(i LOVE how quintessentially “boy” this is.)

i’m only going to include a few teaser spreads, though we did do the entire alphabet. i just ordered the books for these, and i’m SO excited to see them. wouldn’t it be fantastic as a kid to learn your letters with pictures of yourself holding things that are important to your life?

if you’re interested in an alphabook session for your own little one…or know someone who might be, get in touch!  it was lots of fun to do, and it produces a keepsake that j’s own kids are going to enjoy, i’m sure!  (if he doesn’t go all tasmanian devil 2 year old on it and rip it or crayon it…  :-D)

we met up this past sunday at fort williams in cape elizabeth…one of my favorite places to shoot.  there’s so much variety…you could shoot 4 sessions there in one day and have a different look for each one.

we started off at the lighthouse…bc…it’s maine, and you kind of HAVE to.  but it was CRAZY windy, and after getting the obligatory family-in-front-of-the-lighthouse picture…we moved to another part of the park full of sunlight and no wind.

this is sydney.  we bonded later.  she was my little monkey…mammy came along for child wrangling, and at one point, sydney asked to get down, and then walked over to me and put her arms up.  i happily obliged.  :-D

SUCH a beautiful family…

know how i got that smile out of these two?  i told them dora was inside my lens.  they TOTALLY bought it…kendall-on the right-kept saying, “i see DOWA!”  it was ridiculously adorable.  and VERY effective.

i love the interaction in this one.  i know the highest goal of a family photo shoot is to get a picture of everyone looking at the camera and smiling, but i think these moments of family interaction are just as important…capturing that family dynamic…freezing that moment of time…will evoke more memories down the road than the perfect fridge photo.  :-D

when 2 year olds decide to be unruly and rambunctious…make lemonade. i love this!

daddy with sydney (on the left) and kendall (on the right).

and of course, we had to take a few of just jennilee and troy.  because they’re still jennilee and troy, even if they’ve also become mommy and daddy.

we might or might not have trespassed in order to get inside this old building…totally worth it…you know…if we did.

thanks for coming to hang out with me, guys…i had a great time!

i was blown away by the creativity of this baby’s mom. i immediately posted it on facebook, proclaiming, “next person who asks for a baby session…we’re doin’ THIS!” my friend liz immediately responded, “ooh ooh, pick me!”  she’d been planning on having me do a 6 month session for her little girl (internet nickname:  chuck) anyway, so this was a PERFECT opportunity for both of us to exercise our creative juices.

liz made all of the costumes and provided many of the set elements.  i laid out the sets and provided other colors/textures…and the goat!  tell me in the comments which stories you think chuck is “acting out” for us.

(this one’s my favorite!)

can’t get enough of chuck in that wig? i couldn’t either! she looks just like a real life cabbage patch, doesn’t she?! and those EYES!

liz is seriously impressive with the whole wig-making, costume compiling thing, huh?

if you’re interested in a make-believe session like this for your little one, please send me an email!

we started off with older sister lou-lou…giving her a little one on one concentrated attention now that there’s a new addition to her family.
cute as a bug, huh?

the thing that makes me love love love this one is how it shows the layers of family.

i think this one is my VERY VERY favorite from the session.

i really wanted to make sure this session was about the entire family and this time in their lives where they’re changing and welcoming and making room for a new addition.

and last, but certainly not least…welcome to the world, baby tommy.

We headed to the historical downtown area for our mini-shoot.

first we have Bek-the-sister being adorable…

but josh & neffypoo wouldn’t be outdone.

And of course, I had to take the opportunity to get a few cute shots of just the happy parents.

Isn’t her headband CUTE? It’s her early Christmas present…and, uh, I definitely have the same one in my etsy cart right now.

My family is awesome…you want proof? My sister is going to make me an almond pound cake tomorrow, JUST BECAUSE she knows how much I love almond flavored desserts.

last weekend i went up to the maritimes to photograph the amazing and wonderful sean & sarah.  perhaps you remember amanda & matt?  well, amanda’s maid of honor was sarah.  i stayed in touch with her and her boyfriend zach through facebook (wooo, facebook!)  zach works with sean…who happened to be engaged to a different sarah.  zach sent me a message asking if i was available 10/10…and the rest is history.

i’ve got a LOT of favorites from this wedding.  so, please bear with me. 

i started the day off with sean, and his brother/best man sandy.

i know. sandy SHOULD be a male model. i already told him so.

sean really wanted a picture of the two of them…in wellies, of course…down in this boggy marsh area. of course i said, “sure! let’s go for it!”

when you’re in the middle of rural nova scotia…you can walk up the middle of the road, and it’s no big deal.

then we headed back to the family farm (where the wedding was taking place) for one of my favorite parts of the day: the first time the groom sees his bride. when i was going through the images, i had to keep every single one from the series. i don’t know if i’ve ever seen a more emotional first look.

the moms and sarah’s sister and friends looked on. i don’t think any of them had dry eyes!

next up was bride & groom portrait time. my other favorite part of the day! (shut up. i have a lot of favorites.)

