Heartlight Photography

2010-10-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful Michigan fall day! This type of weather is one of the reasons I love Michigan and this fall has been exceptional!

My fall schedule has been full of great family sessions and about a week ago I had the opportunity to photograph the G-Family at their beautiful home! We had a great time walking around their yard finding great locations for a few images. The boys kept it fun with Luciano adding his own comic relief to the afternoon! Here are just a few of my favorite images from their session:

Love this smile :) She just got her braces off last week!!

Thank you so much G-family for a wonderful afternoon! It was wonderful to meet all of you! I am excited for you to see all of the great images we captured...I will be in touch soon :) M

Those sweet little faces:)

2010-10-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the most adorable little girls here to photograph! Tricia is 2 and and her little sister is 4 months. Tricia had a great time checking out the studio and all of the fun things to sit on & climb. She was also very helpful in making sure her little sister has her pacifier at all times! It was very sweet...of course we were able to grab some adorable expressions without the pacifier along the way too! Check out these eyes....Beautiful :)

And we were even able to grab a few smiles from big sister too! Love those blue eyes :)

I had a blast "playing" with these adorable sisters! Thanks so much mom & grandma for letting me spend a little time with them! I am excited for you to see all of the great images we capture from there session. I will be in touch again soon! M

Brooklyn & Joshua

2010-10-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

Yeah! It's Friday...and it all began with Brooklyn & Joshua's session this morning! I just couldn't wait to post a few of my favorite images of these cuties! Mom brought the most ADORABLE outfits for Brooklyn...and she was lovin' the beads! We captured some wonderful images of both the kids....here are just a few of my favorites!

Joshua turned on the charm in front of the camera :)

Thanks mom & dad! It was wonderful to meet all of you! I will be in touch again next week once all of your images are ready to view :) Have a great weekend! M

Sun & Smiles!

2010-10-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

Another amazing Michigan fall day! Could the weather get any better? No way! Last week I had so much fun photographing the S-Family! Talk about a fun session! It was a beautiful 75 degree Friday night and we just had fun walking and "playing" in the neighborhood (which also happens to be where I live too...I have wonderful neighbors :) The sun was AMAZING this time of day and I LOVE the beautiful golden glow we captured in their images! Here are just a few of my favorites.

Thank you so much S-Family for letting me photograph your beautiful family! I cannot wait for you to see all of your amazing images...I am not sure how you are going to choose your favorite...I can't :) I will be in touch again soon! M

It's good to be GREEN!

2010-10-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

It is a good day to be a Spartan after an awesome win at the Big House over U of M this past weekend! It's good to be GREEN!

What a perfect day to post these wonderful images from my session with the M-Family! It was another beautiful Michigan fall day and they were all decked out in their Spartan gear ready to "play"! Of course we went to the campus of MSU to photograph :) I had so much fun walking around campus and finding some fun locations! We had to get a little creative when our original plan had to be changed...the Diamond Dash was going on and it was a little nutty with all the bridal couples scrambling to get their pictures taken at various MSU landmarks & finish the race...they were EVERYWHERE :) But we had a great time! The kids were awesome and we captured some fun pictures! Here are just few of my favorites from their session:

Thanks so much M-Family! It was wonderful to meet all of you & spend some time photographing your family! I am excited for you to see all of the great images we captured at your session and the fun holiday cards I designed! I will be in touch again soon! M

A Little Adventure

2010-09-15T18:23:00.000-07:00

Aren't adventures fun!! I think so! So last week when I met Sophie & Miles for their session we went on a little adventure. Mom even brought the "power pellets" aka M&M's to keep up their strength. Awesome job mom!!

For a little while that afternoon we followed the paths to see all the different flowers, especially orange ones which is Miles favorite color, all the neat benches, trees & even a fountain! All along the way we captured some beautiful images.....here are just a few of my favorites:

Sophie ROCKED it! I could photograph that little girl all day.

I think this little smile was just before he was about to get an orange "power pellet"...he was getting excited :)

Thanks so much mom for letting me have such a fun adventure with Sophie & Miles! It was wonderful to see all of you! The kids were awesome and I had so much fun! And I am totally going to steal your "power pellet" idea for some of my other adventurers...if that is ok :) I am excited for you to see the rest of your images. I will be in touch soon! Melissa

Do you want a treat?

2010-09-14T11:57:00.000-07:00

For all those dog lovers out there...you know, if you say the word "treat" your dog will perk up it's ears & turn his head to look! Well I did lots of that from behind the camera as well as squeak toys, make funny sounds or just about anything crazy to get the attention of 3 beautiful sheepdogs simultaneously! Well it worked :) We captured some great images! My session with the H-Family was so much fun and the dogs were awesome (and of course their people were too :)

Here are just a few of my favorite family images from their session

Thank you so much for letting me come and photograph your wonderful family! I had so much fun seeing all of you! Hope Moose enjoyed his birthday celebration later that afternoon:) I will be in touch soon once all of your proof images are ready to view!

Moore Fun!!

2010-09-09T07:47:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful (and hot) summer day! I got to take a road trip the last weekend of summer to photograph one of my favorite families...these 4 kids are adorable! Especially little Annemarie...what a spit fire! Their mom also happens to be a close friend of mine who I have known for almost 25 years! That's really scary when you say it like that :)

The kids did wonderful...I think mom & dad were taking them for ice cream after their session...I am all about the bribery! It works at my house on picture day too! There was a beautiful park near their house with trails, ponds and even a huge stone gazebo! It was so cool!

Here are just a few of my favorite images from their session:

Annemarie just finished twirlilng!

Thanks so much for the awesome afternoon of photographing! And the ice cold Diet Coke afterwards too...so good!!! I am excited for you to see all of the images! I will be in touch soon! M

Family Fun x3!

2010-08-30T18:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy and fun August for me! For the past few weeks I have been photographing families and High School seniors all over the Lansing area. I haven't had a chance to blog since my computer crash, but here is what I have been up too!

Earlier this month I had the pleasure of meeting the "C" Family in Mason for a family session...I had a great time!

The weather wasn't sure what it wanted to do that day...rain in the morning or afternoon, thunderstorms or just be really, really hot! Well I think we hit 2 out of 3! We rescheduled our afternoon session for first thing in the morning to avoid the pending storms later that afternoon and it worked out great! Here are a few of my favorite images :)

Just looking at this image makes me smile & laugh! True family JOY :)

You can also check out some of my favorite images from Phillips Senior Session on the Heartlight Phtography Facebook Page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grand-Ledge-MI/Heartlight-Photography/21523064855?ref=ts

This session was extra special...and super fun too! This is my daughter's best friend and her big brother! We spent the morning photographing Hayden's Senior Pictures in Grand Ledge and in REO Town and sprinkling a few of Rilee with her big brother too! Here are just a few of my favorites from their session!

Love these smiles :) And of course the laughing giggle too!

