A Very Personal Session

People always ask me why I don't blog about photos I take of my own family and the reason is because I really try to keep the blog professional. Writing about my kids' photos would inevitably take this blog into an area of over the top sappiness about how much I love my offspring and after a while, I think there would be quite a bit of eye rolling in front of computer screens of my followers. So my rule is pro photos only.

BUT......rules are made to be broken. My daughter recently celebrated her First Holy Communion and I have to say the preparation and event itself really got me thinking about a lot of things, one of which is realizing how blessed I am to have my children and also how truly happy I am to bottle the experiences in the form of photos. I am really not dealing well with how quickly they are growing up and just want time to slow down. Well, with photography, it kind of does. And I love doing that for myself and for my clients.

I am going to REALLY try to keep this post professional but I will sprinkle in some personal thoughts and back stories. I always tell prospective clients that if you like my photos, you will love the ones I can create for you because they have personal meaning. So that is what I will share. (Decent tie-in, huh?) OK, here goes nothin'!

Clearly this shot was directed but I do like the natural smile. The Christening dress was worn by my daughter and originally worn by yours truly many years ago.

 I wanted a wider shot to remember her little girl room.

Same goes for this shot. I also tried to make an effort to not make communion portraits look too "bridal." Kind of difficult with a girl in a fancy white dress and veil, but shooting wider creates the appropriate environment.

I think back to the communion poses of yesteryear and thought I would freshen it up a bit. Not including her full face detracts from the formality of the pose and gives it a more serene feel.

Ramped up the "freshening up" here. I am trying to be more aware of reflections in my work.

The traditional portrait. And aren't I doing a great job of not saying how pretty she is and how I just love her smile? Yep, didn't even mention it once! ;-)

 

I really liked the detail in her headpiece and have always liked the feminine look of this angle.

The light comes in perfectly through her bedroom window and cascaded over the veil so beautifully. I also like seeing the detail in her dress.

 Closer shot of the details.

We moved outside for family shots. Many thanks to my friend and neighbor extraordinare Michelle for snapping these....and patiently taking my direction. ;-)

As I've said before, I do like the traditional looking-at-the-camera shot like the last one, but the better shot comes right after it.

My friend Ildiko gave me the idea of putting all of my guys in matching ties. It's not often a husband would agree to this, so I jumped on the opportunity!

 I picked a great daddy for my little girl.

Little girls and flowers. You can't go wrong. Shooting closeup with a wide angle lens adds drama.

Once again attempting to capture her age and innocence. She had fun skipping through the blossoming trees.

 A traditional pose amidst a beautiful background exploding with color.

Every year I drive past rows and rows of tulips planted all over my beautiful town and FINALLY stopped to take a photo. One of my favorites of the day.

We stopped at church, too, as it's too easy to forget that's where everything is taking place. All of these photos were taken BEFORE communion day. It's much simpler and calmer that way. (And by the way, my church had a strict rule of no photography during the communion mass. I have to say, it was lovely to enjoy the moment as opposed to focusing on photographing the moment. Sometimes it's just better that way.)

 

What's better than one communion girl? Two communion girls! I just love this photo.

This is a special rosary from Ireland given to my daughter by Grandma and Grandpa when she was Christened. So pretty, right? And a photographer's dream with the crystals.

 I like to remember the details.Thought a natural setting would be pretty.

 Onto the celebration. I tried to keep the details sweet.

 Pinterest is going to be the death of me, but I do like the way this came out.

Pre-party excitement. A special shout out to Christa at enVious Events for all the help with transforming my backyard and running the day so that we can say we enjoyed our own party.

 Kids table!

 I didn't take all that many photos the rest of the day....as this was my view for most of the party!

Family celebrations are the best. Especially when the older cousins play with the little ones. And don't mind getting frosting all over their face.

 Fun group shot and I also love the smiling faces in the background.

 Those of you that have been blog followers since the beginning may remember that my dad is the original photographer in the family. Here he is.

Thank you for letting me share my special girl with you. She will grow and we will strive to enjoy every second. But no matter how old she is, I will always remember days like this.