Tim, Samantha, Caiden and Nathan – Family Portraits

Living in the Northwest has it’s challenges… rain is a big one for us photographers, but I have decided that I do not want that to stop a day that the parents have worked so hard to plan. They buy special outfits, make sure their kids have good sleep, worry for days before and then to have me cancel on them because of weather, well that is just not fair is it? I think I may just need a water resistant cover for my camera!

So, when the rain came on this day we just ignored and continued with the shoot.

I don’t think the boys even noticed. You can see the rain in this shot if you look closely.

Isn’t little Nathan a cutie! Babies are so funny with their sometimes blank expressions… they are just in wonder at everything.

Caiden was fine continuing in the rain… can you see the slight red from the umbrella?

But the weather didn’t like that it was not affecting us and so started to rain even more… so gave in and moved locations! The family didn’t mind.

The boys liked all the room to run around and boy I got my workout trying to keep up with Caiden, but I did manage to get a few shots of him while recharging.

Nathan is a knee “crawler”… so funny to watch! He can walk too, but this was definitely his favorite form of transportation.

Since the garage didn’t have much color, I threw down some magic carpets for the baby to play on.

I love getting shots of the parents without the kids… once you become a parent it seems staying a couple can become more challenging. I wanted to celebrate their love too – just the 2 of them.

This is my favorite of them…

Sweet, young couple! Did I mention that Tim is my nephew!

Caiden and his mommy, Samantha.

Nathan and his daddy, Tim, with Daddy’s keys :).

Got a few more family shots…

I love the side shot of Nathan… cute baby head! You can’t tell in this, but Caiden has red hair :).

I think for 1 and 3 years old they did pretty well! Caiden is full of energy as he should be and Nathan is full of curiosity.

This family originally went to a department store portrait studio and was so disappointed that they left without one good portrait. I am so glad we were able to turn that experience around and get an entire CD full of family fun portraits. This is really the way to go at this age. It is so hard to get little ones sitting nicely in front of a camera… that is just so not fun for them!

Hope you enjoyed! xoxoxo

Read Full Post »

Montgomery Family – Family Portraits

Meet the Montgomery Family, staring Sara, Zach, Ava and Olivia. We had such a great time!

As soon as we made it to our destination the rain came… but knowing that this sweet family took so much time in preparing for the day, there was no way we were turning back and I am so glad we didn’t.

Sara is a photographer and we met at a MeRa Koh photography workshop a few years back. We have stayed in contact since and I was honored that she wanted me to take their family portraits.

This family brought colorful clothes, chairs, scarves and lollipops for the kids. I can’t stress enough how much color brings out an image. I just have a love fest going on with it right now… maybe because it makes me feel cheerfully good!

These sisters were priceless!

Ava is the oldest and loves the camera!

Olivia is full of laughter and joy!

Sara and Zach met on a blind date… so sweet…

We found a great garage to duck into to get out of the rain… graffiti everywhere!

I love that my daughter is taking interest in my photography. The pink lollipop shining through the black and white was her idea. Love it!

Love this shot too! So fun!

Sharing between sisters… you have to click on this one and look at the larger image… it is just precious!

Olivia, Olivia… can I kiss ya!!

Ava’s eyes just sparkle…

Beautiful soft colors.

Go ahead melt my heart…

There are so many images I want to share with you! Just love them all!! Just a few more, ok :).

Mom with her girls.

Dad with his girls.

I know, cute right!

What a fun day… has to be one of my favorite shoots! I think I say that a lot :).

Joe is always so amazing with kids on these shoots! We could hear the kids yelling “bye Joe” out the window as they drove off… how cute is that!

Read Full Post »

Warren Family – Family Portrait

One of my photography goals for 2010 is to think out of the box, explore the settings of my camera a little more and do the untraditional since that is what catches my eye. I started early with this photo shoot! It was incredibly fun and comfortable… I thought hard about why it was so comfortable for me besides the warmth of this wonderful family… it was because I captured the untraditional, the real interaction between them… it was fulfilling that need to make photography fun and stress free for everyone. Dana told me several days later that they all had so much fun… such good words to hear!

It’s funny, almost every family shoot I do I get “that” email, the one the warns me that they are not the type to be comfortable in front of the camera, the one that says my husband won’t smile, or my son will be hard to work with… it is all from our past experience of getting the family picture taken and so we allow years to go by without one… then we give in and feel the stress of that. I so understand!! I am very much like that myself and maybe it’s because I haven’t found that right photographer to help us through that and get us all relaxed and ourselves in front of the camera.

I usually “pick” on the youngest one to get everyone relaxed… and Bailey was perfect for that! She was easy to make laugh and everything just fell in to place with her help!