You can check out a few of my favorites from Hayden's Senior session on the Heartlight Photography Facebook Page!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Grand-Ledge-MI/Heartlight-Photography/21523064855?ref=ts

Another HOT day in Michigan...but another GREAT family session! I was so excited when I got a call from their mom to photograph her 3 beautiful children again this year! I had so much fun last fall and it is always so fun for me to see how much the kids have grown over the past year! Charlie is nearly as tall as me now and he is only 10!

The kids all did awesome! They rocked it for the entire 30 minutes or so that we were photographing! Of course we had to take a few breaks to look at the cool fish in the pond...they swim right up to you when they see you looking down at them...the kids thought it was really cool! Here are just a few of my favorites from their session!

Thank you SOOOOOO much to all of you for your patience & understanding these past few weeks with all my computer craziness! I appreciate it :) I am so excited to show all of you your complete session images...all of you have some great ones to choose from! I will be in touch soon with everyone! Melissa

Time to ROCK!

2010-08-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

As many of you know already it has been a crazy few weeks around here! I have been busy photographing HS Seniors and Family sessions, escaping the heat by playing in the pool with my family, dealing with my crashing computer...which is now officially a very big paper weight, getting ready for back to school and enjoying a few fun family events too! August has flown by!

I am now up and running with a pretty new Mac!!! YIPEE!! You gotta love the Apple Store...walk in pick out a computer and walk out with a new computer in your hands in under 3 hours! I am now getting everything back in order and recreating lost files that I failed to back-up (yes I learned a tough lesson and will continue to learn this for many, many months). Luckily, I was at least smart enough to back up all of my past & present images on the External HD...so no worries there! Thank goodness :)

So I will show you what I have been doing for the past few weeks...Here we go!

Summer Days

2010-08-06T04:06:00.000-07:00

Well at least it didn't rain, right? The few days prior to the "N" Family session the weather man was predicting thunderstorms. Well thankfully he was wrong! The day of their session was sunny, beautiful & HOT! It is summer, I know, but it was sweaty, sticky, nothing can cool you off hot! But the "N" Family did awesome :) The kids were fantastic and the entire family worked together to get as many smiles from Teddy as possible (sometimes that can be hard with a 3 year old you know :) Little did I know that I should have brought out my "secret word" way earlier in their session...mom said Teddy would have laughed the loudest!

Here are a few of my favorites from your session!

Thanks so much for smiling through the summer heat! I had so much fun and we captured some great images! I am excited for you to see them all! I will be in touch when the entire session is on-line & ready to view. Have a great weekend! Melissa

It's A Beautiful Day!

2010-07-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have those days when you just can't get a song out of your head? For some reason that U2 song "Beautiful Day" kept playing in my head as I was working on these images. It is a good thing I LOVE that song! And it was a beautiful day this past week when I had the opportunity to photograph the family of a great friend of mine! You may even recognize a few of these adorable kids from another blog post this summer :)

Here are a few of my favorite images from their session!

All of the grandchildren! Now imagine all of the parents behind the camera making all sorts of goofy faces and noises...they made some great smiles! Great work moms & dads :)

Love this :)

Thank you so much for allowing me to spend a little time with your families and capture some beautiful images! I had a great time meeting all of you and "playing"! Melissa

Celebrating 50 years!

2010-07-07T05:35:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Doyle on your Golden Wedding Anniversary! (Funny..no matter how old I get I will always call parents I have known since I was a kid Mr. & Mrs :)

What a great occasion to celebrate! All of the kids and grandkids were visiting here in Michigan for their 50 year wedding anniversary! Since you have families that live in Michigan, Illinois and Texas obviously you do not get everyone together but maybe once or twice a year if you are lucky. So this was a good time for everyone!

I have known this family since I was a teenager so it was an honor to help document such a wonderful event! Here are just a few of my favorite images from their session :)

A great image of all the family! The youngest grandchild is 10 months and the oldest is 16 years. They were all awesome as I kept clicking the shutter so that we could try and get an image of all 20 family members looking good at the same time! I think we got it :)

Just the grandkids for this one!

Love this comic relief photo! All the parents were standing behind me trying all sorts of thing to make their kids laugh! For the most part it worked great...except for little Amanda...she had enough :)

Thanks so much to the Doyle Family for letting me be a part of such a wonderful celebration! I am excited for you to see all of your family images from that day. I will be in touch when all of your images are on the web & ready to view!

Kayla

2010-06-30T04:07:00.000-07:00

What a fun session on Sunday! Kayla you are awesome! We started our session at the studio and captured some incredible images! The "wind hair" are some of my favorites! Since we had plans to go outside as well and the weather was not cooperating we moved up Kayla's session to the morning to avoid the pending rain in the afternoon. Well... things were all crazy and it rained her entire outdoor session and within seconds of finishing outside (oh yeah we photographed in the rain...and Kayla just went for it!) the rain stopped. Go figure! Here are just a few of my favorites from her session!

Kayla, I am excited for you to see all of the images from your session! I will in touch once they are ready to view! Thanks so much for a great session & for being up for anything! Melissa

Must post more!!!

2010-06-22T19:02:00.001-07:00

So just few more fun images from Jerry & Tessa's session! I just love all of these!

Love the action running & the expression/determination on her little face.
Watching her dance and skip...this one just makes me smile!

Can she turn on the charm or what! She is going to be a little heartbreaker :)

Jerry....and Tessa too!

2010-06-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

It is always fun to see friends & "play"! And this was totally a play session for me...and I think the kids may have enjoyed running & riding around too! Our main goal for the day was to photograph Jerry for his 6th birthday. He got this cool new scooter @ Christmas and had a blast driving around the park. I had to be on my toes though...man he was quick!

Of course, while we were there we wanted to get a few images of Tessa too! We had a fun time jumping & running and that little girl can give the best expressions ever! Here are just a few of my favorites from their session!

Thanks M Family for being soooo patient while I worked on your images....where did week go? I will have the full session up on the web tomorrow & I will touch base then! As always, it was a BLAST!!! Love, M

Addison

2010-06-17T12:29:00.001-07:00

Addison is 7 months old and absolutely adorable!! We photographed in 4 different outfits and used a few props and she smiled the entire time! Grandma & mom were on hand to make her smile from ear to ear...worked everytime! Here are just a few of my personal favorites from her session.

Love those eyes!

This was a grandma smile :)

I had so much fun meeting you and "playing" with Addison! There are so many great images for you to choose from...I am excited for you to see her entire session! I will be in touch once all of her images are on the web & ready to view. Enjoy your sneak peek! Melissa

Laura & Kevin

2010-06-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of photographing an engagement session for a wonderful couple! The bride also happens to be my cousin...so needless to say this was a very fun session. They were game for anything and even had to smile through an army of hungry mosquitos!! They were total troupers! We "played" at MSU for a little while & wandered around to a few fun spots and even found this fun barn off the beaten path. Very cool!

The primary goal was to capture an image to use on their Save the Date cards. Well we captured SO many great images...here are just a few of my favorites! And I had so much fun designing a few cards...I love this part...images just look so amazing when they are showcased this way!

