Jacob Turns One!

Jacob turned one last week & most of the neighborhood came to his birthday party! We tried for one photo with his whole family including two cats and a dog, and this is the best we could get! But Jacob himself is pretty good at smiling at the camera! Especially with some helpers behind me! Thanks Cait & Heather!

View Jacob's Birthday Slideshow Here!

Happy Birthday Jacob!











"Thanks for helping me celebrate my party," says Jacob (if he could say more than mama, dada, dog, cat, etc.!)

Amazing what $5 can buy at a 9 year old birthday party! VOTE for your favorite photo!

Yes, I did it - I bribed the kids at my son, Tyler's, 9th birthday party yesterday with a $5 reward. Sorry parents, I know it's not a good habit, and they frown on it in the parenting books........but it WORKED! In a BIG way!

As the party started they were all acting wild and making faces for the camera! I got a lot of bad photos, and then my son climbed under the table to hide from the camera and the whole party seemed to be trying to join him in mutiny!

So I quickly remembered another photographer's trick of paying her teenager nephew to smile for the photos at a family Bar Mitzvah. So I offered a $5 reward for the best photos and BOY did I get the smiles and the charm after that!

And I said it would be the "people's vote" to chose between the 8 photos below! So vote and have your friends, your grandma, your aunt, anyone you want to vote on their favorite! All is fair in birthday party bribes and the last day to vote is the first day of school August 25th! One vote per person please! And we cannot accept anonymous votes.

You can view the whole BIRTHDAY PARTY SLIDESHOW here.


Photo #1 - Tyler the Birthday Boy!


Photo #2 - Brian



Photo #3 - Weston



Photo #4 - Sam



Photo #5 - Tio



Photo #6 - Wade




Photo #7 - Heather



Photo #8 - Marley



I also had to share the BEFORE photos of what I was getting BEFORE the reward system was implemented. AND, I even used it as leverage to behave at the bowling party and said if I had to discipline any of the boys at the bowling alley, they would not be eligible for the $5 reward. (Only one unnamed boy has been disqualified)








And I really have to thank fellow photographer Julie Ph, a fellow Pictage photographer for the suggestion!

And Baby Makes Four!

The Laverdiere family came into the studio for family portraits last week and I really enjoyed photographing them. The photos of mom, Dana, and her newborn son just make me cry. Those moments with a newborn baby are so precious! And as you can tell, baby is showered with love!

The whole SLIDESHOW can be viewed here.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Ben turned one today and boy did he have fun! His mom invited 9 of his buddies over (mostly from a mom's group) and they went for it! I love these kind of children's birthday parties! So much action! And it was great that all the mess was contained OUTDOORS!

You can view the whole SLIDESHOW HERE!

Happy Birthday Ben!













Ben's Grandpa was such a sport when I asked him if he would pose for this last photo! He didn't know until after the photo that the hat said "I am One" and then he laughed and said, "Actually I'm closer to One Hundred!"

Sam and Kate are One Year Old!

I've been photographing Sam and Kate for the last year and can't get enough of them! This shoot was really long because Sam was unhappy most of the first hour, but then he just blossomed and I couldn't stop taking photos!

But I can see that they are getting much more mobile and interested in the world around them and are going to get more difficult to photograph as they start walking! Look out Mom and Dad!

The full SLIDESHOW is here.

And you can see some of their earlier portraits this year by CLICKING HERE!