JAMES HODGINS PHOTOGRAPHY

Today I was at Verdhiccio’s photographing some of their new menu items.  Luckily I went there with an empty stomach as I couldn’t resist digging into each dish after I finished photographing them. Alejandro prepared some tantalizing dishes like the one homemade ravioli pictured below.  If I had to choose a favorite dish I had today, it would be this and the fresh perch (images to come).  Make sure you stop by the New Verdhiccio Restaurant and try out their kickass menu!

Trying some different poses for babies lately and I’m really liking the “Keep It Simple Stupid” format.  We have never been big on props, basically because we don’t have the room to store them in our studio haha, that and the fact that we are not a Baby Specialty Studio (check out www.westmountphotography.com for the best Baby Portraits), but when our clients do bring us their loved ones, we go all out in trying to create those moody, eye catching images, especially in B&W.

Well we had the fortunate opportunity to photograph yet another portrait for the Kaltiainen family.  Ahhh, seems just like yesterday that we were documenting their wedding, or photographing Natalie’s Maternity Session or creating a timeless portrait of their Newborn Baby, and now we can add their latest Family Portrait to the list.   We headed out to Whitewater lake in Azilda hoping to get a few images with some leftover leaves.  It was cold.  Did I say it was cold?  I meant it was COLD!  But the kids were great, the parents were cool and we managed to capture some outstanding images for the Kaltiainen Family.  I could have stayed and chatted to them for hours in the parking lot…………but it was cold. haha.

Natalie, Neil.  Thank You again for letting us create this family portrait for you.  It means a lot to us to  have you as repeat clients.

When you look at this image you know that this couple are still in love.  You do not look at each other like this (especially when someone is taking your picture) if you were not.  I LOVE this image.  Not because I know the couple, but because I could feel the loving emotion radiating from this couple as I was creating this portrait.    I just can’t stop looking at it.  We would all be very blessed if we were still in love with our spouses so many years later.

If you kid doesn’t  sit still during the photography session, you have my permission to hold them upside down and shake shake shake.   This was her favorite game with dad.

The warm sun faded fast over Ramsey Lake while we were photographing the Keenan’s family portrait a few hours ago and standing waist deep in the water didn’t warm things up either.  Luckily this time I remembered to bring my hip waders in case I needed to go into the water……..which I did.  It’s the small things we do to get the proper angle for the shot.  Just like some of our previous family portraits with pets, I was jumping up and down, waving the arms, turkey calls and what not (I really need to videotape this), but in the end we got them to look at the camera.  And also like our other family sessions, we had a blast with the kids.  From throwing leaves in our faces to floating basketballs the Keenan kids got it going on, and we had a great time photographing them.  Whenever we finish photographing a family like this, we get in our cars and say “That’s why we do it!”  Thanks again Lisa & Scott for trusting us with your first family portrait!  It’s very much appreciated.

With a lot of our family portrait sessions we encourage the family to bring their pets along for the ride.  Pet’s are family too didn’t you know?  We love photographing the furry ones during our session, and trying to capture their personalty is half the battle.  Here a few images of some of the pets at our recent family sessions.

You have heard me say it before, sometimes the best images are when your subjects are not even looking at the camera.  We just finished the “water” session with the family and kids were having some fun before the next shoot.  I just love the faces of the two brothers as their sister takes control with the splashing.

I knew the moment I tripped the shutter that I captured a great moment between these sisters.  No prompting, no coaxing, just good o’l fashion sisterly love!  I love photographing kids outdoors.  Finding the right location with a subtle background and nice soft lighting with warm colors just brings the whole image together.

The Pappano’s were back with another kickbutt family portrait.  It’s been almost two years since their last one (Take a peak here), and this time they brought the Pinkerton’s and McNabb’s to throw into the mix.  Joce and I couldn’t believe how the Pappano girls have grown into beautiful young ladies in such a short time  and there was no shortage of smiles from each of them during the session.  As I said in my earlier posts, we LOVE photographing families!!! It’s so much fun, especially when the family are having a good time throughout the session.   We have  4 (FOUR) generations in this family and Jerry (Great Grandmother) has just as much energy as anyone else in this portrait.  We have sooooooooooooo many good images to post in the future, and of course I always will post one, but I thought I would post two, just to show you how we wrapped up the session.  Thanks again everyone, it’s families like yours that keeps reminding us why we love photography.