Kiddos

Mon - March 17, 2008

Lunch with a really cute guy.

A couple of days ago, I had lunch with a VERY cute guy....

.....my main man, Jackson James! Isn't he a cutie? My wonderful friend Jessica came out to visit a few days ago, and had her little man in tow -- I can't believe how big he's getting. Before they arrived, I went through the whole house and put away everything that might be dangerous or tempting for a little guy -- I was so proud of my excellent baby proofing! And about 5 minutes after he got there, he grabbed a big lamp in the living room and almost knocked himself out with it. Sigh. It appears that my baby proofing skills need some serious improvement..... :)

This was the safest place for him....strapped in to highchair jail. He doesn't look very amused:

And here he is, snacking on my logo for dessert....mmm, tasty!

Posted at 01:13 PM

Mon - February 4, 2008

Annie.

Yesterday morning I did a little impromptu photo shoot with miss Annie, who was in town visiting for the weekend. It was really icy out, and kind of chilly so we didn't stay out too long, but we did find some great old round bales to play hide n' seek in and Annie was kind enough to whip up a big pretend pizza for me in her pretend outdoor kitchen. Not a bad way to spend a winter Sunday morning....

She's got hands down one of THE best pouty faces I have ever seen, and she's not afraid to use it.

Annie came up with this pose (oh yes...including that perfectly angled hat) all on her own -- she's kind of a mini rockstar.

Bacchus was more into finding mice than he was in finding Annie, but.....he's a dog, so I suppose that's okay.

To the triple A's: Thanks guys -- it was a fun little shoot! Hope you had a very safe and not-so-slippery trip home. :)

Posted at 11:12 AM

Mon - January 28, 2008

the littler, cuter ones.

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been so quiet lately -- we've been busy frantically finishing up all of our albums from our 2007 couples before the 2008 season gets underway. And on top of that, we're cooking up some big new projects here that I can't wait to show you! And though I can't tell you about the projects just yet, I can tell you that a few things will look verrrry different around here in the near future.

Of course, I'll keep entertaining you with fun, unique images while you wait....starting with my favorite kiddos in the whole world. Meet the shorter, cuter side of my family -- my nieces and nephews:

From left to right they are.....Charlie, Isabel, Alex, Julia, and Hayden (leading the pack). Oddly enough, that's their order by age as well..... And speaking of age, today also happens to be Miss Isabel's birthday! Happy birthday Isabelly! (No birthday would be complete without a photo spread, of course....)

I hope your Hannah Montana party was a blast, sunshine!

So if you've been reading our backlog of posts, you know that my whole family rented a house down on the beach in North Carolina this Christmas -- 13 people in one house, and 5 of them were the kiddos. We spent the week riding bikes, playing tennis, hunting for shark teeth, relaxing in the hot tub, and watching High School Musical 2 repeatedly. I made a concerted effort to actually "vacation" on this vacation, so I didn't take too many photos, but I did grab a few one afternoon on the beach....

I still remember the first time I saw Charlie -- he was just a tiny wrinkled little bundle in a car seat. Now he's tall, lanky, says hilarious things, and beats me at card games. Man, that happened fast.....

I love the feet in this one....

See? I told you they were cute. Please take a second and leave a birthday comment for Isabel below! (To leave a comment, just click on "Check out all of this love!" -- you can read what everyone else had to say while you're there!)

Posted at 08:10 AM

Fri - November 30, 2007

Alivia & Angela . the kiddo shoot

I'm a big believer that one of the greatest things about being a photographer is that I get to see the "amazing" in ordinary moments. My favorite are the everyday moments ....the ones that are special for all of their....unspecialness, you know? I try to shoot pretty much all of my portrait sessions this way....as low key as possible and without a whole lot of fuss and posing. Maybe I've just been lucky, but what I've found so far is this: it works. And -- it's fun! A few weeks ago, I met up with one of my awesome friends from Penn State, Val. Several months ago, Val told me she was coming to Philadelphia for the weekend to visit her family and asked if she could hire me to shoot some portraits. Of course, I was in immediately! She and her husband Josh have two of the cutest, sweetest, funniest girls on earth. Seriously. They are both so open and warm, and it was a blast spending time with them. Plus, they've got some excellent "funny faces" AND killer ballet skills. What's better than that? :)

