09 Apr

Waxhaw, NC Child and Family Photographer | Family Life is . . . .

Waxhaw, NC Child and Family Photographer | Family Life is . . . .

If you visit and read my web site, you’ll find that I describe family life as “sweetness, love, craziness and chaos all rolled into one.”  Well, that statement comes directly from my experience with my own family – my kids, my nieces, cousins, and more.  Sometimes you have to embrace the craziness and chaos and just have fun with it.

I love taking Easter Portraits of my kids and my nieces, and I typically hunt for the perfect Easter outfits for my kids.  But taking portraits of my own children can be quite entertaining.  But I absolutely love the images we made yesterday.  The craziness, chaos, sweetness and love are all here.  It was completely nutty, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

Enjoy!

PS Special thanks to my cousin, Billy, for his willingness to participate in the chaos.

 

Waxhaw NC Child and Family photographer - backyard shoot

Outfits:

Shannon – Dress: Gap Kids. Headband: Kids Kuts in Westfield
Jack – Shirt, Pants and Hat: Janie & Jack

 

03 Feb

Charlotte, North Carolina Family Photographer | Favorite Fridays – Displaying Photographs in Your Home

Charlotte, North Carolina Family Photographer | Favorite Fridays – Displaying Photographs in Your Home

Today’s Favorite Friday blog share is about one of my favorite things to do – helping my clients decide how to display their new family photographs in their home.  While I love photographing families and capturing wonderful moments and memories for my clients, I also absolutely love when my clients choose to display the images from those sessions in their home.

Did you know that displaying family photographs in your home can help improve a child’s self-confidence by giving them a sense of belonging?  Being a mother, that is almost reason enough for me.  But I also believe that adding family photographs to your walls adds a natural warmth to your home, and also just makes you smile more from glancing at the sweetness of the moments we captured that day.  Who couldn’t use a few extra smiles each day?

But I often find that my clients are not sure how to display these images in their home, and have difficulty deciding what to order on their own.  That is why I meet with all of my clients just a few weeks after their session for an ordering consultation, and I bring customized ideas for the best ways to display the images from their sessions on their walls.

Here are just a few examples of the beautiful gallery-wrapped canvas cluster ideas I have prepared for my clients.  There are many more options and layouts, and I would love a chance to work with your family to add happiness and warmth to your walls and home.

Charlotte, North Carolina Family Photographer demonstrates ways to display family photographs in your home

 

 

31 Jan

Charlotte, North Carolina Children’s Photographer | Tiny Tuesday – Expect the Unexpected

Charlotte, North Carolina Children’s Photographer | Tiny Tuesday – Expect the Unexpected

What happens when you ask two adorable little girls to gather a pile of leaves and throw them in the air?   Sometimes, even the subjects in your photograph don’t know what to expect next.

I loved everything about this session with these two beautiful little girls.  The older sister has such a gorgeous smile, beautiful eyes, and she just seems to light up in front of the camera. The younger sister is full of spirit, energy, and a complete bundle of fun!

I also loved the colors here – their mom did a fantastic job with these adorable outfits. While the outfits are completely different, the colors pair nicely together and just pop against our late Fall backdrop.

So, these adorable girls gathered their leaves as requested, and stood really close together ready to toss them into the air.  The older one threw her pile up in the air immediately after the first image was shot and honestly before I was completely ready.

But the little one waited just a few seconds more and tossed her pile a little lower (therefore partially in her big sister’s face) – catching her sister completely off guard.  And then, this little munchkin was so excited with the leaves raining on their heads that she just starting giggling and running circles around her big sister.

The bottom picture captures a moment of sheer happiness and also one of surprise.  What I love most about the images though is how much they made their Mom giggle when we sat down to review them together.  Even to this day, everytime she sees that second image, she chuckles remembering the moment.  We didn’t expect what happened, but it makes us both smile (and laugh) to remember that feeling of happiness.

 

Charlotte, North Carolina Children's Photographer  shares Fall Foliage portraits with children

30 Dec

Marvin, NC Family Photographer | Fun in the Fall

Marvin, NC Family Photographer | Fun in the Fall

It’s time to post another session from earlier this Fall.   I love clients that keep coming back and giving me a chance to see how much everyone has grown.  This is the third year that I had the pleasure of working with this family and capturing adorable moments with them.  This year, we chose to meet at Memorial Park in Millburn, NJ, and I was very happy with the different backdrops available at this location.

