The Lemire Family **Slide Show Added!**

What an awesome family this is! I had so much fun taking their photos on a chilly November day in Massachusetts!! Here are a couple of my favorite photos from the day with a slide show at the end... Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Planning their roll down the hill at the end of the photo shoot... (which we never got to, sorry kids!)


Perfect little profile!




Do you think we were having fun??!!


I love this tire swing photo...it's so innocent and fun...


How cute is he??!! I have a very soft spot in my heart for red hair, my little Charlie has it too!


Take a look at this photo...check out this piece of ice...their daddy pulled it out of the pond and we captured some awesome photos of the kids behind it!


This was my favorite photo of the day...awesome light, awesome location! I absolutely love it!


Here is the slide show guys! Enjoy!

Thanks so much for inviting me to photograph your beautiful family, I really had a great time! I'll be posting your slide show shortly!!

xo,

Katie

3 Little Girls

I'm not sure that words can ever adequately express how much I love photography. It's not the physical action of figuring out how best to position myself or my camera, it's not interacting with children or adults while I take photos, while I love both of those aspects of the job, it's capturing the little spirit within each person that I like the best.

On this particular photo shoot with three amazingly beautiful girls, one thing that stands out most in my mind is the following. One of the little girls asked if she thought that my son (her friend) would think the outfit she was wearing was beautiful. I answered, "Why yes, of course, he would think it was beautiful." And that was the end of the conversation. But later, as I sat back and thought about what she said, I wish I had given her a different answer. I wish I had said something like, "The outfit doesn't make you beautiful, you are beautiful because of who you are inside." These girls, and this family, are not only beautiful on the outside, but the are gorgeous on the inside too! They are fun, thoughtful, and kind and have been an absolute joy to get to know. I am honored to have taken their photos!

Here are some of their photos...






The girls together!


Enjoy your slide show guys!! :)

Carla TenEyck and the TenEyck Tuesday Experience!

CARLA is...
Authentic, empowering others to be their true selves.
Funny, letting others feel at ease.
Intelligent, encouraging others to learn.
Compassionate, causing others to feel cared for.
Open, allowing us to be free.
*****
I've been looking for the right words. It's been hard to put my thoughts and feelings into words which translate effectively. I feel pretty good about what I captured above so I am going to leave it at that.

So here's the story. The abridged version. After being afflicted by a minor obsession, make that MAJOR obsession with the fact that I really wanted to pursue photography as a career earlier this year, I began to feverishly search for blogs and websites that illustrated the style and feel of the visions in my head. There are so many wonderful people and photographers out there, many have earned a bookmark on my computer, but one that stood out to me was Carla TenEyck. I loved her style, her honesty, her humor, her ability to draw me in by images and words. I was aware that she liked to mentor others by some of the posts I read on her blog, but I was too scared to reach out. But finally one day I just had to.

(***People, time to take your heads out of the sand and move towards your dreams, your goals, no matter how old they or you are. Go accomplish something and feel proud of yourself. You'll be surprised at how great it makes you feel.***)

So after I emailed her an initial email, I was prepared to never hear from her again. But, no joke, she emailed me back that night. After some back and forth exchanges, an awesomely gracious face-to-face meeting that I am so thankful for, and some serious money wrangling with my husband, I decided I was going to take part in Ten Eyck Tuesday! Yeah!!!! Okay, here's where we finally get to the meat of the story.

So, this particular Ten Eyck Tuesday took place on November 4th, Election Day. It was a super experience. Carla shared some mad skills and knowledge with us, introduced us to our models, hello Mr. & Mrs. Jack & Val McCormick (photographer extraordinaire and gorgeous woman to boot!), and then away we went to a train yard in Hartford where Mr. Jack works! So cool!

Ummm, at this point in the story my hands begin to shake and I am nervous! Folks, I am with the Nikki Nicole and the Sarah McCoy, both established photographers in their own right. To top it off I am photographing a photographer, and Carla is standing behind me! Ahhh! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?

ANY WHO...so my hands are shaking, I move the gorgeous Val and Jack in between two trains, climb up one of the trains, and start snapping away...I am not getting what I want with light but here were some of the images I did manage to snag.


I love the way she has her hand in his pocket, pulling him closer...oooh, baby!!




This train may or may not have been running at the time...


Val had unfortunately hurt one of the toes on her foot so she was uncomfortable walking around a lot. In these shots I just asked them to stand still. Carla was perplexed by what I was trying to capture, but I liked the outcome. Even though they are standing there together, the photo reflects loneliness to me...


Ummm, hello bird, I didn't even see you when I was taking these photos...


This was taken at UCONN Law School in Hartford, though you would never be able to tell since I textured it up.


And what is a photo shoot of a beautiful woman without a shoe shot? Well, incomplete of course. But since Val had hurt her toe she wasn't able to wear hot, sexy shoes so I had to improvise....what do you think?? ;)


In conclusion, I am so happy I took part in Ten Eyck Tuesdays! Not only did I gain experience, I met some awesome people and really discovered where my weaknesses are. This, above all else, is the most important thing to me. I firmly believe that in order for us to grow in the right directions, we need to identify, understand, and eventually overcome our weaknesses. I truly appreciated figuring out some of what I need to work on, and am so excited to move forward! Thanks so much Carla!! ;)

Olivia at 4 Months!!