(yes, this does look beautiful and romantic…but it was also sort of practical. it POURED the day before the wedding and drizzled off and on the day of, so sean was protecting poor sarah’s dress. very gallant, no?)

we headed over to sarah’s family’s cottage…they lived in halifax, but the essence of their family resides at this cottage. her dad was there, so i made him turn around before he could look at her.

then sarah got carried around the yard for some more photo ops. in keeping with his forebears, sean scrapped the romantic threshhold carry and went for the village raiding method.

sarah doesn’t look like she minds much, does she?

sean works for the canadian version of REI…most of his friends are of the intrepid, wilderness-junkie types. there was a whole village of TENT-CAMPERS. in the muddy, wet, wet, wet fields. and yet, they look so happy! amazing.

k-ris and megan–you guys are my heroes.

the fam has a vintage, mint jag that was slotted for the getaway vehicle. and sarah looks totally fierce, right?

continuing in the transportation theme…i actually flagged sean down as he was whizzing around the property on this old scooter…photo op time!

sean’s dad showed up in military bagpiper regalia…which, of course, was AWESOME.

i thought this image of sean’s mom, carol, perfectly encapsulated the feel of the day. no one let the elements win. everything was still graceful and beautiful and elegant…but the boots were never far from reach.

i could, of course, keep going, but since i think there are already 30 something photos in this post, i’ll stop. it was an amazing day, and everyone made me feel so welcome and included. their families were simply amazing…no one let the rain or changed plans get them down.  ugh.  i’m leaving so much out…basically, i love canada & sean & sarah (& zach & sarah for the introduction!)

next up:  my adventures with zach & sarah & baby stella around the maritimes.  (yeah, i went to green gables.)

*guilt, guilt, guilt*

a lot has happened this month.  i had tomme hilton and january newbanks fly in to shoot weddings with me…and oh, monday was my birthday.  my best friend came up (with her baby and almost-3-year-old-who-likes-to-sleep-in-boxes-when-she-visits)

she gave me the most beautiful fascinator for my birthday.  (please excuse the mobile upload picture.)

(brides looking for something special for your wedding day hair-do…check out that link.  lo boheme’s etsy store has some GORGEOUS bridal fascinators.  i covet…most of them.)

today i had a shoot on a garlic farm!  the wonderful allison and jon gave me some of their (very own, handmade) garlic powder and some of the largest non-elephant garlic you’ll ever see.  (pictured behind the garlic are some of the apples i picked for my day-after-my-birthday traditional apple-picking outing.  if you live in the northeast and have never tried macouns…hurry up and rectify that!  best apples EVAR.)

and, for allison, my loyal blog-reader and guilt-inducer…here are a couple teasers from today!

i met billi & lauren (and billi’s best friend and her son seth, who flew up from fort bragg for lauren’s birthday soiree) in kittery on a HOT july day.

i’m not a mom, but if i were, i couldn’t imagine how difficult it would be being separated from my baby for a year. billi, thank you so much for the enormous sacrifices you’ve made (and are still making) to serve this country. i appreciate your service, and it was an HONOR to capture this time in lauren’s life. i hope the pictures can in some small way make the rest of your separation easier.

(if you’re a photographer or military family interested in documenting the unique struggles and rewards of family life and military service, check out www.oplove.org)

gina and i did some scouting earlier in the day…and then, in the way these things go…didn’t use ANY OF THEM. but it’s ok! that’s one of the things i really like about this job. learning to let go of the ideas i had and take the situational lemons and make some ROCKIN’ lemonade. or lemon sorbet, or italian ice…or LEMON BARS. mmmmm. (and if it’s morning, i wouldn’t say no to a batch of lemon poppy seed muffins.)

