• Home
• About
• Contact
• Categories
  • about me
  • albums, guestbooks, and other photo products
  • babies
  • bellies
  • contests
  • couples
  • engagements
  • families
  • fashion
  • fine art
  • for photographers
  • kids
  • lifestyle portraiture
  • my kids
  • newborns
  • non-profit organizations
  • pets
  • portrait specials
  • seniors
  • slideshows
  • travel
  • Uncategorized
  • wedding specials
  • weddings
• Calendar
• Links
• Archives
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
• CHP Portfolio

the Liveretts + Sedona = mmmm, mmmm good.

Posted on May 21, 2009

These are some of our dear family friends. We love them and miss them and covet their place in Pagosa Springs, CO. Its true. If you are looking to locate yourself to Paradise (i.e. Pagosa Springs), Chris is your man. He can hook you up in a big fat way there. We always seem to hook up on the tail end of vacations and such, and it was no different this time. We flew in from a long weekend in Arkansas (shooting and being in a wedding there…. post to come this week!) on Monday and Chris and Rach and the kids headed over our way for a day and a half. We decided, last minute, to do some Liverett family pics on Tuesday morning. The heat, bright sun and lack of creative options for picture locations at 9am presented us with a fun alternative - drive to Sedona to look for some shade and have some fun. And it was fun! After completely wearing the kids out, dunking one of mine in the river to rid her of her “chocolate” coating (i.e. completely covered in dirt from her older sister), getting homemade ice cream and then promptly having multiple break downs, we headed back to our respective homes - them to paradise, and us to hell Phoenix.

And here are just a “few” of my faves…. I know, I need to redefine the word few, don’t I.

And just because every shoot has “a story,” I have to leave you with this one:

My girls were with me on this shoot… Adelaide and Sierra are friends and of course wanted to play once these dang pictures were done. So my girls were “supposed” to be strapped in the double jogging stroller so I could shoot in “peace.” Well, Adelaide apparently got out and proceeded to cover and I mean COVER her little sister in dirt… you know the red DIRTY kind you find in Sedona. And apparently Sydney didn’t mind so much since there wasn’t any screaming involved. I didn’t even notice this until Cedar, the two year old, said something about Sydney being “chocolate.” And she did indeeded look chocolate covered. Thankfully we were right on a river and could dunk her in and clean her up a bit before the long drive home.

my favorite subjects

Posted on August 15, 2008

just so you can get even more of a feel of my style when it comes to kiddo and baby portraits (aka natural, free, fun, casual, fun, easy, fun … here are a few snapshots of my own lifetime portrait subjects.
Running around in the Texas morning sun and humidity (I couldn’t get enough of her curly hair…. here in Phoenix it is pretty straight):

And the youngest one… the ones of her in the white hat were taken outside… This is the same outfit I put my older daughter in when she was 5 months… if you want to see some comparison pictures, check out my personal blog HERE. (beware of lots and lots of the same pictures

Lifestyle Portraits

Posted on June 6, 2008

There is a “buzz” term floating around the photography community ~ “lifestyle” portraiture. I am sure there are a dozen eloquent descriptions of just what this is out there on the web, but here is a brief CHP description with some photo examples.

These two pictures prove that you don’t have to be saying “cheese” to capture a great and memorable portrait. These funny faces reflect the true essence of this 3 year old… sure, its a stage, but its HIS stage right now. And that is worth capturing and remembering in the years to come!

And it sure doesn’t take much to get the imagination churning with these little ones… here James is coming at me “like a tiger.”

What does lifestyle portraiture look like? Well, it should look like YOU. Your life, your style, your environment, your comfort zone, your activities and hobbies… When I shoot a portrait session, I ask my clients to pick out places that bring them joy and comfort and/or nostalgia (i.e. a back yard, special park, the restaurant of a first date, or “memory lane”), to pick out clothes that reflect their personalities (with maybe a little coaching from me ), and props that reflect their personalities or memories (i.e. a special stuffed animal or toy for a child, a basketball, guitar or instrument for a senior). I like to get down on the ground when photographing a child so that I can capture them in their world… which is vastly different from the world that is just a few feet higher. I like to hear a client’s love story in detail before we meet so we can incorporate some significant places or things into the shoot if possible. This, in a nutshell, is lifestyle portraiture.

