Lila and Siena at Hestovin Stables

Last fall I donated a gift certificate for a photo session at a fundraiser for Hestovin Stables, a therapeutic riding center in Grand Rapids. Growing up as a horse girl I am always excited for opportunities to be around horses as an adult! Lila and Siena’s grandma bought the gift certificate and waited to redeem it until the girls who live out of state were visiting Michigan this summer. Despite the very hot day these two were so fun, they didn’t want to stop brushing and petting the horses and they also entertained me with a lot of random questions such as “why are horses feet like that?” Here are some of my favorite pictures from their photo session at the stables!

Grace - 9 months old

The Aniszko family are so great at scheduling milestone photography sessions for their kids and I love seeing how they grow and learn new things all the time. Grace is now 9 months old and much more active and expressive than last time I photographed her. Big brother Ian is 4 years old and was not very excited about pictures, but with some bribery from his parents we got a few good ones!

Still family 2023

The Still’s are likely the people I have been photographing the longest, and I love that I’ve gotten to keep in touch with these friends over the years through their annual photo session. This year they wanted more winter/ Christmas themed pictures instead of fall and though the kids were not happy about the cold weather at first, after eating lunch it started to snow and they wanted to go back out and play in it :) So we managed a combination of more formal family photos, pictures of the kids by the Christmas tree inside, and some playing in the snow (all with their dog running in and out of the frame). Here are my favorites from earlier today!

Ivan's First Birthday

Traditional first birthday cake smash photos can be really fun or really unpredictable, for Ivan it was the second :) He did not like everyone watching and singing to him and was not wanting to sit down. Initially he was curious about the cake, but once frosting got on his legs he wanted nothing more to do with it. We actually did this photoshoot over two separate days since he didn’t touch the cake the first day. The balloons were much more fun for both Ivan and big sister Olive so if nothing else he had fun with those!

Baby Myra

I have been photographing Chris and Sarah since their engagement many years ago and it’s such a joy to see their family continue to grow. Baby Myra was about a month old when I went to their house for a mini session to document the family of 5! Big brother Joshua and big sister Emma were so sweet with their baby sister and just wanted to keep touching Myra. Here are some of my favorites from the session- we even got the dog, Ruby in some pictures :)

Klein kids 2021

In the past I have photographed the Klein family in the fall so I was excited when they chose to mix it up and do winter/ Christmas photos this year! I have always thought downtown Rockford does a great job decorating for the holidays and am glad I finally had a reason to take pictures there. The focus was just on photos of the kids rather then the whole family this time and though it was cold they toughed it out (and were bribed with candy) for almost an hour for this photo shoot :) I would definitely recommend this location next Christmas to anyone looking for some family pictures! Here are some of my favorites of the Klein kids.

Sophie- 3 months old

My niece Sophie is growing so much and I was happy that my brother and sister in law wanted to document her 3 month milestone with a photo session. A couple weeks ago, we met at Spring Grove Park and though the fall colors weren’t very vibrant yet, we still found some good scenery. Sophie was so good the whole time and didn’t fuss at all when I stuck the camera in her face :) I can’t wait to watch her grow and take more photos of this sweet girl in the future!

Baby Ozzy

Taylor reached out to me before Ozzy was even born to inquire about doing newborn photos at their home and I was thrilled to find out she and I have many mutual work friends in common and a very similar work history (in my day job as a social worker)! Little Ozzy was just two weeks old when I met him last weekend, but as a preemie he wasn’t even to his actual due date yet, and he slept though almost the whole session. He had us laughing with the way he kept returning his arms to the same position when we moved him and though we would’ve liked to see him open his eyes it was agreed that sleeping is better then crying for photos :) Taylor, Will and their two dogs were in love with this new addition to their family and I’m so glad that they let me capture these sweet moments in their house. Here are some of my favorites from their session.

Baby Ivan

I’m lucky enough to live just a mile from this family and get to spend time with them often (especially during the last year of COVID). I was so excited to meet their latest addition, baby Ivan and see how Olive was adjusting to being a big sister! He was just 11 days old and wide awake during the photo shoot (despite all attempts to get him to sleep), but we managed to get some great pictures anyway. Here are some of my favorites!

Koopman Family

I had been trying to schedule this family for a long time and am so glad we finally picked a day and got some photos taken for them! Alyssa is expecting baby #3 later this summer so it was a great time to capture the stage of life the “big” kids are in. She knew of an old school house near a field and I was more then happy to discover a new location for family photos. I know it can be challenging to get young kids to sit still for pictures so I always tell families to let them run and play while I capture them and because of that I think we got some great pictures. Here are my favorites :)

Ian's first birthday

I can’t believe this little guy is officially a year old! It’s been so much fun getting to photograph him every three months this last year and see how much he has grown, plus his mom is a good friend of mine so it was a great excuse to see her too! We took a few photos of him while family was arriving for the small backyard party and Ian loved the balloons. Although he didn’t know what to think of his gifts all wrapped up and was hesitant of the cupcake at first, eventually he realized how good frosting is and ate every last bit of it! Here are some of my favorite photos from last weekend :)

DeJager Family 2020

I’ve gotten to photograph Jess and Jason multiple times, their engagement, wedding, and family pictures when their first daughter was younger so I was excited when they wanted pictures now that they are a family of four! We met at Hager Park on a beautiful fall evening and it was such a fun time catching up, meeting baby Julianna who was born just before the start of the pandemic, and exploring with three year old Josie, who wanted to hold my hand while walking the trails! The leaves were at their peak color and we found so many great spots to take pictures. Here are some of my favorites from their session.

Millet Family

The cloudy morning last Saturday was perfect for taking photos at a location that has very little shade, John Collins Park! It was my first time taking pictures at this park, though I have visited it many times, and I was happy to have such great subjects as the Millet’s along with grandma Maggie and aunt Whitney :) This session was a Christmas gift to the family and they picked such a beautiful day to finally redeem it. Here are some of my favorites from the session.

Still Family

This fall has been filled with family photo sessions and so many cute kids!  Little Emma was no exception at almost a year old she is full of personality and was in a good mood for most of the photo session.  I've taken many photos of Chris and Sarah over the years and look forward to many more in the future as Emma grows.  Here are some of my favorites from our unseasonably warm day at Millennium Park in Grand Rapids.

Baby Doug

I would not typically describe myself as a "newborn photographer" but when my friends keep having babies I keep getting in practice with photographing them :) Karen and I used to work together and it has been so fun for me to see her family grow the past few years.  Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the newest addition to their family, baby Doug, (named after his dad and his paternal grandpa) when he was just 6 days old.  Big sister 2 1/2 year old Alice was very proud to show me her baby brother when I arrived at their home.  Here are some of my favorite photos of the new family of 4!