portRAYals by brittany {update}

I've been a busy bee - taking photos with my newest toy that my dear hubby got me as a surprise gift at Christmas.  I had hinted to him for what seems like forever that I wanted a more "professional" camera so that I could take my hobby of photography more seriously.  He earned a ton of brownie points and completely surprised me.  Since December, I've practiced, practiced, practiced along with countless hours reading tutorials online and asking other photographers what their creative secrets were.  I think I finally hit my "sweet spot" and I've had so much fun doing it!  Here are some sessions I've done since I've gotten my new camera!  I hope you like (love) them as much as I do :)

1.)  Engagement Session with Haley and Cameron from my church.  They got engaged on Christmas Eve and immediately approached me about taking their engagement photos - what an honor and we had lots of fun doing it.  These were taken at a local park and public baseball field.

2.) Newborn Session with baby Aubrey Jane - my friend, Lauren, helped me through my pregnancy with Rayleigh and was a great voice of encouragement and advice.  Soon after Rayleigh was born she told me she was pregnant (with her second girl) and I was so excited for her - even more excited when she asked me to take Aubrey's newborn photos.  I had never done a newborn session with my new equipment and was giddy to see what magic I could capture; it helped that Aubrey is adorable and such a sweet, calm, and happy baby!  These were taken indoors at Aubrey's home.

3.)  Toddler Session with my favorite little boy EVER (I am a little biased) - Lyric Gabriel.  If I had money for every time someone told me how handsome my nephew was, I'd be a millionaire.  The trick to getting the perfect photos of a two (soon to be three) year old is bribe them with candy and be calm - I found that when I would scream "SMILE!",  he would look away but as soon as I would sing his favorite TV show theme song or tell him how much I loved him, he would turn to me and give me the best "Hi, I'm Lyric and I know I'm handsome" grin! :)   These were taken at a park in Waggaman (where my parents live near NOLA) and a public library porch.

4.) Model Session with one of my besties, Anna.  She is not technically a "model" but these were great practice shots for me and she's received several compliments since we've done these shoots that she should be a model.  I must say, she is pretty stinkin' cute :) We also joke that these are the "senior pictures" she never had.  Most of these were taken at the LA Capitol Park in downtown Baton Rouge.

5.) Friends Session with Anna and Rayleigh - we lovingly refer to Anna as "Nanny".  Anna and I become close when I was pregnant with Rayleigh and before she was even born I was already referring to her as Rayleigh's church aunt and put a "claim" on her as my go-to babysitter.  She was so excited about Rayleigh's birth and they hit it off from day one.  Anna often refers to Rayleigh as her BFF and it shows in these sweet photos.   These were taken a local public park.

(this melts my heart every time I see it!)

6.) Father/Daughter Session with my two favorite people - Justin and Rayleigh.  What better subjects to practice my skills with than my own family.  Love the way these turned out.  It helps that Rayleigh loves her Daddy a lot!  These were taken at a local public park.

7.) Toddler Session with the one and only, Rayleigh Joy! The first few were taken at a family friend's home in New Orleans - they have a beautiful garden and I just had to capture Rayleigh enjoying God's creation.  The next set were taken at a local park with nice greenery and a wide lake that made me a great background.

8.) Mommy/Daughter Session with Lauren, Addy, and Aubrey (from the newborn session).  We wanted to get some sibling shots when I did the newborn session but once we realized how tedious and time-consuming a newborn session was, we agreed to wait and do another session to capture the sisters.  Again, I was so proud of how these turned out.  Lauren was worried about how Addy, the toddler, would handle getting her picture taken but I think she was an angel and it helped that she was in love with a little white rocking chair I brought as a prop!  Its amazing what kids will cling to :) These were taken at the LA Capitol Park in downtown Baton Rouge.

I hope you enjoyed the update on my latest sessions - I have another mother/daughter session booked for this weekend and will do another blog update with pictures.  

If you have Facebook and are interested in following my photography on there, click here for the link to my "portRAYals by brittany" page.