Hellobee

Every year, I make it a point to ensure we get a good family portrait. When we initially got married, it was just photos of Mr. M and me, but after Little Marbles was born, it was even more important to document our growing family.

This year we booked with Brooke Fitts of Brookelyn Photography and couldn’t be happier with the results! As a mama of a 15-month old baby girl, Brooke really knew how to make Little Marbles comfortable, smile, and have fun. We definitely had a blast on this shoot since this time around LM was mobile and could join in on more shenanigans in the name of good photography!

We had two outfit changes and to make it easier, we started off shooting on the front lawn of our house. It was great to be close to home so we could change quicker for the second set. Plus, LM was more comfortable in familiar surroundings. I ordered some felt stick props from Maro Designs.

LM was initially confused about the props, but got into them after the first few shots.
LM is wearing a shirtdress from Old Navy and Livie and Luca boots.

The three of us standing in the walkway to our house.

Some of my absolute favorites from the shoot. Since I’m usually the one behind the camera it was nice to have some solo shots of me and LM.

One of Brooke’s signature features is the use of Polaroids. I love the portrait within a portrait!

Here we are all dolled up.
LM is wearing an Anthem of Ants dress and Joyfolie flats.

“I don’t know what’s going on back there…”

A sweet portrait of LM.

Walking through the pines.

Love the use of the Polaroid in this shot! LM kept trying to turn it around so she could look at it. She loves looking at pictures.

One of our absolute favorites from the shoot. The shoot lasted for about 1.5 hours and LM was pretty well behaved until five minutes after this photo.
The tongue sticking out was a sure sign she was starting to lose patience!

Brooke captured some really fantastic images. Not only did she take some great photos, we got all our retouched images and a link to a gallery within 14 days. Now I definitely have no excuse to procrastinate on getting my holiday cards out on time this year!

If you’re in the New York City area and interested in family photos, definitely contact Brooke. She has some availability in the next few weeks for family portraits and those holidays are really just lurking around the corner!

Tips for Family Photos with a Toddler

• Pick a good block of time for when your little one will be most close-up ready. We chose to do the shoot in the late afternoon post-nap and post-lunch so that LM wouldn’t be tired or hungry. We still had a small window before she got hungry for dinner.
• Prepare simple entertainment. We used stick props for our first set of photos which kept LM mildly entertained and interested during the shoot. She had never seen the props before so they were fun and new. Halfway through the shoot, after a clothing change, LM got bored, so Brooke whipped out a small bottle of bubbles that kept her entertained for a bit longer.
• If you have multiple dress changes make sure everything is laid out and ideally, easily to get on and off. I had originally wanted to put LM in tights for our first set of photos but nixed the idea after considering how hot it was outside and the trouble of pulling off and tights!
• Coordinate outfits, but you don’t have to match completely. I scoped Pinterest for inspiration but we decided for more casual clothes for the first set of pictures in shades of red and navy and more formal clothes for our second set in shades of dark blue. Wearing like colored clothes creates some cohesiveness without looking like we tried too hard!

Do you have an annual photo tradition as well?