Family Sessions

04/15/2024

Stunning Belle Lavande Lavender Farm Family Pictures

I’m so excited to share this stunning Belle Lavande lavender farm mini-session with you! I kind of abandoned my blog last year when my life got a little crazy, but I promise I’m catching up with all the gorgeous sessions we’ve had. The Sharples family won the giveaway I did for my first lavender farm mini-sessions and they are some of my all-time favorite photos to date! The weather was perfect, their little girl, Mckenna, was an absolute dream, and we had a great time. Up until this point I haven’t done a ton of mini-sessions, but I’m so glad we did because…WOW!

Belle Lavande Lavender Farm

One thing you have to be aware of about lavender farms is the bees. They are pretty much everywhere. I am afraid of very few things, but bees just happen to be one of them (hello allergies). After about 10 minutes wandering around this lavender field, it is very clear that bees have way more to do than pay attention to anyone walking or sitting nearby. So grateful Jenna and Doug also seemed to be unaffected by them. They were so good about trying any pose, getting up and down, walking through the bees, and getting pictures from every angle.

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet lavender farm mini-session.

Ann Arbor photographer poses family in Lavender Farm at Belle Lavande.

My favorite pictures, the ones that make me audibly go “aaaaawwwww!”, are the ones with Mckenna and each parent. Seeing those cute little moments when your babies are so little just melt my heart. Kids grow up way too fast, and it’s so wonderful to have photos to remember these cute little ages. But! My all time favorite photo from their session is the family picture walking through the lavender. The sun was getting lower in the sky, the lighting was nearing perfection, and all the colors are out there absolutely killing it. Wearing light colors in a field of purple and green had a huge punch factor in the very best way! I loved it so much that I listed it first – so we can all look at it a little longer.

Dad and baby press faces together while standing in a lavender farm at Belle Lavande

Couple smiling at the camera close together while standing in a lavender farm at Belle Lavande

Definitely recommend these outfit choices for this location! Light colors just bouncing off of the purples and greens are the way to go! During sessions, I often giggle or get a little too excited about how beautiful the shot is….and people just don’t believe me, I guess. That leads me to the next part…

Baby walks through a lavender farm at Belle Lavande

Family smiling at the camera close together while standing in a lavender farm at Belle Lavande

Family smiling at the camera close together while standing in a lavender farm near Ann Arbor Michigan

Mom and Baby pose for pictures in Lavender field near Ann Arbor Michigan

Couple kissing in a Lavender Farm at Belle Lavande near Ann Arbor Michigan

Family sitting and smiling at the camera in a Lavender field

Family standing in a lavender field with a white barn in the background.

Family poses for family pictures at Belle Lavande Lavender Farm

parents holding baby's hands while walking through Belle Lavande Lavender Farm.

Couple in lavender farm taking pictures at Lavender Farm Mini-Session

Parents kiss baby while taking photos at Belle Lavande

The funniest moment to me was the reveal session. After I showed them a slideshow of their insanely gorgeous family, they said, “Wow, they look so good! I just didn’t think they’d turn out so well.” This is not an uncommon thing for me to hear. So, if you’re thinking, “Yeah, but my family isn’t that cute” or “Well, we just aren’t them, so our pictures won’t look that good”, I am here to tell you…ahem…in the kindest way, that you’re 110% wrong. I actually love it when I hear phrases of surprise. I always want you to love your photos more than you thought you would!

Ann arbor Photographer poses family in Belle Lavande Lavender Farm Mini-Session.

To the Sharples Family, thank you so much for allowing me to capture these gorgeous and sweet memories for you!

Check out Belle Lavande! They’re amazing and have wonderful products. If you’d like a session here, let me know and I can surely hook you up!

Check out my Top 5 Photo Locations near Ann Arbor HERE.

01/12/2023

Spunky and Sweet Home Newborn Session | Ann Arbor

Family Sessions, Newborn Family Session, Uncategorized Family Session

This home newborn session was so dreamy, energetic, and adorable! The Donakey family are just as kind as they look! I always love hearing how babies make their grand entrance and I’m so glad this time was all the right things. The right timing (hello Michigan Christmas weather advisory), the right circumstances, the right nurses, everything. Anyone who has a December baby deserves nothing less than the best because there is A LOT going on! Newborn sessions are so special – watching everyone swoon over something so beautiful and tiny. Don’t you love how sneezes or wiggles become the most novel “come and see” moments just because they’re demonstrated by someone so new? Everything is a wonder.

Spunky and Sweet Home Newborn Session | Ann Arbor

We started this session off in all the right ways. We had some amazing toddler energy playing hide and seek, marshmallows for bribery (WHY have I never thought of this?! No fearing chocolate stains), and the money shot family picture within the first few minutes. Way to go, guys!

