Chelsea Clock Tower Family Session | Christie Family

Here I am again…going to talk about the weather. You know, being a photographer is part weather forecaster anyway. It was the weekend before Halloween, which can either be terribly cold or beautiful. Luckily for us it was right in between and leaning on the side of wonderful. We started a little earlier in the day because we had some trunk or treating to do an hour later and I’m so glad we did. We needed the sun to warm Lilah up, so we were grateful it was warm in the sunny spots. She was an absolute trooper braving the cold shade for a few minutes here and there before she zipped away to do some more sunbathing.

So much fun and energy happening here! We had Tyler, who was so excited to get his picture taken (much to the surprise of parents); Amelia and Maddy, who barely needed any instruction because they’re just that good; Zach, who didn’t want to be there, but warmed up with the idea of candy and smiled for ice cream (all about bribery over here!); and Lilah, who was zooming in and out of photos like nobody’s business and such a good sport!

Last, but not least, Jennifer and Ryan who were so much fun! After we got past some -what we laughed about and called “pained expressions”- were lighting up the town! Seriously, I love the way these two look at each other and Jen has the very best smile!

Christie family, I love you guys! Thanks for being such good sports on so many levels!

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet family session!

See another family session HERE!

The post Chelsea Clock Tower Family Session | Christie Family first appeared on Stacy Anderson Photography.

I also run into Anna every day at the library. I’m kidding, we don’t go that often, but it seems like our children run out of books at the same times. 🙂 It’s always fun to run into good people who always make you smile, so thank you Rosko kiddos for being avid readers! (Anna, you and I should start a book club so we could possibly read a book! 😉)

Dreamy Family Of Five Late Fall Family Photos

Peak week in Michigan is the busiest week of the year, for good reason. It’s gorgeous! After that week it can be a little tricky to find a good location that still has leaves on the tree instead of on the ground. Luckily, they have this gorgeous open field in front of their house and we picked the one spot that made it look like we were still getting all the good stuff Michigan had two weeks prior. Give me some light colored, tall grasses and some color in the background and we’re in heaven!

There is nothing I love more than two year old energy coupled with older siblings who can really put on a show. My hats off to these older brothers for getting their sweet sisters to smile and laugh. Seriously, just the sweetest faces and I love being able to look at a picture and know everything that went into making it happen. ❤️

Also, can we just talk about these couples photos! I am dying! We missed these shots last year and I was so sad, so we made it a point to get them this year and oh…I am so glad! Some of my favorites!

Rosko family, thank you, thank you! It’s so good to see you again and again. I had so much fun with you guys this year and love seeing how personalities for pictures change or stay the same. I have so much fun spending time with you guys! See you at the library! 🙂

See another family session HERE!

The post Dreamy Family Of Five Late Fall Family Photos first appeared on Stacy Anderson Photography.

Beautiful Autumn Family Photos | Dexter Michigan

What a day this was! It was so cold and I was so impressed that all the kids did phenomenally well! I felt like I was still cold when I was crawling into bed that night, but here they are without coats and not even getting blue lips. That’s when you know you’re either half Canadian or Michigan born. May have almost been shorts weather? Can we just talk about these cousins for a sec? I just love this sweet little girl in a sea of such cute boys! Imagine how much fun these boys all have together and how many people she has wrapped around her finger. I can only imagine it’s a lot because…look at that face!

Someone recently asked me if I like having the chaos of little kids while doing photos or if I’m relieved to do families with older kids.

Here’s the honest truth:

I adore little kids. That feeling that you get the perfect shot after trying everything in your book of tricks and then it works – the best! They’re sweet little mannerisms and breaking them out of their shell so we can be friends for a little bit. This was no exception.

We had lots of running away while parents chase kids down, picking up sticks and not letting them go, and playing in the leaves (kids and parents too). 🙂 It’s all just fun! I’m really just swooning over sweet Eli sitting in the leaves and posing perfectly. She is really the perfect face to represent how I feel about Michigan autumn.

Hannich Family, thank you so much for all the energy you brought! I had so much fun with all of you and loved getting to know you! You all have such beautiful families. Sarah and John and Jessica, good luck with your move! I hope everything goes well and smoothly. Your family is so sweet, and it was great getting to know you guys better!

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet extended family session!

See another family session HERE!

The post Beautiful Autumn Family Photos | Dexter Michigan first appeared on Stacy Anderson Photography.

Seriously bouncing up and down in my chair that I finally get to share this Tecumseh Park family session with you! You know how, when you need to write about your day, there just isn’t much to tell? Well, there are so many fun things to tell about this session.

We had some early morning mishaps and unfortunate planning on my part, but it all worked out in the best way! We were freezing, but by how beautiful these photos came out, I think maybe even the kids will forget how frigid we all felt. It. Was. So. Cold! My hand warmers didn’t do a thing. The kids were SOOOO good! All things were stacked against them, but they were amazing!

