As a mom with school aged children, who also happens to be a photographer, I can tell you that I almost NEVER buy the school portraits through the school.  I have once before, and the result while a fine picture, didn’t look like my son, AND it certainly didn’t capture his zany NEVER combs his hair personality…SO I have been taking “school” pictures of my kids every year around fall picture days:-)  When my youngest son was in preschool, his teacher asked me if I would ever consider doing portraits for her.  At first I hesitated, but then I fell in LOVE with the idea of offering parents an alternative to the traditional school portrait.  I wanted to give parents images and products that they LOVE to display in their homes, and give as gifts.  So I educated my self on the process, enrolled in some courses focused on school portraiture, and this fall I will be at my first school capturing precious preschoolers for their parents!

While I was studying and learning I thought I would practice, AND what better way to practice, than on my son’s preschool class:-) I had a GREAT idea for an end of the year gift for his AMAZING teachers, and I used that as an opportunity to practice:-) Make sure you check out ALL the images, as I included the gift print at the bottom, that was well LOVED!  I love how each one of these pictures is different and how you can see a little spark of WHO these kids are!

This is MY guy…He is as sweet as he looks, with that little bit of mischievousness thrown in!

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Now that you have made it this far, I have a question for you, some of you may have older kids, kids that have started in school already, that you may have already have school portraits of, maybe you have them hung in a hallway all in a row.  My question is this, a little market research if you will, would you order a horizontal image like the ones above, or would you NEED to, WANT to order a vertical image, to go with all your others?  Obviously Modern School Portraits is not available at every school, so I would like to know, would you order an art piece like that above, or prefer an art piece that was the same orientation as the rest of your school portraits?  To help you answer this question I have included students images below in both horizontal and vertical, so you can see them side by side.

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AND HERE IT IS:-)  I made a print of this, as well as a memory book(which will be featured in a product blog soon!) that was filled with all the sweet smiles from above, and had this and a funny face collage on the front and back!  SO fun!  I love what I do!

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Modern School Portraits are an alternative to the Traditional School portrait, giving parents a timeless piece of art to hang on their wall, and give as gifts.  The images are captured outdoors in natural light and I take the time to capture your child as they are, capturing a little or a lot of their personality at this time, this year, this age.  This kind of portrait is near and dear to my heart, just as I use images to tell the story of YOUR family, YOUR day, I aim to capture YOUR child in the same way.  Each child has a story, which is part of your family’s story, and I can’t wait to capture just a small chapter in theirs.  Contact me for more information!

-Anna-

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  • Carmen - I love this idea!ReplyCancel

  • Cynthia Greene Ragona - I would purchase either a vertical or a horizontal photo. Because what you’re offering is very different from (and a huge improvement upon) the traditional school portrait, I don’t think a parent likely would hang it in the traditional Shrine of School Portraits. I’d hang this photo the way I would any other professional family portrait–whatever orientation would look best. Adorable idea with the chalkboards.ReplyCancel

  • Niki Collis - How awesome, much better than the traditional school portraits. I love the “when I grow up…” boards! ReplyCancel

  • Jo Little - I love horizontal , the artsy outside look is unique. With a close up of their sweet face and not sitting in a sterile chair holding an apple at a desk (my oldest kindergarten pic haha)
    I also hang pics both horizontal and vertical to create some wall art .
    And I love love the when I grow up chalkboard !!! ❤️ReplyCancel

  • Wendy Burgan - I love both the vertical and horizontal… It would be nice that a parent could chose which they prefer depending on what and where they plan to display it. I LOVE the fact that the parents can order the amount they want and the sizes they want. I think more will actually be bought because of this feature. We’ve been so limited in the past with a set package. I love the individual photo collage as the group picture. The “when I grow up ” one definitely for the pre k class . I’d like to keep that special just for the graduating class. Also, I don’t want to repeat with the threes class having it this year and then again the next year as I pretty much retain all my kiddos for the following year. Any thoughts for something we can do for the threes class??! I’d also love if we can put the preschool name and yearReplyCancel

  • Susan Gronau Pagel - I like the look of the horizontal pic better. I haven’t purchased school portraits in years…I hate spending money on something I don’t even like. What a great alternative you are offering! ReplyCancel

One of the greatest blessings of being a family photographer is the honor of capturing my friends’ families!   Lara is a sweet friend who I have known for a few years, we have done moms groups, and ministry together.  When you think of those people in your life who are genuine, sincere, always encouraging, and fun, she is definitely at the top of the list!   I was SO honored when Lara asked me to capture her FAMILY.  Winter is always a little hard with kids, and weather, but thankfully the day we met in February was the PERFECT time to capture her family! I LOVE LOVE to capture families “as they are” so even though I know Lara well, I asked her some questions about how their family interacts, what they love to do and who they were.  With those answers we planned a GREAT evening!  We saved the best part for last so be sure to check out how we ended our session, it was SUCH FUN!

