CAT | Portraits
I had a wonderful time on a beautiful evening with a seriously adorable couple. Jealous? You should be.
Andrew and Shawna will be gaining the titles of Mommy and Daddy in a few short months, and wanted to have some portraits taken of the two of them, before baby comes along…how sweet is that!? Also fun, they’re not finding out the gender of their baby…so we spent much of the session time discussing whether they would be buying pink or blue in their near future. I admire your patience for sure!!
I’m so excited for you…you’ll be great parents!
Check out the looks that they are giving each other throughout this session…I didn’t tell them to do that. That’s true love, folks.
Thank you so much for spending the lovely evening with me! You guys are not only stinking adorable, but a wonderful couple!
I’m so glad to have been able to get to know you better…and I can’t wait to hear more about your little family as it grows!
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Our dear friends, the Kerns have added to their family!! Meet Jackson Patrick Kern who was born on August 18th at a whopping 10lbs and 13oz!! (Kim, you are amazing!)
What a sweetie.
Ah! The light in their dining room was just dreamy.
John Bubby (as my daughter calls him) is such a sweet big brother!
While baby Jackson caught up on his beauty sleep, John Bubby and I went outside to play a bit (and take some pictures to celebrate his recent birthday). What a bundle of fun this kid is!
Two things: They had written “No Girls Allowed” on their playhouse, and I wasn’t about to break that rule…and yes, I am that hilarious
It wouldn’t be a complete day for this boy without playing ball. He’s a natural for sure.
LOVE this picture. He looks like such a big boy!
Oh Kerns, you are fabulous. Thank you for letting me hang out with your kiddos for the afternoon. I’m so glad that we’re friends!
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I have been looking forward to writing this blog post for several years now…what makes this one so special? It is infinitely special because with much joy, I get to introduce you to Mae Brook Burgess!!! Remember my friends Mike and Danielle from this post…since then they have been blessed to adopt this sweet little lovey. I get so teary looking at these pictures. We have been praying for this little gal for a long time.
Doesn’t this family look so perfect?! Maeby was definitely made to be a Burgess.
Look at that hair! She’s so gorgeous!
It’s seriously so amazing to see these guys as parents. They were pretty stinking awesome before…this addition to their resume just makes them even more amazing.
OH I just can’t handle how cute she is!
“Good Looks Run in the Family”…so awesome.
Guys, I just can’t tell you how much you have blessed us over the years, and I’m SO excited to see you blessed now by this sweet Maeby baby. She was born to be a Burgess and you were made to be her parents…*tear*.
We love you guys, and can’t wait to see how much fun you’ll have with this joyful little gal.
Now let’s see if I can recover from the tears and goosebumps that I got looking through these pictures of you guys…sheesh.
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I have some of the CUTEST nieces and nephews on the planet. We were due for another photo update for them, so we spent an evening playing in the gorgeous evening sunlight.
Here’s Vince, the amazing little boy that started it all. I will always melt for my Vinnie.
Geesh…my Holly Pop is such a beauty. This gal has personality and a half. Never change, my love.
Here’s sweet tiny Tessa, the latest edition to the family. She’s such a doll baby.
And I guess their parents are pretty cool too. Many know this, but I’ll go ahead and tell the story again. Heather is my sister. Aaron is my husband’s brother. That’s right. Sisters married brothers. No, it’s not incest…no, it’s not weird. It’s just makes family gatherings more convenient and awesome.
Yay! I’m so glad that I have new pics for my walls…oh and for theirs too.
Thanks for allowing me to do my thing. I love you guys!
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We battled the cold…and boy was it worth it!!
I had the privilege of spending a chilly afternoon with the Drake and Salguero families last week. What a bundle of fun they are!! I took 6 month pictures of sweet baby Bella and Sara this summer when they traveled from their home in Guatemala to visit here family here in KC. This time they got to come home with her husband Edgar and adorable little boy, Andy….and of course we had to capture this family reunion!