I am so happy for you both! You are a beautiful couple inside & out! Can't wait for November!! Good times to come :)

Lauren & Griffin

2010-03-17T15:52:00.000-07:00

I just love to photograph this little girl! She is always fired up...ready to pose, smile and just have fun! She was peeking at me under a bench we were using for her to lean on...I just love this expression...so cute :)

And little Griffin who has grown up so much since I saw him a year ago...but as cute as ever! It took him a little bit to get warmed up...a few fruit snacks and mom getting her digital camera out to get those smiles, but he was a trouper :) And poor little guy was still fighting off a cold. You'd never know it from this adorable smile!

I think this is my favorite from the day. Griffin was much happier sitting with mom as his personal chair....but I love this little look!

Love her!

Thanks so much mom for bringing Lauren & Griffin over to "play"....they were great! It was wonderful to see all of you! I think we captured a few you will love...these are only a few of my favorites! I will talk with you soon :) M

Winter Fun at Lake Michigan!

2010-03-10T07:02:00.000-08:00

This was something I had been wanted to try for awhile...a winter beach scene at Lake Michigan! I have seen other photographers images of families in the beautiful white snow contrasting with the dark trees or even white birch trees...I love to look at those types of images. I have not seen any winter Lake Michigan family images and I just wanted to try something unique.

Well I found my perfect family to help me with my project...the S Family was AWESOME! The weather was not totally unbearable, but cold enough...it was after all February on Lake Michigan!!! They were such sports! I had so much fun and we captured some unique & fun images!

Here are just a few of my personal favorites:

Of course being on top of the hill the wind was a little crazy...but I just love the beautiful sand stretching out to the red lighthouse and of course the great expression on Aidrian's face :)

Thank you so much to the S Family! Thank you again for letting me "play" with all of you at the beach in February! I will send you the link once all of your images are up and ready to view! M

Bolly Fit Rocks!

2010-03-03T05:56:00.001-08:00

Bolly Fit Rocks! I had the opportunity to see Bolly Fit creator Anuja Rajendra in action this February at one of her Ann Arbor classes. She is awesome! She is an amazing teacher, dancer and beautiful soul who also happens to be a close personal friend. I am so blessed :)

Check out a few of the images from her class:

In addition to keeping busy with Bolly Fit and being a

mom she even had time to work with Ice Dancing

Olympic Silver Medalists Meryl Davis & Charlie White

to help choreograph their dance program. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0IHQBBNMog

Thanks so much Anuja for letting me visit to photograph you in action! You are amazing and so

talented! Lots of Love :) M

Tessa

2010-03-03T05:56:00.000-08:00

Love this little girl! And my goodness she has grown up so much in the past year! I remember from my own girls what a difference there was between age 2 and age 3...they seem so much more grown up at 3 years old. Something my good friend Micha told me several years ago when I was having one of those days with my then 1 year old & 3 year old ..."the days sometimes go slowly, but the years go fast." Wow this is so true!

I had SO MUCH FUN with Miss Tessa! She was fired up and ready to take some pictures when she arrived. She had her smiles and attitude ready! The little tutu and fairy wings were so cute! Here are just a few of my favorites from her session:

In spinning action!

Love the over the shoulder look! She is going to be a heartbreaker :)

Such a sweet heart :) Thanks M for letting me take pictures of your adorable little girl! I loved every minute of it! Talk soon :) M

Beautiful Babies & Adorable Kids

2010-03-03T05:45:00.001-08:00

Family visiting from across the country, beautiful babies, cousins running around the house, Christmas trees, presents and the wonderful smells of the holidays...that was part of my experience on December 26th being there to photograph this wonderful family! I was at a clients' beautiful home (who also happens to be a dear friend of my mom's) to photograph her family and extended family during their holiday celebration.

These beautiful little girls are cousins!

More cousins hanging around for their Christmas holiday celebration! I love Christmas! Thank you so much Marlene for letting me be a part of your holidays!

The Daddy Tickle!

2009-12-10T18:28:00.001-08:00

I love capturing the "Daddy Tickle"on camera...you know when the dads take the kids and just give them the hardest tickle they can...the kids love it! And you can capture the BEST laughs and giggles ever! I wish we had audio for this blog :) Here is one of those great moments!

I was so excited to see the "S" family this holiday season! They are so much fun to photograph and they also happen to be good friends of mine too!

Grace was totally camera ready when she walked into the studio! And her outfit was adorable...I especially loved the red scarf! So hip :) Grace is so fun to photograph...she always has a happy face and just loves to be in front of the camera.

And Colin did an awesome job! Mom & Dad had "Big Whites" (aka peppermint life savers...his fave!) on hand to give out at the end of our session just to make sure we captured some of those great smiles. The bribe totally worked....so many fun smiles!! He was playing peak a boo with his sister here...love it!

This is my most favorite thing to create...

This collage works perfectly for little kids....especially two year olds! It is such a fun way to show off all their smiles and expressions. I love creating these!

Thank you so much "S" Family! I will be in touch when all of your images are on the web & ready to view! M

Family Fun!

2009-12-10T18:28:00.000-08:00

Maya

2009-12-06T16:39:00.000-08:00

I just love photographing two year olds! They are so full of energy, they give the best smiles and sometimes the best frowns....so many wonderful expressions it is hard to pick a favorite! Little Maya will be turning 2 this month and I had such a great time with her! Maya and her mom came to the studio ready with outfits and toys ready to have fun photographing, but as soon as Maya entered the studio the happy face turned to a frown. No worries...as soon as we just relaxed, played a little, put on a some of her favorite tunes and let her check things out the real Maya was ready to "play". We even photographed Maya in one of her favorite outfits...her birthday suit! So cute!!

I love this adorable moment when she is totally into what she is doing :)

A few spins on my twirling chair (with the help of mom) and we captured some great smiles!

Collages are my FAVORITE thing to create with 2 year olds :) It is so much fun to showcase all of their wonderful expressions...especially when it is impossible to pick a favorite.

Thank you so much to Maya & her mom for coming to "play"! I had so much fun meeting both of you. I am excited to show you all of Maya's adorable expressions from her session. I will be in touch when all of her images are on the web and ready to view! Melissa

Colleen, Jill & Ben

2009-12-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year! All the beautiful holiday dresses and excitement for Christmas! I was so excited to photograph one of my daughters friends and her sister and brother for the holidays. They were in the studio earlier this week and did such a great job! Here are a few of my favorites :)

Thanks so much to the "D" Family! I will be in touch when all of your images are up on the web & ready to view. Melissa

Holiday Sessions 2009 are Full :)

2009-11-16T18:11:00.000-08:00

It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas over here in the studio! I am keeping busy finalizing print orders and creating holiday cards...it is one of my favorite times of year! The December 1st deadline for guaranteed holiday delivery is fast approaching & I still have a few more sessions to squeak in!

All of my holiday sessions are full for 2009!

I will not be accepting any additional sessions for Christmas images the remainder of the year. Thank you so much to all of my wonderful clients - you are the best :)

Hope to see all of you in 2010!

Holiday Orders Deadline Dec 1st

2009-11-11T06:25:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder that in order to guarantee holiday delivery all orders must be submitted and finalized by December 1st.

