Family Photos – Brookfield, CT

This Brookfield CT extended family have a lot of energy between them! We met on a sunny but slightly chilly morning at Happy Landings Farm and they burst out of the cars ready and eager to run and chase each other around. Could you imagine trying to capture these six in a studio????

It was so fun to see how they interacted together and how comfortable they all were with each other. So often today families are scattered far and wide but this family gets the benefit of growing up knowing and loving their cousins. The big ones look out for the little ones and everyone joined in to help make each other smile and look in the direction of the camera!

Erin is a teacher and I imagine she’s a great one – her kids certainly respond well to her fun, outgoing personality.

I love how the twins are literally doing laps around Mom, Dad and their baby brother – it looks like he is used to it though and not at all phased by the chaos!!!

I was blown away by the classic celtic coloring of this family, their red hair is stunning.

All the cousins sitting still for a moment or two……

The kids were getting a little cold but with a tootsie roll waiting for them in the car they were such troopers and I think the rosy cheeks just add to their cuteness!

CT Family Photo Session

CT Family Photo Session – Planet Photo meets a beautiful baby boy!

I had the pleasure of meeting this little guy a couple of weeks ago for a newborn family photo and he was the cutest! Newborn sessions are completely unpredictable. You never know how fast the baby will fall asleep, or how much they will like me “fiddling” with them once they fall asleep. One thing I can usually count on is some time to hang out with the parents and get to know a little about the family this new baby has been lucky enough to be born into. I loved this guy’s parents and almost invited myself along to lunch afterwards!!!

Once I get the baby posed in a certain way then instead of moving them, it’s me that moves around and I try to get a couple of different angles of the same pose.

His moms didn’t really want to be in the shoot but this shows the love and the support this baby will have surrounding him in life – I love this!

Look at those big eyes! He was taking the whole thing in and didn’t want to miss a trick.

Congratulations on your beautiful baby boy!

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Ridgefield CT Newborn Photographer

Ridgefield CT Newborn Photographer – Planet Photo wants you to meet this future Rock Star Baby!

This shoot was planned on a bus ride to the Bronx Zoo – one school trip chaperone and one special-ed teacher chatting over the noise of lots of 4th graders excited to be out of school for the day! I love when a mom has time to look forward to the newborn shoot and has ideas to make it special.

I had an absolute blast with Kelly and her Mother-in-Law Karen and the newest addition to the family. Kelly’s husband plays guitar and loves music so we wanted to try to tie that in to the shoot. I love to make the newborn shoots a unique and personal experience, whether taking a prop from the home or including the colors the family loves, there is usually a way to make all newborn sessions just a little different. Some babies love to be on their tummy, some prefer their back, I listen and look for the cues from the baby and make sure they are always safe and secure. No photo is ever worth risking the safety of the baby. Thankfully my training as a nanny and my own children have prepared me to feel comfortable around babies and newborns and I love every minute of the shoot. Kelly and Karen were spotters in the guitar shots and were just out of the frame in case he came out of his deep sleep and stretched out his long legs!

So, grab a cup of coffee and check this one out – he is a keeper!

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Sherman CT Family Photographer

Sherman CT Family Photographer Planet Photo in a Candlewood Lake Family Session

A relaxed photo shoot on the shores of Candlewood Lake in Sherman CT with an active almost one year old?????? You know that as soon as they are mobile, then chances are you are going to get a few cute shots of the back of a toddlers head as they take off across the lawn. This little girl was no exception, but she loved to smile at the camera, and I managed to get a few of those beautiful big brown eyes as well. She is adorable and everyone who meets her remarks on how much she looks like her mommy. I am sure you can see it too, but she sure loves her Daddy.

Photographing young families is always a question of balancing that “holiday card pose” with capturing the magic interactions between family members. I absolutely LOVE the shots of this family laughing and playing together. That’s what it’s all about for me – those moments of sheer joy when they forget that I am there with a camera and just enjoy each other. But those moments are captured for ever, and to me, they mean of so much more than that holiday card pose.

