Family Photos with Dog Included!

The opportunity to photograph children and families is always a welcomed one. The chance to photograph children and dogs together is fantastic! I was asked by one of my favorite clients to photograph her daughter, Chandra; two grandsons, Alex and Banks; and their dog, a chocolate poodle named Jack. The family was vacationing in Santa Fe and had asked me to photograph them while I was in town to teach my photo workshop. I was thrilled that our schedules coincided.

I've got to tell you about these two incredible children. Meet Alex, one of the most energetic 8-year-olds I've ever encourntered. This kid's got it all—wit, inventiveness, extreme curiosity, the gift of observance and as many random facts as you could shake a stick at. I could have gladly  listened to him all day and he would have still had thoughts to share at sunset.  The small detail in this scenario was that I need to create portraits of this wonderful child, and this usually requires a bit of "quiet time."  After a great deal of entertaining conversation I reminded Alex that we needed to take some photographs. He politely inquired if I needed for him to "go get some tape for his mouth." I passed on the offer, but thanked him kindly as we both giggled.  I have no doubt that we'll be hearing more from Alex in the future in one way or another.

Next I spent some time with Alex's younger brother, Banks. A gorgeous brown haired 6-year-old with a sweet sparkle in his eyes. Banks and I started out with some negotiations involving the removal of his skeleton imprinted flip flops. The sandals were cute but didn't seem to fit with the simplicity of his outfit. This negotiation sparked some serious giggling and play between the two of us. In the end I won the negations with an arm wrestling match. (I'm willing to try anything.) Banks was a great sport and his laugh was completely contagious both to myself and my assistant who was there to share in the whole experience. Banks starts kindergarten this year and I just know he'll take the classroom by storm.

The group portrait included the family's new dog, Jack. Jack was extremely well-behaved and had such a sweet demeanor. I love his dark, expressive brown eyes and his rich chocolate coat. Incorporating pets into family portraits is always a fun way to capture the whole family and allows everyone to relax a bit. Sometimes people find it hard to be in front of the camera but when pets are involved  it can be easy to let the nerves go. (I think this is true of having pets in our lives in general). I'm thankful that I was able to create portraits of this wonderful family and to capture moments of these two boys both individually and with their family dog.

Norah Levine is an Austin children portrait photographer and pet photographer. She photographs in homes and on location. She also travels to Santa Fe, New Mexico frequently for sessions. Please view her website for more details www.norahlevinephotography.com

Feels fresh like a newborn baby, Austin, Texas.

I'm pleased to present Nicolette, a delicate newborn baby here in Austin,  just 18 days old in these photographs. Looking at these images puts me right back to the moment I captured them. Tiny figures, tiny toes, wispy eyelashes and the fresh scent of a baby just gives me goose bumps. Photographing Nicolette was such a pure joy.  Just 18 days old! Normally I recommend photographing newborns no older than 10 days, but circumstances didn't allow for that to happen with Nicolette. The reason for photographing newborns earlier than 10 days is that they are able to fall into a very deep sleep, allowing me to photograph them and pose them without waking them. In the very first days, babies still have a strong tendency to curl their legs in, which is really sweet for photographs. Like all the photographing I love to do, patience is a key element to success and I was very pleased with the way the results of the session. It is an honor to be able to work with families during this exciting time in their lives. We had to wait for the baby to fall deep enough asleep for me to be able to photograph her. This took some time, but eventually she fell into in a deep slumber and allowed me to work with her in a few adorable poses. Nicolette's mother had purchased some precious newborn hats that she wanted her new little girl to wear for her session. (Etsy.com) For this session I used studio lighting equipment, which I set up in their home as mom was finishing the baby's feeding. Sometimes I use natural light, but for this session I chose studio lighting as my tool.  I photographed Nicolette in her home. It was convenient and comforting for the parents to not have to worry about packing up the baby and bringing her to a studio. We spent time in the comfort of their home amongst all of the things they needed for the baby and I think this was of tremendous value to the parents.

There is something extremely peaceful about photographing newborns. Sure, there are not so peaceful moments– like when the baby is unsettled, or when they have an accident (hey-that's par for the course and it doesn't bother me at ALL!) As a photographer, a peaceful demeanor is a must in this situation especially, despite the possible hic-ups. In order to soothe the baby I have to be calm and have a relaxed energy. The more calm I am, the more the baby can feel that energy during these session. And since the mother is always associated with food, it usually works best if I handle the baby for the posing as mom watches from a short distance as she keeps an eye on her new baby. It is important to me that everyone is comfortable, safe, and happy during these sessions. Nicolette's parents are delighted to have these high quality images to artfully treasure this important stage in their baby's life.

Thank you, Erin and Kyle for allowing me to create and share these images of  your amazing baby girl. Here's to an incredible first year!

Norah Levine is an Austin children portrait photographer and pet photographer. She photographs in homes and on location. She also travels to Santa Fe, New Mexico frequently for sessions. Please view her website for more details www.norahlevinephotography.com

"Back in Your Own Backyard" Austin Portrait Session Part 2

It is valuable for me to know as little about who I am photographing before I meet them. I want to know as much as I can about interests, loves and personalities before I photograph anyone. While it isn’t a recipe for guaranteed success in a session, it certainly helps to establish an initial connection. This connection is imperative to creating any portrait-whether this portrait is of a 6-year-old girl, a 10-year-old poodle, or a 78-year-old man. I’d love to share a little more from my session with the three siblings here in Austin, Texas. The mother from my previous posting, “Back in Your Own Backyard Part 1” wanted photographs that had a casual, playful feel. She wanted something that told the story of her children at this special time in their lives. She expressed that her daughter had recently lost her two front teeth and that she wanted to capture her adorable smile and lively character. She talked about her sweet boys and that her middle child didn’t like to be photographed very much, but that he was just such a darling child with tremendous personality. I asked about oldest and Sandra painted a lovely picture of a helpful and adoring boy who I was very excited to meet.