You are welcome to call or e-mail with with your order or any questions.

Thank you!

Melissa

heartlightphoto@sbcglobal.net

The Boys :)

2009-11-05T18:09:00.000-08:00

My nephews are so adorable! And it is not just because I am their aunt...they are total cuties :)

Over the weekend we had a family get together in honor of my grandma's birthday (Happy Birthday Grandma Betty!) and my brother and his family were here in town. We had planned to photograph their Christmas pictures too and I was determined to get them outside for their session...so lucky for them the weather was great! The boys were awesome...full of smiles and we captured so many great images.

And even though the leaves were nearly gone, I am so LOVING the golden grasses with the red sweaters! I am just having a blast photographing outdoors at all sorts of new locations i have been finding! So for those of you who still have not had your Christmas card pictures taken yet, watch out because I will be trying to tempt all of you into going outdoors :) LOL!

Lifetime.com Grand Prize Winner!

2009-11-05T18:06:00.001-08:00

Wow - what an incredible surprise...I just found out that I WON the Grand Prize in the Lifetime.com Halloween Photo Contest! There were more than 500 entrants judged by a panel from the Lifetime network. The picture of my daughters dressed as Dorothy and Glinda from the Wizard of Oz took top prize! Woo Hoo :)

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T17:23:00.000-07:00

Peter turns One!

2009-10-20T16:56:00.000-07:00

Wow - where did a year go? I think this thought goes through my head annually as I begin to start thinking about the holidays and all the fun craziness that goes along with the festivities. It even became more apparent how much time has passed when I photographed Peter this past weekend. He was here with his mom at 3 months old and now he is an active and very mobile one year old!

Peter had the most wonderful smiles during his session. That smile is awesome :) It lights up his entire being and just fills his whole joyful body. It just made me smile!

This is so cute :) Peter had his back to me & mom and was clapping his hands to a game mom was playing.
One of his incredible smiles!

We also had fun photographing Peter with his brother and sister. They all did amazing! In ten short minutes we captured so many great images of all 3 kids - mom, you are going to love them :) I had so much fun photographing your kiddos! And thank you for letting me capture some of those incredible "Peter smiles". I will be in touch when all of your images are on the web and ready to view! Melissa

Chakor & Kabir

2009-10-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

I LOVE the great outdoors and all the beautiful fall colors right now! I was so excited to photograph Chakor & Kabir (they are the adorable boys of some of my very good friends...their mom & I go back a loooong time :) She no longer lives in Lansing, but we were finally able to coordinate a date to photograph. YEAH!!

Chakor and Kabir were so much fun! We photographed at a park near their house and the colors outside were incredible! I had brought along a bench for them to sit on , stand on, jump off of or whatever...to keep things fun for the boys! Sitting and posing for a picture all the time and get very cumbersome when you are 3 & 4 1/2! Kabir was the best little poser :) And once Chakor got into it and just started doing his thing we captured some great expressions from him too! These brothers are the best of friends!

After an hour or so of playing, photographing and just running around the park we headed back to their house. The boys were so cute (it just melted me) they wanted to give me a tour of their new house, show me their rooms and toys and we even played "jail"...very fun! They gave me big hugs when I left & I promised to come back again soon with my girls to play. I am excited to show you all of the images from the session! Be in touch soon! Melissa

Kory

2009-10-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

My high school seniors have been a blast to photograph this year! And Kory was no exception! We started by photographing at the studio then went outside to capture some of the great fall landscapes and a few other fun locations too! I know having a camera in your face for a few hours straight can be quite cumbersome (thats' why I love THIS side of the camera:) but Kory's mom knew just what to do and say to get the best smiles from her son! They were a riot! And we all had a great afternoon :)

Funny thing about all of my seniors this year...the very last images we photograph have been some of my favorites. This image above was literally the LAST image we took that afternoon.

I hope you enjoy your sneek peek! Thank you to Kory & his mom for a great afternoon! I hope you had as much fun as I did :) Melissa

Sophie & Miles

2009-10-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

I am LOVING the outdoor sessions this year! And the afternoon photographing with Sophie & Miles was a blast! Miss Sophie is the best little model ever....I could photograph her all day! And little brother Miles did so great too - though he was way more interested in the big fish in the pond than taking photographs (I have some GREAT candid expressions of Miles excited about the fish...you will love it!). But, Mom was prepared....gotta love those fruit snacks :) A little bribe now and then never hurts (it works on my own kids too!). And a big thank you to Sophie & Miles' mom for even being prepared to keep my kids busy while we photographed...you ROCK! We had rescheduled our session due to rain, cold and complete yuckiness and the only day that worked with beautiful weather was a day that I needed to bring my kids along too. We made it work and I think it all turned out great! Check out a few of these beautiful images from their session :)

I love the expressions on their faces and the beautiful light :)

Little explorer :)
LOVE the hat!

We captured some beautiful images of Miss Sophie...this is one of my favorites!

Thank you so much to the "M" Family for a great session! Your little kiddos are so much fun to photograph! I am excited to show you the all the images from the rest of your session and a few holiday card creations as well. Talk to you soon!

Rain or Shine we make it work!

2009-10-10T16:08:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun with the "D" family last Sunday! We had scheduled their session way back in the summer so we were all hoping for great weather to photograph outdoors with the beautiful fall colors. Did we get that great weather....well, not so much. It was complete downpour rain all that morning and there was no sign of clearing, but the "D" family was up for anything and let me just do my thing. We were just going to make it work and capture some great family images one way or another! We started by photographing inside their home (thank you for letting me totally rearrange your furniture :) and I would peek outside periodically...nope, still raining. So we moved to another beautiful location in their home...another quick peek...still raining, but only a slight mist this time. Things were looking up :) By the time we finished inside, it was chilly outside, but the sun was peeking through and they were up for giving it a try outdoors. I am so glad it worked out....I LOVE these outdoor images!

The kids were fabulous! It was not warm outside and things were obviously a little wet, but they were troupers :)
"D" family I hope you like your sneak peek! I will be in touch when all of your images are on the web and ready to view!

It's my First Birthday!

2009-10-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

Wow! Where does a year go? It literally feels like just a few weeks ago I photographed little Max at 4 months old and now he is an adorable one year old! This has been such a fun photographic journey for me. Mom, thank you for allowing me to be such a special part of this past year! I have enjoyed every minute! (check out my blog from October 2008 & June 2009 to see how much Max has grown).

Max and big brother Jack were here for the session. Both of the boys did great! We played, checked out the toys, had snacks and just hung out...oh and we took a few pictures too! I had a blast hanging with mom too!

I just love the look in his eyes! And Max looks so adorable in his little jeans jacket :)

Such a cute little smile :)
And big brother even got in on the action. Jack did such a great job...love the eyes!!

Mom, thanks so much for bringing in the boys! I enjoyed our "coffee talk" too! I will be sending you the link for the other images up on-line so you can check them out. Enjoy :)

Holiday Cards 2009

2009-09-28T06:11:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about fall...cider & donuts! It makes me happy just thinking about it :) Fall is here! Even my girls are excited about fall...they got out the rakes & decided they wanted to make a pile of leaves to jump into yesterday. They were all fired up for their "big" pile only to be disappointed when their pile was only as big as 3 sand pails full:( This was a "little" smaller than they expected.

