PbJ Blog

Really, this shoot was a dream. With a beautiful teen girl and adorably sweet baby boy, this family session was a piece of cake. The weather was beautiful and we captured some beautiful portraits.

Thanks for a great session, guys! I’ll get your gallery up this week for you to enjoy.

This weekend my family gave me a wonderful gift–30 minutes together so I could get a new family portrait of us! As a photographer, I rarely get to be in front of the camera, so it’s extra special when I can set up the tripod and use my timer to capture a few shots with ME in them!

This is my favorite shot from the afternoon, and wouldn’t you know, it was the very first one we took. I love that my girls are sitting so nicely and looking at the camera and NOT being goofy (as they are inclined to do, since they’ve had a camera pointed at them daily pretty much since birth). Love my girls. And my handsome hubby–isn’t he a catch?

This shot, sadly, did not work out quite as well as I’d hoped.

What? You thought I cut off hubby on purpose? No, actually, hubby was definitely the hero of the day. You can see the large body of water between camera and family. He actually tripped the shutter (with a ten second timer) then RAN across the rocky creek to the left of us to jump in the shot. Somehow the camera had shifted slightly from where I’d composed this shot, so we only got his smiling face. Better than nothing, though!

And finally, I have to share a few portraits I took of my girls in their Halloween costumes. I made these using my old high school formal gowns (any blog readers from high school out there?). It was quite a fun project and they turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

My older daughter is modeling a costume made from my Junior and Senior Prom dresses while my two-year old is glowing in my very first formal gown from my Junior Sweetheart dance. And no, I’m NOT planning on sharing pictures of myself in these dresses, no way, no how!

The fall weather has stayed beautiful here in Elko–if you’re thinking about a family portrait before Christmas, now is the time! All these were taken at the campus of Great Basin College, which has varied and beautiful backdrops for portraits. Call 738-8527 to reserve your session time today.

Whew, what a fun session this was! One of my very favorite things is capturing a family in their element, in a setting that they love and have a connection with. For this family, there was no better location than their family ranch, which was perfect for photographs. They have such a variety of picture places! It really was a joy for me.

Isn’t she a looker? Mom and Dad are going to have to lock her up pretty soon, though they’ve got a while since the only boyfriend she’ll claim is one of the family dogs. A girl after my own heart.

Mr. Man is pretty handsome, as well. This is going to be one busy household when these two are teens!

Thanks so much for an awesome session, guys! Enjoy your sneak peek and I’ll let you know when your gallery is ready.

Whew, I can’t believe I haven’t posted these until now! ‘Way, ‘way back just after this wedding I posted one little teaser shot to show the bride and groom, but I never finished the sneak peek. Though my clients have already seen ALL their images, I just couldn’t resist revisiting this wedding and showing you all a few of my favorites from the day. The love between these two was really a joy to behold–they couldn’t keep their eyes (and their hands!) off each other. What a treat for me!

The bridal party consisted of four flower girls–the groom’s daughters. Aren’t they adorable?

Congrats again on your wonderful day, Dave and Tera! It was an honor to be your photographer.

Goodness, I’ve had some fun “playing” with my youngest daughter this week! She is naturally one of my favorite subjects to photograph and this week, I’m thrilled to say, she’s actually been enjoying being in front of the camera. Mind you, this is the child who tells me, “Don’t want to take pic-shures!” and “All done camera, Mommy. I all done.” on a regular basis.

Did she undergo a major personality change, you wonder? No, she’s still her sweet, independent (read stubborn) little self. The difference this week is the props!

What little girl wouldn’t looooove to be photographed in a poofy,  swingy, swirly pettiskirt?

Then today I decided to try again, since watching older sister’s gymnastics class is not nearly as fun as trying to launch yourself off the bleachers while attempting to copy big sis’s moves. Really, it’s just not.

But since I’d already used the pettiskirt this week, I resorted to a prop I got this summer but have had hidden away for just such a day as this–a beautiful silk parasol.

As soon as my little girl saw me take this parasol out of my closet today, she pestered me with “Can I hold the umbrella? Can I hold it? Can I?” Why of course you can, my dear, just go stand in those gorgeous grasses and on the (abandoned and out of service) railroad tracks.

Would your little princess like to play dress-up when we do your portrait session? Just mention this blog post and I’ll be sure to pack my selection of clothing and props sure to please the most discriminating little diva. She’ll be a doll!

As is *very* common at our house, I tried yet again for the perfect sisters photo of my girls. I had it all planned out–the 45 minutes between when Bailey finishes school and starts gymnastics was a perfect window to get to the location, pose for a few minutes, and then let the girls play at the playground. Perfect!

I did not, however, take into account that nefarious designs of Bailey’s teachers (who I actually love, but I digress) in feeding her a snack (chocolate pudding, no less) and letting her do art projects (paint was naturally involved). So when I picked her up from school her shirt, face, hands, and arms were all covered with various substances.

I got most of the chocolate off her face, but you can see I didn’t quite succeed with either shirt or hands. Ah, well, black and white works really well for this anyway!

Tune in next week for another installment of my quest for the perfect sister shot!

Are you an Elko or Spring Creek area family in search of the perfect sibling shot? I have one available session date left in October and one in November. Call me at 738-8527 now to book your portrait session.

Just a quick note to let you all know I will be out of the office from today until Monday, September 22. And emails and phone calls will be returned then. Thank you!

Goodness, what a fun session I had last night! These little guys were dressed just perfectly for portraits (bare feet and everything!) and we had a good time playing at the park and stealing a few shots. Baby brother was as sweet as can be, grinning at me from the start. Big brother was a bit of a tougher nut to crack–it’s a good thing that I have seen lots of children’s television with my girls so that we had something to talk about.

One of the easiest things about being a children’s photographer is that kids will always let you know when they’re done. Not that I blame big brother–we were feet away from a playground this whole session and he was SO good.

Some of these portraits are going to be on display shortly at Hayley’s Fine Gifts downtown–which do you think would look the best?

Thanks so much, Erin, for letting me photograph your little guys. I’ll let you know when your gallery is ready.

~J

What fun! My girls were so excited about school yesterday–my four year old because it was her first day and my two year old because she thought it was her first day, too. (If your kid goes to my kid’s preschool, I was the mom carrying the kicking and screaming toddler out to the car as class started. Yeah, she wanted to stay and play. "Have fun, Mommy!" she told me as she sat down to play with the toys. Poor sweetie.)

Anywho, before I dropped my oldest off at school, I took both my girls downtown for some portraits to celebrate. 

Let me tell you, getting these portraits of BOTH my girls on the same day, in coordinating clothing, in both individual and a sister shot, is nothing short of a miracle. You may not have heard of this before, but there is a disorder that both my girls are victims of called "Photographer’s Child Syndrome" or PCS for short. Since they’ve both had cameras pointed at them constantly from a very young age, they have learned amazing evasive techniques to help them stay away from the camera. My youngest, in particular, is especially skilled in either complete disregard for me and my camera or the out-and-out fit. I’ll have to dig through the archives to share some examples, but let me tell you, it’s not pretty.

So, of course, I’m thrilled with these portraits! I’ve already ordered them to display on my wall–I can’t wait until they get here later this week.

If you’re considering a family portrait session in Elko for this fall, consider using downtown as your location–there are so many wonderful options! Be sure to check out our holiday card deadlines and information and call now to book your session! 775-738-8527