Tag family

Dani: 2 and a half! 08.04.11 | Seacoast, NH Children’s Photographer

February 22nd, 2012 @ 12:12 pm | 0 comments

Good Golly Miss Dani! Our adventures just keep on going! Just last week I photographed your THIRD birthday. It doesn’t even seem possible that we’ve been galavanting this long, but what fun it is!

Watching this blonde haired blue eyed beauty go from baby, to toddler, to little girl is so fantastic. When we got together in August, she was full of giggles. And some squirmy wormies. And some pouting. Sounds perfectly two and a half to me!

I mentioned the gorgeous, yes? This picture leaves me feeling bittersweet — I can totally see what she’ll look like in her senior photos. But that’s 15 years from now!

We decided to take a trip down to the boat launch and see what we could see. Quack!

We made sure to take some time to stop and smell the flowers.

Special thanks to the ducky family for their cameo in this shot

Loving family! Probably my favorite family photo of them to date!

Thanks, as always guys. I can’t wait to see what happens next!

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Plante Family Photos! 07.25.11 | Hampton, NH Family Photos

February 3rd, 2012 @ 12:29 pm | 0 comments

Lindsay and her sweet family live in Texas. I was super excited when she contacted me to tell me they would be up visiting and wanted ME to take some photos for them.

We met up at Hampton State Park — one of my favorite beach locations on our tiny NH coastline. It has a very Nantucket sort of feel and these 3 matched that feel perfectly.

Ella was a perfect model in her blue and white china pattern dress. And the toes. I love the little criss-crossed cutie toes!!

The whole family joined in the fun.

What a gorgeous crew!

Seriously? Quintessential precociousness!

I believe she’s saying to me — why do you need to take my picture again?! I told her because she was so cute I couldn’t stop! It’s more than obvious how much she’s adored.

And then — this happened I’m not sure what catalog she came out of, but I’ll take one! I would also make these a giant double canvas set!

The bird behaved, but every time a wave was going to crash, Ella would turn around and look at it. LOL. I still love it.

It’s spectacular when parents have fun with their kids. Thanks for being such good sports guys!!

Dad with his sons & his wonderful wife

And grandparents doing what they do best — whispering surprises in little one’s ears. Even great-grandmother got in on the act!

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed my time with this special family. Generations are huge to me. I have a photo of my Great-Grandmother (who’s name happened to be Ella!) holding my son, her great-great-grandson. And I have vivid memories (and photos to back them up) of me and my great-great-grandfather. The photos are so important to me because it helps me remember it happened — that it wasn’t just a story someone told me — -

How many generations are in your story?

Tags: beach, family | leave a comment

Owen turns 1! 06.19.11 | Exeter, NH Family Photography

September 22nd, 2011 @ 8:50 am | 0 comments

The amount of times Elton John and his Circle of Life run through my brain as I look at my photography career astounds me. I love where my life has led me!

Raina & I knew of each other in High School — that was a lot of years ago, and aside from the occasional friend of a friend ‘friending’ her on facebook, we’ve had no connection since. Now, I can’t remember if she said she was AT Sam & Josh’s wedding or just saw the photos after and loved them, but either way, she emailed me about taking photos of her little boy, who has the same birthday as my (very not so little) boy! There’s only 10 years between them! whatever, I’m not old

I was thrilled when she wanted to come back to Exeter for the shoot — I really do love my little town <3

They’re just the sweetest family! Owen is a miracle baby, and he certainly knows how to play up the cuteness angle!

Walking and smiling at the same time! Even I have trouble with that sometimes

Raina brought his birthday outfit including this custom felted crown, which I adored. This one reminds me of “where the wild things are”

Let the wild rumpus begin!

He’s well into his adventures of being one at this point — when last I spoke to Raina she had to run because he was getting into something or the other, and I bet he still is!

In between adventures, Raina wrote me this absolutely touching email -

Hi Melissa,

We checked out the pictures and they are beautiful!!! We can’t thank you enough. It was actually very emotional for us to look at them and see how lucky we are to be a family of three now. We are still pinching ourselves every day that he is really here and all ours. You captured that feeling for us and it created quite a moment when we were all (my parents included) looking at the pictures and I could see that each of us had tears in our eyes.

Also, my secret confession is that I hate pictures of myself and I do not feel like I am very photogenic ever. I’m always the one deleting pictures of myself on other people’s cameras and hate when I see someone taking pictures. I’m just never happy with them and that can make picture taking very stressful. Somehow, magically, you made me feel very relaxed and took pictures that I love and am so proud of. I can’t say enough, I’m just incredibly happy with them and so glad that we found you. Is it too soon to hire you now for the rest of our family pictures in the years to come??

Thank you from all the Webbers!!

Hope you had a nice 4^th, ~ Raina

Thank you Raina for seeking me out and allowing me to meet your wonderful family! I look forward to photographing you all for years to come!