Now that fall is here, it is time to start thinking about holiday cards. If you are interested in photographing outdoors there is not much time left. Typically, the beautiful leaves are gone by the 2nd or 3rd week in October. My weekend sessions are full, however, there is still room during the weekdays. Give me a call to schedule your appointment!

If you mention this blog post you will receive 10% off your holiday card order :)

Courtney

2009-09-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

Another fantastic senior session with oh so many beautiful images to choose from! Courtney was a blast to photograph...and let me tell you she can work the camera :) She would pose, I would snap, she would give me a little smile, I would snap...I felt like I was a photographer on America's Next Top Model...I loved it!! We spent the first part of Courtney's session at the studio playing with a variety of backgrounds and outfits. And just for fun I asked her mom to make her laugh by saying something really silly...we captured some great expressions. These types of candid images are some of my favorites. The mom's usually love them too because it really seems to capture their daughters' natural spirit.

Once we were finished in the studio, we headed outdoors. We could not have asked for better weather! Beautiful backlit sunshine on her hair, her sweet smile and I am camera ready then WHACK! had to get that mosquito before it got me. Oh those crazy mosquitos! We all suffer for the art! Hopefully, Courtney came out of there relatively unharmed :)

Here are a few...really this is only a few...I went a litte LOCO with the pictures...but man did I have fun... of my favorite images from Courtney's session!

I love this image :) I am so glad we decided to photograph with this cool yellow top.

Thanks so much to Courtney & her mom for a fantastic day of photographing! I am so excited for you to see all of the images from Courtney's session. I will be in touch when they are on the web & ready to view! Melissa

50th Wedding Anniversary

2009-08-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

As we all know, it has been quite cool this summer in Mid-Michigan. Really, just a few HOT weeks from June until now. I was so excited when I received an e-mail from one of my clients to photograph her family picture (I photographed her daughters' senior pictures last summer...so fun!!). This family session had been planned since the spring...it was the day that worked best to coordinate all 15 family members to meet here in town. Photographing outdoors was our plan. All summer we were hoping for no rain that day, but we had our back-up plan just in case.

The day of the session arrived. No rain...that was good, but WOW it was seriously one of the hottest and stickiest days of the summer. Go figure :) Still everyone was happy & relaxed and I was so excited to be a part of such a special photograph. Richard & June will be celebrating 50 years of marriage this winter!

We captured some beautiful images during their session! I am honored that I was able to play a small part in creating beautiful images during such a special time in their family. This is one of the many things I love about photography.

Thank you so much to the entire family! It was wonderful to see the A-R Family again and to meet so many of you for the first time. And congratulations to Richard & June on their upcoming 50th Wedding Anniversary! Melissa

Julie

2009-08-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

This was another fabulously fun session! After talking only with Julie via e-mail I finally met Julie & her mom last week. Wonderful people :) I was so honored to be chosen to photograph such an important milestone in Julie's life. Julie is friends with a high school senior that I photographed last year...so that was really cool too!

Julie looked amazing for her session and she was so fun to photograph! Sorry a few of the crazy "balancing acts" :) I hope you had as much fun as I did! We started the session at the studio and then moved outside to one of my favorite spots in town.

Julie, I can hardly wait for you to see all of the beautiful images we captured at your session! For now, I wanted to give you a sneak peek of just a few of my favorite images from your session. No really, these are only a few...the blog only lets me add 5 per blog...I could have added way more...I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites.

Check these out! These images speaks for themselves...GORGEOUS!!

There is also another image similar to the one above where Julie is smiling...it was so hard to choose which one to post. They are both beautiful!

Love this image....great sandals :)

And the eyes....amazing!

Thank you to Julie & her mom for an incredible afternoon of photographing! I will be finishing up all of the images and I will be in touch as soon as they are ready to view on the web! Melissa

Josh

2009-07-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

So much FUN! That is really the only way I can describe this session :) I hope Josh had as much fun as I did. He was a blast to photograph! Josh was up for anything I wanted to try and had some great ideas of his own too! We photographed in the studio & then went to a few of my favorite locations to capture some great outdoor images. Here are just a few of my favorites!

So just for fun, I tried this new 70's retro photo look :) I love it!

And a BIG thank you to Josh for acting as my "assistant". If it were not for my "assistant" I would have walked away without a piece of equipment..or two :) Yikes! You know, I get on a roll and well...so thank you:) I will be in touch when all of your images are on the web & ready to view. Melissa

Just to make you smile :)

2009-06-29T18:27:00.000-07:00

Doesn't this just sum up some days!! When i photographed the M Family a few weeks ago, mom & dad told the kids to make their "mean faces"...this just makes me smile! Hope it brings a smile to your face too :)

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

Of course I knew this family session was going to be a great time...and it was! Tessa & Jerry are so adorable and when the entire family started singing "silly" songs together these adorable smiles are what we captured :) I had so much fun photographing at their home - and we captured several totally different backgrounds...I love that! Here are a few of my favorite images from their session!

Thanks so much to the M Family for their patience while I am finishing up all of their images :) It is always a honor to photograph you & your children! I am excited to show you all of your images...I will be in touch!

That adorable little face

2009-06-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

It is those expressions captured in a single frame that we cannot see in the moment. I love that about photography!

When Max was here for his 6 month pictures (as a part of his Heart & Soul Sessions) he gave us some great expressions! This one is one of my favorites :) He was so adorable as he was giving the teddy bear kisses and then trying to give "rasberries" as he looked right at the camera. This expression was one of those lucky moments where a single frame on the camera captures that look! Too cute :)

Max's session was so much fun and my goodness has he grown! In fact he was already crawling a little bit since he wanted to get to mom where ever she was! This was my third session with Max and he has changed so much - even his hair color it is turning blond from dark, dark brown! One thing that has not changed is his big, gorgeous smile! And poor little guy was even fighting an ear infection :( You'd never know it from the images we captured!

Jill, it was wonderful to see all of you! I can't wait for you to see the rest of the great images we captured! Your little boy is beautiful!

Baby Bump

2009-05-31T07:13:00.000-07:00

This session was so much fun! I was honored to be asked to photograph some maternity images for Libby. She is expecting her first baby, a little girl this fall, and her family is so excited! I have known Libby's family for...wow nearly 10 years now...and they are such wonderful people. Libby lives out of state and this was the first time I had the pleasure of meeting her. I had so much fun photographing her - she was so relaxed and go with the flow and I think every image looks incredible! Here are just a few of my favorites from her session!

I love this! As we were photographing, Libby casually mentioned that it would be cute if she had a gerber daisy to put in her belly button. Well, it just so happened I had just received a pink gerber daisy plant for mothers day! With a little tape to keep that tiny flower in place this was one of the images we captured!

