JAMES HODGINS PHOTOGRAPHY

You just gotta love it when a family pulls together and shows up on time, with all the family members, and all color coordinated.  It just warms my heart.  Originally scheduled for Bell Park due to it’s easy wheel-chair accessibility we had to make a last minute location change (due to Dragon Boat Practice) and luckily Joce and I found this great spot by Laurentian Univeristy.  Rocks, grass trees, even some shaded lighting in early evening made this location a great choice, especially because both Grams had easy access.  Baby Reese was constantly looking at the camera as Jocelyne was jumping up and down making noises and faces behind me to get the adults attention (just kidding, it was really for baby Reese).  We love photographing our outdoor family sessions and when you get families like this you just can’t go wrong.  Thanks again everyone, Joce  and I had FUN!

Do you know what goes on Monday evenings at Ramsey lake when it’s nice outside?  Pretty well everything, including dragon boat practice (try finding a parking spot).  We were scheduled to photograph the Lavoie family earlier this evening at Bell Park to show some Sudbury Rock and Water, but made  a last ditch effort to change locations to someplace that wasn’t as busy.  Luckily Bob had a family cottage on Ramsey that has been in the family for over 90 years and was conveniently located minutes away.  Waiting for the sunlight to simmer down we walked around the property utilizing rocks, docks and driveways.  The first photograph had me chest high in the water to place the sunlight behind them for a more pleasing image, luckily I wasn’t wearing white shorts.

Thanks again Bonnie, Bob, Kurtis, Brenen, Bennett & Remi.  We had a great time with you all tonight.

Now is the time to start thinking and planning your outdoor summer family portrait.  We are already booking sessions for up to October already and we don’t want you to be left out.   We take a great deal of pride in your Family Portraits and it all starts with an in studio consultation where we will discuss all aspects of your Portrait Session.

Think a few months ahead into this summer when you would like to have your outdoor family portrait but give us a call soon so we can make the preparations.  Big or small your family is special to you so why not create something that will last a lifetime.

Last month we photographed Lucas in the studio, but after we were finished the session, Lucas told me that he really wanted an outdoor family portrait with mom & dad on location at their home.  Well how do you say no?  So Saturday we photographed the three of them behind Paula’s K9 Country Club at spot where they often go for walks and small adventures.    In between setups I noticed how Mom was playing with baby and immediately told dad to jump right in.  I say this a lot, but often when you let your clients just be themselves they can reveal the best photo opportunities, just like the one I captured below.

Jennifer new exactly what she wanted when she booked us.  She wanted a non posed, storytelling image of her Ma Mere and her 2 kids and that is exactly what we gave her.  It was as simple as asking Ma Mere to sit on the bench (because I was going to photograph her by herself) and next thing you know Owen & Lindsey climbed up and cuddled in.  I will be honest, I did  put “some” thought into it, I liked how the bench was in a bit of shade, but the sun was still poking through the leaves and skimming across Ma Mere’s hair.  I loved the way that the three of them starting interacting with each other immediately and you can tell that the three of them are very close.  We were all having so much fun with this session (Joce was quickly losing the throwing the leaves battle with the kids) we could have kept on going for hours.    Thanks again Haw family for making us part of this special time in your kids lives (and Ma Mere’s).  Like we talked about today, we look forward to photographing the Haw family next year.

Have a great Turkey Weekend.

Sharon booked months and months ago to photograph her fall family portrait with herself, her daughter Meaghan and their rambunctious dog “Chester”.  We headed out just behind their house in the long lake area to find some beautiful fall colors and unique locations to showcase these to beautiful women……………….and Chester.  Let me state right now that Chester can jump higher than other dog I have seen jump before and note to self:  when photographing Chester for Dog Day this January don’t hold a stick in hand while pointing to the ground with the other hand saying “sit” “sit” “sit”.  Chester sureeeeeeeeeeeeeeee loves the stick.

After we completed a few different scenarios Jocelyne came up with this shot and I must say she executed the concept, location, and dog distracting technique wonderfully.   Thanks again Sharon & Meaghan for allowing us to capture the beautiful portrait of the three of you.

It was that time of year again when Amanda & Karryna give us a call to do their “not so normal” family portrait.  They wanted something edgy compared to the last (which we did in a field off the highway somewhere) so we opted for downtown back alley graffiti.  Although the image below doesn’t show any back alley graffiti I think it’s a great location and pose to showcase a mother/daughter portrait.  More to come soon.

We just got back from Bell Park where we photographed the Newman Family.  Chris & Kristi now have beautiful blue eyed Aila to show off to all their family and friends.  She was a pure joy to photograph, with her big smiles, her little laughs and let’s not forget…………those baby blue eyes.  Even the clothing that Kirsti & Chris picked out for themselves and their daughter added to completeness of their family portrait session.    The Newman Family is another example of how we get to see our clients lives unfold over the years.  A long time ago I photographed Chris  for the “Chris Newman Band” in Rob Provenchers studio when I was working there and shortly after that it was Chris & Kirsti’s engagement session and then their wedding.  Now here are again photographing their baby girl and family portraits.    Congratulations again to the both of you it was great to have in front of my camera again.

Sunday we had the annual Mark & Michelle Family Portrait.  Over the years I have always driven past this location in New Sudbury and Sunday I decided that we would use it for this portrait.  It had lots of leaves, trees, some shade and it was central for all of us.  If you recall Sunday was warmer (7 degrees) but it was still cool outside.  Due to the time of day we photographed this portrait I decided to use one of my monolights and umbrella’s for some fill flash.  That, and the fact that I left all of my reflectors in Elmira (Thanks Tina for sending them to me), the monolight was looking pretty good.

Joce getting the family setup.

Wow, what a week we had outdoors and in the studio.  Nothing but family, babies & kids, consultations, seminars, crapshoots and traveling.   We really don’t mind times like this when we are busy creating wall portraits for our clients.  Here are to images from 2 sessions we photographed today.   Like we have stated in previous posts it’s amazing  to watch our photography come full circle, as we are now photographing weddings, the maternity the family and hopefully in the future the future weddings.  We love documenting the different stages in a couples life and we feel very blessed that that we have the clientele we have.  So thank you all for allowing us to create these memories for you and your family.

Sasha would not sit still for very long but I did snag this one image after she crawled out of frame.

You watch, you see how they interact, turn a bit, a bit more DON’T MOVE!