High in the 50′s, partly cloudy and somewhat muddy. Normally those would not be the best conditions for a portrait session, but when you’re in Ohio in December, it’s better than expected! This time of year is my busiest photography, but also the worst time for the ever changing weather forecast. I always joke that being an on location photographer in Ohio also requires having a minor in meteorology! Kelie contacted me in late November to squeeze in a portrait session for herself, her husband and dogs. I was nervous that the weather would not work in our favor, but amazingly enough it did!

Kelie lives in Pataskala and I have always wanted to photograph right down the road at Blacklick Woods Park. This was a great opportunity to do so since it was close to her. The park was a little busy that day since it had finally stopped raining and was unusually warm for early December. Blacklick Woods is such a great location and I’m so glad I finally had the chance to work there.

Kelie and Ethan brought along their two dogs, Regie and Tyra for their family portraits. These two dogs had such different personalities! Regie is a 4-year-old Boxer who is social and loves everything and everyone. Tyra, an 8-year-old Boxer mix was more laid back and was more focused on her people than the camera or having her portrait taken.

During our session I was able to capture a wide variety of images for them. A few of just Kelie and Ethan as well as the dogs alone, together and with their people. I love when I hear “I brought some costumes for the dogs”, that comment made my day! For a few images, Tyra became Santa and Regie was Santa’s helper. I also enjoy that I’m not the only dog mom out there that loves to dress up her pet for the holidays!

I’m so happy with how the weather turned out in our favor for their photos. Thank you Kelie and family for picking me to photograph your family!

LOVE the costumes!

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I love photographing Natalie and her family! Natalie shows up quite often on the blog, because I get to work with her and her family at least once a per year. I love watching her kids grow over the years.

With the weather change, we moved the session from the outdoors to inside Franklin Park Conservatory. It was the first day that the Conservatory was decorated for the holidays. With beautiful foliage, a moving train display and a lot of poinsettias, it was a beautiful setting. Little Christopher was not in the mood for this year’s portrait session, but luckily, I was able to get a few smiles and giggles out of him.

As always, their family was awesome and I captured some fun images of them throughout the session.

The non-posed moments of a session always end up being my favorite portraits.

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They’re back! This is the 5th time I’ve photographed Melissa’s family portraits. This year, we planned much better than the last session. Last November, I photographed her family in early November and it was down right cold! I remember that it was so cold out because I even wore thermal underwear that day! This time around, we put the session on the calendar early to beat the possibility of bad weather. Low and behold, it was pouring down rain the day of the session. We rescheduled and were rewarded with a cool, but sunny day in November.

Initially I suggested we have their session in Bexley, where I photographed Melissa and her business partner, Sarah, a few weeks ago. Melissa is the queen of coordinating clothing for her family and when she sent me their urban look, I realized that my location choice might need to change based on their outfits. On to plan b and a new location in Downtown Columbus. Graffiti – check, urban feel – check, great looking family – check, dog in a matching outfit – check! This time, Melissa even brought her dog Lego to get in on some of the photos. And she dressed him in his own little sweater – I was in love! Not only did they have matching urban outfits, but they also had coordinated some great dressy clothing for another backdrop down the road.

Melissa again had her makeup done by Beautimarked by Kelli right before the session. I cannot stress enough what a great idea it is to have your makeup done professionally for your portraits! Not only is it one less thing to worry about the day of your portraits, but I truly believe that it gives you more confidence and comfort in front of the camera.

I can’t wait to see what Melissa comes up with next year for a clothing theme – she keeps outdoing herself every year!

Such a fun graffiti wall that we found downtown.

I love Lego's dog sweater!

Josh and Melissa are such a great looking couple

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With Mother’s Day right around the corner, I thought a few sample outfits for a mother and daughter portrait session would be a nice feature. These outfit ideas also work great as a place to start out with for outfit concepts for a full family session. I love capturing small groups within families at portrait sessions, to show a variety of relationships within the family. The outfits below are from Abercrombie, Hollister, Old Navy and Wet Seal. You definitely do not need to break the bank to come up with some great, coordinating outfits for your portraits, or even a fun Mother’s Day out on the town.Here is an example of some great coordination from Melissa and Emma. I took a few minutes out of the family session while the guys were changing into their next outfits to capture just mom and daughter.

Contact Danielle today to learn more about preparing for your portrait session!