When I am choosing a time to photograph children it most often revolves around when the children are the happiest and have the most energy. Of course, lighting is a vital part to creating strong imagery, but it doesn’t matter how gorgeous the light is if you’ve got a miserable child in front of your lens. Sandra and I decided to schedule the session for the morning hours after the children had rested and been fed their breakfast. The light in the backyard was dappled-meaning that spots of light were coming in through the trees. This can be difficult light to work with, but not impossible. With three children, I had to find ways to keep them from having large spots of light on their faces and bodies especially while photographing them together as Sandra had wanted.  One of the ways to work in this light was that Sandra cheerfully stepped in as my assistant and held a light diffuser to help with the spotty light.

When I had walked around the backyard with Sandra a week earlier I visualized some areas where I had wanted to photograph the children together. I thought the hammock would be really fun but on the day of the session realized it was difficult to get the children to stay focused as they tipped and turned in the hammock. I tried sitting on it with two of the kids and agreed with them that it was hard! They had a good laugh at me then. The ground below the hammock was muddy and their feet were quickly a nice shade of dark brown. After one round of unsuccessfully cleaning I thought, “let’s just embrace this mud,” and I asked the children to lift up their legs in the hammock as I clicked my shutter.

During most of my sessions I start with a vision or a few ideas. That vision and those ideas change and morph organically during the actual session. This happens for several reasons. Sometimes there are aspects of a location I couldn’t have anticipated, the light changes, the weather changes, or a child or pet isn’t in the mood for being photographed a certain way or in a specific location. Although I sometimes think it would be fantastic if all of my plans and visions were easily realized (why not?), I’m most often thankful for the need to be adaptable because other opportunities and visions arise.

Hopefully these images remind you of the warmth, inhibition and play of childhood. Perhaps it reminds you of your own “backyard” and of the unique memories that were created there by you and your family.

I’m happy to share some of the images that arose from this unique trio of children as they expressed their distinctive personalities, in their own backyard.

"Back in Your Own Backyard" Austin Portrait Session Part 1

The lyrics to Billie Holiday’s song, “Back in Your Own Backyard” have been inspiration to me…

That bird with feathers of blue

Is waiting for you

Back in your own backyard

You’ll see your castles in Spain

Through your window pane

Back in your own backyard

Oh you can go to the East

Go to the West

Someday you’ll come

Weary at heart

Back where you started from

You’ll find your happiness lies

Right under your eyes

Back in your own backyard…

I have fond memories of playing in my own backyard with my siblings… Making forts out of junk in the woods, running through cornfields, cart wheeling, tire swinging, “treasure” hunting and cherry picking.  I tell people I grew up on a farm. It was a farm to me. There were gardens, pigs, a barn with barn cats and mice, hay bails and fields of corn nearby.  My mom tells me now that it wasn’t really a farm, but just a rented farmhouse. Okay, fine.  This is MY memory though and I’m stickin’ to it. I love this photo of me with my gramma in our backyard.

I recently photographed three children here in Austin, Texas and I’d love to share a little of my experience with you. Their parents have asked me to respect their privacy and not use any of their names and so I won't be using their names.  Mom (we’ll call her Sandra) contacted me after seeing an advertisement in the Austin Kid’s Directory, a great resource for children services in the Austin area. Sandra and her family had recently moved to Austin and was looking for a professional photographer to create unique portraits of her three children. I gladly met with Sandra at her home and discussed my ideas and her dreams about portraits of her children during a pre-consult appointment. One aspect of concern for Sandra was the location for the portraits. She expressed that the house was a rental for the family and that she wasn’t sure if this would be a good location. Sometimes clients are unsure if their home and surroundings are suitable for photographing and I am always glad to take a look during our pre-consult and provide my suggestions. After seeing the backyard and talking with her about what it was she wanted in her photographs I felt confident that this location would work and that the portraits created there would be meaningful to her and her family.

[/

Consider that the portraits that are going to be the most valuable to you are the ones that are created in a space that is personal to you at the time. There’s no need to wait until you’re settled in your dream home or have the yard and house perfect. I am always going to help create images that are beautiful and meaningful to you. So your child just gave himself a snazzy new hair cut… that could be the PERFECT time to create portraits, in my opinion, because you’ll never forget this time in his life!  Okay, maybe you should wait a week or so, but my point is that these images are for you and your loved-ones and they are a creative document of who you, your children and your pets are right at that moment in your lives. When you look back at these images years later when your children are grown or your beloved pet has perhaps passed on, you have these images to put you right back in that moment. This is something I absolutely love and cherish about photography. I have images of pets that have passed and when I look at images of them I can almost feel their fur between my fingers and hear their bark or purr. I’m thankful for the ability of photographs to trigger these sensations and memories of my loved-ones.

This backyard turned out to be a perfect location for creating portraits of Sandra’s three amazing children. These images will trigger the memories of these children playing with one another in the dappled sunlight with blades of grass tickling their toes...