While we were at it, we had to take some of the rest of the fam! Here are Amy, Ted and the rest of their cute little clan!
Gotta love that sister love!
And here is the whole Salguero family, together in KC at last!!
What a sweet bond between these two…stunning, don’t you think?
Now this little boy CRACKS me up! I seriously got lots of good giggles from this kid.
And last, but certainly not least, the sweet baby Bella! She is turning one TODAY! Happy Birthday Bella!
What a beautiful Christmas baby.
Thank you Drakes, Duffs, and Salgueros for spending the afternoon with me. You are certainly a joy!
We have been swamped. I know, I know…that’s no excuse. We have had lots of fun sessions lately, and over the next few weeks I hope to catch you all up on the action.
For now, I’ll catch you up on a milestone going on in the Fantasma household.
Again…I’m way behind on this post, but a few months ago, my little princess turned two.
Holy moly…where has the time gone!? This was her precious self at two weeks.
OK…so now here she is at two YEARS…
Yeah…we’re going to have trouble keeping the boys away I have a feeling. She just gets more beautiful the older she gets.
Nothing melts my heart more than a little Daddy/Daughter snuggle. These two are best buds.
Ok…ok….I like her too 
I just love being a Momma. That’s why…for the next few weeks I’m going to take some time off to hang out with my little bella Ella. With all of the work going on lately I feel like I have hardly seen her! She absolutely LOVES Christmas everything, so I wanted to be able to cherish this first Christmas excitement. We’ll be taking a few sessions again after the holidays. If you have already booked your session with me, no worries! I’ve still got you down! First things come first…and I’m honored to take this little break to focus on this little angel who has captured my heart.
I’ll try to update the blog with pics from some of our fun activities! Planning to hit up Christmas cookie decorating tomorrow…she’ll be stoked.
Oh yeah…the other all consuming thing going on around here…I’m 6 months pregnant! We’re going to have TWO little kiddos to hang out with…and this one is a boy! Pretty exciting stuff if you ask me. We’ll be welcoming Baby Max to our family in March, so I’ll be taking maternity leave around then as well. I know…I’m a slacker. Stay tuned for the dates of that leave…although I’m pretty sure it’s going to be March-June…but we’ll see how it goes.
Thanks for hanging in there with us, and we hope to be able to serve you in 2011!
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This is a busy time of year for family photos. Photo sessions are on the minds of a handful of people in preparation for Christmas cards and gifts, but it’s always at the back of my mind that this group really isn’t much larger than that… a handful of people. Some say that they don’t need professional photos taken of them and their family because they have snapshots from all through the year to to commemorate this time in their life. I am totally guilty of the same thought! Then I look through my pictures and realize that I am not in any of those images because I’m the one holding the camera! It This is very very common in families. Someone has to take the picture, and usually it’s the same someone. Another common thing that we hear is…”I am just not photogenic”…or…”Pictures of me always look weird, and I can just do without…I know what I look like.” Don’t take this personally, but that’s actually kind of selfish. You are always going to be your toughest critic, and your family and friends love you, and the way you look. They want to remember you, why deny them of that privilege?
I came across this article written by a very talented photography duo, Rowell Photography that made me stand and applaud. I couldn’t say it better…so here’s what they had to say…
“Its Autumn and that means it is time for us to rant about the importance of family photography. Every year around this time of back to school and sweater weather we start getting phone calls like this:
Family: “Hello, I am inquiring about family photos, what are your rates?”
Rowell Photography: “Hello, thank you for calling us. When was the last time you had family photos taken?”
Family: “Ummm, not since I was young, so around 10-15 years ago.”
(Then the emergency family photography sirens and lights start going off at the Rowell Photography studio, and Ryan and I try our hardest to keep calm and not to panic the family, its important that we do what we can make the booking, this family is in desperate need.)
Rowell Photography: “Wow! that’s is quite sometime, sounds like you guys are overdue. Let’s check out some dates and packages.”
Family: “Yeah I guess we are in need of an updated family photo, at the very least for our parents. Let’s book before the snow starts to fall.”
