CT Family Photographer Planet Photo welcomes Baby Cora – 5 days new!

CT Family Photographer welcomes Baby Cora!

I was lucky to meet baby Cora when she was only 5 days new. I am reminded time and again of the miracle of a new baby and absolutely adore these newborn family sessions.

Cora has the advantage of joining one of my favorite families whom I have had the honor to photograph on a few different occasions, both for Planet Photo and Raw Photo Design. Cora’s big sister Ella was 11 days old when I met her and she didn’t love the camera that day!!! But the upside was that I got to hang out and really get to know her parents and we bonded big time.

Cora was a star.

She fed and slept and posed and slept and made cute noises for the entire time I was there. I still got to hang out with Mike and Kelly and we got those sleepy baby photos that Kelly really wanted. Take a look and let me know what you think. I love her cheeks, her lips, her tiny finger and toes….. Yeah and everything else about her.

I know I will see them all again soon and I am looking forward to it already.

I love this one of Kelly photo-bombing the newborn posing session!!! Isn’t it so cute?

A hint of a smile above and then one of the only sad moments of the session… Isn’t Ella’s expression priceless?

Until next time…… Bye-bye Ella!

Family Photo Session – Three generations in Atlanta, Georgia

My kids and I had a wonderful time in Georgia recently and I took the opportunity to photograph my Aunt Susan, Uncle Keith and my cousins and their new families. My kids loved being part of the family mix for a couple of weeks and are already planning our next trip. Sue and Keith emigrated from the UK to the US when Rob and Jon were only 1 and 3, so it was great to have them interact with my kids and remind them all that they belong to a larger network. Our extended family might span multiple continents but thanks to modern technology we keep those family connections alive as best as we can.

So the family photo session started out with a maternity shoot for Rob and Jeanna – their baby boy is due later this month. I know, she has one of those perfect tiny baseball baby bumps – I can promise you that I didn’t look like that at 8 months pregnant! They are all ready for baby Asher to arrive and Caulden is going to make a great big brother!

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Jon and Natalie welcomed their new baby Elizabeth a few weeks ago and Alex is so cute with his baby sister.

Natalie introduced us to some good Southern food and was our guide at Cracker Barrel! My kids were so fascinated by the Waffle House and Cracker Barrel at every exit that they became obsessed by the idea of waffles…..

Doesn’t he have the most beautiful clear blue eyes? He is one of those chatty kids that is completely comfortable talking to almost anyone!

When you don’t have a newborn posing beanbag then of course the arm of the leather sofa works in a pinch!

Can you believe Nat just had a baby…? And just how completely adorable that little baby is?????

These two are hysterical together. Caulden and Alex live close to each other and Grammy and Grumpy so they get to spend time together all the time.

Their friendship is amazing and I am sure it will just continue over time.

Three generations!

Lighthouse Point Park Family Session – Ella’s Family!

Lighthouse Point Park New Haven, CT – Family Portrait Session

I met Kelly, Mike and Ella last year and they are amazing. They are sweet, down to earth, incredibly level-headed and have a great outlook on life. They have the cutest family of three and a new baby on the way. Although Kelly would probably like to start planning and decorating, they have decided to wait for one of the most incredible surprises life has to offer. I love surprises and I didn’t find out either – I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Kelly and I spoke about doing this shoot first back in January. She sent me an email explaining that her Dad was having surgery and even though everyone agreed that it was going to go well and they had absolutely nothing to worry about, she felt like we should get together and take photos of her Dad and Ella. Kelly had no way of knowing this, but it was actually the sixth anniversary of my mom’s passing and I loved the idea of photographing the three generations of her family together. I wanted to do it to honor my mom’s memory and to celebrate the continued health of theirs.

Well, it was January and the weather was ridiculously cold, and then of course everyone got sick, so we decided to wait. Thankfully Kelly’s dad recovered well but with a new baby on the way we wanted to incorporate “the belly” into the shoot.  We decided that we should wait for summer, by that time her belly would be nice and round.

