This little princess has been a Priceless Reflections by Melissa client since she was just a few days old. I’ve had the pleasure of watching her grow and the honor of documenting her life through portraits for her family. On this day, she was real trooper and full of laughs, giggles, and that batting eyelashes look that every little girl seems to master to get what she she wants.

Recognize her from the top of the Smugmug site where you view your images after the session? She’s growing up!

I’ve been blessed to photograph the “B” family for the last 3 years or so. Blessed because they’re a unique family full of love and compassion and yeah, a lot of fun. The expressions on their faces are so much fun – just look at a slice of our day.

How can you resist smiles like this?

Clients often ask what happens if we have weather-that’s-less-than-perfect for a session. A little rain doesn’t stop the Fowler family and it doesn’t stop me. Just look at what fun we had and what great images they’ll have of their time playing in the sprinkles with that crazy Melissa photographer lady.

And then my personal favorite. This is a piece of art for their home – it’s fun, it’s colorful, it’s welcoming, it’s playful, it’s THEM. No one’s looking at the camera, no one’s cheesing… it’s a real moment and it’s why I’m here.

I’ve been photographing the Fowler family since Miss G was only a few days old and splashing in puddles suits us just fine. They wanted me to come back and play the next day – now THAT is a successful portrait session!

Oh me oh my! What an incredible week I had last week, shooting literally thousands of photos of some of Cincinnati’s best and cutest families, kids etc!  From eensy weensy babies, to big kids and their parents, what a week it was!  Here’s just a sneak peek preview of some of the FUN we all had last week!

Huge SHOUT OUT and Mega-THANK YOU to Dana and Ben, who were my assistants.  Ben took some awesome shots – and Dana, as always, was the best assistant of all time!  Thank you to both of you for the help!

Without further adieu.. check out some of the fun from last week:

One of the best parts of living here in Phoenix is our proximity to all things “Western” … cowboy hats, cowboy boots, and big belt buckles.  Coming from Cincinnati… well, it’s taken some time to get used to seeing these things frequently, but it’s really cute how all the little ones get into it!

This little cowboy was SO very excited to sport his brand new cowboy hat … so during his photo shoot of course we had to bring it out for a few shots…..

I met this charming West Side couple at the Civic Center in Scottsdale for pre-wedding portraits.

They were getting married at the courthouse but still wanted fabulous engagement-style  portraits to remember the day. They’re super sweet, so very much in love, and they made my job so easy.

Just look!

They celebrated the big event at a small Brazilian restaurant with family and close friends and I can’t wait to show them the rest of their images !

You guys have been so patient and I **so** appreciate it!  I’m working feverishly (still!) to get all the sessions from Cincinnati previewed and proofed !  There were SO many gorgeous kids, families, babies, seniors, etc…. here’s a small sampling of what I’ve got previewed so far… more to come, I promise, I promise!  :-)

See!  I really wasn’t kidding – so many beautiful clients! More to come… soon… I promise!

Previewing another session from my marathon-shoot in Cincinnati a few weeks ago… these girls were beautiful, and ready to pose for the camera!  A photographer’s dream come true – they were fun, sassy, and adorable!  Just one preview for now as I work up a few more to share…..

Another amazing family…. another rainy day in Cincinnati!  I had the pleasure of photographing Lora’s family again… this time in downtown Cincinnati!  She paid close attention to our conversation on “what to wear” and with the help of her awesome hubby….. came up with a wonderful look for the whole family… fun, colorful, but not too busy!  Downtown was the perfect venue for this urban chic family session!

Hello loyal blog readers (and y’all know who you are!)  You’ve long asked me for  some “good” photos of my own children, to prove it can be done, LOL!! So the other night, I was feeling a bit down-in-the-dumps (hey it happens to everyone, right? I figured it was time to pick up the camera or a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.. so I chose the camera for once, ha ha).  So I told each of my four children to PICK THEIR OWN OUTFIT (gasp, shock, choke!)  My oldest son chose his typical every-day clothing.  My 2nd son chose a “nice” button-down shirt w/ a collar, and some jeans.  My 3rd chose an outfit which she wears all the time – one that’s comfy and that she loves – and my 4th chose her FAVORITE tie-dye dress. She wears this dress almost daily, whether we have time to wash it or not (I know, I know, bad mommy…but sometimes it’s just not worth the fight, and does the lifeguard at the pool REALLY care if her dress was worn for 4 hours y’day? No, she doesn’t)

So I didn’t pose my children, per se – I just asked them to have some fun with each other.  And here’s what I got:

This first one is of Josh and Ari, and our spaz-puppy Jake.  He’s a wild-dog, thus the ’shocker-collar’ around his neck.  Rest assured, we normally don’t shock him, we just “tone” him and that seems to be enough… except when he’s really excited and eating someone’s shoes…. which he does a lot…. In our home, we call the boys’ Brothers for Life’ and this has always stuck — so when they are playing around and goofing off like this,  often-times they will chant “Brothers for Life!” or something like that…. I saw it on Super-Nanny once (the Brothers for Life phrase) … and I loved it – so I borrowed it. And it stuck…

This is Smushie… she’s effervescent and has me completely wrapped around her fingers.. …. and her crazy hair….This is Ari … just walkin’ down the slide….. And then there’s the “J Team” (Joshua and Jillian)… in our home we do things in teams – so each kid has a ‘buddy’ (I learned this from those crazy Duggar parents).  So the younger J (Jillian) has an older J (Joshua) as her “buddy” – and when we get ready to leave the house, etc… the older team member has to help their younger team member… so here I asked for a “J Team” photo…And of course my beautiful princess Jillian…. she’s the sweetest of the Kahn kids, and goes thru life at 1000%…Another “J Team” Moment…Jillian laughing……And swinging….And here’s my handsome little Ari….. Just like we have “Brothers for Life”… we also have “Sisters for Life” … which is sometimes harder to achieve (the harmony, I mean…. ) but there are those fleeting moments when they actually DO love each other….. and play well together… and this night I was lucky enough to capture that….
Handsome Ari…Ari and Josh “monkeying around”….Jillian is always willing to pose for me… I love that about her, LOL!!!And here’s the “A Team” — Ari and Alana…. they are truly soul-mates.  They have a relationship that is so special amongst them…. it warms my heart all the time when I see them together…Alana, on the ladder. Notice the set of hands at the bottom right.  Those are Ari’s…. he wanted to make sure she wouldn’t fall…..Typical Kahn Kid behavior….The A team again….And the J team again…So…. thanks for looking at my kids’ photos…. now back to your regularly scheduled programming….