Belle and her family, please visit  Belle’s Youcaring.com Page or check back in with us for the many opportunities to make a difference for Belle in the coming months.

Oh my gosh, is this not one of the cutest babies you have ever seen?  I was totally in love with her from the first second she looked at me with those big brown eyes.  Little Star sessions are some of my favorite and especially when babies are at this age.  It feels like I’m just hanging out with mom and dad, playing dress up with their little one.  Sometimes I have to remind myself that I’m working!  M was so sweet.  She indulged us in plenty of adorable outfits and sets.  I’m wondering how I’ll ever choose favorites for this gallery!  Enjoy your sneak peek!

Sweets + a sweet model = an epicly sweet shoot! Shoots like this remind me how much I love my job.    Sweet Indulgence called us the day before this happened and asked if we wanted to pop over to their shop for a quick shoot, and I had no idea that THIS would happen! We started out shooting the table of cakes and candy, then added in our bridal model to create a ‘fashion’ shoot to show off the stunning wedding cakes that Sweet Indulgence now makes. The tiers of lace in the background, her dress, and then the ruffles on the cake all came together for a vintage-elegant look.

Wedding cakes and dessert table: Sweet Indulgence

Bouquet: Flowers By Semia

Dress and Accessories: Couture Bridal

Lashes: Ch’i Spa

Makeup and Hair: Dion at Magnolia Salon

~ Mariah

“Do you think I’ve gone round the bend?”

“I’m afraid so. You’re mad, bonkers, completely off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”

- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

It never seems to happen like I plan.  The idea for this shoot started out as something completely different.  I found the skirt last year at a time when Giuliana was obsessed with ballet and princesses.  I could picture the joy on her face when she got the chance to twirl around in it.  I thought it would be amazing for Grace’s newborn portraits.  I envisioned Giuliana finding her new baby sister swaddled in a basket, deep in the woods.  That shoot never happened.  It turned out to be much too lofty a goal for a sleep deprived new mother.

The summer came quickly and I had a new vision for the skirt.  I could see Giuliana running down the beach at sunset, the tulle of her skirt skimming the shallow water, stomping in tide pools, twirling in sunflare.  That never happened either.  Then autumn approached and I pictured Giuliana as a woodland fairy gathering fallen leaves and picking apples.  You guessed it… never happened.

And so, the skirt collected dust atop a pile of props in our studio basement.  Every time anyone tried to pull a prop, the skirt fell down and consumed them in a maze of tulle.   Everyone began asking me, “Are you ever going to use that skirt?”

I was.  But when?

I had started thinking that perhaps I would wait for a snowy day and finally get the pictures of Giuliana in the skirt before she outgrew it.  I was waiting for the perfect winter day.  I needed fresh snow cover, but warm enough temperatures that my kids wouldn’t freeze or be miserable.

Coincidentally, this past Friday I started looking around for a favorite photograph I took of Giuliana in the snow a few years ago and found that the original is gone.  All I have is the watermarked version from Flickr.  Do you remember this one?

Still grieving the loss of my favorite snow photo, on Saturday morning I saw the forecast for the weekend and decided I would FINALLY use that skirt for once and for all!  While I was at it, I would recreate my old favorite portrait and include Grace in it as well.

Contrary to popular belief, Giuliana does not like modeling for me and no amount of bribery will change her mind.  When I tell her we are going to take pictures she gives me a giant “aaaawwwwwww  I don’t want to!” and proceeds to hide behind the nearest large object while sucking her finger.  She’s a typical four year old, only probably worse because she’s had a camera in her face her whole life and she’s a pretty shy kid.  I actually showed her the “Princess Skirt” that I bought thinking it would be her dress-up dream-come-true and she immediately whined, “Mom, I’m not wearing that!  It’s silly.  It’s too big.  I don’t want to do pictures.”
Given her aversion to having her picture taken, whenever I do a photo shoot with her, I have to turn it into something fun so she forgets she’s having her picture taken.  As I hurriedly shopped and plundered the studio for the shoot, the idea for a scavenger hunt came together.

Giuliana ended up having a ball running through the woods, trying to sound out the words scribbled on tiny slips of paper and finding each of the treasures I had hidden for her amidst the snow.  Sweet Indulgence was the icing on the cake, giving us some sweet little confections to scatter throughout our set.  G has never met a jellybean she doesn’t like!  We even brought Grace out at the very end for a quick snap to pull off the infamous bunny tea party, version 2.0.

It all came together even better than I could have planned.  Sometimes, things just happen that way.  Here is my Alice, in her winter wonderland.

“Lastly, she pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.”

- Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Seriously, how handsome is this little guy?  Those big brown eyes and sweet curls just kill me.  He was such a little flirt with the camera too.  O was a fast little guy, but I somehow managed to keep up as he explored the studio.  We had a fun session celebrating his first birthday last week.  Mom and dad wanted a sports theme for his cake smash so we made a sporty bunting to hang over our soft blue background.  Turns out that warm up suits are perfect for cake smashes because O’s kept him totally clean underneath!  Maybe our next outfit should be a poncho   Enjoy your sneak peek!

I had so much fun with this gorgeous baby girl and her mom last week.  The bond between them was so sweet and made for some portraits that make me teary-eyed!  A was such a happy girl.  She loved crawling and playing and was a natural in front of the camera.  We had an adorable Minnie Mouse cake smash to match the fabulous outfit mom had gotten for A.  From the tip of her hat to the bows on her bottom as she crawled away, A was the perfect first birthday princess!  Enjoy your sneak peek!