If you live in Connecticut then you know how hot it has been recently. We decided to meet early one Sunday morning at Lighthouse Point Park in New Haven. We figured if we met at 7:30 a.m. then the light would be good, the sun would not be too hot, and the crowds would be minimal. Our genius plan worked and we had the whole park to ourselves – well almost, there was a couple of fishermen and grounds keepers raking the beach but they didn’t mind us being there.

I love that you can see how relaxed and happy the whole family is together. Mike just became a Doctor and I was kicking myself for not suggesting that we shoot at Dr Mike’s ice-cream shop…. we will have to do that next time. I hope you all enjoy this family as much as I did.

Ella could see the swings in the distance and she wanted to get going!

Blowing kisses xoxo

Kisses for the baby… I wonder whether Ella will have a baby sister or brother to play with…..

 

 

Litchfield CT Photographer – An Apple Orchard Father’s Day Surprise!

Litchfield CT Photographer – Averill Farm Apple Orchard

Emmy and Amanda wanted to surprise their Dad with some different photos this year for Father’s Day. They knew they wanted to wear their ballet outfits from last months Studio D recital so we just needed a location. I had been keeping my eye on the apple orchard at Averill Farm to catch the trees at peak bloom and the timing was right. When I suggested this to Jen, the girl’s mom, she was all over it. Like so many families in the area they have often visited Averill Farm and had already formed their own special family memories there.  So now I was excited……

Amazingly cute sisters….check!

Stunning location with a special connection to the family….check!

Permission to photograph amongst the apple blossoms….check!

Now we just needed a beautiful spring evening with blue skies, fluffy big white cloud. And we lucked out. The day we picked was perfect.

Jen tried to tell me that the girls hate having their photo taken, but of course they proved her wrong and they were amazing! Cooperative, fun and totally willing to go for it – in short they were a dream to work with. I love it when a plan comes together and most of all when the location has a special meaning to the family. It’s not just about photos – it’s about capturing a memory and I think we did just that.

So, Happy Father’s Day Rich – you are blessed with a beautiful family and they obviously love you very much!

Watertown CT Photographer – A sweet baby girl

Watertown CT Photographer – Newborn Session

Isn’t she beautiful?

Baby Erin was the perfect baby for our newborn session this week. I had one of my close and special friends visiting from England and she offered to help me get some of the trickier poses in newborn photography baby posing. Well I don’t know if it was Sally’s expert touch, Erin’s mom’s completely relaxed attitude, or the fact that she had chain fed the day before, but Erin was in the mood to sleep and did not mind one little bit when we moved her into position!

A huge thank you to Sally from Sally Slack Photography for the tips and tricks you shared with me that day and the support you have given me over the last few years. There’s a funny story about Sally’s visit this time that involves a washing machine, a passport and a slight change to her arrival and departure dates, ask me about it when I see you…..Just know that I really appreciate her friendship and love it when she visits us in Connecticut.

An enormous hug to Stacey of Blush Couture for having baby Erin at the perfect time to be available for our session. She is so precious – congratulations!

Wilton CT Photographer – A baby sister!

Wilton CT Photographer – sibling session

This purplicious young lady is lucky to have a calm and relaxed mom to welcome her to family life in Connecticut. Caroline is the type of person I could share a cup of coffee with and put the world to right, but with a new baby and an almost 2 year old she is going to be a little busy for a while! Big brother and Dad were not home when we met, just seven short days after the birth of baby Hailey, but we had fun capturing that new sleepy baby phase. Hailey made the cutest baby noises you could possibly imagine, stretched and squirmed a bit and then promptly fell asleep! In short, she was perfect during our session. I wish Hailey, Caroline and the rest of their family the very best for the future.

