A girl and her horse.

Marlee has been obsessed with horses for some time now. She wears cowboy boots almost daily - whether she is wearing shorts, dress, tutu, pants, no matter. If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she will say a cowgirl.

Every year I do a little photo session for each of my kids around their birthdays. While I was looking for locations, I found this great little farm with horses not far from our house. The owner was kind enough to let us take photos there with one of her ponies.

The minute Marlee saw "Bella" she was enamored. I couldn't keep her attention for anything! When I would tell her to look at me and smile she would say "Mom, leave me alone, I'm riding the horse." Hence, very few photos with smiles and her looking at the camera! She was in her zone giving ALL attention to Bella.

But, I love the photos either way!

Here are some of my favorites...

Every kid needs a rope swing...

It was a beautiful, sunny autumn day and the kids were enjoying some outside time. They love to play on the rope swing that their dad built. Of course I had to pull out my camera! I snuck up on them and captured them in the midst of their adventure. Apparently they were playing some sort of "civilization" game, building and attacking... It was adorable!

These moments are so fun to photograph and remember. They go by so fast! So go out and get some photos of your kids... playing, sharing, and just being themselves.

 

Pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins!

The kids had been buggin' me for days to go to the pumpkin patch and pick out pumpkins. So I finally loaded them up and headed to Honeypot Farms. They have great pick-your-own apples, pumpkins and a small animal farm. Oh, and of course, the mazes! My kids love the tunnel maze and the hedgemaze.

This year I told my kids they could only get a pumpkin that they could carry. I was NOT going to haul all these huge pumpkins to the car! So they went throughout the patch and tested out their strength on different pumpkins. They did very well! Especially my 8 year-old!

Now we just need to carve them!

 

The Adorable "C" Family.

I love Fall. The beautiful colors. The crisp air. The excuse to drink hot chocolate once a day. Fall photo sessions are ALMOST my favorite to shoot. Especially when you have an adorable family like the "C" family!

I have to say, the little ones gave me a run for my money, but I like a good challenge! Usually it's the husbands/fathers that are a trial ("Is this over yet?"). Either way, the pleasure was all mine.

Some of my MOST favorite shots from the session...

The stunning Miss Sarah / Senior Portraits

I noticed right away what a sweet and beautiful girl Sarah is. She literally radiated! We started out with the more formal shots - can I just say MAH-DEL! Sarah was so easy to pose and the light was simply stunning.

It was hard for me to choose my favorite photographs, since there were so many I absolutely love!

Here's a few of them...

A camping we will go!

Last week I realized we hadn't been camping yet this summer. My family loves to camp, so it came as a surprise that summer was almost over and we hadn't spent one night under the starry sky next to a campfire.

So we packed up our camping gear and hit the road... on the busiest camping weekend of the year. Labor Day. I was lucky to find a campground that still had a site available, so I reserved it a few days before. After a quick three hours in the car with three kids and a dog, we arrived at our campsite on Ossipee Lake in NH. Much to our dismay, the campground held mostly RV's - that's right, it was that kind of campground. My husband was determined to find some wilderness with no RV's in site.

We stumbled upon a canoeing outfit that had a camping sign out front. When I asked the man at the front desk if he had any sites available he said "How rustic do you want to go?". Hmmm. As in no running water and only one "Lutrine" rustic. I said "Sure, why not." I've become spoiled over the years with running water, bathrooms and showers so I was a bit skeptical.

After driving down the rode a bit, we found the campsite and set up camp. We were surprised to find that we were the only ones camping there (I'm skeptical whether it was an actual campsite or not!). We camped right on the river and enjoyed 3 days to ourselves. The kids ran free. The dog pooped wherever he felt like and we sat by the fire enjoying starry nights.

Now summer can officially come to an end. (But please no winter weather yet!).

Family photos with a self time - can it be done?!

Okay. So have you ever tried to do your own family photos? If you're a photographer, I'm guessing you have. I don't know how many times we've tried to do our own family photos with a tripod and a self timer. I guess I have a hard time hiring a photographer when I am a photographer.

It's my parents 50th wedding anniversary, so I was asked for a family photo to include in a memory book. Hence the family photo dilemma. My family agreed (once again!) to try for a family photo. Nothing fancy, just get together in the backyard and take a few photos. (We're all dressed up because we had just gotten home from church). My husband told me I had five minutes - did I mention he hates having his photo taken? So I got about 5 clicks in, and this is what I got. Not bad for 5 clicks (and little head swapping), but not great either!

I guess it's time for me to hire a photographer to do our family photos (or at the very least, do a trade - hint, hint Boston photographers!). People, it's worth it!

Summer fun...

I was on a roll with blogging, and then I got busy with summer! Playing at the park, swimming at the beach, camps for kids, and doing who knows what else. It's fun to have no real plans and to just "wing it". And that's what this summer has been all about!

It's been pretty hot here in Boston, so I haven't been lugging around my camera as much as I should be. Of course I'm pretty quick with my handy dandy iphone! So that's all you get today - a day's worth of iphone photos.

First we hit the park, played hide-and-seek. Then we did a little running on the track - I of course lost because I was wearing inappropriate shoes. Next we went to the DeCordova Art Museum and Sculpture Park (you must go, it rocks!). Isn't summer grand?!

Strawberry Fields.

One of my favorite summer activities is visiting farms and picking strawberries and blueberries. Maybe because I was raised on a farm, maybe because I love the taste of fresh berries, or maybe I just like to torture my children in 90 degree weather by making them pick berries. 

I thought maybe if we got to the fields by 10 am we'd be okay. But it was already a sweltering 90 degrees. After 10 minutes in the fields, my kids were hot, sweaty and tired. Luckily, Parlee Farms sells ice cream and strawberry donuts - which I, being a smart mother, used as bribery. Oh, and they also have farm animals for your viewing pleasure.

So now we get to enjoy homemade strawberry jam all year round... and of course I got some great strawberry field photos! 

BEFORE / AFTER
Can you tell I wore them out?

Sweet and feminine... a little bit Rock 'n roll.

Not only does Hannah have eyes to die for, but she moves as graceful as a dancer. (And yes, I asked her, she does have some ballet in her background). I loved how one minute, she looked sweet and feminine and then with a change of clothes she was more rock 'n roll. Which do you prefer?

 

In a field with Kylie!

Have I told you how much I love photographing teens in general? I get to pretend for a little bit that I'm a fashion photographer, photographing an amazing model. Miss Kylie was no exception. Even though it was a cloudy, rainy day and the sun was getting ready to set, we managed to find an open field and get some really great shots. Here are some of my favorites!

   

Please tell me summer is just around the corner!

It's been raining and raining for the past week. I'm really ready for summer now and can't wait until school is out and we can hit the beach! I guess one benefit of lot's of rain is the flowers and grass look extra lush. I especially love flowers just after a few sprinkles.

Nahant Beach and a beautiful Senior.

One of my favorite places to go is the beach. And there are so many amazing beaches on the east coast! Last weekend I was lucky enough to have a photo session with a gorgeous soon-to-be senior. Sonia was so sweet and easy to work with! We found a great beach near Nahant with sand and rocks - the best of both beach worlds.

I got so many great photos, so it was hard to choose which ones to feature on the blog. After much deliberation, here are a few of my favorites.