Session Subjects: Acheson, Max the Bear and a very familiar looking dinosaur

I have to admit I was excited to work on Acheson’s session. I’ve seen his baby portrait and the heart melting reaction it has given the many other people who have seen it. I assumed though due to getting older the little boy that he is now would not look as angelic and sweet as the baby he once was. Boy was I wrong!
Acheson came in the studio with him mother, grandmother, and aunt looking cute as ever touting a stuffed animal bear I would come to know was his little friend Max. So we started the session hoping to catch lightening in a bottle twice, and trust me it didn’t take long for the same little boy to make the same sweet expression! A photograph of a boy and his bear is just one of those things that will never grow old.

After that we decide enough with the mushy and gushy. We were ready to have some fun! So we changed it up from sailor to a very big boy winter outfit that came with matching big boy attitude! This was followed by a few shots of a very familiar looking dinosaur. Oh wait, I mean Acheson in Dinosaur rain gear with matching dino galoshes. Check him out!

Innocently Wild

There aren’t very many things better than being able to capture a baby’s innocence in a portrait. Their sweet angelic faces staring into the camera, while they wear a perfect suit or dress, and an expression so fleeting that only the click of the camera can hang on to it, but what happens after that precious, sometimes miraculous, moment is gone? That’s where the real fun begins and brings the inspiration for our new line of kid’s photography!

We all love the formal portraits that instantly make Grandma and Grandpa melt at first glance! The only thing that brings the same warm and fuzzy feeling you get from that angelic face is capturing the same child wide-eyed, smiling and laughing in a portrait unlike any other! Let’s just think of it as how they are every other moment of the day. We knew two great kids who were perfect for helping us prove this crazy theory of ours, Lance and Caylee.


We started Lance’s session like any other. There was a pint-sized suit and tie that made little Lance look like a little man in the making. His sweet grins and “quiet-time” faces were perfect for the portrait, which will become a family heirloom as years go by. Then we decide it was time to ditch the suit, grab a golf inspired getup and let Lance show us what he was really made of! There was a lot of mooing, Lance’s favorite animal noise, loud laughs, and big smiles. We even caught us the fastest side-ways crawl I’ve ever witnessed! It was a blast!

Caylee’s session started the opposite of Lance’s, but we knew we had the right kid when request for jumping and silly dancing on the sofa was met with a referral from Mom on her daughter’s expertise in that particular area. Sassy and silly seemed to be right up Caylee’s alley! We finished our session with formal portraits of Caylee looking like Mommy’s little angel and Daddy’s little girl.

Both portraits serve the same purpose, and it is capturing moments that matter in their childhood before they get away. It’s easy for anyone to see the beauty in the child’s portrait hanging over the fireplace, but it’s the love that comes from being a family that truly makes it possible recognize the moment a giggle becomes a belly laugh.

Hollywood Lighting

Yeah, yeah, I know, the idea behind having a blog is that you go out there and write stuff. Well I’m finally back. I’ve been spending a lot of time on a new lighting technique using new lights and a new camera.

















I’m not an equipment freak, so contrary to the opinion of some of those close to me, I am not constantly out there buying the latest and greatest in new equipment. However, in this digital age, there are some kinds of photography that I really wanted to take to another level and my new camera has allowed me to do that. The new lighting is really fun. I have been interested in doing the old “Hollywood” lighting for a long time. These new lights really allow me let my clients “shine” – pun intended. It is so fun creating these dramatic looks yet they have a beautiful soft quality about them that I have always been fascinated with. Here are a couple examples that I hope you enjoy as much as I do. I plan on experimenting with these lights and two people in the image next.