Little Cutie | Chicago Portrait Photographer Children

Life has overtaken our family.  I haven't posted in a while, but that simply means I have been busy.  In fact, busy doesn't even describe our recent life.  So "catch-up" is the name of the game for me.

Here is a cutie I was privileged to photograph recently.  Her image is plastered all over my website, too.  Now you know how much I love this little sweetheart!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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We Interrupt This Frisbee Game

I was in a bad mood for this early July Frisbee game.  Chalk it up to hormones, heat, or whatever; I just didn't feel like being around people.  It was nice to hide behind the camera for a bit in order to get some alone time.  It also helped that there were two games going on at the same time, and I was able to walk across the field to shoot the game in which my guys were playing.

Before the game started, I enjoyed the view, which was glorious with the sunlight radiating out from the clouds.

During the game, I kept hearing the deep croak of bullfrogs.  There was a pond behind me, so I turned and saw these wildflowers.

After the first game, the teams switched around and I found myself back among people.  I sat for a while, then snapped a few shots of this adorable little guy interacting with one of the moms at the field.

Aidan, the adorable little guy above, has a new baby brother.  Here he is with their mom.

And, here's baby brother with his grandma.

Aidan was getting a little ansty, or bored, like all little boys are wont to do.  I asked him if he wanted to take a picture, and he seemed willing enough.  I don't know what it is about kids and cameras, but they catch on pretty quickly, and Aidan--only about two years old--had my big 'ol camera down in just a few minutes.  I helped him point, and he pushed the shutter, saying, "Push the button!"  He did a great job, and these are the images he captured.

Grandma!

 Mommy and brother

Grandpa!

 Some Frisbee action--he even got the Frisbee mid-air!

Mommy, brother, Grandma!

Little boys are sure to put you in a good mood, and Aidan did his job well.  :)


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Introducing Misses J and M

In preparation for this portrait session, I purchased two wooden letters from Hobby Lobby.

Now, I'm not a creative person, as far as decorating and crafts go, but I figured two wooden stained letters would be cute.  At the actual portrait session, I set everything up:  apple basket, blanket, real apples, and finally, the two letters.

Well, that was sure cute!  But it'd be much cuter with two cuties inside the basket.  Which is what I did.

Miss M leaned over a little, with her head resting on her sister.  It turned out to be, I think, the cutest shot of the day!

We got the girls situated in their Bumbo seats (I'm going to have to invest in those!) and proceeded to spend a bunch of time trying to get them not only to look in the same direction, but to smile.  Boy, was that hard!

Their mom wanted some shots of them on the couch, so we used another blanket and tried to get them to smile.  I kept the below shot for fun--don't you just love how babies love their fingers?  :)

The below shot was our best effort while they were on the couch.  I think these girls are adorable!

This was one of the most fun portrait sessions I've had in a while!  The babies were so easy to work with, and even though we all worked hard to get them to smile, we got some beautiful images.


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Carthage and Bluegrass

This sign says it all:

Another Wednesday evening concert in the little village of Carthage.  This particular concert had me tapping my foot, clapping my hands, and bobbing my head for two hours.  It's hard to take pictures when you're doing that.  But I did okay.

Meet the Atkinson family bluegrass band.  And Nate--he's the mandolin player on the left.  He also plays fiddle, really well.  Here he is, below.  Too bad you can't hear how he played; it was awesome.

Below is the patriarch of the family, and the banjo player.  He played great.  In fact, the whole band played great.

Many who came to the steel drum concert the week before returned for this concert.  That gave me some opportunities to take some candid shots of the audience.

The bass player (below) married into the family; she played and sang beautifully.

The ladies sing a cappella

Pink must have been the clothing theme of the night; I spotted several girls wearing that color, and couldn't resist taking their pictures.

Love the below!  Talk about candid!

I saved two little pink-clad girls for last, because they were just so incredibly cute.  I couldn't decide which images to choose, so you get them all.  Enjoy the little-girly-girl show!

Okay, I think I just adore this last shot--their expressions, the twirling legs, the flying hair.  Just cute, cute, cute.  :)

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Sweet Summer's Eve

We recently invited our church family to our house for an end-of-summer get-together.  We had a beautiful time of fellowship, with children providing the evening's entertainment.  No TV needed here!  A dog-barking app on a friend's iPad was sufficient to amaze this little child.  The expressions on Miss E's face were priceless, and I caught only one of them.

I love the family interaction of this image, with mama and her two girls, and daddy looking on.

Cindy practiced being a grandmama, holding Joy's and Thomas' baby.

Little Mr. A is starting to look just like his older sister, and his personality is just starting to emerge.  He's such a cutie!

Little Miss J and Little Miss E sat themselves down in the doorway, and this was one time I didn't mind shooing someone away so we could shut the door.  :)

I took several shots of them, and fell in love with them all.  For the below image, I applied my own pre-set called Summer's Eve to the image.  I love the vintage look of this winsome photo.

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Misses S and S -- Outdoor Portrait Session

On a beautiful, sunny day, I met this little family and we drove over to a nearby park for an outdoor photo session.  Mom and I agreed that letting little Miss S play on the playground would be a great way to capture her personality.  After sorting through the incredible amount of images I took (1,000 in all in a one-hour time frame!), I couldn't agree more.

Miss S is not an easy smiler, and we were a bit concerned that the images might not display her happiness.  Boy, were we (happily) wrong!  Here she is, along with her big sister (also Miss S), enjoying their day together.

 

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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