On location in the western burbs...

A few weeks ago Debi called me to say "...the boys were at a baseball game all day today celebrating Camron's birthday, so can we play our session time by ear in the morning?"

I'm a mom, I totally get it. We let the boys sleep in and I met them for our session at a neighborhood playground.

We planned a contemporary photo session capturing who the boys are right now, at this point in their life. And can I just say--What a blast!! It took only a few shots to get them out of 'cheese' mode, but after that they just played and explored like brothers should. They had so much fun running on the hill and playing on the equipment that they sometimes forgot that I was even watching.

Oh yeah, and right now Debi is trying to decide on which wall layout she likes best. Tell her what you think on my facebook fan page!!

Happy New Year!!

Time to celebrate and start anew! So as you can guess, I didn't get very far with posting on Christmas Eve. We got started with family time and just kept on going throughout the break.
I hope you had a wonderful time with those you love and are looking forward to 2009 as much as I am.
I am determined to continue to develop the online presence of LVP this year starting with more blogs, updating the web photos and starting a new Facebook fan club the end of this week!! So check back often!
So where does that leave us...Catching up on previous work I suppose.

And what a better place to start than with this singing and dancing free spirit! I've known this little ones mom for over 20 years-yikes! When we started this session we were fighting the rain and ended up having to re-start later in the afternoon. It was worth the wait, we saw all of her personality come out and play. In the end we also created a storybook and a mini-album which are just adorable.






Thanks Meg for a fun play day with Kelsey, she is a wonderfully exciting young girl! I had a great time!!

True Fall

I told her mom today that although it seems like I should have, I've never done a true fall session. You know the kind with leaves and all the cliches that go along with that. But when we said we were going to hang close to home and just see what we could come up with, it all 'fell' into place. This too is part of a card, so a bit of a sneak peek here. Oh, and she totally went and grabbed the rake on her own-honest! I think that is what made this all so genuinely sweet.
OH, next post...let's talk about that coat!!

Jeans & Hoodies

This shoot was so much fun! This year mom decided to go casual and let the kids show of their vacation hoodies and we just let them giggle and play (you may remember their gorgeous red velvet dresses & sweaters last year) (it is part of her Christmas card, so only a sneak peek here).


I love his laid back stance, he just looks like one of the guys in this.Don't you just love this? We grabbed the bench that is in their foyer for this one and I just let her do what felt fun. And I love her new glasses--such the big Sis'!
Ah, and a private moment to play in the mulch. I think we can all learn something from this one. Funny how it is usually the simplest things that make us the happy.

Nicole you're the best, thanks for another chance to play with your kids!!

i scream, you scream!

The day before school started I took my kids to my favorite ice cream shop when I was growing up--it's tradition (but the butter pecan for dinner isn't always the case (sometimes it's strawberry!))
Anyway, when we were there I thought what a great place for a shoot and this little one's mama thought so too. With the blessing of the owner, we shot inside and out and had a blast.


I loved this one. And did you notice the cone is just the right size!

I don't know what I love more, the eyes or those curls!
Check out the shoes-I've got another shot of those that I'm saving for the photo album we're doing.


Perfect cooperation with the light here-yay
Watch of more from this session. Like I said, I'm creating an album of her for mom and I can't wait to get started with the designs.

'Nothing says Christmas like a Tank!'

So it wasn't in the plan to do the boys annual Christmas card shot while sitting on a Tank, it just worked out that way. The past few years we've done some fun things with these guys from finding a new favorite barn (see previous post) to hanging out in an alley last year. This time we took a chance on somewhere neither of us had been and we couldn't pass up what we found.

Ok, so these may not make the short list for the cards but I thought they were a fun Sneak Peek---you'll have to wait until after their cards are out to see the rest!
Time to burn off some energy. Check out the giggle on little bro'.
So this is the shot you get when a 7 year old boy discovers the 'authentic' mermaid sculpture in the pond.

Twice as Nice

When I first got the call for a session with 1 year old twins, I was smiling on the outside and my stomach was doing somersaults on the inside! I just had visions of them running off in complete opposite directions. Yeah, there was a little bit of that, but I had too much fun playing with them and trying to keep track of who was who! In the end it all worked out great.
( Also, it is amazing how they already each have their own personality--you'll see...)

the daredevil...Can you guess what happened next?

and the model--she loved the camera!

And the chair is still an attention getter. We were actually able to capture some quiet family time. Can't you just hear her saying "I love you guys!"

Some one on one time is always nice too.

Look how I've grown

It was so nice to be asked to celebrate the 1st birthday of this little one. I was there at the beginning for her newborn picture and announcement and now just look at her.

And talk about getting lucky on location...as of that morning we were still not sold on the final spot for the session. I arrived early near the house and I saw this adorable shop that kept their flowers out overnight. We couldn't have planned it any better. She was so inquisitive and full of wonder, it was perfect!
Note the personal touch we added:

We brought the sunflower from home, I promise!

And here she is only one year ago...

Birthday Time-Part One

These two were a blast to work with! They just turned 3 and 1 and were such a fun pair to play with.
It was a gray cloudy day but we still managed to have a blast inside and outside.







I also was able to try out the new chair that I found and what a time they had with that