Thank you again for allowing me to share in such a special time in your life! Congratulations! Enjoy the sneak peak of your images! I will be in touch once all of your session images are ready to view!

Gabrielle

2009-05-03T17:50:00.001-07:00

It is hard for me to believe that a year has gone by! This was a special session for me in so many ways! I have know Gabrielle's mom her entire life - our mother's have been friends since they were pre-teens! I also had the privilege of photographing Gabrielle when she was just a few weeks old and now here she is one-year later!

I just love those beautiful blue eyes!

Gabrielle was such a trooper for her session. When she first arrived she was all smiles, but that quickly turned to tears when she saw the studio :( Mom was not sure what was the matter so we just let Gabrielle relax and play with some toys while we chatted for a bit. Then of course my little "helpers" came in to say hello too! Soon the smiles returned :)

We captured some adorable expressions and some beautiful images with mom & Gabrielle - just in time for Mother's Day! It was so wonderful to see both of you - I had a blast! I am excited for you to see all the images from Gabrielle's session! Talk with you soon! M

Beautiful Bunch

2009-04-10T17:25:00.000-07:00

Look at this beautiful bunch!

Set the scene...3 boys, 2 little girls visiting their cousins here in Michigan and 3 parents jumping around behind me doing just about anything to provoke a smile or giggle from everyone! I am not exactly sure what was going on back there, but everyone was having a good time! And here are a few of my favorite images from their session!

And these outfits were absolutely adorable!

Thank you all so much for allowing me to spend time with your children and "play"! They did such a great job and I had a great time too! I will be in touch when the rest of the images are on the web and ready to view!

Lauren & Griffin

2009-03-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun with Lauren & Griffin! Griffin is one year old and he has changed so much since I last saw him! What a cutie! Though, he was not to sure about being photographed. He preferred to stick close to mom. But, after a little warming up, a fun rocking chair and of course a lot of "funny" antics from mom & dad, we were able to capture some adorable smiles! Here is one of my favorites :)

Griffin was on the move in this image. I just love those eyes!
And then there is big sister Lauren! She is a hoot and she LOVES having her picture taken! I just love this little girl :) I have been photographing Lauren since she was Griffin's age and it has been so much fun to watch her grow! And of course I just love to "play" with her at the studio! Oh, and those pigtails...to cute! Here are just a few of my favorite images! I could have added so many more...

It was wonderful to see all of you! I am excited to for you too see all of the images from the session! I will be in touch once all the images are ready to view :)

Heartdance Studio

2009-03-17T06:32:00.000-07:00

This place is beautiful! Winalee & Ron Zeeb are the owners of Heartdance Studio here in Lansing and I had the honor of photographing their beautiful new space. If you have never met Winalee or Ron they are two of the most wonderful people you will ever meet! They both give so much to our community and all of those who know them.

Check out some of the images of the studio!

As you enter through the door of the studio you will step into a beautiful space filled with color and light!

Then just to your left is the dance studio! The beautiful stained glass doors invite you into this sacred space.
And here is the amazing Heartdance Studio space! All of the custom artwork and stained glass combined with the attention to every detail make this space incredible!

To find out more about Heartdance Studio you can check out their web site at:

www.HEARTDANCESTUDIO.com

Thank you Winalee & Ron for inviting me to be a part of such a special part of your lives!

Jaxen

2009-03-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

Little Jaxen was a fantastic "model" for his session! So much fun to photograph:) This image below was actually one of the few we were able to capture with his eyes open! He was so relaxed, he slept for most of the session. But, I was determined to capture at least one beautiful image of those eyes. Then, right near the end of the session...he had enough bright flashes in his face, he wanted his pacifier and a little milk too...he let us get just a few images of those eyes! I am so glad he did!

And a thanks to mom for this one! She had purchased these adorable wings...oh, so cute! And Jaxen even slept like this for quite some time!

His little smile...just makes me smile! Don't you just wonder what he is thinking?

I hope you enjoy a sneak peek of a few of my favorite images from Jaxen's session! There are so many beautiful images to choose from...I am excited to show you all of them! I will be in touch once the rest of the session is on the web and ready to view! Melissa

Jerry & Tessa

2009-02-25T06:38:00.000-08:00

Oh, that smile! What a cutie! Tessa just turned two years old and she was so much fun to photograph! This is one of my favorite ages to photograph...she was on the move and it took her a few minutes to get warmed up, but when she was ready these adorable expressions are what we captured!

And these are just a few of of my favorites...there are so many more adorable Tessa expressions to choose from. Mom, I can hardly wait for you to see the rest! Wait until you see her Funny Faces panel - you will love it!

And big brother, Jerry, did such a great job helping to make his sister laugh! With a little help from mom too - gotta love those "walking fingers"!

He was even so patient while we captured a few great images of him too!
And just a special moment together!

Marnee, it is always great to see you and the kids! Thank you so much for sharing them with me again...I always have a blast photographing them! I will be in touch when all of the images are on the web and ready to view. I am excited to show you all of the images from their session!

Those eyes, those cheeks...

2009-02-23T17:36:00.000-08:00

Those first images, in fact the first 2 frames, were my favorites of Max's session! Those eyes and little hand - so cute!

Max was 3 weeks old and sleeping so sweetly when he arrived for his session. Then the "mean ole photographer" (a.k.a me) of course wants to get him naked for his pictures. After a few attempts "my way" - cute positions, looking at his little feel and belly - Max reminded me who was the boss here anyway. And of course he was right! As soon as mom put him in his favorite position up over her shoulder - these were the first few images we captured!

Oh, such a sweet little guy! Once he was happy he let me "play" for a little while and even made him self comfortable!

And those cheeks! These are just a few of my favorite images of Max! Melissa, thank you so much for sharing Max with me - he is beautiful! I am excited to share all of his beautiful images with you in the days ahead! I will be in touch when all the images are on-line and ready to view.

Fresh Paint :)

2009-02-16T17:11:00.000-08:00

I am back from family vacation renewed, finished with laundry (that was a task) & now I have a freshly painted studio too! I had this bright idea before we left on vacation that our basement needed to be painted (which it did) - so last week I was washing walls and over the weekend it was a marathon painting event. So now the studio is put back together & I am ready for work!

STUDIO HOURS

2009-01-27T11:38:00.001-08:00

I will be out of the Studio on the following dates:

January 30 - February 8th, 2009

Studio Closed

Please feel free to leave me an e-mail or voice mail

and I will get back to you when I return.

Thank you!

Melissa

Annemarie

2009-01-25T17:42:00.001-08:00

Those big blue eyes and the adorable curls...what more can I say! I had the best afternoon with Annemarie (and mom too - she is a very good friend of mine:) Annemarie is 2 years old and such a sweet little girl! Once we gave Annemarie a few minutes to relax, play with some toys and read some books with mom she warmed right up and even started hamming it up for the camera:) So many cute smiles and expressions. In fact the image above was the last shot of the session - that never happens at the end of a session!

I just love this laughing image - I do not remember what was so funny, but Annemarie thought it was hilarious!