So we met up in Manayunk and didn't have any plans except to wander around and see what we could find! We took a walk over to Pretzel Park to check out the awesome playground there. If you live in the area and you haven't been there yet, you've got to go! It is the hippest playground around. It's filled with all kinds of snazzy, ultra mod toys to play on... And the best part is -- if you happen to take a spill during your adventures, you land on a huge bouncy outdoor floor that covers the ground beneath the entire playground! We had so much fun jumping around and exploring.... But for the girls, it was just an ordinary day. Swinging higher than birds fly, chasing squirrels, doing pirouettes in the park, and zooming up and down the twisty pretzel poles. Check out their slideshow!

Posted at 10:19 PM

Sun - October 28, 2007

the "w" girls: portraits

More portraits from Massachusetts....this time it's the "W" girls! They were so sweet and cute, and had the best fancy pink dresses! I couldn't resist all of the great colors we found, so I didn't create too many black & whites in this group. Enjoy!!

Posted at 10:28 PM

Fri - October 26, 2007

the "b" boys: portraits

I just arrived in North Carolina last night to shoot some portraits and spend some much needed time with family -- it's been the craziest month! I realized last week that I've only actually been in the studio for about 2 days in all of October -- but I've been having a blast out on the road shooting weddings & portraits. While I was out in Massachusetts I did 8 portrait sessions (eight!!), so I'm going to try to get a quick blog in from each one....and this is the first!

I took some portraits of Andrew, Zach, and Alex last year, and it was so much fun to see how they've grown since then! Here are a few favorites:

Posted at 12:45 PM

Tue - October 2, 2007

It's portrait time!

Just a quick note to let you know that portrait season is in full swing! This month I'll be shooting in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Maryland, and of course, PA, and we're rapidly approaching our booking limit for this month already. If you're interested in scheduling a session, now is the time to contact us to set up your date! We're just finishing up the final touches on this year's custom holiday card designs and they are so unique and fun. I can't wait to show you all! I should have a sample to post in a few days, along with my upcoming travel schedule.

In the meantime, here are a few kiddo pics from last year's "never posted" archives. Looking through these old shots was so much fun....I can't believe how many images I just never get around to posting!

Posted at 12:10 PM

Sun - July 1, 2007

Jackson J: cutie pie extraodinaire.

A few weeks ago, my very awesome friend Jessica came out to visit (and help me celebrate my 30th birthday! Ack!) ...And she brought her little man along with her! :) He's six months old already, and I couldn't resist a few shots....J. is a total cutiepatootie!!

Check out his sweet chubbles.

And one last shot with his favorite pal, T.Rexie. oh yeah, and some crazy pink elephant that came along for the ride. :)

Posted at 09:59 AM

Fri - May 11, 2007

When I was a kid.....

Okay, so I'm actually going to use that expression every grandpa uses to remind us just how good we have it. You know.....like, "When I was a kid, we didn't have backpacks with little rolly wheels. We had to tie our books up with belts and haul 'em around ourselves!" Or maybe you're familiar with this one...."When I was a kid, we didn't have SUV's. We had to walk five miles to school every day. Uphill! In the snow! Without socks! And we had to eat berries 'cuz Twinkies hadn't been invented yet!"

So here goes.... This is mine: "When I was a kid, we didn't have amazing artists from England with neat-o accents to do crazy fun art projects with us! We had to make our own fun with boring old wooden blocks and string and paper cups....and we had to take naps!" Actually, I didn't really go to daycare, but still....I don't think they were doing great projects like this back then. :) Anyway, the other day I got to see this incredible project in action. The local arts council puts on some really important programs geared toward early education here and all around Pennsylvania. As part of this effort they recently flew over several artists from England. The artists traveled around to the local Headstart centers, doing all kinds of fun art projects with the kids. And I was the lucky girl who got to capture it all!

For two very hilarious, messy, silly days I wandered around with my camera. It was a very welcoming atmosphere!

They had these great colorful pieces of materials to play with. Strips of old, cut up shopping bags and nylon material, and they made all kinds of cool things with it. I think this one was a kite, but alas....without any wind....