Freezing Beautiful Tecumseh Park Family Session

The Problem

Where to even begin. Okay, first, I’m not from Michigan. I’m from Utah and I really like going back home because I know the ins and outs of every street in most of the cities (they’re just all jumbled together, so that’s easy to do). My goal is to feel the same way about Michigan one day, so I often practice driving places I’ve been to a couple times without my GPS so that I can really learn where I am and where I’m going.

There I was, driving down to Hidden Lake Gardens at 7:20 am. I almost turned down four of the wrong roads before resorting to the fact that I should probably just trust Google with my morning so I would arrive on time. Input Hidden Lake Gardens. Problem arises: Hidden Lake Gardens doesn’t open until nine and our session is at 8:00. Not gonna lie…I kinda freaked out. I started talking to myself to try and calm me down.

What to do

I called Hannah, trying to sound as relaxed as possible, but truly feeling frazzled on the inside – I don’t live in Tecumseh. I have no idea where to go or what is available let alone what will work as the sun is coming up. Hannah is so kind and was so understanding (makes sense since she comes from an insanely nice family), but she wasn’t quite sure of another location.

Ok guys, seriously panicking. I did a quick google search of local parks and I decided Tecumseh Park looked the most promising by it’s absolutely terrible google image, but it was far better than the other park pictures posted. I got there a few minutes early and OH! The relief! It is gorgeous! The trees around the pond were heaven sent: so many colors, and would block the harsh light that was sure to happen if we got started a little too late and I’m glad because all this light and reflection on the water – I can’t get over it!

The Session

I loved every ounce of energy that these guys had! We got some silly and sweet. Isaac pulled some of the funniest faces. Emmalyn and her monkey…oh my goodness. She is so sweet! Walter protected his bubbles in his pocket (thank goodness for bubbles) and those bubbles saved us more than once. By our last pose, Walter had taken off his shoes and his little toes were freezing. He was done. But! Bubbles and candy as bribery totally won out and we got the perfect up close family shot!

And Leo. Oh Leo, please come snuggle me every day. I don’t know how his face wasn’t freezing off, but he was such a dream. The very best baby in the most freezing weather. I know my 2 months old wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes.

Hannah and Sam, you are such great parents and your kids are beyond wonderful! Thanks for braving the cold and working so hard so early in the morning! You have such a beautiful family!

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet family session!

See another family session here!

The post Freezing Beautiful Tecumseh Park Family Session first appeared on Stacy Anderson Photography.

This session was so much fun for me for a few reasons. One, it was WARM! Oh my goodness, you have no idea how relieved we all were. Sometimes I feel like I’m turning 100 years old talking about the temperature outside, but the struggle is real! It is very important when you have little kids. We thought this was going to be our third year of freezing family pictures, but we sneaked away having zero tears and mildly chilly fingers.

Show-stopping Family Pictures at Lillie Park

Next up, we have all these adorable kids growing up and showing off how cute they are. I even had to include a silly little sniffy face of little Aidan. His facial expressions were totally cracking me up. I have a whole outtake reel that will make me laugh if I ever need a quick pick me up.

Lastly, their family grew by one dog this year and she is absolutely adorable! I like it when other people get dogs because I get to have all the benefits without having to take them outside in the cold myself. I imagine this is what grand parenting feels like – getting all the perks and leaving the harder times to parents? Clark is the best big brother to siblings and his sweet little Maple. Elsie was such a cutie and was laughing so hard at anything her dad was doing to make them smile.

I can’t believe how much Lillie Park changes over the course of two weeks in the fall. So many more golds and fall colors for this session than the week before. So many beautiful things going on!

Hanna Family, you know I love you! This was the best, am I right! So low stress and we had a great time (maybe even Brandon did too?) 🙂 Thanks for letting me make a fool of myself in front of you every year. The potty noises really won Aiden over this year and I’m glad he found me funny for an hour.

Enjoy this little peek into this beautiful family session !

See the Hanna’s last year session HERE!

The post Show-stopping Family Pictures at Lillie Park first appeared on Stacy Anderson Photography.

Fall Colors Family Session

I’m getting it right out there, but we got so lucky with this family session! I don’t know if it’s photographer karma, but somehow so many families show up to sessions telling us, “I don’t know why, but ______ just wouldn’t take a nap today.” If this has happened to you, now you know you’re not alone. There’s only so much we can do as parents. Sometimes kids just don’t do what we want, am I right? Amen. Well, fall colors were the big hope for this family and it has been kind of hard to find a really good area. Some trees are covered in leaves, but others are already dead.

Well, we had a plan to go to Lillie Park in Ann Arbor, but as I was driving home, I saw this gorgeous tree that was close to a parking lot and Walah! We had trees, a beautiful field, and tons of space! Super lucky for us because their littlest man fell asleep on the 5 minute drive over and we were able to let him sleep while we got all the other shots we wanted! I love it when parking lots are just right there! I’m so grateful they were willing to change plans super last minute! I think it was the best idea!

The second nice thing about watching families grow up, is that I start to know what kids like and dislike. For instance, I know that only oldest brother tolerates family pictures well, so I tried to bring all the tricks this time! We had Cocomelon, we had bubbles, we had crazy jumping and acting silly. Bubbles are now going to be a staple in my small children photography bag of tricks because they buy us so much time and happy moments! I LOVE it when we get to see that one shot we needed and worked so hard for!