I love working with families that know how to have a great time together.  While the older children were a little more quiet and reserved (and truthfully, just really mature for their age), the little guy definitely showed his true colors and brought out the giggles from everyone else.  He just loved playing it up for the camera, too!   Can you tell?  And everyone had fun when they were asked to play and jump in the leaves!

Enjoy!

Marvin, NC photographer Carolyn Ann Ryan captures Fall Family portraits

 

19 Dec

Weddington, NC Children’s Photographer | Days to Warm Your Heart

Weddington, NC Children’s Photographer | Days to Warm Your Heart

It was mid-October and around 80 degrees, and I had a portrait session scheduled with an adorable family of FIVE boys.  Yes, five absolutely wonderful little men.  I know their Mom was nervous about the session, not just because she wanted adorable pictures, but she had purchased long sleeves and corduroy pants for them to wear for their holiday portraits, and now it was 80 degrees and the perfect weather for shorts.  But, her guys proved she had nothing to worry about.

It wasn’t the sun that warmed my heart that day, but it was the sweet smiles and unbelievable cuteness from these little men.  The older boys were so polite as they asked questions about my camera equipment, and helped me carry items as we moved from location to location in Historic Richmondtown.  And the little guys just completely stole my heart with the twinkle in their eyes.   I know everyone that knows this family would agree that their parents are doing an incredible job raising this family.

Here is a sampling of the images we made that warm October day.

Weddington, NC Children's Portrait Photographer

15 Dec

Marvin, North Carolina Family Photographer | Time for some cuteness!

Marvin, North Carolina Family Photographer | Time for some cuteness!

I posted on Facebook yesterday that I have 17 sessions that need to be added to the blog all the way from October through now!  17!  It was an incredible and amazing season and I just loved all the time I spent with my clients capturing the cuteness. Even the chaos was fun.  I really loved every minute of it.

I just received a comment on my Facebook page from a wonderful person that was excited to see all the cuteness.  So, here is the perfect start for sharing cuteness!  This gorgeous little lady has been a client since she was just a few days old, and now she is almost two.  And she gets more adorable each time I see her.

Enjoy!

Marvin, North Carolina Family Photographer

08 Nov

Waxhaw, NC Children’s Photographer | Tiny Tuesday – Favorite Moments

Waxhaw, NC Children’s Photographer | Tiny Tuesday – Favorite Moments

Today’s Waxhaw, NC Children’s Photographer Tiny Tuesday post has two images.  These were taken in July 2010 while my family was visiting a friend in Pennsylvania.  Our friends had beautiful light in their backyard and thankfully I brought my camera.

Photographs don’t always need to show little ones looking at the camera smiling.  In this case, you don’t even need to see faces.  For me, the first image captures a moment.  My little guy gives amazing hugs.  And when he runs around, he’ll run right up to one of us, grab our legs, bury his head and squeeze real tight.  Just looking at this image, I can feel his amazing squeeze.  And I just love watching moments of my husband being a cute Dad.  While this may be a moment that happens often during these toddler years, it’s a moment I love to see again and again, and I’m thrilled to have captured it in this sweet photograph.  Someday, when our little guy is bigger, maybe even as tall as his 6’3″ Daddy, he’ll love this image, too!

The second image is just a sweet portrait of a smiling Daddy and his little man. I love the little one’s eyes and the beautiful light in this image. These are my favorite men.

Waxhaw, NC Children's Photographer shares Tiny Tuesday - Favorite Moments

05 Nov

Vibrant Waxhaw, NC Family Portrait Session | Childhood Enclosed

Vibrant Waxhaw, NC Family Portrait Session | Childhood Enclosed

Lately, I find myself constantly saying how much I love my job.  When you get to see smiles like these on a regular basis, how could you not love what you do?