Tags: birthday, children, exeter, family | leave a comment

LeBlanc Family 04.29.11 | Hampton, NH Children’s Photography

June 3rd, 2011 @ 8:19 am | 0 comments

These kids hold a very special place in my heart. Even if Ethan decides by the end of every shoot that he hates ‘that lady’. Caleb is a ham, straight up. I remember the first time I photographed him for his 2^nd birthday and he didn’t really think cameras were all that fun — but now — he strikes a pose.

Mary is in a class by herself. Completely content to just wander the beach and eat the sand. Not a care in the world but fully aware of the love around her, particularly from her big sister, Hannah. Every time I see Hannah I’m struck by how mature she is. How she handles herself and her family. She is someone to know. Someone to learn from.

These four kids wouldn’t be who they are with out their parents — a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes you meet people who you know could conquer the world and you wonder if they’re wearing superhero costumes beneath their street clothes, ready to duck into a phone booth, ready their alter ego and leap tall buildings in a single bound (please excuse me if i’ve mixed my marvel metaphors…) but I hope you at least get the point.

It was so great to catch up with this family again briefly before their end of vacation picnic. Super-hero dad is nearing the end of yet another deployment and I sincerely hope we can get together at the end of summer for some more family photos of the complete set!

Tags: beach, children, family | leave a comment

Reese turns 1! 03.12.11 | Derry, NH Children’s Photography

May 20th, 2011 @ 8:15 am | 2 comments

It’s been an amazing year tracking Reese’s growth. Just a few weeks after her first birthday I headed back to her house to play. She was still napping so I got a chance to catch up with her moms and eat an amazing salad — Baba is one mean salad maker!!

Once the sleepy headed princess made her debut they gave her some lunch and we started off great. Then I took her favorite giant neon stuffed frog away and she got mad. Sorry honey, he’s just not as photogenic as you are!

But we made up when I let her love with the big pink bear…

Then we downsized to lamby .. Reese is very popular with all her stuffy friends and they all needed some equal lovin’ .. she’s so full of personality and adorableness!

But — Bunny needed her time to shine also (and OMG the froot loops shirt!)

I poke fun, but I love LOVE that she has her ‘friends’ in some many of these photos. In her comfort zone and interacting with them. When my son was 3, we went to the mall for his photos and he was ever reluctant to let go of his bear & blanket. We ended up swaddling the bear with the blanket and propping him up against him to get a few shots (or you know .. in mall photo booth talk .. all the shots) — and they’re cute, he’s cute, and I’ll never forget the tantrum that caused the bear to co-star in the photos. But I WISH that we could have just had photos of him enjoying his favorite things, and not just imposing them in the shot.

This is who Reese is right now. These are the things she relates to, and the moments her mum & baba will remember about her. This is what she’ll be able to learn about when she grows up and wonders what she was like when she was little.

This is real life. And I love to record it for you.

In an effort to encourage Reese to be toy free, Baba thought she would reason with her that SHE needed to chew on it

And it worked! Beautiful ladies!

Then it was time to get down to business. These stuffies needed some schoolin’

This whole set up with the dress and chairs and table remind me of a 1950’s photo sitting — I LOVE it!

Who am I kidding — I love them all — and I love this family!

Lamby (and Reese!) through the year — 23 days, 6 months, 9 months & one year!

my job is awesome! really, really, awesome <3

Tags: children, family, same sex | leave a comment

Lochlin 3 months old! 03.05.11 | Seacoast, NH Infant Photography

May 19th, 2011 @ 1:58 pm | 0 comments

What?! 3 months old ALREADY!? (forget the fact that I’m still not caught up and he’s really almost SIX months old) Look at how he’s got his head up all posed and big boy like!

oh how I love baby toes. and that chunky little calf…

He’s very discrete also Thy cheeks, they runneth over!

Loch honey, you should have had a v-8 … or ok, you can just have your big bird instead

Some mama lovins’ <3

oh sweet face baby love. i can’t wait to eat you up .. i mean .. photograph you again!

I love this little guy so much!

Oh, and to all you wonderful ladies who chide me for making your biological clock tick louder, fear not — when your time is here — I will happily fawn and swoon over your beautiful children too. Oh, and I’ll take their pictures

Tags: children, family | leave a comment

Levi Axel 3 days old! 02.13.11 | Concord, NH Newborn Photography

May 18th, 2011 @ 8:04 am | 0 comments

Meet Levi! Born on 02.10 he shares his birthday with my baby brother! Seven pounds, ten ounces and twenty inches long. And loaded with dark hair, just like his brother! I love squishy rolly babiness!!

Mr. Serious (seriously not sure why the heck I have this crazy black thing in his face…)

Just look at his sweet amazing pudginess! And look at my tall strong boy holding his tiny little lovey cousin.

chomp.chomp.

What? Who put this baby in here?! …oh but how could you not? Lochlin, who’s getting so big so fast, came along to meet his new playmate and its obvious by now I can’t resist his sweet face… so he gets a cameo. Levi’s ok with it.