(can you tell it’s almost 1am, and i am…distractable?)

r & g…you know i love you guys, and your little childrens…and i’d even let you set me up again. (but roger, let gina get to know him first next time. )

he’s so big you’d expect him to be fearless, but he was FREAKED out by the waves! his big brother was no beach n00b and frolicked with abandon.

what i love about them is that they really are a family, and those dogs really are brothers. waldo (that’s what she calls the big boy) wants to mimic his “big” brother, and is uncomfortable being away from him.

are you seeing the sibling interaction?

(i think this one might be my favourite.)

and of course…THE shot. the one they’d BETTER frame BIIIIGG and put on the wall.

i was in north carolina a few weeks back visiting some friends on fort bragg (with a side trip down to south carolina to shoot a wedding with tomme hilton). my friends are finally reunited, but they were apart for nearly nine months…

serving this country isn’t really something the faint of heart sign on for…but i’m grateful to all of the men and women who take up that mantle (and for the families who stand behind them and support them through it all.)

here’s a sneak peak from my session with my friends on fort bragg…i told them to pretend they were reuniting after being apart for a long time…i love that little 3 year old c is trailing behind in all of them.

(check out how strong he is! he’s holding her with 1 arm! i mean, sure, she IS a toothpick of a woman, but still! big tough soldier-man, he is!)

but.

there are people out there…people who deserve blog posts from me.  so, hopefully this adorable family i photographed when i was in arizona last september will tide you over.

i started off focusing on little jacob.  he was just about 1 month old at the time.
(NB:  if you want to schedule a baby shoot…1 month old is basically the worst time possible!  at that age every child goes through that horrible precursor of adolescence…BABY ACNE!  the very best time to photograph your baby is in the first two weeks…so if you know you want to do a session, it would be best to contact me before the baby’s even born.)

look at those tasty baby fingers!

and delicious baby toes!

and for dessert…delectable baby leg rolls.

then the whole fam joined in the fun…big brother joel was alternately delightful and…two.  family sessions are NEVER boring!

i love this one because it’s got everyone in it…in a way that totally shows off the new family dynamic.

(moral of the story…to stop almost-2-yr-old crying children…throw them in the air. high.)

and now for my 2 favourite images from the session…

i didn’t pose her…we were walking back to their house, and i saw her there in that perfect light, looking down at her little bubba…and yelled, FREEZE! and it’s perfect.

(pro of having a photographer for a friend:  cheap as free family session…con of having a photographer for a friend…she processes the photos at her leisure.)

we just went for a quick walk around the neighbourhood…hitting kids moods right is…a very…delicate…art, but we lucked out with some AMAZING light.

this is baby lily…who makes the very best faces.

and here’s clahra (yes, that’s spelled right)…who, instead of answering affirmatively, “yes”, says “right”.  it’s really adorable.  “clahra, are you hungry?”  “right.”

rocky the dog came with us on our walk…he was a pretty regal (and incredibly well-behaved) dog.

you’ve always gotta get the one requisite family portrait…this one took some doing.  (i won’t give everything away, but, uh…let’s just say PS helped me make sure everyone’s attention was on me.  or nearly so.)

clahra was NOT having it…i’m sure you see why i am happy with “sort of vaguely looking in my direction”. 

and finished up with a few rounds of “mommy-is-the-merry-go-round”.  (nb:  there was no photoshopping done to this image… )

please contact me if you’re interested in a family portrait session!

anyway…OBVIOUSLY i did some photographing of the new pipsqueak.(ok, he’s my nephew and i love him, so i’m allowed to say this, but…ET, right?  a little bit…)




(these two totally don’t go together…the first one is all, “awwwww”, and the second one cracks me up, because they’re both going, “ooooh!”  which, incidentally…runs in the family.)

(this image was taken of me today (yesterday?  what time is it?) by my good friend and an amazing photographer tammy swales.)

yes…that IS a baby wrapped up in a blanket, plopped on a large turkey platter and laid in a cornfield.

mhmm…i DID carefully position the dead corn cobs very precisely to add to the overall effect of baby-on-a-platter.  too bad it was cold and i couldn’t do NAKED baby on a platter.  (the baby, he doesn’t like being naked.  not one bit.  unless he is in a nice warm bath.  he likes that.)

he also wasn’t too keen on the idea of being a picnic dinner…

but…he soon came to terms with it.

hey, you cope however you can, right?

]]> http://www.gwynethcolleen.com/personal/baby-liam/feed/ 0 http://www.gwynethcolleen.com/family-session/osterhaus-family/ http://www.gwynethcolleen.com/family-session/osterhaus-family/#comments Thu, 06 Nov 2008 04:34:26 +0000 gwyneth http://www.gwynethcolleen.com/?p=153 danielle wrote to me a few months back…she grew up around dover, nh, but she lives in texas now.  they’d planned a family trip back to new england right at peak colour time…and she wanted to capture the amazing foliage…and the amazing energy of 20 month old alexis.

my october was pretty crazy (stay tuned), but we squeezed in an afternoon session the day before i went away for two weeks…i think we got some pretty fantastic images!

