Family Session - What to Wear

One of the easiest ways to put together outfits for any portrait session that looks modern and stylish is to mix and match patterns and solids using colours that complement each other. Stick to a few colours and use that as your basis for a colour palette to work off from. Then simply choose pieces that contain all or bits of those colours.

Here's an example of a style guide I put together for an upcoming session.

Sources

A few things to keep in mind:

-Stick to one or two patterns per set
-Incorporate layers
-Don't forget to use accessories for the perfect finishing touch
-Lay out everything on your bed to make sure everything matches and nothing stands out too much

For family portrait sessions, if you have any toys and blankets that match colours from your colour palette, make sure that you provide those to your photographer to use as props too. Having props that are also a part of the colour palette will help your images look like one cohesive collection.

If you are preparing for a session of your own, I hope that these tips are helpful and that you have fun putting together the outfits for you and your family. Happy planning!

North York Baby and Family Photographer - Jackie, Kevin and Baby Nathan

**Hi there lovelies! We've moved. You can find our newest posts at http://sundaykindoflove.com/blog. Hope to see you there!

I don't usually combine maternity and newborn sessions into one post, but since both portrait sessions were done inside the lovely North York home of this family, I thought it would be great for a before and after feature. There was beautiful light pouring into their bedroom so we decided to start there.



While planning out ideas, Jackie had pinned this neat patterned maternity dress to the Pinterest Inspiration board we had created for this session. The dress that she decided to go with for this photoshoot was similar and just so perfect, don't you think? I'm also in love with her choice of nail polish colour.



I could spend all day in this cozy little sitting area that Jackie and Kevin designed as a part of their living room area. Some of those framed prints were photographs from their travels around the world. Yes those are blue pom pom decorations, remnants of a baby shower from the day before.





According to Kevin, what started out as an innocent exchange of Eeyore gifts to each other has now blossomed into one big happy collection of Eeyores.




And now,
introducing...
Mister Nathan Henry Chiang. I like to call this Nathan's "the Thinker" pose. Can you say, A-DOR-A-BLE!?





At one point, I remember asking Jackie to hold on to Nathan while I set up another room for the next shot. I came back to this beautiful mother and son moment. Oh the wonderment of motherhood.



Nathan, meet Eeyore. Eeyore, Nathan.



While I love the simplicity of images showing the newborn by themselves, there's something about the candid family moments in between the shots that gets me every time. It's the little moments that make life big. So very true.






Jackie and Kevin, thank you so much for opening up your home to me and allowing me the opportunity to capture the three of you (and your 50 Eeyores) and your first moments together as a family.

P.S. A little birdie told me that today is Jackie's birthday! Happy Birthday Jackie!!

Family Photography Session in Kleinburg

Hello everyone and happy 2012!

First things first: to my dear blog, sorry for neglecting you over the holidays, I promise to take care of you and keep you updated this year. I have lots of new ideas and plans that I can't wait to share with you.

No really, I do want to take a moment to thank those who have been patient and still check back for updates. THANK YOU :) Things have been hectic the past few weeks, but I look forward to some quality time with all you readers this year. What's in store? More client features, style guides for what to wear during your session, ideas for what to do with all the gorgeous photos you will have, more behind the scenes posts and what I'm most excited about, some new design changes for the blog. Posts will be easier to find, more reader friendly, load faster and of course look prettier. Cheers to that!

So to start this year off - another special client feature, the Greco family:



Back in August of last year, Linda contacted me about doing a lifestyle photography session in October when her son, Sebastian would turn one. She wanted photos of Sebastian and of the entire family, just like the ones we did with her daughter, Alexia, at the same age. She also knew she wanted a small printed album with images from the day so we made sure that we planned around a single colour palette so that all the final images would look good together in the final product.

We really wanted to create a unique vision for Linda's family session. Using Pinterest, we collaborated on an inspiration board that the shoot would be based around. Check out the inspiration board here. For this task, Linda was given one guideline and that was not to add only photos of other shoots she liked but to include images of toys, colours, food, anything that brought a smile to her face so that we could incorporate everything that was meaningful to Linda into the shoot.

Based on what she added to the inspiration board, Linda was really drawn to images that were airy, natural and showed a connection with the children. She also wanted something outdoors and suggested a wonderful location: Kleinburg, Ontario - a rustic, historical village which we thought would work out perfectly. We also went with the colour theme of red, black and grey although due to weather, there was a last minute switch from the red to a deep pink which worked out even better as it really popped out in the photos!

Before heading over to Kleinburg, we decided to start with some photos at the Greco's home. The client's home is a great place to start a session whenever time allows for it. This is where children (especially young or shy ones) are the most comfortable - they have their toys and are in familiar surroundings. There is no better opportunity to see the family interact and hang out with the kids than here. These next few photos are perfect examples. Sebastian and Alexia playing together, Daddy hanging around with his two children, such sweet moments to be a part of!



And with that said, let's get to the photos! Here are some of my absolute favourite shots from the rest of the day - it was very hard to choose just a few.









Some shots of the final album that was designed for Linda:



And to sum it all up, a quote from Linda:

Hey Vivian, I love the little album!! Thank you so much the pictures look great, we're very happy.

A beautiful, photogenic family wouldn't you agree? A big thank you to the Grecos for the amazing session and a special thanks to Linda for her creativity in putting together the outfits for everyone. Yes we lost some apples in the process but it was worth it - Sebastian seemed to think they were balls and threw them to the ground where he saw fit!

View more images from this family portrait session in their highlights slideshow.

Markham Baby Photographer - Newborn Session

This little man came extra early for mommy and daddy but that means all the more time they get to spend with his darling face. Congratulations Emily and Greg! We did this session only earlier today but I just couldn't wait to share this image with you all.

Cornell, Markham Baby and Family Photographer - Julie and Marlon Plus Two

Meet Julie and Marlon, proud parents of Treana and baby Mikayla.

Mikayla was cute as a button with her full head of hair and big, round eyes. She barely made a fuss, no pacifier needed as she kept herself entertained munching on her tiny fingers while we placed her on the different props and backgrounds. Then there was Treana, who was shy at first, but after a few warm-up poses with daddy, was a perfect little model. By the end of the session she was loving the camera so much she didn't want to leave!

I loved the pops of green, blue and purple on both the girls' outfits too. Thank you Julie and Marlon for a fun session! Here are some of my favourite images from the day.

To see more from this session, check out their slideshow here.