Portrait of a new family

Having just returned from a week long trip to WPPI in Vegas I’m fresh from the desert, full of inspiration. I was initially scheduled to photograph this little guy’s birth but he decided to arrive just as I was boarding the plane. Heartbroken, I realized it just wasn’t in God’s plan and I told Mama I’d be over just as soon as I got home.

While at WPPI I took a class by Amber Holritz that really opened my eyes to the way I photograph families. I always strive to capture real life while it occurs showcasing the bond between parents and children but I want to take it a step further. I want to spend even more time with the families I photograph getting to know how they spend their time together. I want to document how they *love* each other. My goal in this is what Amber explained to us. She said the portraits she had of herself growing up told her what she “looked like”. Instead, she wanted to see what her “life looked like” and “how she was loved”. I instantly related to her thoughts thinking of how I don’t have many images of my mom and I together since most often she was the one taking the photograph.

I photographed baby R’s newborn images and then I hung around to showcase the new dynamic this family has having added one more child to love.

These images are my favorite. Everyone in Mom and Dad’s room getting “cozy” as big sister K would call it. She’s dressed in her PJ’s with accompanying ballerina skirt and accessorizing the third child with a feather boa. This is *their* family. This is how they spend their Saturday afternoon together. It isn’t scripted . . . it’s real and I hope these pictures will stir up memories for these kids someday when they’re grown. I hope they can feel the laughter and love and silliness going on here. I hope they see the looks on Mom and Dads faces and know how much they’re cherished.

Thank you for inviting me in to document and be a part of it.

2009 Custom Holiday Photo Cards

After overcoming some computer issues last week I am proud to say I have the 2009 Holiday Custom Card collection posted! October and November is the perfect time to get your Holiday cards ordered. That way they’re done early and you can enjoy that much more of the Holidays. Isn’t that what the season is about? Spending time with friends and family is more fun than rushing around worrying about getting cards made, signed, and in the mail. Trust me, it’s way easier to pick out your design and have it customized from the comfort of your own computer desk. You can even do it in your pajamas at midnight once the kids have gone to bed. Once customized your Custom Holiday cards are shipped out directly to your home leaving you with one less stop to make during the busy shopping season.

Below are this year’s examples:

Another way to view these is by going to the proofing section of my website. This is also where you can place your holiday card order. As soon as your session is proofed and loaded to your private gallery I’ll send you an email with the link and password. From there you can choose which card you’d like and which photos you want to include. We can also customize the greeting, family names, date, etc. Also, I know that some of the designs seem specific to the type of shoot, example: wedding or newborn photography. Please feel free to look closer and know that even though those are the images shown doesn’t mean we can’t customize that card design with images from your family  photo shoot. I wanted to show a diverse sample of the many reasons to have custom cards printed.

Most of my clients have gotten a sneak peak at the card examples but in case you didn’t here are the specifics:

• Press Printed Cards are not photographs, but are produced on state of the art digital printing presses. The printing facility uses real liquid ink, not toner like a color copier as some other printers use, to give the cards the look and feel of a very high quality printed piece.
• Cards are double sided (more room to show off your gorgeous photos!)
• Size is 5″x 7″
• Ordered in increments of 25
• Pricing includes envelopes
• There are multiple paper finishes available (matte, glossy, watercolor paper, and pearlescent)
• Custom cards are $50 per box of 25 cards.

I am always excited to place orders for the Holiday cards. I love designing/customizing the cards with images we’ve taken in the past year and waiting to see the end product. Everyone loves receiving them since they’re such a personalized item. And the other good thing about these cards is all you have to do is address the envelopes and you’re ready to mail. No need to sign the card since we’ve already customized them with you family’s name.

Holiday cards are available for all clients that have had a session or Wedding within the past year. If your session was earlier this year and you’d like to order cards please drop me an email and I’ll be happy to reinstate your gallery for you.

They traveled all the way from Italy . . .

for this photo session. Well, technically they were here visiting family and friends but they had time to schedule a shoot in the midst of it all!

This family is a special one to me because I’ve known the Mama since 3rd Grade. We’ve kept in touch through the years, she was in my wedding, and I photographed hers. One of my favorite memories was when Mike, her husband, came home from Iraq to meet his little girl for the first time. I was crying large alligator tears behind my lens as I photographed him embracing his wife and new daughter. That day made my love of photography even stronger. Being able to capture that emotion and give it to them in a photo was intense.

So now they’re stationed overseas and I don’t get to see them quite as much but I was excited to schedule a fun family shoot when then visited this summer. Again, I’m a little behind on the blogging but it’s just because I have so many great sessions I want to share!

Having fun and getting a little goofy. Makes for great smiles!

My fav photo has to be the last one. Gorgeous light surrounded this beautiful little family and I had to capture it. Gave me goosebumps.

Now, if I could just talk my husband into scheduling a trip to Italy to photograph them next year!

The much anticipated “couch” session

I’m very happy to finally show off a great family portrait session utilizing my new prop . . . the flowered couch. I’ve been looking for something just like this for a long time. I scoured Craigslist but never found just the right one. Back in March, on an unplanned trip to Goodwill with a couple good friends, I found it. The colors were great, the price was fantastic, the only thing I worried about was talking my hubby into hauling it home and where were we going to put it? Well those issues are a thing of a past, now I just worry about hauling it to a shoot. Although Chuck has been great because he let me borrow the truck over a week ago to photograph this fun loving family. They were the *perfect* family to try this funky couch idea with.

I wanted a location with very tall grass to place this beast of a couch in. The kids didn’t mind tromping through the grass at all. Little “M” used it to tickle Mom and Dad.

This post is a long one because I couldn’t pick out just a couple to share.

After we grew tired of the outdoor furniture idea we went over to the pond to feed the ducks. Mom used this as a “treat” if the kids were good during photos. Didn’t have to mention it though because they were both well behaved. Come on, look at this little face below, Can you imagine her being naughty? I can’t.

And the last order of business for the morning was a couple updated head shots for Mom. She is a fabulously talented artist. This girl is so dang creative. I always feel invigorated after I get done talking new ideas with her. She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside too. Completely grateful to call her my friend. 

Check out her etsy store to see some of her creations!

Now booking Beach portrait sessions | Destin, Florida area | cb Yates Photography

I’m excited to announce I will be offering select beach portrait sessions in the Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Navarre Florida area at the end of January. I will be spending some time in the area and I’d LOVE to photograph some families enjoying their time together at the beach. This is such a fun, unique opportunity for me. I’ve always loved the look and feel of sessions photographed at the beach. I just don’t have access to a beautiful shoreline where I live smack dab in the midwest!

Please click on the “email me” button above to get more info on availability and pricing. If any of my Gretna/Omaha customers have friends or family in the Destin Florida area that would be interested please feel free to pass on my blog address. Thanks!

So since I can’t post without photos I thought I’d share some family images that I was too busy to post this past fall.