Tea Party

So is it wrong that I like so many photos of my niece and nephews?  I just couldn't pick! It was too much work.  So my sister and I decided to have sort of a vintage tea party with her kids.  I was trying to figure out a good spot when I saw my mom's overgrown lilac bushes and we hid the table inside there.  Emily loves posing in front of the camera, most of the poses are her own.  Ethan, who just turned 6, did a great job! Usually he makes goofy faces at me.  Emmett turned 1 about a month ago, isn't he just adorable in his little jacket with the flower in his pocket?! I love these kids, they are just so gosh darn cute!

Sarah and Levi Wedding

        

Sarah and Levi's Wedding was so sweet! They got married at New Covenant Christian Church, where I go, and it was the perfect ceremony.  They even had the dip and kiss at the end, so romantic! After the ceremony we had family photos and a big group photo with Bible Actors, an acting group they are both involved in and also where they met.  Then we went to Willow Park and walked through the woods to get some shots of them and the wedding party.  It turned out to be a perfect day! We were worried it was going to rain.  Then we went out to Eaton Rapids to Levi's family church for the reception.  The food was great! I wish I could remember the name of the caterer, I'm sure I have her card somewhere.  Dancing was definitely fun to watch! Sarah and her dad Steve were so cute dancing together, they were laughing a spinning all around the dance floor.  And Almost everyone ended up dancing on the dance floor.  They had a nice goodbye with a greeting of lots silly string and balloons overflowing in their car.

In Motion Dance Center Portraits

Karah Keller and I got to work with Lauren Martinich the owner at In Motion Dance Center in Lansing for the first time this year.  I've never done traditional dance portraits before so this was a pretty fun experience! We went in to the center 4 different days during the dance classes and got to take photos of all the cute little girls and a few boys in their awesome dance outfits! The dancers' ages ranged from about 5 to 18, so we had a good variety of kids.  We even got to see some of their dance rehearsal, it was so nice getting to know these kids and then see them perform! I wish I could've gone to the recital.

Sutton Family

I love the Sutton Family! They are always such a pleasure to photograph.  Up top I have little Ezra, he looks like he's modeling in the first one and the 2nd shot is special because the Suttons take a picture of him and his blanket every time he comes in for photos.  Just love the 2nd set of photos too! Mommy with daughter and daddy with his boys.  It's so sweet how Cynthia and Jesse still like to get cute couple shots of each other too!  The 3rd set is of Onna, she always takes the most precious photos!  She's can be such a character too!  I chose the more candid shots of the family because it really shows how they interact as a family, like the one with Judah squeezing Onna's cheeks! Too cute!

Christine and Kevin's Wedding

For Christine and Kevin's Wedding I got to go all the way over to Bohemia, NY.  Christine and Kevin's story is pretty sweet.  They met in Guatemala, where Kevin is from, and Christine is from New York.  When they got engaged they wanted to get married in New York, but Kevin needed a VISA to get there.  So after months and months of waiting for his VISA, they decided to just get married in Guatemala, and had small, sweet wedding ceremony.  But eventually Kevin got his VISA and so on the weekend of May 1st I got to come take their photos!  It was great, we had almost the whole day to take the photos.  I took Christine's "getting ready" photos then when went to this beautiful park and then the beach for them both.  I had waaay too much fun taking their photos that day.  Rarely do I get that much time with the couple for photos.  The next day they had a reception at their church where family members shared about them, Kevin sang a song to Christine that he had sung at their wedding ceremony in Guatemala.  It was so sweet and romantic!  Then of course they had dinner and family photos afterwards.  This was one of the most interesting weddings I've photographed, I'm so glad I could share my time with Christine and Kevin, they are such awesome friends!

Newborn Reese

Reese is only 9 days old in these photos.  And wow, was this a fun photo shoot! When the Norris family came over to the studio I thought they might be moving in for a bit, they brought about 3 boxes of props to put with Reese in the photos. Brilliant! I love when people bring their own props, it makes it so much more personal in the photos.  As you can see, the Norris family love shoes, so we have some photos of Reese with those.  And of course with the name Reese you have to have Reese's candies!  My other favorites were the classic feet shots, sweet mom and daddy looking at Reese, and the is a first for a baby in a tool box, pretty good idea I think.  Reese's daddy is a fireman so we got a shot with his coat on holding Reese, so precious!

Schafer Family

So there are just way to many great, potential photos at Fitzgerald Park! I think I was snapping my camera just about every step we took.  Rylie was so adorable, she was having such a fun time exploring. I made sure to try to include the duck in the river she was looking at from the bridge.  Daddy even took her on a couple climbing adventures on the ledges, she was having a ball.