Challenge Met

Even with the studio heater cranking at too warm for clothing level, newborn baby Ethan would have none of it and presented a bit of a challenge with plenty of crying during his portrait session. But I have lots of patience with fussy babies, and we worked thru his reluctance until blessed sleep finally ensued. Mom was pleasantly surprised at the amount of great images we captured and here are a few favorites.

Blair and Andrew's maternity session

Andrew is the force behind our front yard makeover, and when I learned he and his wife were expecting their first child, I said hey let's schedule maternity portraits.

I'm so glad they took me up on the offer because working with them was a blast. Blair is a photographer's dream - such a natural in front of the camera, moving easily and everything she does looks fantastic, I could have photographed her all day. We captured so many great images, it's hard to pick just a few for a sneak peak. Since they are outdoorsy people, they wanted to do some photos outside in the garden. Thankfully the rain held off, and Blair was a trooper in the chilly air.

Baby Mariah and daddy's first portraits

After reading about abandoned baby Mariah in the paper and seeing the news stories on tv, I just had to do something for her and her daddy. I wanted this baby to know she is valued and loved, and we can convey that with portraits that will be wonderful keepsakes for her.

I contacted Clark to offer my Baby Plan package at no charge, but when I learned that he was heading to Iraq, I said we've got to get you both in here to do a newborn session together before you leave. So the day before shipping out, we captured some beautiful images. Clark is such a sweet guy, so attentive and caring towards his baby girl. And with a great family to lend their support, this little one will be well taken care of. I look forward to watching her grow as we photograph her over the next year.

Here's some of my favorites, the first two have my enhancements, the others are just previews.

Aww thanks!

I received such a nice email today from another photographer and she said I could share it here. Thanks for the compliments Amber!

Hello there, I ran across your blog and just had to contact you. I am photographer in Rapid City SD. I have a small studio inside a bridal shop so I do a lot of weddings but my real love lies in babies and children. I do 2 big shoots a year called Baby Blessing so I work with babies a lot. What I love about your work is first of all the lighting!! How do you get lighting like that? Also the free spirit that comes across in your work, not so much posed just fun!! I love it and just wanted to tell you so :) Thanks, Amber Heredia, Lasting Memories Studio

Maternity portraits sneak peak

I photographed engagement portraits for Marcelle and Brody a few years ago and it was so nice to hear from them again when they were thinking of maternity portraits. She has such a perfect round baby bump!

This is one of those images "oo-oo" images that I went nuts over when I saw it through the camera.

Senior pictures - Karen

Karen came in for my yearbook session, which I offer for those wanting just a few basic head and shoulder portraits. After photographing the traditional poses, we tried for something a bit more fun and stylin and this is one of my favorites.

Baby's First Year Album

This is a page from a baby's first year album that I created. She's the cutest little girl and was such a good model for me! Her album is 40 pages with 65 images and you can view all the photos of it on my website at: http://colleenphoto.com/?slideshow=baby-s-first-year-album

Let me know what you think.

Create your avatar

Just for fun today, a website where you can create your own Manga Avatar: http://www.faceyourmanga.com/welcome.htm
Here's mine, what do you think? I've been told it looks just like me.

Birth Announcements

Yes, I do birth announcements! I have many styles to choose from, cute and whimsical or clean and classic, I can create pretty much anything you have in mind. Choose one or several of your favorite images to feature. My Maternity/Newborn package includes 25 birth announcements, but you can order as many as you need to proclaim your new arrival to everyone on your list. The first one here is one of my most popular options. You can see more in the Image Gallery of my website.

Animation and art

Check out this awesome animation, those that know Photoshop will "get" it, others will just enjoy the animation: http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs13/f/2007/077/2/e/Animator_vs__Animation_by_alanbecker.swf

You may have noticed the new little animation on my blog. It was done by my talented artist daughter who has been creating these lately so I asked her to make one for me. She's very into dragons, here's one of my faves. You can see more of her artwork at http://irkendragon.deviantart.com/

Senior pictures - Ian

How time flies! I can't believe my nephew will be a senior this year, 2009 Graduate of Lynden High School. Ian's droll sense of humour kept me laughing during his session. Here's a couple of my faves and new backgrounds.

6 month fun

I had such fun photographing Lillian's 6 month session and we captured so many great images it was hard to choose which to post. Mom and dad got quite the work-out in trying to wipe the constant flow of drool since she was teething.

Sweet baby Melina

This sweet little one was such a good baby, sleeping for much of her session so we could capture lots of great images. I love it when parents bring in their new baby right away while they still have that fresh newborn look.
Since she was doing so well, and it was a warm day, I decided to try a few outside in the garden for something different.

Jaeden

It was fun to see Jaeden again for her 3 year portrait. Her sweet hugs made my day. She got to be the first to try out my new sailor dress and although she wasn't crazy about the hat, we did capture a few cute images of her while it was still on her head.

Senior pictures - Kirstin

My last 2008 senior, Kirstin opted to wait to photograph her session until her braces were removed. And what a beautiful smile she has!



I applied a vintage hand colored effect to this one.
My newly painted studio door, makes a cool background don't you think? Love the expression and energy in this image! I applied a fun mega contrast effect to it.

My new realistic beach background. A contemplative portrait with my blue mood effect.

Presenting baby Jake

I love photographing newborn sessions and capturing expressions like this as the new parents gaze upon their baby with pride. This is one of my new backgrounds that is just wonderful.


Jake looks very cozy in my new baby poser, which he promptly initiated! No worries, it's washable.