Then, we went on to the next station, where we learned all about Norman, the caterpillar, and what he ate.

The mini-artists got to make their own baby caterpillars, complete with a leafy little home!

This little guy had a blue caterpillar. I didn't want to say anything, but his caterpillar looked an awful lot like a blue pipe cleaner.

Some of the kiddos named their baby caterpillars. This little man was trying very hard to remember his caterpillar's name for me. Remembering can be very tough! Turns out, (would you believe it??!) his caterpillar had the same name as him!

What a coincidence! :)

Then.....they decided they should BE a caterpillar! Moving 17 left (then right!) legs all at the same time is not as easy as it looks.

I just loved this guy's name.... Titus! Like a mini Greek warrior. :)

Soooo many mischievous faces!

Last shot of the day! After I saw all of these bottles of glue I decided it was time to put the camera away. :)

Posted at 01:36 AM

Thu - March 29, 2007

Spring is here!

I'm back! I've been busy helping out with the design for our new website and battling a spring cold that had me out of commission for the last few weeks, so I've been MIA from blogging, but not to worry, I've got lots of new stuff to show you! Also, I finally made it home to PA again after being stuck out in North Carolina for several days with all of the snow and airport closings up north. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty great having a few extra days to spend with my sister and the kiddos in warmer temperatures! But with wedding season right around the corner, it also feels great to be back and to start gearing up for some amazing weddings this summer! I came home with some awesome new ideas for shots and I can't wait to put them to use....

Speaking of which, my calendar is booking up rapidly, so to all of my '07 couples who booked an engagement session, if you haven't scheduled your session date yet, it's time to get out your calendars and give me a call!

In the meantime, I have a bunch of upcoming shoots this spring that I'm really excited about, including a ton of awesome boudoir sessions! Ladies, for those of you who haven't heard of them, boudoir sessions are kind of like a spa day for your self-esteem. And who doesn't need that? :) You get to pull out all of your slinky little numbers and vamp it up like a Victoria's Secret model for the day -- and it's a blast! My brides love 'em -- the album included makes an unbelievable little surprise gift for their groom as he's getting ready on the big day. But you don't have to be on your way to the altar to do a boudoir shoot -- I've also had clients who just lost a bit of weight and want to treat themselves and celebrate all of that hard work, and others who wanted to surprise their husbands (or boyfriends) with a very different birthday gift. :) (Boudoir sessions start at $395 and include a small custom coffee table album -- contact us for more info and details on booking a session.)

Anyway, with spring finally coming to life out here and all of the warmer sunny days we've had lately, I'm getting all excited for summer so I thought I should post these last few shots from the beach in North Carolina. Here's Miss Alex sporting her fabulous blue sunglasses:

Alex and mom taking a stroll in the sunshine.....

Charlie and his buddy Montgomery had a water gun fight one afternoon....lucky for me and my camera, their guns weren't loaded. :)

Here's 'Gomery's little brother, Camden. If only we all looked this cute with chocolate on our faces!

p.s. We're gearing up for launching our brand spankin' new website sometime next week if all goes well -- so keep an eye out! It's going to be AWESOME!!

Posted at 03:48 PM

Mon - March 12, 2007

Jacob & Jessica's Portrait Shoot

On Sunday night, I had the pleasure of taking some candid portraits for one of my favorite families out here in North Carolina! I've only had time to edit a few favorites right now, but I thought I'd post a quick preview. Their family has grown a little bit bigger since the last time I took their photos -- this time I was able to get some shots of their newest addition -- six month old Jessica! She's a total cutie:

The lovely ladies hangin' out on the porch:

Jessica's older brother Jake did a great job holding her for a few kiddo shots (mom didn't know that she was in this shot....check out that proud smile!)

And one last shot of a little bubble gun fun!

After the shoot, Jake & Jessica's dad (Mr. Mike!) made an awesome dinner for us, complete with the best homemade spaghetti sauce -- he's an incredible cook! Thanks guys, it was such a treat to hang out with you again!

Posted at 01:49 PM

Sun - March 11, 2007

It's all about the goggles.

Okay, so I've completely lost track of the days, I'm all confused about what time it is, and I think we've finished every carton of ice cream in the house......but, I did manage to grab the most hilarious shot of the week this weekend!