This one was Amanda’s idea… I love that she came along with me and helped with the creative process… already talented at 12!

We only hit 2 locations (very close to each other) in this session, but really I could shoot in 1 city block and you would never know it was inches away from the last shot. I love that and it helps me to be more creative in short periods of time. I love this image of Rusty and Colby.

Dad and his boys…

The wind picked up and made for a fun shot of Bailey and her mom, Dana. Bailey takes ballet with Amanda and through that have become very close friends… so glad since I adore her family!

Dana and Howie have been together since 9th grade!!! So cool!

What a fun family… Bailey cracks me up!

Amazing that you can find this setting in the city, but you can!

We had to get a few more traditional shots for the grandparents :).

I love how they turned out since at the time we were being chased out by the parking police since we parked on the “sidewalk.” Joe would argue that it wasn’t a sidewalk, but that is another story :).

Love to you all!! Merry Christmas!

Read Full Post »

The 2009 Riggio Christmas Card

I would REALLY love to learn how to custom design my own cards in Photoshop… maybe a goal for next year!!  This year I will go with a pre-designed Costco card. There are lots of options from other photo service labs, but really, these are the most economical for me this year and I found a retro-looking design that I liked.  What is great and is when you have a photo shoot with me, you get the images and you can order your Christmas cards this way too, as well as getting enlargements framed for the relatives as gifts.

The 2009 Riggio Christmas Card

Since Amanda has the Nutcracker every weekend it has been hard to get a picture of her, so I went with one from the summertime and then just took a shot of Nick yesterday. He’s a funny one… that kid of mine… you should see some of the shots I got of him making one goofy face after another… until I finally landed this one… heavy sigh… I am keeping the others for the great moment in time when he has a girlfriend and she wants to see old pictures of him and boy do I have some good ones from when he was just a little guy! Can’t wait… :).

For those that didn’t get to see last year’s card, I thought I would share…

The 2008 Riggio Christmas Card

Now to get them all addressed and sent in time for Christmas!

Read Full Post »

Todd Family – Family Portrait

Time for family pictures again! Do you have yours yet? This is the second time I have taken the Todd’s family pics, but this time they have a new little one… baby Autumn Joy.. what a little darlin’!

Big brother Benjamin is an active one, but the sweetest thing! I chased him around the yard trying to capture what I could before he ran to the next interest.

We did manage to get him standing still long enough for a few pics with his little sister.

Then off again, playing… kids are so much fun at this age… I definitely get my exercise during these shoots. It was such a cold day that we didn’t venture off too far… jut stayed in the backyard…

Click on this one to enlarge it so you can see the art fun… love making artistic images. I will be doing a post soon featuring some favorite art images. What do you think for something different?

Then Benjamin found out that we had a drum set! Inside we go! Joe says he’s a natural… come on parents… time to get this guy a set of his own (Benjamin told me to tell you that :)).

We exhausted poor little Autumn… nothing sweeter than a baby sleeping…

Thanks for a great morning you guys! Such a cool family!

Read Full Post »

The Blackmon’s – Family Portrait

This session was nothin’ but fun for all of us! The day – a kiss of perfection, the family – a joy to be with, the location – dreamy, my assistant – so valuable (and yes, dreamy too, hee hee)!

I have worked with Bob for years, so was honored when he chose us to do his family portraits. I have watched the kids grow up in pictures on his desk and have heard countless stories about his family, so what a pleasure to now be part of an event in their lives.

Both the kids have the most beautiful eyes!

Are these kids not adorable! They are so funny too! I could have taken them both home with me.

I love this image… there is just something about it.

I know that many families stress about getting their pictures taken. It seems there is just so much to do – get clothes ready, make sure kids are happy and clean with hair brushed. Well, that is all important up to a point. It is more important to me that they have fun and that I am able to capture who they really are. I know it’s a relief to parents when they see their kids are enjoying themselves, laughing and playing. It helps when you have an assistant that gets them laughing almost too hard!

The Lakewold Garden’s is such a cool place full of benches, statues, water and trees.

Matthew was such a doll and never stopped talking, except for this shot!

And Hannah full of make believe and laughs.

Adore this shot of Bob and Mandy.

Lots of great shots of the kids, so hard to pick out just a few to share with you.

I love this tender moment between mom and daughter. So sweet…

The kids are both into Martial Arts and came prepared to defend themselves!

That soon tired them out, but Matthew looks like he is still ready to have more fun, don’t you think!

What a wonderful day! Love to you all….