To the Hanna Family, thank you so much for allowing me to capture your family pictures again this year! It was so fun and worth all the jumping, energy, and entertaining! So many sweet and beautiful faces!

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet family session!

See another family session here!

The post Hanna Family | Fall Colors | Family Session first appeared on Stacy Anderson Photography.

Dexter Backyard Family Session

I love to scope out locations to make sure we’re shooting in the most beautiful light possible and determine the time of the session. I got to meet Angela about a week before their session as I went to see their backyard. There is no wrong angle with this one! Totally a backyard paradise! Angela is so kind and friendly that I just had so much fun gabbing away! Later, I realized that her son was in my daughters Kindergarten class and that I had actually heard quite a few stories about him. Hailey always told me how nice he was and now I totally know why! They’re all super kind and wonderful! And when did 11 year old girls get such fantastic hair and look so grown up!? If I dug up my 11 year old pictures, I bet it would tell a different story.

Now, Michigan…Michigan. Sigh. We were a little touch and go the day of their session. I don’t trust the forecast and I have a pretty solid 2 hour expectation after living here and seeing the weather change on a dime. Honestly, the forecast said it was supposed to rain right at starting time, but just looking outside it totally seemed like we’d miss it, so we went for it! We’ve been having these really light drizzles lately and luckily that’s all it was – for about 5 minutes. It ended up being absolutely gorgeous! Cloudy and a tad cold, but perfect.

Nellie, that adorable dog! Oh my gosh, some of the outtakes are so funny. Flying dog in front of the camera, best photo bomb dog face ever, and the whining that ensued when she had to wait at the end was hysterical. She kept us all laughing!

To the Delphus family, thank you so much for allowing me to capture these precious memories for you! Your family is so sweet, and it was great getting to know you guys better. If I ever start digging a hole in my backyard, my husband knows who to thank! Thank you for being so kind and wonderful!

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet family session.

See another family HERE!

The post Delphus Family | Backyard Family Session | Dexter Michigan first appeared on Stacy Anderson Photography.

Hidden Lake Gardens Session

Morning sessions always keep us on our toes because the light is always changing, keeping us thinking and ready for something new. There were so many beautiful places to go here that we barely scratched the surface. I could have been here snapping away all day long! These cute little girls were so much fun to play with. Charlie and I were fast friends. I believe she is the happiest girl to ever have her picture taken. She was so enthusiastic about everything and I think our little walks talking about all things preschool and learning were definitely a favorite. Parker was on a mission to challenge me to get her sweet face in a smile. I love her adorable little soft smiles she gave us. A huge shout out to Melissa and Andrew for tossing Parker in the air, the tickles, the games, the singing, the racing…you name it! Her cute little face is worth all of it! It is also why I think every parent deserves a big treat after pictures are done! You earn it all!

To the Renz Family, thank you so much for allowing me to capture these precious memories for you! Your family is so sweet, and it was great getting to know you guys better. I can’t wait to see you all continue to grow together! 

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet family session!

See another family session here!

The post Renz Family | Hidden Lake Gardens | Family Session first appeared on Stacy Anderson Photography.

Super loving this Ann Arbor Family Session! When the Rosko Family reached out about their photos, I just knew how much fun they would be to work with. I feel like you can tell a lot about people even just through texting or emailing and I already knew that I had a family full of the kindest, most wonderful people you can find! I was in the hospital with my little girl while setting up their session and they were so patient with me trying to set everything up and respond just on my phone (I can’t help it, I love my iMac). It’s no secret that I love family sessions and I was so excited for this one because we got to take them on their absolutely gorgeous farm and their kids sounded like a dream to work with…and they totally were.

Ann Arbor Family Session

All of this session was just so fun. We had some kids who just loved the camera, one who never smiles for pictures (I betcha can’t guess who because we got it!), little fingers who just wanted to play in the grass, and of course, the helper – who I definitely appreciated – to help with some sister smiles! Can we also just mention how all of their smiles just light up the world?! Mom and Dad have done so well with these ones because, my goodness, were they good!

I’d have to say that one of my favorite photos (although it’s so hard to choose), is older sister by herself. The challenge was on for her to smile and I desperately want to get those difficult shots that seem impossible. Apparently, this sweet girl doesn’t smile for family pictures, so I totally enlisted the entire family for help on that one. Behind the scenes and if pictures could talk, you’d hear the entire family singing silly songs while she quietly sang along. It was totally a family effort and I think that smile is so sweet. You can totally see in her eyes how much she loves her crew. Then there’s the soybean field – what family picture dreams are made of…. or baby squishy faces….or dapper brothers….see, it’s just too hard to choose!

To the Rosko Family, thank you so much for allowing me to capture these memories for you! Love your sweet family! Can’t wait to see all the fun things you do together!

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet Ann Arbor Family Session.

See another Family Session here!

The post Ann Arbor Family Session | Rosko Family | Ann Arbor Michigan first appeared on Stacy Anderson Photography.