And of course checking out her new shoes! I love this little girl...who doesn't get excited over a new pair of shoes :)
Thank you so much for sharing Annemarie with me this afternoon! I had so much fun seeing both of you and "playing" with Annemarie - she is a beautiful little girl! I will be in touch once all of the images are on the web and ready to view!

Presidential Inauguration 2009

2009-01-20T12:52:00.000-08:00

What an exciting day in our country's history! It is amazing to think that this moment will be remembered long after we are all gone - through stories, text books, speeches and most of all the images that remain from this day. Photojournalism is an incredible art and one of the reasons I love photography. They tell our story. The story of our country, our families and all that is each of our lives and the journey of life.

With all of the world watching Washington DC today I also found a few images of my own that were taken back in March, 1994. This was the last time I was in Washington DC and I am sure I will get back there again with my family in the years ahead.

This is me with my best friend Jenn as I set my camera on the tripod, pushed the timer & ran like the wind to make it into the shot. (I do have one where I wasn't quite fast enough)

Kind of an interesting picture now looking back. If you can read the sign in the window it says "Regan '96".

Seems appropriate to sign off saying - God Bless America!

Peter, 3 months

2009-01-19T19:08:00.000-08:00

Look at those beautiful blue eyes!

I just LOVE this smile! That big, happy smile that just takes over his sweet little face...I cannot help but smile myself :) This was Peter's 3-month picture and he was just an angel! Oh and I was so excited to hear him "talking" to me...that gets me every time!

Such a fun and relaxed session for me! Peter's big sister was there to help and I had my little "helpers" there as well. All of the girls were trying to help mom coax some great smiles from Peter. He was so interested in all that they were doing...he didn't know which way to watch as they were moving all around him. Peter was so content as we changed outfits, moved him around and just tried to get his attention. What a great little guy!

Thanks so much Emily for letting me meet & play with Peter! I had so much fun...he is absolutely adorable! I will be touching base soon once all of the images are ready to view!

The Many Faces of Max

2009-01-12T17:20:00.000-08:00

Could it get any cuter than this :) What a beautiful little spirit this little guy has! Mom was able to coax out so many adorable smiles. And then when Max started "talking" to me...oh, that is enough to melt anyone on the spot! It has been awhile since my girls were this age and I had forgotten how much I love that sound of a little baby cooing. That is my second favorite sound in the world next to a full on baby belly giggle. I can hardly wait to see if I get to hear Max giggle in the months ahead! This is Max's 3-month image in a series of 3 portrait sessions over his first year for the Heartlight Beginnings Baby Program.

I had so much fun with Max and his Big Brother who was on hand to jump in for a few photos too! You know I can never resist a willing subject to photograph...especially the little and adorable kind who are ready to pose and smile without any bribes what so ever! That is the BEST! Thank you for letting me "play" with Max again (I photographed him when he was just 3 weeks old)! It was great to see all of you! These are just a few of my personal favorites :) I will be in touch soon when all of the other images are ready for you to view!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I don't know about you, but I am still not adjusted to writing "2009"...typically by the end of January it is starting to become more natural. Until then I typically scratch out a date or two trying to remember to write the correct year :)

I hope the new year finds you all happy and healthy as we move forward into 2009! Personally, I am excited to see what a new year brings - with all of the turmoil in 2008 for our country, and especially the state of Michigan, I am hopeful things will begin to turn around! I want to thank all of my clients, friends and family for continuing to support me throughout 2008! I truly would not be following my passion if it were not for all of you :) Thank you!

Like most people, I do have a few goals for 2009. My goals for this year are to continue to support the charities and organizations that are near to my heart, buy local when I can, live within my means, get healthy/exercise (I know very cliche) and keep my priorities in order. I have a constant "to-do" list which includes minor things from buying birthday cards, small fix-it projects to general things I would like to accomplish for the year. The list is in a constant state of evolution, but I just LOVE "checking" things off that list - even the small simple ones :)

The Heartlight Photography list this year is long & exciting. I have so many new ideas I am excited to try and products I want to introduce. And my goal is have some charity work within my business as well :) There are so many wonderful ways that I can utilize my photographic skills it is hard to decide where to devote some of my time, but my goal to find one this year :) Keep checking back here for all the updates on products, specials and any other fun stuff I decide to write about!

Happy 2009! Melissa

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T09:43:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season! Best wishes in 2009! Melissa

A first for me...

2008-12-06T16:21:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to photograph a maternity session and was planning to seek out a few soon to be moms in 2009, but I lucked out and received a call last week! It was a Thursday night evening session and I was excited and nervous all at the same time. I have seen so many beautiful images showing the beauty of pregnancy and I wanted to create a few beautiful images for the M family. They were so laid back and easy to work with I think we captured the images they were hoping for. Here are a few of my favorites from their session!

Thank you M family for trusting me to photograph such a wonderful time in your lives! I will be touching base again soon once all of the images are ready to view.

A few of my own

2008-11-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would share a few images of my girls from this holiday season. My "models" are so great at tolerating their mothers' creative whims :) Here are a few of the images I have captured so far...

It's beginning to look at lot like Christmas..

2008-11-18T18:29:00.000-08:00

So the snow has arrived and wow are my girls excited! My 4 year old, Jenna, was ready to suit up at 7:30am and play outside in the snow! Sister Sara is not quite the morning girl that her sister is, but the snow was quite tempting for her too! And both girls can hardly wait to build a snowman. Their excitement is what I love most about this time of year!

And then...here comes mom (me!) harassing them to take the annual Christmas card photo. This is not usually met with too much excitement on their part (except for the bribes that usually come along with it :) Oh, and I am not above a bribe...or two! And I usually have a few ideas brewing so I may do a few sessions (oh they love that..) before I capture the images I want to use. And this year my goal is to include our dog as well - so we have LOTS of bribing going on...even for the dog:) But I am having a great time & I am excited to share my family with all of you this year!

Family Fun!

2008-11-06T16:45:00.000-08:00

This has truly been such a fun fall for me! I have the opportunity to photograph so many different sessions including children, graduating seniors, newborn sessions and of course families! This fun day I photographed the S family including grandma and grandpa. I just love when grandma and grandpa are a part of the session. It is so much fun to watch them with their grandchildren and capture some of those fun moments! The entire session was just pure fun for me! Little CJ has grown so much since I last saw him and his big sister Grace brought along a special tiara and stuffed kitty to have a special photograph taken. She even knew exactly how she wanted to pose. How cute is that! Here are just a few of my favorites!

It was wonderful to see all of you! Thank you for making my work so much fun!

A great day to be Spartan!

2008-11-03T11:38:00.001-08:00

As I drove to meet the M family at their home, MSU was trailing Wisconsin and things were not looking good for the Spartans. When I reached their home we talked for a little bit and I checked out their beautiful backyard for the best image locations. Then I photographed their son Moose and dog Otis while daddy was watching the final minutes of the game (I was thinking their would not be many smiles today). However, just as we finished photographing Moose a loud cheer came from the basement, we saw jumping and yelling and went to check it out. The Spartans won by 1 point in the final seconds - it was a great day to be a Spartan (even though I am technically a Boilermaker:) Great weather, great win and great images! Here are just a few of my favorites!

