Earlier this summer I got to meet up with another extended family to take photos for them at a cottage they were renting on the beach in Grand Haven. The kids were so friendly and immediately greeted me when I arrived and even the baby was in a good mood during the photo session! I loved watching everyone run around on the beach barefoot and even the dog was in on the fun. Here are some of my favorites from the Feyer family.
Last summer Marcia first contacted me about getting photos taken of her extended family which includes 3 daughters and their kids but it turned out to be more difficult then anticipated to get them all together! I’m so happy she didn’t give up on the idea and we finally got something scheduled so they can have these family memories :) I had fun seeing all of the cousins run around and play together and they even tried to get the dog in a few photos before deciding it was too much chaos with so many kids and a dog! Here are some of my favorites from their session a couple weeks ago.
Spring has finally arrived in west Michigan and what better way to celebrate then a photo shoot with a baby! Olive turned 3 months old last Saturday and we had been talking about getting pictures since before she was born so I’m glad we finally made it happen. Olive is such a sweet baby and she gave us lots of fun facial expressions (in between naps and feedings)! Here are some of my favorites from the session
I first photographed this family back in 2014 when there was only one grand kid and since then have continued to take pictures for the Johnston half as they’ve grown but it was so fun to have the opportunity to photograph the entire family again. After a couple minutes of smiling for pictures the kids were ready to play! I have to admit this is the first family who has ever asked me to take photos of their kids sledding and it was tons of fun to capture the kids faces as they went down the hill. Here are some of my favorites from their session :)
There’s something special about getting to photograph the same people over the course of many years. Back in 2014 I met Melissa and Rob when I took their engagement photos, then I photographed their wedding in 2015 so I was excited when they asked if I’d take family pictures of them this winter with their two year old son and their daughter on the way! One perk of taking pictures in the winter is that we don’t have to deal with tons of other people around. Plus, the snow is so pretty :) Here are some of my favorites from their session.
Last weekend I got to catch up with the Budrick family for the third year in a row taking their family photos! This time they asked if we could do the photos at the barn with their horse, Chip, and I happily agreed being a former horse crazy kid myself :) Despite the cold everyone was willing to go along with my ideas and spend more time outside taking pictures then originally planned. Here are some of my favorites from their session
I’ve known this family about 3 years now because their middle daughter is in my youth group so I was thrilled when they asked me to take some family pictures! Despite some scheduling conflicts we finally settled on a date and ended up having great weather (its started raining 5 minutes after we finished) for late November in Michigan. I also learned about another great park in Grand Rapids for taking pictures - Provin Trails- which I had never been to before but will definitely return again. Here are some of my favorites from the Clason’s family session!
Another repeat family is featured today. I photographed the Baker’s last year on a snowy day and this year the goal was to have “fall” photos but we had to push back their scheduled photo shoot by a week and ended up getting snow here in West Michigan in that time! Instead of taking pictures at a park we decided to go downtown Grand Rapids and found a really cool alleyway that I had never noticed before. Here are some of my favorites from their session.
Time for another family post, the official last photo shoot in the fall colors! It was a very windy Sunday afternoon at the end of October, but we knew the snow would be arriving soon so we all did the best we could! It’s hard to believe that little Emma is 2 years old now, I have taken photos of her parents engagement, I was in their wedding, I took maternity photos for them, newborn photos of Emma and pictures last fall around her first birthday. It’s safe to say that Chris and Sarah have been my photo subjects for many years and I’m grateful they continue to ask me to photograph their family milestones. Here are some of my favorites from their session :)
The Johnston’s are another family who I’ve had the joy of getting to photograph multiple years in a row. They live on a natural beauty road and have a lot of beautiful trees around their yard that make for a great background this time of year. We got so lucky with the weather this year since on the day we scheduled photos it rained until about 30 minutes before and started up again about 10 minutes after I left! It was so much fun seeing how much their boys had grown and getting to meet their baby daughter! It was hard to choose favorites to share from this session but here are my top 13 :)
I love when families ask me to take their photos once a year around the same time because it’s so fun to see how they grow and change, but I think the Aupperlee family are the first clients I’ve ever had to get family photos twice within 6 months and both kids have grown a lot since the spring! This time we met at a park and despite it being a little cold the kids did a good job (the baby even fell asleep at the end)! I also learned from this photo session that going to a dog park is a great way to get little kids to focus as we were able to tell Jackson to keep an eye out for dogs behind me which made him look toward the camera :) Here are some of my favorites from their session last weekend!