A few weeks back, I met this adorable family and we had a wonderful afternoon.  The sun was warm and shining in early October, and the light was just perfect everywhere we went. We started at their home in the backyard, which gave the family dog an opportunity to jump in a few images, and then we headed to a park in Edison, NJ after a quick clothing change.  I love watching a family just have fun together.  You can see the happiness and smiles just shine through in these photos!

Vibrant Waxhaw, NC Family Portrait Session by family photographer Carolyn Ann Ryan

06 Oct

Marvin, NC Photographer | Childhood Enclosed

Marvin, NC Photographer | Childhood Enclosed

Just another day when I love my job.  Full session with my own munchkin and pumpkin.  All I can say is – – I love these kids.

Marvin, NC Photographer

27 Sep

Waxhaw, NC Child Portraits | All Smiles

Waxhaw, NC Child Portraits | All Smiles

Have you ever seen a photo of your children that you just kept going back to look at it over and over because you loved it so much?  A photo that just makes you smile really big everytime you see it?  You know, the photo that makes you stop and say to yourself – “Wow, these guys are mine and I love them so much!  They may drive me nuts sometimes, but just look at them, they are awesome.”

Sometimes, all it takes is just one image to give you that feeling, and I was so happy to capture that one image for myself this weekend.

These guys love to run. They squeal and giggle as they are running, and I think this image just shows my munchkin and pumpkin at their best – happy together.

This is why I do what I do. Because, sometimes, you get a picture that will just make you smile everytime you see it.  I love when it happens for me, but I also really do love when it happens for my clients, too.  There will be more to share from this session, but for now, here was favorite.

Waxhaw, NC Child Portraits - All Smiles

21 Sep

Lovable Marvin, NC Family Photography | Nieces

Lovable Marvin, NC Family Photography | Nieces

I am blessed to have four beautiful, little nieces living not too far away.  They are my daughter’s best friends, and we just love spending time with them.

I think my sister loves having a photographer in the family, but I don’t mind. It is a pleasure to spend a few hours with these girls and capture their beautiful smiles and watch them grow.
This year, some of my favorites are of my youngest niece, because she made me work for some of those smiles as you can see below, but capturing all of her personality (including the “fake” pouts) was just so much fun. Sometimes, those are the images that make me giggle most when I’m post-processing the session on my computer.

Here are some highlights from our End of Summer session last week.  {Thanks girls for being so wonderful and fun!}

Lovable Marvin, NC Family Photography highlights adorable portraits of her nieces

31 Aug

Marvin, NC Children’s Photographer | Summer Days

Marvin, NC Children’s Photographer | Summer Days

It’s nearly the end of summer, and a perfect time to highlight this fun Summer Session.  We began our session at their home, and immediately started to see the personalities of the little ones. I love watching brothers and sisters playing together, especially when the little ones are entertaining the older ones.
After a clothing change and snack, we took a short drive to a nearby park. It was a beautiful August morning, and these little guys loved spending time with their Mom and Dad.
Marvin, NC Family Photographer captures family fun in Summer Days
26 Jul

Joyous Charlotte NC Family Portraits | One Reason I Love My Job

Joyous Charlotte NC Family Portraits | One Reason I Love My Job

Last week, I had the opportunity to hang a family portrait on the wall of someone very special to me.  As you might expect, I’ve photographed my older sister’s family almost as much as my own.  She has four beautiful daughters that are full of spirit and energy. And while I have many beautiful images of them, this one has become one of my all-time favorite photographs.  They are a family that is always on the go, and always having fun together, and this image just captures who they are as a family.

Joyous Charlotte NC Family Portraits by photographer Carolyn Ann Ryan

05 Jul

Precious Marvin, NC Child and Family Photographs | Enjoying Childhood

Precious Marvin, NC Child and Family Photographs | Enjoying Childhood

What could be better than spending a morning with a happy family?  For me, the only thing better is sending that same family beautiful images of our time together that they will cherish for years to come. Childhood is filled with so many sweet moments, and it was a pleasure to capture those moments with these adorable little girls.

Even now as I post these images, I just want to go outside, find a little dandelion and make a whole bunch of wishes and remember the fun of being a little girl.Enjoy!Precious Marvin, NC Child and Family Photographs

Precious Marvin, NC Child and Family Photography by Carolyn Ann Ryan