Thank you so much for allowing me to capture some beautiful images of your family! It was great to see all of you and I had so much fun!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

It is that fun time of year again! And who doesn't love Halloween :) And I love it even more when both of my girls are agreeable and excited to be photographed without even a bribe...the painted faces and getting dressed in their costumes were bribe enough this time :) I just had to share one of my 2008 Halloween favorites! My little kitties were totally into it with the growls and claws. Sara my black cat is 6 years old and Jenna my tiger is 4 1/2 years old! And they can hardly wait for tomorrow night! Have a safe and Happy Halloween :)

Rockin' it

2008-10-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

The boys did rock it! Look at those smiles :) This is the third year I have photographed these adorable brothers and I was so excited to see them again! They have both grown up so much! Here are a few of my favorite images from their session!

Big brother Aiden was ready to go the minute he walked into the studio. He was all smiles and so easy going - he was up for anything! For little brother Danton it took a little longer to warm up, but wow was it worth the wait! Once he was ready, there was no shortage of smiles from him either! And with some help from mom & dad the boys just kept laughing:)

It makes my day when a session comes together and the amazing spirit of the children I am photographing is captured in the images. This is what is it all about for me!

Thanks M family for sharing your boys with me again this year!

Little Max

2008-10-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

Aww..what a handsome little man! And look at all that hair :) This was like my ultimate session...aside from having a beautiful little model, I was able to visit with a friend too! And little Max was perfect! So alert, barely fussed and within 30 minutes we captured all of our beautiful images!

Jill, thanks so much for letting me "play" with Max! It was great to see you and catch up a little bit! Your little boy is beautiful! I can't wait for you to see the rest of the images we captured. Enjoy a few of my favorites!

Sunshine & mosquito's...

2008-10-14T06:33:00.000-07:00

Sunshine, beautiful fall colors...and mosquito's? Yes, the mosquito's were out in force on Sunday and unfortunately Alex and Charlie have some of the battle wounds to show for it.

But, Alex and Charlie just kept on smiling (even while under attack). And mom even had a special Mickey Mouse song to that was perfect for coaxing out those smiles! By the end of the session both of the boys had their own "shots" they want to try! I think we all had a great time!

Thanks so much to the B family, especially Alex and Charlie, you were troopers! We captured some wonderful images and I hope you had a much fun as I did!

Wonderful weekend...

2008-10-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

What a great way to start off a session! An image of beautiful little baby Hendrick sleeping...what is not to love about this little guy! This was literally the first image we captured of 3 week old baby Hendrick and it is one of my favorites!

This was my first session with the M family and they were such a pleasure to work with! So relaxed and go with the flow...I think I had more fun than they did! And big sister Addison was so wonderful with her new little brother...sitting with him and giving him kisses. She even showed me her dance moves as she grooved along with her Gymboree video! Thank you M family for letting me be a part of such a special time in your lives! I hope you enjoy the sneak peek!

Pretty in Pink!

2008-10-10T11:17:00.000-07:00

It is hard for me to believe that Abby is already 3 years old! I am sure her Mom & Dad feel the same way. I was so excited when the day of her session arrived because the L family is always such a pleasure to work with. I have had the privilege of photographing Abby since she was one year old & it has been so much fun for me to watch her grow! Abby was all smiles and giggles for her session but she did slow down to read few books (quickly) and do a puzzle. That was really amazing to watch her sit and figure it all out on her own! Mom & Dad enjoy your sneak peek!

Seniors 2009 - Rachel & Matthew

2008-10-05T17:56:00.000-07:00

I had such a fun afternoon! It was great to see the S family again, listen to a little ABBA and capture some beautiful images.

Rachel and Matthew are currently in their Senior year at Sexton H.S. I met Rachel and Matthew last fall when I photographed their family portrait. In addition to being brother and sister they are twins as well! I am so honored that I had the opportunity to photograph their senior portraits! And it was also great to visit with the family too, even Grandma was here from the U.P.

We captured so many beautiful images! And Rachel's dog Chip was so adorable and such a great model! Here are just a few of my personal favorites. Enjoy your sneak peek!

Your images-from our studio to your wall!

2008-09-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

From our studio to directly to your wall! We are always looking to simplify life for our clients. And now there is one more way to make your life easier - with our framing option!

We have a beautiful selection of custom frames and mattes to select from to create a one of a kind piece of art for your home! Ask us about it at your next appointment!

Blue Skies, Blue Eyes

2008-09-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

After the crazy, non-stop rain for 3 days last weekend it was great to have such beautiful weather for this session! Sophie & Myles were so much fun to photograph! Sophie had a great time collecting as many leaves as she could carry and I am pretty sure she took every single one home with her! Yellow was her favorite. And little Myles was chillin' with the cherrios and exploring! But he sat still long enough to capture a few great images. Here are just a few of my favorites from the session! Enjoy, Mom!

Ali & Isabel

2008-08-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

What a fun Friday night we had! Ali and Sissy were smiley, inquisitive and just having a good time exploring! Mom & Dad here is a sneak peek at just a few of the great images we captured! Enjoy!

Oh, that sweet face!

A Day with Sam Puc'

2008-08-24T18:09:00.000-07:00

Wow! What an amazing Saturday I had spending the day with Sam Puc'! My brain is still trying to process all of the information, inspiration and ideas that I am now fueled with!

Sam is a Master Photographer, and amazing artist, from Colorado who was in Grand Rapids with her current tour. As you can see this seminar focused on infant and maternity photography. After this inspirational day I have so many ideas I want to create in the studio I am waiting for the next little angel I can photograph!! So all you expectant mom's.... :)

My new baby program will be ready to launch in 2009! Keep watching for more information in the months ahead!

Holiday cards are here!

2008-08-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... it's only August, but I am so excited about the new holiday 2008 card selections I could not wait to share! Here are just a few of my favorites below:

You can check out the complete collection by clicking on the "view your pics" link on my blog and viewing under "holiday cards - samples". I am also available to create unique designer cards as well using images from any 2008 Heartlight Photography session. Ask me about the details!

All holiday cards can be printed in a 3 1/2 x 7 or 5 x 7 size and envelopes are included. There is a minimum order of 25 and additional cards may be purchased in increments of 10. All holiday card orders must be placed by December 5th.

Oh, and wait there's more...in addition to printing cards on traditional photographic paper you can also select from a variety of beautiful card stock papers: smooth cover, smooth cover with gloss, pearl and watercolor.

Ask me to view the sample papers when you are in for your next session!

Oh Baby!!

2008-08-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Colleen & Adam! We captured some amazing images of Gabrielle and this art series collage is my favorite!! Here are just a few images from the session. Thanks so much for letting me share such an amazing part of your lives. Enjoy!!

Our NEW Blog!

2008-06-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

It's our first blog here at Heartlight Photography!! We are so excited to have another outlet to update you on upcoming specials and what is going on here at the studio. We will be posting images from current sessions and "just for fun shots".

Check back soon for some session images! - Melissa