Vail Holiday Card Sessions - Eagle Vail Golf Course - Ben

Fall photo shoots are done and dusted and it's time to move onto the next big season of the year - holiday cards.  

My standard sessions are an hour long to accommodate for outfit changes and several locations/backdrops.  But it you want a quick session for your holiday cards, I can always do mini sessions by request.

Ben's holiday card session was only 10 minutes long.  We walked out onto the Eagle Vail Golf Course, made some snowballs and had some fun in the snow.  My boys love Ben, so they were great photography assistants.  They stood behind me and helped with making snowballs and getting Ben to laugh.  

Here are a few of my faves.

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos. 

Vail Newborn Photos - Hale

Just like life on the farm, spring seems to be a busy time for babies of the human variety to make their way into the world.  I've got two newborn sessions this week, so I figured I better post the photos from my last newborn session with sweet Baby Hale.

Newborn sessions require more time and planning than any other type of photo shoot.  To give you an idea, the amount of items that I take with me will easily fill up the trunk and backseat of my car.  They include blankets, backdrops, backdrop stands, clamps, studio lights, light stands, props, bean bags, accessories, a heater and a heating pad - not to mention my camera equipment!

Thankfully, Hale was a dream and cruised right through his session.  Out of all of the equipment, the heating pad that I use to warm up the blankets is probably the most essential in making sure that the baby will relax.  Hale definitely approved of it.

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos.

Vail Family Photos - Brodie Family

Sometimes I'll get a request for a mini session.  Most photographers will offer mini session specials throughout the year.  This year I haven't had the opportunity to run one, but I've done a few by request.  When Jill contacted me to do a half hour session in East Vail, I was happy to oblige.  

They were staying at The Vail Racquet Club, right beside the Gore Creek.  The views in East Vail are some of the most dramatic in the valley, with steep mountain grades, several waterfalls and hiking trails.  Even though we only shot for 30 minutes, we were able to use about 10 different backgrounds because all of the features were in such close proximity.

Here are a few of my favorites from their session.

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos

Vail Family Photos - Treichel Family

I like it when clients come to me with a particular style of photography that they're looking for.  When Alma contacted me to take photos of her family, she sent me examples of a previous photo session they'd done in Chicago.  There style was much more candid, which is always a great way to capture children.

 Originally we were going to shoot on Vail Mountain, but the area we wanted to use was under construction and quite literally, covered in red tape.  The location on Vail Mountain had the most amazing view of the Gore Range.  To make up for it, we did 45 minutes of our session in East Vail along the bike trail and then headed to a spot on the Vail Golf Course to get the best view of the Gore Range from the valley floor.  Check out our their gorgeous french bulldog.  She completely stole the show!

Visit the website to see more Vail Family Photos

Vail Photographer - Playing catch up!

I'm getting ready to shut up shop for a month and I realize that I've fallen far behind on my blog posts.  Before I set off to the other side of the world, I thought I better get going and play catch up before I get too far behind!  

I'm going to start with a few of my favorite photos from the end of last year, along with a little bit about each photo.  These were previously posted on my Facebook page, but in the hustle and bustle of Christmas, they just didn't make it to the blog.  So, without further adieu,  here we go...

Family Photo session at the base of Beaver Creek, along the river. A small spot of shade on a gorgeous sunny day.

A photo taken in my driveway at the request of my mum, as a gift to my in-laws. I'm quite partial to these 2! 

The Beaver Creek gazebo. It's hard to tell, but this was quite a rainy day.

Christmas card session in Beaver Creek (note the ski runs in the background). These sweaters are being worn by the second generation in their family. Super cute and great colors with the leaves.

I love this shot! Sunset over the Gore Range during an engagement session on Vail Mountain. So happy to be doing my 3rd shoot with these two next year at their wedding!

Graduation party for this absolute legend! How on earth did she have 2 children while studying to become a Vet?! I'm happy to say that this Wonder Woman is also one of my nearest and dearest and we're so proud of her. Also happy to report that 6 of these 9 faces now reside in the same county as me. Hooray!

Family fall shoot in East Vail. We had to walk about 15 mins to get to this spot at the end of leaf season and it was definitely worth it. Loved all of the autumnal colors

This shot was taken beside the Eagle Community Garden in early winter. I've seen a a big increase in shooting 3 or more generations of family together this year. It can be so hard to get everyone together that it makes it worth while to capture.

For more, go to www.whitestarfish.com

Vail Newborn Photographer - Baby Lola

I'm trying to start 2015 with a clean slate, so it's going to be a December blitz of blog posts for the next couple of weeks, as I try to finish posting photos from some of my favorite sessions this year.  We'll start with Little Miss Lola.  I had just bought a handful of new backdrops from Bubblegum Backdrops and Lola was kind enough to help me test them out.  Being that I live in a houseful of boys, I always love a good girly fix when I can get one.  Didn't she do a great job?!

Click here to see more Vail Newborn Photos.

Newborn Photos in Edwards, Colorado - Nicholas

Have you ever wondered how newborn photographers are able to get babies to relax for their photos?  I usually have an arsenal of tricks up my sleeve, but every now and again, I have to get creative.  Nicholas hadn't been particularly happy when we started our photo shoot.  He loved having snuggles with his Mama, but every time we put him down for photos, he'd cry.  As many of us mothers know, babies will definitely pick up on your smell, so we figured it might be easier to bring Dad on board to help out.  Luckily, the concept worked, but he still wanted to be held.  The easy fix was to just take the photos while he was being held!  Here are a few  behind the scenes photos and the resulting photos.  As you can see, we were able to get Nicholas to relax afterwards, and we ended up getting some great shots!

Snuggling up with Dad to get relaxed shot.

The resulting photo.

Another method we tried...

and the resulting photo

Posing with his Dad's uniform

For more, go to the Vail Newborn Photos Collection.

Vail Family Photographer - Maxwell and Harrison in Vail, Colorado

I've officially reached 100 blog posts! As a way of saying thank you to all of my wonderful clients that have let me share their stories, I thought I would put myself in their shoes and share some photos of my little guys.

I don't often get a chance to capture Maxwell and Harrison, but I had some backdrops and props set up from a recent shoot, so I left them up and got the boys in front of them.  This is the style of portrait photography that I like the most.  Simple outfits, clean backdrops, a few props, natural light and minimal photo shop.  The poses aren't perfect because I was hoping to get something more candid.  I figure that Maxwell's funny faces (and his crazy bowl cut) will be things that will make me smile more when I look back on these in years to come.

Thank you to everyone that has been so generous in letting me share their photos.  Maybe I'll post some more of the boys once I hit 200 posts!

To see more head to the Vail Children's Photography Collection

Vail Newborn Photographer - Parker's First Photo Session

The best thing about being pregnant at the same time as your friends is being able to share the good times and the bizarre times that come with pregnancy. Kim and I are lucky enough to have gone through not 1, but 2 pregnancies at the same time, so I was super excited when Parker Hood made his entrance into the world. 

We were able to shoot at Kim's house and we had 3 new vinyl backdrops to work with.  I fell in love with these backdrops instantly and promptly went online to Etsy and bought 5 more. 

Big sister Emma made a few cameos and gave us some gorgeous photos during the session too. 

To see more, go to The Vail Newborn Photos Collection.