This scene is all too typical, and quite frankly its sad. Having photographs that document pivotal moments in one’s life are essential, ie: weddings, engagements, anniversaries, baptisms, bar & bat mitzvahs. If you ever only celebrate 4 of these major milestones and hire a professional photographer for those 4 days in your life and you live to be 100 years old. On average you are photographed professionally every 25 years, and the worst part is that most of these milestones typically happen within the first 25-30 years of your life. So what happens when your great grandchildren start asking questions about who you were, what you looked like during the other 75 years of your life? the easy answer is to consider having updated family portraits every few years, and by “few” we mean 3-5 not 10-20. Many people worry about family photos being outdated – hanging on the walls of their parents houses, in giant tacky frames from a time back when you had braces and didn’t have a clue that the over sized hooded sweater you were wearing looked horrible on you. We can understand your pain, I have family photos like that too, but i just say to myself “at least I have them”. They are the little embarrassing windows into my past.
What I wish my professional photographer had told us then about how to prepare for our family photo session was: Don’t come wearing a ton of crazy patterns. My dad’s 1992 Weekend at Bernie’s revival look, paired up with my mom’s multi colored floral print dress and my sister and I with matching florescent pink and blue floral jump suits is enough to get us on to Awkwardfamily photos.com I wish our photographer had suggested a backdrop that wasn’t a fake blue sky and actually photographed us outside in front of the real thing. After the shoot the photographer convinced my parents to buy a really expensive 5 inch thick 16×20 tacky gold frame to house our tacky family photo in. Which I guess makes sense, go for it all or go home. That baby hung on the wall of our home for 15 years, and its our only professional family photo. Don’t get me wrong I love it because it is so who we were at that time, but I know that I only love it so much because its the only shoot we ever did as a family. I wish we had taken family photos every few years so I could forget about this one photo.
That’s my rant for this year on family photos. The lesson to be learned here is: Update your family portraits so you can be embarrassed for a shorter amount of time when your parents hang it on their walls for 3 years instead of 15.”
Amen and Amen. Thank you, Rowells for that encouragement to get off of our bums and have portraits taken!
If this article was convicting for you, act on it! There are tons of photographers in the area that can match your style, your price point, and your schedule.
This weekend we are offering mini sessions (only a couple of spots left!). It’s only $50 for a session…that’s less than most people spend on a normal trip to Target. What are you waiting for?
For more info on our Mini Sessions, check out our specials tab or email us at fantasmaimagery@gmail.com.
Thanks for listening to my rant. Photos have always been important to me, so it’s all easy for me to say, but taking advantage of the opportunity to have your family’s portraits taken is at least worth considering!
There isn’t anything more adorable than a baby…so how about two!? Talk about cuteness overload.
These boys weren’t really enthused by my presence but that didn’t make a difference. They are just too darn sweet.
Oh seriousness.
I love this. I’ll be honest, I had a really hard time telling these two apart because they look exactly alike! BUT take a look at this…they were both settling down to rest and both clasped their hands…just in different ways. Just another reminder that even identical twins have their own little personalities that are totally unique!
Love love love this picture.
Two adorable little boys. Two sweet little faces. Two blessed parents.
Thanks for hanging out with me, Paxtons! I can’t wait for you to see the rest!
How cool is this…Maryn’s mom gets professional pictures of her every year around her birthday. So fun! This time they were looking for more of a city like backdrop for her birthday pics.
So off we went! You can tell that this is not her first time!
What a stunner.
Happy Birthday, Maryn! I hope you enjoyed your photo shoot, and will have a spectacular year!
Thanks for hanging out with me!
The Simmons family is seriously fun. I know I say that all the time, but I really mean it. It’s a photo session like this that makes me realize that I can hardly call my job “work”.
How stinking cute is Grant!? He totally busted out the GQ poses.
Yowza.
I love boys.
Thank you guys for being so awesome. I know it’s a tough job, but you handle it flawlessly.