Last week I finally was able to meet up with the Klein Family and take their photos after re-scheduling three times due to rain! Thankfully they were able to be flexible and when we finally got a dry day their family orchard was the perfect setting for fall pictures. I had lots of fun with 2 year old Stella and by the end of the shoot she was even holding my hand :) And I learned that 1 year old Eli loves apples! Enjoy this preview of Angie, Brent, and the kids!
I love when I get to photograph families year after year, it’s such a fun way to watch them grow and preserve those memories! Karen and I have been friends for a while and as such I had the privilage of photographing her and Doug’s wedding back in 2011 and each of their kids as newborns. Despite the humidity and the mosquitoes I managed to get a few smiles from the kids - here are some of my favorites from their photo session :)
Over Labor Day Weekend I met up with the Perkins family at one of my favorite parks in Grand Rapids to take their family photos. The weather forecast was calling for rain and luckily we were able to change the time for photos at the last minute and finish up before the rain started (though it was very humid)! These three were troopers and didn’t complain about the weather or the amount of walking I asked them to do to get to some of my favorite spots. Even the dog was cooperative for pictures :) Enjoy this preview of their session!
Last weekend I had the pleasure of meeting the McAleenan family and taking some photos in their beautiful backyard. All of their kids and all of their grand kids (5 boys) were home for just a short time and luckily the rain held off until we were done taking photos! I loved seeing the little cousins play together and amazingly none of them started crying while I was there :) Here are some of my favorites of this sweet family!
Baby girls are popular on the blog right now, a few weeks ago I got to meet and photograph my second one in a month :) Baby Amelia was so sweet and didn't seem to mind us moving her around for photos or even when big brother Jackson was driving his tractors on her. I had lots of fun with this family and loved seeing how Jackson tried to play with his baby sister. Thanks Aupperlee family for letting me come take some family photos for you, here are some of my favorites!
Last weekend I had the joy of meeting two week old baby Cora and catching up with her big brother and big sister. The Kosters family have always been willing to let me photograph their big events from their wedding to pregnancy with baby #2 and family photos commemorating the move out of their first house. Although, neither Cora nor her older siblings were in the mood to have their picture taken I still managed to capture some sweet moments in between tears (all three kids were crying at one point) and I hope the big kids always love their little sister this much!
My last photo shoot of 2017 was a fun winter afternoon with the Baker family at Wedgwood Park in Grandville. This family attends church with me, but it was fun seeing them outside of there :) Despite initial complaints about the cold- Shanna and her 4 kids all trudged through the snow with me to find good spots for photos! These pictures were a Christmas gift for the kids Grandma so I had to wait to post them until after the holiday, but I'm excited to share my favorites with everyone now!
While the snow was still here last weekend I squeezed in two more 'mini' sessions at Wedgewood Park in Grandville and one of them was of my co-worker Ethan, his wife Angela and their two dogs. The park was not very large but has a creek running through it which looked so pretty in the fresh snow. Due to the cold we only got a couple pictures with the dogs before they were put back into the car to wait but here are some of my favorites from their session.
Yesterday was one of those rare moments this time of year where a last minute photo shoot was able to be scheduled when everyone was free the weather was also cooperating! Two years ago I took family photos for the Budricks at this same locations in the fall and they had been hoping for updated photos before Christmas this year, but wanted snow which was late to arrive in west Michigan this year. We also added Gia's brother and his son to the family photos this year and it was fun watching the cousins interact with each other and play in the snow between photos. The location looked so beautiful with the fresh snow and I appreciated how everyone was patient with me despite being cold- here are some of my favorites from this session!