Read Full Post »

Jayan and Indu – Maternity Portrait

What a beautiful couple they are and she is radiant, kind, loving and very pregnant :). She has spent the past several weeks in the hospital on bed rest, so we had limited time to take pictures and she couldn’t be on her feet for long. We did the entire shoot indoors using my 50 mm at 1.2. It’s the first time I have used that lens exclusively on a photo shoot and I loved it. Will have to do that more often :).

Where do I begin… there is just so much to say… do I talk about how special this family made me feel? How excited they were to have me there? How honored I was to have this privilege? How I wanted to take the parents home with me? The great food they served me? Like I said, there is just so much!

The cradle is ready and names picked out… yep, I said name(s)!

And they are having…

Precious boys… held with such love and tenderness…

by parents that are beaming with excitement! Their laughs are contagious…

I love the intimacy and gentleness of this shot. I wish I had one like this…

What a sweet shot of the 2, soon to be 4 (July 27!)

They even changed into their traditional Indian clothes. Indu’s mom hand embroidered her entire dress in just a few days! Stunning!

Jayan and his family helped me move furniture and take down pictures… without hesitation. I love the simplicity of this image…

I think Indu’s tummy is just a “little” bigger… what do you think? Hee hee.

OK, I love this picture!!! Indu is the focus, center, looking lovely and all the others… well, they are looking at…

Proud parents… how fun is this!

Both sets of parents are here for 6 months! Then Indu goes to India for another 3 months. What a wonderful family to help out with the babies.

Then after all that… they fixed a wonderful Indian meal for me… what else could a girl ask for :)! Yum!

I still want to take them all home with me… {hugs}. Thanks for making me feel special and part of the family. I can’t wait until I get to come back and take pictures of the babies!!

Read Full Post »

The Gullett’s – Family Portraits

I love hanging out with the Gullett family. They have a great sense of humor and just seeing their posts on Facebook and the interaction of the kids in the comments will put a smile on your face for sure!

Doesn’t this scream seventies rock band! LOVE IT!

I am always in search of some cool field with long grass and this location was perfect! Mischievous is written all over his face…

Abby is a budding photographer and has observed and assisted us on a few photo shoots. She even helped process these shots and will be getting a site of her own soon to display her creative work, right Abby? Cutie! We will be doing her senior pictures in the fall… yeah.

Love the long red hair and the genuine smile :). Full of fun!

The whole fam, love them!

This is one of my favorite family shots. I love the angle, the wind, the kissing focus :), how the kids are all looking at them…. how it makes you feel… the colors… all of it.

These parents have raised some pretty terrific kids.

And their love for each other is real and tender.

And fun.

And their kids, well, believe it or not, they love each other… I mean, they really do… so sweet!

Love between sisters… it’s just special. Makes me miss mine… I better call her today!

I will leave you with the family rock band shot. So cool don’t you think! Who wouldn’t want to hang out with this family!

Until next time…. {hugs}

Read Full Post »

Sisters – Family Portrait

I love the relationship sisters have. I know how important my sister is to me. She is the only one who understands the full scope of my life from childhood to adulthood. She is my supporter and my best girl friend. I adore her!

Marissa and Carly have one of those relationships and it was so fun to watch and be part of it. Their laughter was contagious and their care for each other evident.

Sisterly hug!

I love shots from above…

I love when I get the chance to fulfill a vision. I have been thinking about this concept for a while and finally had subjects to use it on. I absolutely love how it came out! It is a series of 3 shots… with 3 colored round carpets on black cement. Pretty cool!

Love the colors of summer.

Carly and Marissa have opposite personalities and we wanted a picture that would show that! This one captures it all don’t you think?

We ended at the beach for one last sister shot. I think this one shows their personalities too.

Thanks for letting me share this day with you girls! I know we were tuckered out by the end, but we had so much fun doing it!

Read Full Post »

The Brown’s – Family Portrait

I had a great time with the Brown family. They are a fun group and as much as they dreaded getting their pictures taken, it only took a few minutes before we started to have fun together. I love that!

This is one of my favorites of the kids. I love the joy!

Love the old sign.

I’m amazed at the color of fingernail polish these days. Do you see her yellow fingernails?

I wish I had pictures like this with my mom when I was a kid. They are priceless.

My favorite of the family!

Can you tell that summer vacation is here and there is just this sense of relaxation!

Love the soft colors and the glow of the light.

The guys…

Love this one!

Usually it’s the eye’s that capture me, but this time it was the smile! Amazing!

A touching moment…I could feel and see the love of this family. I was blessed to have witnessed it.

Thanks for a wonderful time Brown family and for showing me a new place to hang out with my family!

Just a note: I could do a whole other post of this family. There are just so many other great shots of them. What a wonderful family!

OK, just one more fun one! 🙂 Really, it’s the last one!

Read Full Post »