Candlewood Lake, CT Photo Session – ballerina friends on the beach

Candlewood Lake, CT Photo Session

Meg and Lindsey have been friends since they were three and they have danced together for all those years. Last weekends performance of Cinderella and Bed Time Stories by Studio D was a huge success and they wanted to celebrate that by dancing on the shores of Candlewood Lake! They were beautiful in their costumes and you could see just how much they enjoy hanging out together. Of course they were nervous at first. But that is the beauty of the 70-200mm lens in these type of photo sessions. I could move away and observe them from a distance. Their inhibitions disappeared and they began to dance…. Just two friends having fun in their beautiful outfits. I am sure you would twirl too if you were wearing one of those skirts!

Those blue skies and picture perfect clouds have given way to rain showers – we need it, but I look forward to those sunny evenings returning soon….. Enjoy!

Stamford CT – newborn photography session

Stamford CT – newborn photography session!

Can I just start by saying, I never get tired of photographing babies. Baby Ryan is about 4 weeks old, so a little older than the recommended sleepy newborn, but he slept like a dream and was such a little snuggle bug. He didn’t really like to be “fiddled with” after he fell asleep so I didn’t go too crazy with the posing, but I am thrilled with the results. His Dad is a really big sports fans, in fact he has hands-down one of THE coolest man caves I have ever seen, with all kinds of sports memorabilia and signed photos all over the walls. So I see a future in sports for this young man. Ryan’s mom is the sweetest person ever and we had such a nice time chatting up a storm during the session.

I hope I get to meet them all again soon. And when Ryan is the number 1 draft pic, I will pull out these photos and say, “I knew him when……”

Good Luck to Ryan and his family!

I don’t know who invented these giraffes (I wish it had been me) – they are popping up everywhere!

 I LOVE this one!

Westport CT – Newborn Photography Session – So cute!

Westport CT – Newborn Photography

This little guy was handsome, cooperative and an absolute angel for his newborn session. Best of all, I got lots of snuggle time.

My friend Betsy is a doula and she helped to deliver this little guy just over a week ago, so I had it on good authority that he was born into a great family.

Good Luck to the whole family – he’s a keeper!

I love this one with Alli and her little man.

Family Photography in Vermont – Easter Weekend

Family Photography in Vermont – Easter Weekend

I remember as a child the excitement that surrounded Easter weekend. Growing up in England, we typically got about three weeks off school, with Easter right in the middle. The tradition there is to give big hollow chocolate eggs filled with other chocolates or candies, and the line outside Thornton’s was long in the days before Easter Sunday. Easter dinner for our family was usually lamb with mint sauce, spring asparagus and new potatoes and was almost always followed by a trip to visit grandparents in Liverpool for more easter eggs!

We had to have a new outfit or something special to wear. We drew the line at easter bonnets, but there were still some families that went that far. It was the beginning of spring, a celebration of the end of the winter and the perfect time to spend with those you love.

We spent Easter 2013 with friends in Vermont. It seems like my kids have grown out of the matching new outfit phase (I have to admit, I am a little sad) and lamb was replaced by ham and a big easter brunch, but the idea was the same. We relaxed, we ate too much chocolate and we went for a walk with good friends and family.

The dogs were happy, the kids were happy and we celebrated the beginning of spring. April is also the start of mud season in Vermont – we celebrated that too!

Ella, a Bernese Mountain Dog, is completely at home in the snow of Vermont.

The kids were pretty at home too – they negotiated all weekend about how many clothes they needed to be wearing.

Yep – there really still is that much snow and they worked on that man sized hole all weekend!

Busted!!!! Declan hiding in the corner (behind the glove tree) to play with the ipad.

Judy is the reigning queen of cards so everyone wanted to see what she had in her hand…..

“Chillaxing”

Never work with kids and animals. Penny was in the picture. And then she wanted out. And then she wanted in again…. Doesn’t she look hysterical – kind of like she is springing along on her fuzzy legs! Mental note: call the groomer!

Final version – no Penny.

A rare Taub Family photo – thanks to Krista for that one!

Inger, a neighbor who also happens to be a massage therapist (how perfect is that!) joined us for brunch and a walk.

Yeah, I told you it was mud season! We thought it was hard driving up the hill in the snow last weekend, this was almost worse.

Happy Easter and Happy Passover to you all!