The evening we met was SUCH a beautiful winter day!  The sun was out and we had plenty of time to play:-)  We roamed around Royer Park, which is one of my favorite parks in Roseville with it’s mature trees, green grass, a creek and interesting structures including a pedestrian bridge, you can’t ask for much more!  We started out with a walk down to the creek, I stepped back and let them lead, they are SO fun and easy going!  They LOVE to PLAY with their kids, and experience the world through their kids eyes, it really was so amazing, just capturing them as they went about their walk:-)  The really are a sweet family.

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As we were walking we found this AWESOME corrugated metal shed!  I think I said, “Act like you love each other, get in close!”  And this is what I got! PERFECTION!

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This spot down by the creek is fun, although I had to keep Aaron from leading the kids INTO the creek! 🙂

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I asked Lara to describe her kids using 5 words.

Ella: caring, loud, cautious, drama, friendly

Avo: affectionate, playful, carefree, easy going, determined

I LOVE it!  You tell me do these pictures capture those descriptions?

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Often times parents have SO many pictures of their kids, but they forget to capture themselves, especially some images of the two of them together, remembering that their family started with their LOVE.  It’s such joy to capture that, and know that whether it be their phone screen, on their desk, or hung on their wall, that this couple will have some pictures of the two of them that they love and remind them, they still matter, even if life seems to be all about the kids!

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OK so here is my favorite part!  I asked Lara to describe their perfect family day.  What would they do? How would they get there, what would they eat, listen to, and what would be on their must bring list?  I was SO excited to get her answer!  Here are Lara’s words:

“If we could do and go anywhere it would be to take them to another country where they could enjoy and experience life differently. We love to walk everywhere we go, so we can explore together and stop whenever we see something. We love being outdoors.  Aaron would have his list of all the restaurants he researched and we would try to hit them all and we always try to find some kind of Asian food.  We would definitely listen to a Jack Johnson CD, especially “Banana Pancakes” song.  Each kid would have to bring their favorite animal they sleep with, Ella her giraffe and Avo his “Kanga”.  Avo would have his trains and cars to play with and Ella would have “Fancy Nancy” book and her dress up clothes and jewelry. We also always bring a box of Fruit Loops because we have made it a tradition that on vacation we eat fruit loops for breakfast.”

That’s right, we walked around explored the park, and then settled in for a picnic, complete with the kids animals AND fruit loops!  It was hard to capture because I was laughing so hard!  They had such a good time with it!

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Don’t let this fool you, THIS happened right as we were loading the kids up with more Fruit Loops:-)  It’s the moment of calm before the kids surprise:-)

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Now in my defense…the kids were supposed to throw the Fruit Loops UP into the air, but Ella, well she had other plans…And the look on her dad’s face as the cereal pelted him in the back of the head is PRICELESS! THIS is a keeper:-)

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This is the first time I have formally done this for my clients, and I can tell you questions like these will show up again in my”get to know you” dates!  Lara, It was a JOY to capture your family, to watch you interact, and to capture a little bit of who your family is!  THANK YOU!

Do you need new family portraits to tell YOUR story on your walls, or in a book on your coffee table?  Are you looking at your kids and wondering, where the time goes, and how they got so big?  Do you want to celebrate who THEY are RIGHT now?  I would love to tell YOUR FAMILY’S story, and CAPTURE YOUR LIFE! This FALL I am taking limited SESSIONS this FALL, as we are building our house, SO send me an EMAIL soon, and we will grab a coffee and get to know each other!

Thanks for reading!

Anna

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Did this peak your interest?  🙂

When Meghan and I chatted at our first meeting, she expressed a desire for me to capture their new family, as well as engagements when we did our first session.  I was happy to capture a few images for her, as they celebrate not only their union, but the coming together of two families.  Nothing says “Family” in your own home as much as images on the walls, and around your space.  We met the same day as their engagement session and like I said it was HOT.  I , the kids were also troopers, and the old buildings and trees in Old Town Auburn provided some nice shade for us to get out of the sun!  Like I said I was armed with ice cold water and snacks, and X+M brought their own as well:-)  We were WELL covered!

