These next two posts are brother and sister – shot on different days in separate Signature Child Photography Sessions here in Kansas City. I love it that mom gave me creative license to rock one location and one outfit each. I also shot their entire family this fall – so you’ll be seeing them again in another blog post. FYI: Now is the time to book your own Spring season sessions as spots are filling fast. Mention you saw this blog post and receive a complementary 10×10 fine art print with your completed session.

I say it often: Most of the time, I don’t need a large space in terms of location. And that’s exactly what we got in the next few shots with this tiny patch of sunflowers off the side of a road. Some might call it a ditch. I call it “a little pocket of wonderful.” And, yes, I was dying over the styling of her outfit – Mom made the accessories as well. These are great examples of how to dress your children for their photography sessions with all the right elements (layers, textures, colors).

I’m all about color – lots of it. Drowning in it. But oh my. I think my love affair with rich black and whites is back on:

I shoot lots of newborns and babies, but also photograph tons of children each year. To see more sessions like these, visit my main website at www.kamibradyphotography.com and choose “Portfolio.”

But, honestly, I think I loved this session so much because we captured the big personalities of those handsome boys in a way that needs no words to tell the story. They are sweet, busy, loud, smart, contemplative, mischievous, reserved, funny and thoughtful all rolled up into two very loved little men.

Some of my favorites:

I love to chronicle the change from just-sitting-up 6-month-old to faster-than-a-speeding-bullet big 1-year-old. My what a difference just six short months makes! But one thing that remains the same: That huge, contagious smile of hers.

Merry Christmas, beautiful Anna. Our session was truly a traveling one as we watched you explore and play. And I’m sure I squealed with delight when I saw the bright red peacoat and purple dress – colors that truly came alive against the warm hues of the last fall leaves and the urban backgrounds in downtown Kansas City.

As for mom and dad, here’s to hoping Santa reads my blog.

I’m finally going back through the summer/fall sessions in Kansas City and blogging them. The upside to that random style of blogging is I get to fall in love with the little people and their myriad of expressions all over again; the downside … well … let’s just say I recently shot his 1-year session. (Eeeek – yep, I’m behind a little here). I’d better get a move on!

I’ve photographed these two since they were newborns and it’s exciting to watch their family grow. This session came together perfectly from the location colors to mom’s choice of outfits and the final collage pieces at bottom. Custom collages, storyboards and albums are a great way to display imagery, especially if you have more than one child and/or plan professional photography sessions at least once a year. After all, it’s nearly impossible to display everything on the wall and, by the second and third child, that dedicated wall space becomes an even bigger factor than it once was.

Some of my favorites:

She loves cupcakes, so it was serendipitous that the giant wall behind her was plastered in giant, colorful cupcakes:

And two of the resulting storyboard/collage designs. The first is a 10×20 storyboard … the second is a 20×20 collage:

But somewhere between her 3 and 4-year photo sessions, I came to the realization that those outfits just aren’t “her.” She’s our dig-in-the-dirt, obsessed-with-dinosaurs-and-rocks, I’d-rather-be-hanging-upside-down-on-the-monkey-bars kind of girl. And don’t even think about asking for one of those silly, pink girl toys in a Happy Meal. We’ll take the Power Rangers, Buzz and Woody, and Lightning McQueen, thank you very much.

So when it came time to plan her 5-year session, I asked her what she’d like to do and her response was simple: Take pictures with my lion and swim in the ocean. I had a vision for a vintage swimsuit and searched high and low until I found just the right one with matching swim cap. I commissioned the very talented Vera at Seventh Avenue Designs to draw the whimsical ocean overlays and love how they turned out! Visit her Etsy store for more wonderful goodies.

With the help of Grandma Gail, we managed to squeeze this session in despite having packed up nearly everything in the studio for the big renovation. Even though her birthday was in April, I’m just now getting around to sharing these – some of my all-time favorite images of my own little rockstar. It’s a long blog post, but I haven’t shared images of her in quite awhile.