Every time we look at this shot, all three of us crack up! Anyway, we've been super busy running around, playing outside, and just being silly, so we only grabbed a few shots this weekend, but they're pretty priceless....

What's better than a shampoo mohawk?

The end!

Tonight I shot some fun, casual portraits for another family out here, so I'll try to post some of those tomorrow!

Posted at 01:04 AM

Thu - March 8, 2007

Playin' outside

Day 2 with the kiddos was filled with football, chestnut eyes, & elf hats:

The first activity on our list of things to do after school was playing football! Charlie's very good. Me -- not so much. :)

I found what I thought was a cool pink hat in Alex's bike basket. It did make a great little elf hat for about 3 minutes (especially with the addition of chestnut eyeballs) until Charlie pointed out that it was actually a marker pouch. Oh well.

This is what happens when you try to take closeups of two kiddos at once......always! They start out a good distance away, but by the time I've put my camera up to my eye and composed the shot (which takes maybe 4 seconds) they've somehow creeped up to about two inches from my lens and this is what I get:

Then I got hit with a double dose of "disease". It's a game I invented when I was little and used to torture my sisters and parents with, and which we later taught to the kiddos, who now torture me with it.... Oh the irony. It's a great game when you're the disease, and it's really easy to play. You just sit right down on someone's foot, wrap yourself around their leg and hang on tight no matter how hard they try to shake you. It's not so great when you're the "diseased", and have to walk around with two kiddos attached to your feet. :) Lucky for me, after a while my diseases just kind of fell off and went to play with some other toys.

Quote of the day:
"Hey, Auntie Tania! Gimme all your money!" (At first, I thought I was victim to a kindergarten holdup... Turned out it was just a little cutie trying to clean up the Princess monopoly game.)

Posted at 09:30 AM

Wed - March 7, 2007

The "Evil Raven" painting

This week I'm blogging from lovely coastal North Carolina! I'm out here to shoot some photos and to hang out with my niece and nephew while my sister and brother-in-law are skiing in the Alps.... Lucky them! :) So anyway, I thought it would be fun to do daily blog updates, since we're going to be up to all kinds of silly activities and adventures! Here are a few shots from our first day.....

This is Alexandria, my niece. She's 5! She was the lone star of the show yesterday since we didn't have time to catch any photos of her brother due to birthday party and gymnastics busy-ness....However, we did have time to plan out a TOTALLY great shoot idea for him this weekend, so make sure you check back for that one!

Anyway, yesterday Alex decided to do a little painting:

She drew a very nice pink line down the middle of the paper so we each had a side to paint on. Alex painted a beautiful picture of herself with very long yellow legs, and some clouds and multi-colored rain around her. I painted a picture of their dog, Raven, but it didn't go over well. Alex dubbed it the "Evil Raven" painting. After further examination, I think I agree. :)

Alex and our art:

One of the best parts of the day is all the crazy things these two say. I think I need a notebook to collect them all. Here are a few of my favorites from today:

Alex: "Auntie Tania, how old are you? 38 or something?"
Me: "38???!! Do I look 38?"
Alex: "No..... I guess you must be 6."

Upon seeing their friend Montgomery at the bus stop, who just turned 6 yesterday: "Hey! There's Gomery. He's six. Huh....I guess he doesn't look older yet."

Posted at 09:07 AM

Wed - October 11, 2006

Nicholas, Matthew, & Curtis:: Family portraits in MA

While I was out in Massachusetts I did a portrait shot for another awesome family at a great little state park/hiking area. We had been trying to schedule this shoot for months and I was so glad we were all finally able to match up our schedules and head out for some photos!

We had a warm, sunny afternoon with some beautiful late day light. Of course, all of that was just icing on the cake since the whole family is gorgeous!

Here's the crew: Nicholas, Matthew, Julie, Curtis, and Todd.

Dad and the boys:

Nicholas and Matty were having a great time running around, jumping off of things, and just being boys out in the woods....

I loved that they brought along their butterfly nets....and that mom ended up carrying them most of the way....

Could these two be any cuter? I hopped out an a ledge hanging over a pond to get this shot and I'm so glad I did...it was worth almost taking a swim for it!