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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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!

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.

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 Photographer – A basket full of puppies

CT Photographer – A basket full of puppies

Hank, Herman, Helen, Heaven, Harpo, Henry, Hugo, Houston, Hannah and Harley.

Ten newborn puppies for five and a half weeks.

It takes a special kind of family to take on the responsibility of caring for a litter of TEN puppies (and Bahama, the mom) and then send them on their way for further training with Guiding Eyes for the Blind. This Connecticut family decided to do just that and what an experience it has been. The day I met them they were down to eight. One of the puppies (Hannah) was not gaining enough weight, so Hannah went back to the breeder to get some specialized attention and Harley went along to keep her company. We had a rotating supply of sleepy puppies to choose from and it turned into a fun and active “newborn” shoot! The biggest difference of course was that when they woke up they just walked over and started licking the camera or my hand.

Once one puppy figured out how to get out the box then the others picked it up really fast.

Claire is four and an accomplished puppy wrangler. She told me all about the routine and of course she had her favorite – Helen.

When our sleepy puppy woke up we traded it out for another one! But by the end of the session all eight were tired and ready for a nap.

Ideally each puppy should be massaged three times a day to keep them relaxed and also get them used to human touch and contact.

Megan explained that most of them like it and once they get into it they usually fall asleep by the end of their message session.

Puppy yin and yang.