(doesn’t the background look almost like one of those horrible olan mills studio backdrops?  well it’s not…that’s 100% genuine new england fall foliage right there.)

she was NOT into sitting still there where the light was hitting her perfectly…that is until her dad gave her one of those giant snake-worms.  while i was going through the photos, i thought it was funny that while gender behaviours are noticable when kids are really little…until they pass toddlerhood, they’re all more or less the same.  bugs and dirt and frogs and snakes…they’re all totally awesome.  and then girls discover pink.  the end.  (or maybe they discover climbing trees in pink like i was into.)

shooting families with small children is a whole different challenge than photographing weddings…i’ve got lots of childcare experience, but translating that into getting them to cooperate with me and my camera…well, let’s just say worms help.

we were playing and throwing leaves into the air…this one cracks me up, because that is not chocolate on her mouth.  no, a 20 month old child would not have such a look of consternation if she were enjoying the sweet residue of chocolate.  oh no.  that is mud.  leaf mud.  i had to leave this one in the final set…when she’s all grown up and doesn’t eat dirt anymore, her parents will remember these days fondly and chuckle.

my dad totally did this with me when i was a kid…and it’s totally cheaper than paying for rollercoasters or skydiving.  ah, being 2…life was less complicated, huh?

and of course…boston…represent!

gwyneth colleen–portsmouth, nh family photography

this was possibly the most rewarding session i have ever photographed!

(yeah, i was a little overzealous with the in-camera sepia setting…good land.)

(trying to get a 2 year old and a 5 year old to jump at the same time w/ a camera w/ shutter delay is…awesome.)

anyway, i used to dress them up in matching/coordinating outfits and do their hair and then do little photoshoots…when their mom used the top one up there for their “hey, we just moved” cards…i was like, “huh…maybe i should do more of this…”  (course NOW…i look at these and go, “oh.  oh my gosh.  WOW.” because i see everything wrong with these images.  heh.)

so, i practiced.  including setting them up w/ a christmas card shot…too bad i forgot how i had to make all their food on matzo for a week because they’re JEWISH.  derrr.  i am awesome.  (but very creative!  matzo pizza, matzo grilled cheese, matzo pb&j, matzo quesadillas (yeah, pretty much the same as the grilled cheese.))

the little one, eva, wasn’t having any of it…i love this series for sophie’s face (she’s the one on the left.  the responsible older sister.  who is basically a teenager in an 8 year old’s body these days.  er…she was then, too.)

here’s one from after i’d actually started doing commissioned work…also, anyone who tells you it’s all the photographer and not the camera…is crazy.  note the difference in image quality!

(i love this because it’s SOOO them!)  they got a make-up kit for christmas…and yes, yes i DID get a makeover, and i was the pretty-pretty-prettiest princess of them all.  sorry, no pictures of THAT.

i saw them a few weeks ago…and they’ve grown so much, but they’re still the most beautiful little girls i’ve ever seen.  (i have been known to tell people, “when i have kids…i am objective enough to know that they will not be as cute as my wee girlies.”)  after we were done swimming, i once again dressed them up, and even though i was running late…took 5 minutes to snap a few frames of them.  aren’t they gorgeous?

(their mom has a large studio shot print of their feet/legs hanging over the fireplace…so, in my 5 minutes, i wanted to capture the rough-and-tumble…tanned toes and scratched up summer legs.)

(laughing at mom over my shoulder).

i love these 3 so much.  i try to make time to visit them every time i go visit my parents.  this time, as i let myself in the gate to their pool area, i heard cries of, “GWYN!  GWYN!”  it’s good to know they love me, too. 

i’m out of town this weekend for an everything-but-the-ceremony (they took care of that in Paris last weekend…i know. i feel bad for them, too.) in Philadelphia. i’ll see my sister, and we’ve bandied about the idea of getting some great bridals for her…she’s been married 4 years now, but she wasn’t very happy w/ her wedding photographer, and hey…how convenient…her sister became one. look at that.

without further ado, some of my favourites from a family session i did with some college friends back in July when i was in Indiana. these are some cool, quirky people that lived in mexico for a while, and then produced a ridiculously cute child.