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Brookfield CT Family Photographer

Brookfield CT | Family Photographer Planet Photo at Happy Landings Farm

One of the perks of being a family photographer is being able to see how some of my regular families change over the years. I have always been impressed at how these Brookfield, CT siblings get along – at least when I am around…… and they usually have a lot of fun with the photo session. We chose Happy Landings Farm in Brookfield – we have done graffiti in Brookfield and fall colors over at Lover’s Leap in New Milford, so an open field with hay bales seemed like a good choice this year!!!

Happy Landings is a former dairy farm and a beautiful wide open nature preserve. It is hardly ever crowded and even if there were more than four cars in the parking lot there is plenty of room to find a moment of peace and quiet. We managed to squeeze a meeting into a hectic weekend of Irish dancing and hockey and even though the sky was gray, we certainly managed to capture the bond that exists between this brother and sister. I love the ones in the tall grasses, with a little help from some off camera flash you would never guess just how grey that day was. And best of all, no ticks were reported, although I think I got just a little poison ivy…….

Enjoy!

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New Preston CT Family Photographer

New Preston CT Family Photographer Planet Photo visits Averill Farm!

I love apple picking. When you live in New England you learn to make the most of each season. Fall brings slightly cooler temperatures, less humidity, the world famous fall colors and apple picking. Averill Farm has been my favorite go-to place for a number of years and holds a special place in my heart. I have a photo of me with my mom on her last visit to Connecticut taken just at the end of the rows of Macouns at Averill Farm. I nod to her when we pass every year and remember that day.

I try to encourage families to chose a place that is familiar to them, somewhere that means something to their family, and this family loves Averill Farm just as much as we do. Each year Charlotte and Ginny get a little taller, a little more independent and a lot more opinionated about just who manages to find The perfect apple of the day! A special thanks to Olivia and Avery who came along to the after school photo session – they helped to set up the shots and kept everyone focused on the apple cider donuts waiting for us at the barn. Ginny has been a little crazy about zebras for as long as I have known her so it did not surprise me that she brought her zebra hat along! Aren’t they beautiful? We love them both very much. xo

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New Milford CT Family Photographer – Harrybrooke Park

New Milford CT Family Photographer Planet Photo met this wonderful family in Harrybrooke Park

Almost every child in New Milford learns to ride a two wheeler bike at Harrybrooke Park on the mile long flat track away from cars and traffic! The 41 acre park was given to the people of New Milford in 1965 by it’s former owner Frank Harden. The upkeep of the park has proven to be an expensive one for the trust set up by Mr Harden but Harrybrooke Park has undergone a transformation over the last few years. The fenced garden has been beautifully planted, trees have been cleared and there have been a number of Eagle Scout projects here to clear overgrown areas and improve access to long overgrown river banks and pathways.

This Connecticut Family suggested we meet here at the beginning of fall. We had fun hanging out with all the family, Evan plays football for the NMHS so we got a chance to photograph him in his uniform, but we devoted the second half of the session to Lori and Emily. I have long admired the relationship Lori has with her eldest daughter and we wanted to capture some of those moments in a special mother daughter shoot. I hope that Olivia and I will someday have a similar bond.

NY Family Photographer – Modern Newborn Shoot

NY Family Photographer – Planet Photo

meets Gemma for a modern newborn shoot

Joya and Michael were a RAW Photo Design couple and their engagement shoot was in a garage in Brooklyn. So you know they didn’t just want a pastel newborn session….. The custom built motorcycle was in that original engagement session so we had to include that in our newborn session.

Gemma made her arrival a little earlier than planned and she was almost 5 weeks before I had the honor of meeting her. I let them know that newborn shoots can be a little unpredictable. Five weeks old is out of that traditionally sleepy newborn phase where eating sleeping take up the majority of the day. Well, of course Gemma proved to be a perfect model in almost every way…. she slept and posed and then slept some more! So much for that traditional sleepy phase…….

Joya and Michael had done a little research and had some ideas for shots which we managed to work into the session, but we still got those adorable sleepy baby shots that they will treasure forever. They really are only this small for such a short period of time and I love the simplicity of these shots.

I am crazy about the results of our session and I am sure you are going to fall in love with this little honey bee. With her parents arms always wrapped protectively around her Gemma has a bright future ahead of her.

Enjoy!

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!

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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…..