Lynn Family- On location in Tampa

While in Tampa visiting my brother's family, I got to photograph them in their new home of Tampa, Florida.  It might have been raining and unplanned, but I love it! My brother is the youth pastor at an urban church and as we walked out the doors into the drizzly day, but I saw this overhang with great coastal color, I had to brighten up the rainy afternoon ahead with some cheery portraits. 

This Season: T's first year

A special little guy just had his first birthday! Baby T is ready to cruise the streets and and enjoy this next chapter ahead: Adventures in Toddlerhood. I loved photographing this family for a This Season session. We spent a great morning together enjoying his special Radio Flyer tricycle, a breakfast picnic, and walk through their neighborhood park, which just so happens to be Forest Park. Can't beat that! 

What I love about a session like this is getting really personal with a family. They really let their guard down and engaged with each other, laughing, munching, and playing. I got up close and in their face, but they were perfectly in tune with spending time together, and I love the special, relaxed glimpses we get into their family life.

Newborn E

I had the honor of photographing Baby E just a few days after she was two weeks old.  I love seeing the connection with newborns to their parents. She loved the cuddles and snuggles with both of her parents! It was so beautiful to see the expressions on their faces as they held her close and enjoyed her newness. 

Baby A

It was my privilege to photograph Baby A, and see the way her mother and father were tenderly looking at their new daughter.  They were learning the ropes of parenthood with their first child and it was such love driving them to do it as well as they can.  One special moment was so powerful for me to see Baby A's mom as a mother for the first time.  Having known her for many years it was striking to see the transformation from daughter to mother. And there are a few frames in which I can see the look her mother gives to her as she looks lovingly at her own daughter.

T turns one!

I had the joy of photographing Jessica and Lonny on their wedding day a few years ago, and they simply love each other so much.  You can tell they shower their son with that same enthusiastic love and he just lit up seeing the smiles on his parent's faces.

Happy first birthday, T! You are such a champ!

Baby T

This little guy was a bundle of joy and it was so fun to spend a bit of my morning with his parents and grandmother who all just loved each other so well. I know I say it almost every time, but I love every time I get to photograph someone in their home or at their front door- this time I got to do both.

I am looking forward to seeing Baby T grow and that big toothless grin change as he gets older.

Fall Family

One of the wonderful parts of my job is to help document families as they grow and change, following them from season to season.  This particular family I've know since I moved to St. Louis and have photographed them just as long. As we wrapped up this session Rachel mentioned a particularly hilarious photo I had taken of them at a friend's wedding several years ago which they had never seen. And it made me realize that I have scads of photos from years gone by of shared experiences and how valuable those photographs are of Brett with long hair and my son dressed in a coat that looks like a monkey in their apartment when we were neighbors (the 2nd or 3rd time). It's valuable to have photos of these big moments and small season changes from weddings to children and the fun moments in between. 

And this particular time together, it was extra special to be able to photograph Rachel's parents with them.  It was a difficult time on their wedding day when her parents were unable to make it to the wedding at the last minute due to weather and health.  But now we have some photos of them together with their grandchildren, and I hope these are special for many years.  

Today I'll share a few photos of their darling children. Here's J!

 

And little N, who just had her first birthday!

Baby K and Family

Welcome, Baby K! We are so happy you are here! I'll start with a congratulations to our dear friends who have welcomed this sweet little one to their super-awesome family. 

I'll also take this chance to introduce Casey (the super mom pictured here) to any future 2016 brides who have come along to check us out. Casey is a dear friend who is also an excellent photographer, and she is my second shooter for most weddings in and around St. Louis. As you can see, she's got a thing for kids, so rascally ring-bearers and flower girls are charmed by her! 

Also, for the third time, Casey and I have managed to keep our maternity leave for weddings on time with one another as we add our third sons to our families.  We've been quiet around here for a while this year as we have been preparing for our new son to join us through adoption from Ghana. In the coming weeks, I'll have information regarding when we'll be open again and what you can expect from Purple Lemon Photography in the coming weeks and months!

E turns 2!

One of my favorite things about photographing portraits is when the photographs can hold artistic merit on their own, but hold deeper sentiment to the family for whom I photograph.  I have photographed this family many times over the last handful of years, and when Jen asked me to come out to her parent's home to photograph E for his 2nd birthday, I knew I was in for a treat.  Not only does their log cabin home hold visual character, but I was able to watch E engage in his current home which was the same place where his mom spent her childhood.

 How special to imagine Jen and her siblings looking through the same windows, 

swinging on the same swings,

rocking in the same rocker,

tiny fingers learning how to open the same doors.

I hope these photos are as strong of a gift for their family as they were for me to create.