This photo was taken at a splash pad… pure joy. You just can’t “stage” that!

Just the other day, I met a friend at a local park and brought along my camera. We weren’t there for a portrait session, we were just there to have fun. But had this been a portrait session, the pictures would have been just the same. With lifestyle portraiture, you don’t have to dress up if you don’t like… you don’t have to pose in awkward positions for insane amounts of time. I love capturing kids in their element and often that is when they are oblivious of the camera. I love to follow a child onto the playground equipment and capture those priceless and effortless smiles and giggles as they come down a slide, swing high into the sky or make sand castles. I love to capture kids interacting with their parents playing catch, tag or as we call it in our family “gettchyoo.” That is lifestyle portraiture. Now, to be sure, I do ask you to look at the camera at times, I do gather the family together to get THE family portrait. But even that should be unique, casual, and most of all comfortable. I have captured the family together blowing bubbles, walking hand in hand, jumping in the air, rolling on the grass in a family pile.

Texas Photo Sessions

Posted on May 28, 2008

Looks like I will be heading to Texas in mid July…. anyone in the Hill Country area interested in some family/baby/maternity/kiddo/senior portraits this summer? Email me if you are interested so I can start narrowing down some dates! If there is enough interest, you might be seeing some posts soon regarding possible:

The McCaleb Family

Posted on December 22, 2007

Man-o-man…. I haven’t even finished the editing process but couldn’t resist posting these…. I am so in love with these pictures of this family… I can’t even stand it! The chemistry, love, joy, and peace these siblings and their mom have with each other is just amazing. And you can see these qualities even just in the photos! Did I mention how gorgeous they all are? Oh yeah, you can see that for yourself… but just know its beauty from the inside out!! So here is a sneak peak… but slideshow and more to come later!

The Bertolini Clan

Posted on October 22, 2007

My family and I met up with the fabulous Bertolini clan on Sunday to attempt some tandem family pictures. Alex is a photographer as well and so we tried to take turns taking our family pics! Ha ha! It looked like a nice sunny day… except for the slight hail storm, ginormous clouds, and freezing wind. Even with the cold, we had a good time… especially when we wrapped it up and headed to the warm train station to eat. Yes, Berlin has amazingly good food in the train stations! Thanks Alex and Robin for hanging out and shooting with us!! Here are a few from the shoot:

And just a couple of my man and little girlie…

Happy Family Portraits

Posted on May 21, 2007

Meet the Z family! Aren’t these little girlies just to die for? What fun it was to shoot their family photos and capture such moments of raw joy and emotion. From a tea party, to butterfly wings, to a chocolate fix break - this family knows how to have fun together!!

And here are a couple of projects I am working on for these pictures. I saw a couple of groups of shots here that would look great in either a collage or storyboard, so I decided to make a couple up to begin with. Also, the newest thing in photography right now is the use of textures to a digital image to help create a very unique work of art. Again, some examples to follow.:

Actually, I designed these last two with textures and a desaturated “vintage” look to them with the idea of them being printed on a canvas gallery wrap. I think the actual texture of the canvas would so complement the texture effect.

(the actual nontextureized ones)

Family Ties

Posted on February 1, 2007

Meet the wonderful and beautiful Schmerbeck family. I was blessed to be able to do my brother’s family portraits right before returning to Berlin after a wonderful 5 weeks in the US visiting family and friends. My niece and nephew, as you can well see, are two of the cutest kids around. Their parents aren’t half bad either!

For more pictures, check out their slideshow HERE!

Winter Fun with the Kids

Posted on January 11, 2007

She’s into wet, slobbery kisses right now.

I love the look of defeat! “Ha!! I beat you!!”

Obviously, the kiddos in the last photo are anything but enthused about the prospect of sitting still for a “group shot.” That is, all but Adelaide who is in her own happy place somewhere!