Reid – most patient dad ever. I don’t say that lightly because I have seen my own husband lose his mind and then vow to never do family pictures again. Huge props to the dad of the year over here! I loved chatting with Cass while we were waiting for sweet Collins to eat and sleep again. Such an amazing woman, mom, and example! So grateful I got to hear her story – it’s truly inspiring.

Titan was the champion of the day – he was so good for so long! It’s not easy being the big brother and having to listen for so long, but he was seriously a rock star. Lucy, I could kiss her for giving us such fun moments and some smiles! Those are triumphant moments for me when you get the shot you want, but better because it has all the personality too. Honest – they’re my favorites!

And Collins, oh my goodness, so perfect. She has such a beautiful, petite little face and was so good at opening her little hands up for me. She can also sleep through anything! We moved her so many times, unwrapped and wrapped her up, had bouncing going on all around and she was a dream.

Donakey Family, thank you so much for allowing me to capture these beautiful moments for you! Your family is so sweet, and it was great getting to know you guys better. Can’t wait to see where life takes you and all the exciting things you get to do with your fun family!

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet newborn session!

See another newborn session HERE!

12/08/2022

Tecumseh Park Extended Family Session | Hill Family

Extended Family Session, Family Sessions Extended Family Session, Fall Family Session, Family Session

Totally stoked about sharing this Tecumseh Park extended family session with you! I met Amber through church (because I know her mom) and the more family members I get to know, the more I love them. I’m so impressed that every single person I’ve met, from every extension, is so considerate and kind. Family pictures isn’t something that everyone enjoys *ahem*….or maybe anyone for that matter, but they were so kind and happy through it all! Extended family sessions can be long and they were champs -especially with the chilly early morning!

Tecumseh Park Extended Family Session

Amber and I chatted about this session about a month prior and it didn’t look like things were going to work out. Their family was going to be here in Michigan for Thanksgiving and I was leaving to Ohio – with no overlap. It’s always such a busy time. I was so sad to miss them!

Turned out that everyone was staying one day later than we had originally thought and we got to meet in the morning before anyone flew out that night. So glad everything worked out! It was super chilly, so we were grateful for cars close by as we warmed people up in between groupings. They were super glad to get warm and head for breakfast as soon as it was over – they deserved it!

The lake at Tecumseh Park is called “The Pit”. What? That doesn’t even make sense. It’s so pretty- even in the winter! I was kind of nervous that having trees with no leaves in the background was going to be a little lackluster since only brown sticks would be reflected in the water, but I am so glad that it’s not the case at all. This “pit” is so pretty that it makes everything look beautiful!

I love getting all the family groupings and showing every stage their in. We had it all: the fun and exciting dating stage, the almost having your first baby stage, the 9 month adorable baby cheeks and young parents stage, and the two slightly older kids family stage. It was so fun to pause everyone right now and have it all done at the same time. Everyone was so fun to work with and so willing to freeze for me! ❤️

Hill Family, thank you so much for allowing me to capture these amazing memories for you! Love your family and it was so fun getting to know more of you!

Enjoy this little peek into this beautiful extended family session!

See another extended family session here!

11/09/2022

Chelsea Clock Tower Family Session | Christie Family

Fall Family Session, Family Sessions Family Session

I’m so excited to share this Chelsea Clock Tower family session with you today! The Christie’s are the absolute best! It’s so fun to photograph people you’ve known for a long time. You get to take photos and hang out and chat with long time friends. It’s fun to bring back some memories while making new ones that we can laugh about later.

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!

11/05/2022

Sweet Newborn Session At Home | Ann Arbor

Family Sessions, Newborn Family Session Family Session, newborn session

I’m so excited to share this home newborn family session with you today! When I tell you that I LOOOOVVVEE babies, I really mean it. The best part about newborn sessions is how much you get to snuggle. These sessions are typically quite long, so there’s lots of love and it makes me so excited. I miss having little babies at home, so anyone that wants to share the love – I’m there!

Sweet Newborn Session At Home | Ann Arbor

I’ve been so excited for this session for so long! All the planning that goes into new babies and all the anticipation makes it all so exciting. Wondering what they’ll look like and the details associated with a new person you haven’t met yet. Will they be a good sleeper, how will mom feel, how will the kids take to a new baby, how will he do for the session, etc? So many questions you can’t really answer until your thrown in the mix of it all. Just going on a hope and a prayer that everything will go well.

I kid you not, this baby is a literal sleeping gift from heaven! Our session was almost 4 hours long and he slept through the entire thing! Woke up at the three and a half hour mark to eat, but was so calm and wonderful for every unwrapping, every little movement, changing positions, changing people – everything. He smiles in his sleep constantly and was such a good sleeper that we didn’t even have an opportunity for any yawning pictures. He is, for sure, very easy to love.

