The "Susie Tree" Family Portrait Shoot

Family Shoots are some of the most rewarding, interesting and fun of all the different types of shoots I've had the privilege to photograph. I love watching generations interact and being able to experience the moment with them.   When the family are long-time, dear friends and you've watched the family tree grow and branch out, it's all the sweeter.

Susie, Danika, Myriah & the gang are a close-knit family (full of fun and feisty), and were up for anything on our trip to Nelson's Landing. The teasing, cajoling, directing, consoling and loving from mother to child, grandmother to grandkids and even throwing the occasional son-in-law (you're awesome, Casey), in there made for a really fun and memorable session. We worked on everything from serious to silly portraits and even taught grandmom what "photo bombing" is! (What a hoot!)

Family portraits are priceless, not only for our generation, but the many to follow us. They give us a sense of the personalities and closeness of the family. It doesn't hurt that today's portraits don't have to be the same old stuffy poses from the days of yore (really, "yore"?) Well, you get it. It's an important part of my creative process to have fun while you're creating.  When the "I don't like cameras" wall comes down, you get to see the real people and record the real family. That happens when everyone is having fun!

Thank you to the "Susie Tree" for being so wonderful and inviting me to share in this moment with you. Love you!

Seniors and Family

 When our guys were little, (a couple of weeks ago), it was hard to imagine they would grow so quickly into handsome young men and women so soon. But it does, in the blink of an eye, it seems!

I have a snapshot of my son at six months old on my desk. We were bathing him in the kitchen sink of a house we were in the middle of moving into. He's chewing on the washcloth and his very blonde, wet hair is scooped up into a mohawk. This shot is precious to me. It captured an irreplaceable moment.

This is why "Leaving The Nest" portraits are so important. Everyone's life changes after they graduate high school and head off to college. The family dynamic changes as do the individuals. They become adults, finish college, get married and have babies of their own, the circle of life.

Before my son heads off to college, there will be portraits taken and they will hang in the same room the bath-in-the-sink picture is in, and I will look at them every day and cherish those times and wonder how quickly they passed.

Leaving The Nest

When our children leave the nest, life alters for the whole family. We are at a fork in the road where the family dynamic will be forever changed. The new adults are learning to spread their wings and experience freedom and sole responsibility. The parents are learning to deal with the quiet of the household and a freedom they're not sure they want. Yet, this is our focus for eighteen years.

Parents love, nurture, teach, chastise, provide, and teach some more. Then the moment comes when our children leave home. As they pass through the doorway they're also passing from childhood to adulthood. Doesn't it seem odd that all those years of love, training and preparations are finalized in just a couple of steps?

Before you send your child off to college next month, take the opportunity to have a family portrait done. I would love to help you capture your family as it is in this moment, while the kids are still your "babies".You will be so very glad you did.

Mention the "Leaving The Nest Promotion" while booking your shoot before Aug. 15, 2011, for a complimentary 8x10, (a $50 value), to be added to your paid package. Click link for package pricing;
http://www.melonyhphotography.com/page2


Wishing You Joy,

Melony

Melony H Photography
702-682-7319
www.melonyhphotography.com

www.melonyhphotography.blogspot.com

Facebook- Melony H Photography

Twitter- melonyhphoto

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the loving, devoted dads out there and to all the moms who are both mom AND dad to their kids. As I've said, my motto re: parenthood is, "it's the hardest-best job I'll ever have". It can be frustrating, tiring and keeps you broke for at least eighteen years, but is absolutely worth it. Every single minute of it. I wouldn't trade a single memory of my kids in their chubby-baby, five-year-old-missing-teeth, awkward preteen, coming-into-their-own teen and confident adult stages for the world. It's why I am here. This is my mission in this life.

So today, kids, love your dad and show him great appreciation. It will make him feel like a king, full of love and pride. It's a feeling you won't fully understand until you have kids and take on the hardest-best job you'll ever have.

Wishing You Joy,

Melony

Randy and the Audibles

I love to shoot events! You never know what may happen next and the thrill of capturing the "it" moment is a wonderfully fun challenge. I get to share in touching, funny and proud moments. I get to capture people in their shining moments, full  of excitement, and record images of a time that will be shared for years, many from generation to generation.

A few weeks ago I had just such an experience. I invited my camera to accompany me to a gig old friends were playing. Randy and the Audibles is a group of family and friends who can still rock with the best of 'em. Some have known each other more than thirty years, some fairly new, some a lifetime. What ties this group together is the love of music and the desire to give back.This May, Randy and the Audibles will have volunteered their time and talent to play 17 consecutive proms for the Helen J Stewart school for the challenged.  The spirit and heart coming from the stage is inspiring and infectious. The joy on the kids faces is humbling. It's one of those moments you want to remember and be there for year after year. It makes me proud to know these people.

www.melonyhphotography.com

Wishing You Joy,

Melony

Graduation Day

Birth to graduation day goes by in the blink of an eye. I know it doesn't seem that way during colic,  erupting teeth, stomach aches, scraped knees, chicken pox and hormones. Trust me, when you're sitting in the audience watching caps and gowns march by, the slideshow running through your mind was compiled over one long day. Wasn't it?

Some of our kids will live and work close by. Work, marriage or wanderlust will take some far away. The reality is, this moment is the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another.

All of the "firsts" in our child's life will be added to today. Their first smile; laugh; crawl; steps; word; day of kindergarten; day of high school; boy or girlfriend; broken heart; driver license; summer job; bank account; car; day of college; and shortly, the first time the wings you've worked so hard to strengthen and educate will spread on their own.

I call parenting "the best-hardest job you'll ever have". So today, celebrate your graduates and yourselves, mom and dad, for a job well done.

....and a new chapter begins.....

Children's Photography

Photographing children is like herding cats. You must be at your creative best to keep a cherub with the attention span of a gnat engaged. It's funny, exhilarating, exhausting and at the end of the day, completely worth it!
There are few material possessions  in this life that mean more to a parent than an amazing portrait of their child. They grow so quickly and that very moment is gone in the blink of an eye, but your portraits have the uncanny ability to take you back to that moment in an instant, even many years from now.

I remember seeing pictures of my parents at a young age for the first time and the feeling of awe I felt. Portraits open our minds to the legacy, or what I like to call "the physical trail",  of our heritage and are priceless. Without those images, I couldn't have imagined my parents being kids.

 The expressions, the clothing and surroundings tell us so much about that moment in time, and depending on the image, can be perfect to show off before your child's first date or a page in their senior yearbook! (I know it's mean, but how can you not...).

So, that's it for this week's blog. Thank you so much for taking the time to visit,  and as always, leave me your comments, they are much appreciated. And remember, book your child's portrait session today! You'll be glad you did.

Wishing You Joy,

Melony