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

 

CT_Family_Photographer_Planet_Photo_Apple_PickingCT_Family_Photographer_Planet_Photo_Apple_PickingCT_Family_Photographer_Planet_Photo_Apple_PickingCT_Family_Photographer_Planet_Photo_Apple_PickingCT_Family_Photographer_Planet_Photo_Apple_PickingCT_Family_Averill_Farm_Cider_Donuts-08CT_Family_Averill_Farm_Cider_Donuts-07CT_Family_Photographer_Planet_Photo_Apple_Picking

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!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

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…..

 

 

A Hot Air Balloon Launch in Litchfield County, CT – Up, up and away!

Litchfield County, CT – Hot Air Balloon Launch

So, I was hanging out at my friends house watching our girls swim in their pool when a man knocked on the door. He wanted to know if he could launch a hot air balloon from the front yard.

Yeah, we thought we had heard it all before too, but that was really what he wanted to do….. Apparently the regular launch place wasn’t working out and they were looking for an open space on relatively high ground to unload the balloon from the trailer and get it up in the air. It turned our relaxing Sunday beside the pool into a wonderful, beautiful and unforgetable afternoon.

Hot air balloons were discovered in France in 1783 but they have come a long way since those early days of a fabric bag filled with hot air and now-a-days balloon pilots need to have a commercial pilot’s license. The basket on the balloon that we saw was beautiful – I didn’t get a chance to ask, but it looked as if it was hand made and stitched with leather. The balloon was initially filled with air from a fan and a couple of blasts of hot air from the burner heated the air enough to get the balloon inflated and up off the ground.

The pilot suggested I peek in one of the flaps at the top of the balloon – it reminds me of a stained glass window.

I was standing right next to the pilot when he turned on the burner. It was LOUD!

We were all so excited when the balloon lifted off the ground and started to fully inflate – the family taking a ride looked nervous but really anxious to start their adventure.

They were planning to fly to Woodbury, CT. It probably takes around 30 minutes to drive there from New Milford, they expected to fly there in under an hour. It didn’t seem like there was a breath of wind but apparently there was enough to send them on their way.

Lift off!

There was quite a gathering of neighbors – it’s not everyday a hot air balloon takes off from the front lawn. They waved and shouted good bye!

Tell me you are not thinking of the movie Up!  right now!!!!

 

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!

The Edge Revolution – 8 Week Challenge

I know…. I am a children and family photographer so what is all this about??? I just had to share some of the background shots of this amazing event!

The Edge Fitness Club asked me document the transformations of clients in their annual Revolution 8 Week Challenge. Despite blizzards, (almost) record breaking snow accumulations and hazardous road conditions for the start of the competition that is exactly what I did. The Revolution is not just about weight loss, nor hours in the gym, but about a true understanding of what it takes to commit to a new way of eating and a regular exercise regimen. Success is not only measured in pounds lost on the scale, but inches of change and percentage points of fat loss. I got to hang out with Greg the Revolution Guru and pick his brain about his diet recommendations for me, and I have to give him credit for giving me the tools to jump start my metabolism and get me out of a diet rut. He knew his stuff and he is a natural born teacher – he made it soooo easy to understand. I am a believer. I am a Paleo convert.

All joking aside though, who could resist trying out the body fat ultra sound machine????? They measured three areas of your body (for women it was the tricep, next to the belly button and just above the hip bone) and took an average to give a really accurate measurement of body fat. Most competitors saw a reduction in inches, pounds and fat percentage points and most importantly they gained the tools to carry it on afterwards. Even I lost weight and a couple of percentage points of body fat – – not bad for an 8 week challenge!

Congratulations to all who participated. See you at the finale!

I wonder if they will have confetti…..?

I hope I don’t cry when they announce the winner…..

 

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!

 

Redding CT Photographer – First Communion

Redding CT Photographer – First Communion Belle

I first met Isabelle on the day she was born. I met Belle’s Mom, Jeanette, when our sons did Kindermusik. They were the ones raising cane outside the circle and getting disapproving looks from the instructor. Jeanette is the same age as me, we were married in the same year, we both have a boy and a girl and our kids are born within weeks of each other…..we often joke that we have lead parallel lives! We were honored to be among close family members to celebrate Belle’s first communion on a perfect day last spring. She requested red velvet cupcakes with blue frosting so that’s what we made for her – she’s a girl after my own heart!

We love you Belle Belle!

If you see any of those BFF products in the mall there is a good chance that Olivia and Belle would be interested! They are proud of their

“Best Friends Forever” status.

This is Belle’s cousin Molly – doesn’t she have amazing eyes!

Her cousin Anna is just getting interested in photography so we had to have a little portrait session….

Oh to be so popular!

CT Lifestyle Photographer: Snow can be beautiful – not just a pain in the a**!

CT Lifestyle Photographer: Snow can be beautiful.

I woke up one morning to drive Sam to jazz band and an inch of snow had fallen over night – on top of the 12-15 inches we had the week before. It was soooo beautiful and another one of those “this is why we live here” moments. The sun would soon melt the snow, so Sam was 5 minutes late for jazz band while I got out my camera at 6:30 a.m.!

I love ornamental grasses and they seem to love our yard and don’t mind if I neglect them in the summer and chop them back in the spring! The snow balancing on their delicate blades is just an added bonus.

You know the snow won’t stay balanced on those branches for long – so grab your camera next time you see it. But quick, before it melts!

Penny knew there was a ball somewhere and she didn’t mind digging for it!

We get asked about Penny all the time, she is Chatham Hill Retriever from Pennsylvania. She is half flat coat retriever and half cocker spaniel – we think she is the perfect size and personality for our family.

So next time I complain about about a delay or an early dismissal or being snowed in for 3 days straight – remind me again how beautiful it can be (and how much Penny loves the snow!) Of course, if we lose power then all bets are off….