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet home newborn family session!

Favorites:

How in the world do you choose favorite photos from baby sessions? I honestly just love them all, but if I had to choose… I swoon over the three kids together. All tight and snuggly! It’s like a parent’s whole world in a single frame. Gentle and loving and perfect. As a close runner up…would be baby details. Their fingers and toes, tiny little ears, and sweet profiles. Gosh, I love them! I also adore little baby hands with their parents’ because it gives scale to such a tiny hands. The newborn stage is fleeting and I love things like that to keep it on pause.

Squires Family, I can’t get over your sweet kids and how much they love their new little baby brother. You make some B-E-A-UTIFUL kiddos! Super huge congratulations! Let me know if you ever need a stand in baby snuggler because I’m always available to come help out.

See another family session HERE!

11/04/2022

Dreamy Family Of Five Late Fall Family Photos

Fall Family Session, Family Sessions Family Session

I’m so excited to share this Late Fall family session with you today! I met the Rosko family last year while doing their family pictures and I left their session just loving their family. Oh my goodness, what adorable kids they have. And those kids have some pretty amazing parents if you ask me. I proceeded to refer to them as the nicest people alive for the next year.

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!

10/29/2022

Freezing Beautiful Tecumseh Park Family Session

Fall Family Session, Family Sessions Family Session

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!

10/26/2022

Show-stopping Family Pictures at Lillie Park

Fall Family Session, Family Sessions Family Session

These Lillie Park Family pictures just shows that this location was show-stopping this year! Three session in a little over a week at the same spot and we’re not sad about it! Makes for such a beautiful backdrop and there’s even a little space for littles to run around and play. Such a nice mix!

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!

10/19/2022

Colorful Fall Neighborhood Family Photos | Dexter Michigan

Family Sessions Family Session

I have been beyond excited to share this Dexter neighborhood family session with you for the past week!

We originally had plans to have this session at Hudson Mills, but the time crunch is real when the sun goes down so early and getting off work happens around 5 o’clock. I had just posted a photo of my neighborhood pond when Lauren texted me to see if we could change the session location. Turns out that we both live in the same neighborhood and switching locations was such a great idea!

The colors were incredible! It was so nice to have home close by for some last minute doggy drop offs.

Colorful Fall Neighborhood Family Session | Dexter Michigan

We had so much fun getting all warmed up for some epic family photos. Julian started out very shy. However, by the end we were friends enough that we had fun playing games, jumping in the grass, and playing follow the leader. He got to pull his parents all over the place.

One of the funniest moments was telling Anthony that it would be great for a smile to come out. I was standing so far away from them when I told him and I heard, so quietly, something like “Oh man, I didn’t think she could see that.” I also love how much Lauren adores her family. I knew beforehand that she loves them so fiercely, but it is so fun to get in hugs, tickles, Eskimo kisses, or some real, beautiful kissing pictures (always a fav!).

Lauren, Anthony and Julian, thank you so much hanging out with me! You are so fun to be with and I’m so glad we could get some updated family photos for you! Five years goes way too fast, am I right?!

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet family session!

See another family session HERE!

10/13/2022

Ann Arbor Baptist Church Autumn Photos | Peng Family

Family Sessions Family Session

Super excited to share these Ann Arbor baptist church autumn photos with you today! October is quite an exciting month to get any photos done and especially exciting when you’re visiting Michigan during the perfect season! You just never know when the colors are going to change and I always pray for colors to come out of hiding when my clients have family visiting from out of town.

For this session, Grandma lives on the west coast and visits when it’s really nice…and goes back when Michigan gives us all the freezing feelings. (I wish we could all do that!) I hunted for the perfect spot with a lot of color and it did not disappoint! Cold enough at night to change these leaves, but so warm for our session – the best!

Ann Arbor Baptist Church Autumn Photos | Peng Family

Cori was such a trooper during the week or two leading up to their session. I would send her texts of all the possible locations I would find or see potential in. Her replies were always so full of gratitude and so kind. It wasn’t until a few days when I was asking my husband which spot he liked best. He replied, “You know, I find it a talent that you can see potential in these places.”

Cori, I’m grateful you trusted me that this was a good one because sometimes it’s hard to see. 🙂

My clients are the absolute best and I have feel so lucky to meet so many amazing people! It’s so easy to see that they are each other’s whole world. So many words of encouragement and positive compliments given to anyone who was in front of the camera (so….everyone…all the time). It’s contagious how happy it makes you feel and I love that I left feeling happier just having been around them as they built each other up. Can’t say it enough – they’re amazing!

To the Peng Family, thank you so much for sharing your little slice of family heaven with me! Your family is so sweet, and it was great getting meet you in person and hang out for an hour!

Enjoy this little peek into this sweet family session!