Well, I just think Olivia is one of the happiest little people on the face of this earth! Every time I meet up with her she has so many sweet smiles, talks a mile a minute, and is generally in a super mood! (I definitely couldn't say that for either of my kids!)

As I mentioned in a previous post, Olivia has just hit the 4 month mark! Take a look at how beautiful she is!

For this first photo, Olivia's dad, Carmen, just plopped her in my little basket...here's one of the photos we got from that! Happy as a clam...

At 4 months, babies haven't yet mastered the whole sitting up trick and they tend to be teething, so you never really know what you are going to get for photographs. I just like to go with the flow and take cues from the child so as not to stress them out or make them too uptight. So that being said, I generally do not spend much, if any, time on posing. It just doesn't usually work and I want to capture the natural essence of them as they want to be. Olivia is a natural and we work well together as she needs no posing cues at all. In fact, she taught me a thing or two! As she was having 'tummy time' Olivia all of a sudden clasped her little (wet from teething) hands and smiled like an angel. I swear, I had nothing to do with this following pose...how beautiful is this child!!!?

Here we are outside. I love being outside with my clients, I love the light and I love that we are free to do as we please. If I had my druthers I'd be outside all of the time. However, Winter in New England does not generally permit this, especially with babies, so I always have backup options should the need arise!

One last photo before the slide show, I just love the angle on this one!

Carmen & Melissa, thanks so much for having me again! I love working with you guys and I am so happy we have become friends as well! See you soon! xo, Katie

Enjoy the slide show!

Olivia - Sneak Peek!!

Remember Olivia at 6 weeks old? She was absolutely adorable with a shock of dark brown hair and the most beautiful eyes. Well here she is again, the smiliest baby on the block is now four months old, my goodness does time ever fly! I will be doing a longer photo post on Olivia in the upcoming week but I had to throw a couple of my favorites up for right now, because I just think they are so darn cute! Olivia was one of the first babies I ever professionally photographed, so there will always be a special place in my heart for her.

How cute is she!!!


I just love this photo below, the focus is a wee bit off but I absolutely adore the way the photo illustrates her beautiful blue eyes and chubby cheeks! I just had to post it...


Hope you are all well! xo, Katie

Over...

...whelmed. Today, I am overwhelmed. With the amount of work on my to-do list, it is no wonder. But it's not my work that has me feeling the way I do. It's not the fact that I have to clean the entire house AGAIN for a really fun party coming up this weekend. It's not the fact that my aunt had surgery (yesterday) to remove a spinal tumor and it has turned out benign. It is not the amount of policing I do with my kids to make sure their brains are not rotting away by watching too much television, or playing video games for too long. These things have not overwhelmed me.

Today, I am overwhelmed by one of the most simple things in the entire world. Kindness. It is the amount of kindness, the small things that people do, that have really hit me today. The past couple of days have been interesting around my neck of the woods. And today, maybe everything is coming to a head, but I am really feeling it. Overwhelmed with emotion, with love, and with kindness. In a world of constantly scary news, talk of present and future crises, and the powerful effect that this 24/7 media has on our entire nation's mental health: it is so nice to feel good old- fashioned love and kindness. To top it off tonight we are attending a benefit dinner for my husband's old boss who was in a very serious, debilitating car accident last winter. Let's see if I can hold it together for the event!! :) Wish me luck.

There is no gift better than kindness.
~~~~~~~~~
I am planning on blogging about my Ten Eyck Tuesday experience, and I should have done it already. It will come -- shortly, I promise! :)

Baby Cian is Here! **Update**

Cian (pronounced key-in) actually entered the world on Friday, October 31st! Welcome to my new nephew and to the newest member of the family, we are so happy you are here safe, sound, and healthy. Cian weighed in at a whopping 9 pounds, 9 ounces and was 22 inches in length. Cian, a week early, set the record for the largest grandchild in our family!! Imagine if he had gone full term?

J & P - we are so happy for you! Please let us know when we can take A & C!! We are dying to help out in some way!! :)

Hope you enjoy the following photos of Cian - he was just about 28 hours old...








And on the way home from hospital we couldn't get over the color of the sunset. I think this is a good sign Cian: as the saying goes...pink at night...sailor's delight!

****************UPDATE*********************
Here is Cian at one week and two days...

Just Because: Emma & Nate

Before I begin this post: a quick congratulations are in order for my brother and sister-in-law on the birth of their new baby boy! I am so happy to have another nephew! A special post on Cian with pictures coming later this week!!

This weekend I met up with Emma and Nate to take some photos in the park! We met at Forest Park in Springfield, Massachusetts and thankfully the weather was gorgeous (you never know what Mother Nature is going to bring this time of year in New England) - but we had some warm sunshine and a super time!

Below are a couple of my favorite photos and a slide show - thanks everyone for such a great time! I had so much fun with you all! :)

First up: Emma


Look at these eyes, I LOVE this photo!!!


In this next photo Emma had just recovered from a fall, thanks to the HUGE Christmas lights (and the invisible cables that hold them down) that are erected throughout Forest Park each winter. I am so sorry you fell Emma! I hope you are doing okay!!! The one good thing that came out of the fall is this photo...


Here's Nate!




Nate and Mommy:


Nate and Daddy:


I hope you enjoy your slide show guys!!