A Sunny Mini Session for Noah Robbins
Spring and summer mini sessions in Pittsburgh’s North Park.
Love working with this family - young Noah and his adopted parents Michaela and Dave Robbins. They wear creative and colorful outfits and are always a feast for the eyes to look at. The positive energy radiating from these three is contagious!
Family Mini Session for Kelly Larmann
Spring and summer mini sessions in Pittsburgh’s North Park.
Meet Kelly Larmann and her beautiful family. All impeccably dressed and so handsome! There were 2 challenges with this photo session and I think we all did a good job overcoming them.
Business Headshots Mini Session for Rachael Zito
Spring and summer mini sessions in Pittsburgh’s North Park.
Rachael Zito chose a perfect day to have her business headshots done! We had a blast wondering around a small island on the lake, looking for suitable backgrounds for her personal branding portraits.
SnowShow for Lucy Holley, her niece Lily and their dog Bella
“I love the photos!!! They are stunning!”
~ Lucy Holley
Engagement Mini Session in North Park for Patrice Carter
Spring and summer mini sessions in Pittsburgh’s North Park.
Patrice Carter wanted fun and intimate portraits with her fiancé. We were blessed with a warm sunny day on the lake shore. The newly engaged couple looked happy and very much in love. Just perfect conditions for a successful photo session!
Family Mini Session in Pittsburgh for Lauren Perlis
Mini sessions in Pittsburgh’s Mellon Park.
It was a pleasure to meet Laurel Perils and her family on a bright sunny morning in Mellon Park. The kids really enjoyed running around and the parents’ task was to react quickly when an opportunity to pose as a family presented itself. I had to be fast enough to find myself in the right place at the right time, expose, compose, focus and press click. No pressure. ))
Winter Mini Session at Phipps for Leanne Elliott and her family
Family Mini sessions at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.
Have you ever seen a 9-months old baby smiling and looking at the camera for all 30 minutes: no tears, not even a trace of dissatisfaction, just a pure bundle of joy? I now have! It’s Leanne Eliott’s little son. We were able to create so many photographic memories for this family, what you see here is just a small fraction of their gallery. :-)
Winter Mini Session at Phipps for Noah Robbins and his family
Family Mini sessions at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.
It was the second time I photographed Noah Robbins, his parents Michaela and Dave. It was great to re-connect with them again. Noah made great progress and looked strong, happy and handsome! This time the family came with the grandparents, all dressed in themed, beautifully created costumes - Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, John Darling and Mr Smee. We had a blast creating a story for their family album.
Winter Mini Session at Phipps for Spencer Kingman and his family
Family Mini sessions at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.
Spencer Kingman brought his family fully prepared for the inclement weather, armed with five umbrellas in case of the forecasted torrential rain. We got lucky and had a blast creating group and individual portraits for all the family. Love their outfits in jewel colors - a perfect way to look gorgeous in any season.
Winter Mini Session at Phipps for Andrea D’Alessandro and her large family
Winter Mini sessions in the City.
Andrea D’Alessandro presented me with a special challenge that day: to photograph her extended family of fifteen. They did a great job of dressing in one style and the children were incredibly cooperative, so we had plenty of time to create a few of all family portraits, photos of just the kids, every family individually and even a fun time running around for the little ones.
And of course, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens are gorgeous in any weather and any season, even when the skies look menacing.
Winter Mini Session at Phipps - Mother and Daughter
Winter Mini sessions at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA.
Mother and daughter were wearing navy, beige and burgundy colors, perfect with the remaining golden fall foliage in the background. They both looked gorgeous and were incredibly easy to work with.
Winter Mini Session at Phipps for Zach Reed and family
Winter Mini sessions in the City.
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens look gorgeous in any weather and any season, even when the skies are threatening with rain any minute.
Love how Zach’s family played with the earth colors in their outfits. I personally have a weak spot for light dresses combined with cowboy boots. So fitting for winter and just gorgeous!
City Mini Session for Crela Frye and her family
Mini sessions in the City.
Some shoots look better in black and white. Pittsburgh’s signature yellow bridges are spectacular but sometimes you just want to focus on the emotions, not the surroundings and thus black and white perfect.
Winter Mini Session for Rufa Akhmedli
Winter mini sessions.
Rufa Akhmedli wanted a bunch of portraits to use on her Instagram account. They had to look different enough, as if taken on separate occasions. Rufa brought 3 charges of clothes and I was amazed how quickly she changed into yet another gorgeous outfit within the allocated 30 minutes still keeping her poise.
Winter Mini Session for Victoria Detweiler and her new husband
Winter mini sessions.
Victoria Detweiler booked a session for all her extended family but it was so cold that day that the rest of the siblings chickened out.
I always say that the brave and stoic get it all. Victoria’s session turned into a romantic shoot with her new husband who went along with any idea I came up with on how he could say “I love you” to his young bride in a silent photograph.
I wish all the happiness in the world to this sweet and beautiful couple.
Fall Mini Session for Shannon Brady and her family
Shannon Brady wanted this session to be an 8th birthday present for her elder son. Love how they thought through all the little details of their outfits and how naturally they settled into suggested poses. We got quite a lot of color into the background on that cold November day.
Fall Mini Session for Briana Honrath and her family
It was pure joy photographing Briana’s family: 2.5-year-old daughter Aurora, husband Marc, his mother Pat and two friendly labradoodles Leonardo and Arnold. It was mostly chaotic but also organized, if you know what I mean. They certainly came well-prepared for the shoot and I just love the results of our mutual efforts.
Fall Mini Session for Casey Platt and her family
Casey was looking for family photos with her husband and her two little girls: 2-year-old Ella and baby Olivia. As always with photo sessions involving young children, we went along with the girls’ moods and impulses. Thus having given up on ideal backgrounds or elegant poses, we captured plenty of genuine smiles, hugs and kisses. The images below were Casey’s favorites.
Horse riding show in Aliquippa, PA
Last fall I had a blast photographing the end of the season horse riding show at a hidden jewel facility in Aliquippa, the Hilltop Horizons Therapeutic Equestrian Center.
Sarah’s Family Portraits
Most photographers offer a rain date in case the weather isn’t ideal for perfect sunset photos. What if your family’s schedule is so packed that there’s no space for an alternative date and it’s pouring with rain on the shoot date despite all “sunny” weather forecasts? I have a whole collection of photoshoots when we seriously considered postponing the session, then went ahead regardless of the “lemons” the universe gave us and made beautiful, bright, and colorful portraits just because we felt like it.