I LOVE to have families interact in front of my camera, often times I give them very little direction and kind of see where they take it.  I was happy when the sons got squirrelly and they turned it into the “wave”.  Of course I TOTALLY encouraged it and we had fun!  This is what it is ALL about CAPTURING LIFE. 🙂

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THIS was my very favorite part of the session capturing these boys.  They are delightful!  Capturing them on there own was fun, BUT I absolutely LOVE that they are already brothers.  Their interaction was so fun to watch!

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Meghan asked me to create a composite, much like one she saw on Pinterest, we decided to do our own take of it and use the family to represent the love already present and the commitment that was being made:-)  It was fun to see it on display at the wedding!  I also LOVED at the wedding that the boys told me their images from this session were ALREADY hung on their walls. I love delivering a product families LOVE, and can’t wait to get on their walls!compositeBlog_1

Thank you, again, Meghan + Xavier for inviting me in, and letting me tell YOUR FAMILY’S story!  I had so much FUN capturing this new beginning.

Do you need new family images to tell YOUR story on your walls, or in a book on your coffee table?  Are you looking at your kids and wondering, where the time goes, and how they got so big?  Do you want to celebrate who THEY are RIGHT now?  I would love to tell YOUR FAMILY’S story, and CAPTURE YOUR LIFE! This FALL I am taking limited SESSIONS as we are building our house, SO  Send me an EMAIL soon, and we will grab a coffee and get to know each other!

Thanks for reading!

Anna

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Meghan + Xavier’s wedding is TOMORROW!  I am SO excited to capture such a special day in their lives!

But this adventure started months ago, when I posted Angellica + Charlie’s wedding images on Facebook, Meghan called me and asked if I would capture their special day:-).  We talked over some details, and scheduled our first pre-wedding meeting! When we “met”, I took them to one of my favorite local spots, Loomis Basin Brewing, to go over their plans and vision for their special day!  It was such a treat to meet with them, and watch them dream and plan together!  Their love for each other was so apparent, and what is the BEST thing about capturing LOVE?  Celebrating a couple saying, “I DO”, and capturing the first day of the rest of their lives together as a family.

At the initial planning session, I learned a few things about the couple, things like, Meghan prefers wine to beer, I will remember that for next time!:-)  But, the best way to get to know a couple and what they want for their big day is, an ENGAGEMENT SESSION of course!  So we scheduled that for early July, and away we went.

July 6th, was HOT, over 100 HOT.  I arrived at our session with frozen water bottles and things to help us battle the heat!  I was SO thankful we had chosen School Park Preserve as our location, its nice and shady, with LOTS of places to get out of the heat:-)  These two were troopers, and they looked flawless despite the heat, it did help that we met closer to sunset:-)  I love the way they are together, their love for each other is evident, in how they treat each other, how he smiles, and how she LAUGHS when they are near each other.

Meghan + Xavier wanted something special at their engagement session, that will be blogged later, BUT there MAY be a sneak peek at the bottom of this post, so be sure to enjoy all the images:-)

X+MBLOG4-2I LOVED that I handed Meghan this chalkboard, to write something on, and Xavier took it because he has better writing:-)  BUT the heart is all Meghan’s!

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THIS is my favorite! That smile says it all:-)

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Since they will be joining families, Meghan + Xavier asked if I would capture some images of their new family!  I of course was happy to oblige!  You will have to hear the whole story in that post, but to peak your interest here is a little sneak peek! I love this family!

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Thank you Meghan + Xavier for inviting me in, ad letting me tell YOUR story!  I am excited for the next chapter to begin tomorrow!

Do you have an important chapter in your story that you want me to tell?  Are you recently engaged, or renewing vows?  I would love to tell YOUR story, and CAPTURE YOUR LIFE!  Send me an email, we will grab a coffee and get to know each other!

Thanks for reading!

Anna

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  • Amy - What a fun engagement session, and I love the sneak peek at the end! Can’t wait to see the next chapter of their story!ReplyCancel

  • Meghan - Thanks for all the great work you have done so far Anna! It has been a blessing to work with you 🙂ReplyCancel

    • Anna Robertson - Meghan! The pleasure has been all mine! Thank you for the opportunity to share in your story and capture it! 🙂ReplyCancel