Declan First Birthday Photos - Cary, Ralegh, Photographer, Child, Baby

Declan's First Birthday Party was a blast. His family invited me over to his house to photograph the event. Declan was the star of his show. A super cute little boy with a huge smile and lots of adorable friends.

Mommy's Free | Cary Raleigh family photographer

The first time I met these handsome dudes the little one was being carried around by mom in a sling. Fast forward 5 years, the little one is now starting Kindergarten. Where did the time go?Thankfully Mom and I were able to coordinate a shoot to document this exciting milestone. I'm pretty sure mom is looking forward to some extra alone time to concentrate on herself and her thriving small business, YES Career Services(Personal Branding, Executive Coaching, Resume Writing, etc).
During the shoot I made certain to capture some " well-behaved,ideal" looking shots for the wall and then of course we got a little silly singing the diarrhea song which led to some cute and true to life photos of Nolan and Jonah. The best ones were captured when I made mom sing the song. I think that may have been a first for her though she did know all the words, hmmm, surprising!
Tip of the day: Parents should never hesitate to get a little crazy during the shoot. Your kids will get a kick out of it and its 100% guaranteed to eliminate those god awful "cheese" faces.

Look at their faces as mom starts singing : ) much better!

Nolan just loves his dog Shayla. Wanted to make sure we got a few with the two of them snuggling. Love this one!!

Raleigh Durham Cary NC family photographer

M Brothers - Cary, Raleigh, Apex, North Carolina NC Family Photography

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting a good friend of mine in Saratoga Springs, NY. We arranged a quick photo shoot one afternoon of her two adorable sons at the state park. The boys thought they were going to a "real kid park" with playground etc. When they arrived I think they were at first disappointed but by the end of the shoot they were asking to stay and wanting me to "take a million more photos." I think they'd agree that running through the arches, wrestling in the grass and listening to a random guy playing the guitar (all while being photographed) was a fun way to spend an afternoon.











this may be my favorite photo from the shoot.


I have to admit that photographing little boys is very different than photographing little girls! Most boys are very disinterested in the camera. When I have the camera up to my face I can carry on a conversation with a girl and get some great photos while she is interacting with me, the boy on the other hand usually tends to bolt the minute I aim the camera towards him. Girl sessions usually are much faster, and easier, however boy sessions are typically more fun. As was the case with these little guys I had to spend some time watching them play, enticing them to climb trees, silly things like showing me their muscles. Once they have warmed up and become my friend, they give me the opportunity to capture the good shots.
Its work but its rewarding.
Here are some early shots where they were being silly and not interested in our shoot.

In half of the first 20 photos of Ethan he was making this duck face, it was hysterical. Luckily Mom just laughed along with me and pretty soon it got old to him, the duck then turned into more of a smile. Its important for parents to let the kids get away with being silly and play along with their ideas. It keeps the kids in a good mood and lets their real personalities and smiles eventually come out. Telling your kids to pose and act unnatural really makes for boring and fake photos.



how adorable is he?


Mini lesson:
Things not to do... don't tell your kids to go over there and stand next to each other. This is next to each other to them, lol.


Don't tell boys to pretend they love each other. This is how boys show their love by squeezing the crap out of each other. Girls would have hugged/kissed something sweet.


Let them do what they want, In this photo the boys started wrestling I encouraged them and this is what I got.
Love this one!

Twin Boys - Raleigh Twin Photography

Twins are by far my favorite sessions! I was so happy to get my hands on these little guys. Such angels to work with, we were able to capture a bunch of different shots in only an hour! They were totally zonked out and striking their own adorable poses. So sweet. Thanks for coming over Mom and Dad, we captured some great ones!

Did I get this right Mom?