Only the family and I know the secret to getting this shot, it was worth the several attempts it took to get it!

This is an example of the kind of unexpectedness to expect from the Rollei, which I talked about in the last entry. Not sure what happened, but there is not much photoshop can do for this... so hopefully you like large alien blobs across the only three photos I took on my Rollei of this cute baby, who made his guest star appearance on my blog a couple of weeks ago (click here).

It's baby time! Seems like everyone we know is multiplying... which is fun for me.

Meet Michael, the son of two amazingly talented and loving people. When he gets a little bigger he will no doubt: play music, grow vegetables, go to Antarctica, love hiking, and have cute dimples just like his parents. But for now, he is moving to San Diego to start a new life with his parents, and we all wish them the very best.

This was the crib his mom slept in when she was a baby... yay for reusing!

See, you can kind of see that little dimple forming on that big juicy cheek.

I think it's important to invest in some good family portraits every few years. The time just flies too quickly, and children grow up so fast! Thank you Brent and Piper, I had a fun time with you, enjoy this preview of some of your proofs.   

Jude and I met yesterday and picked our top 15 photos to submit to the stock agency in order to hopefully get accepted and hopefully start getting paid for all the fun photo shoots we have been having. Here are 5 of our favorites that have not been posted yet... to see some of the other ones (preteen rock-star and skater girl, bed in field, woman on bicycle) click here.

Don't worry we only took one photo of crying baby, after her sister knocked her with the plastic fish and before mom picked her up. So no babies were mistreated in the making of this photo... but even crying she is still so cute.

It was hard to choose only 15, we have so many more that we love... so hopefully we will be admitted to the club and then we can put them all in. Thank you to all of our beautiful and wonderful models!!

I just melted when I took this one - isn't this the sweetest thing you have ever seen? What sisterly love! Plus grandma really wanted one of the two of them in their matching Minnie Mouse PJs!

She was the most willing baby - she was perfect in the basket! :) I love basket and tub shots!

Little Alexiss has the cutest smile...

Have to throw a black-and-white in the mix :)

Textures are all the rage these days, and I'm still not sure if I'm digging them completely - I tried it on this one - I'm still testing the waters. PLEASE leave me a message and tell me what you think - I promise I won't be offended if you don't like :) Just experimenting!

Another cute one of them together:

Well it's only been three short months since she was born and I can't believe how much she has grown! Her mommy brought her over to play on Friday and I was so lucky! She is such a sweet baby and so happy!

I just love her expression in this one - it's like "Huh?" :)

We even went outside to take a few shots as the sun was going down - she loves this brown, fuzzy blanket I have - she even has newborn pictures taken with it. I seriously thought she was going to fall asleep she looked so comfy!

She's probably going to kill me when she gets older for this one - but I couldn't resist posting it - Isn't this SO adorable? I know, I'm bad....

It was so much fun to relax, eat some pizza and, of course, take some pictures! Here's a sneak peek for you guys! I promise I'll have your gallery ready soon :)

Mom even brought along the bubble machine!

This one was just too cute not to post - as Kristyne would say, it's the "artsy-fartsy" coming out in me :)

I love baby eyelashes!

Here's one of this little guy being so patriotic - it was the cutest thing! He looked so proud to wave the flag - his daddy is in the Army, so it's very fitting! :)

Then a cute one of the "kissin' cousins" :)

Thanks guys for asking me to come out and take your family photos - I had a blast and appreciate your kindness! :)

Call the studio for details...here are some images!

The final collage is in Black and White - Looks more like this...

This was our ad but the collage is the final image framed or not framed!

GK

Some of my all time personal favourite wedding photographs have been of children attending weddings.

As a professional wedding photographer, I get excited when couples say that there will be children taking part in their ceremony.

It is children’s spontaneity, wide eyed enthusiasm and general energy that can add extra life to a wedding day and the photography.

The biggest advice I can offer couples who are having flower girls and page boys, is to remember to keep your expectations reasonable.

Children become overwhelmed with the responsibilities and attention given on the lead up and on the wedding day.  It is not hard to understand the reason for their tantrums on the wedding day. 

Here are some practical ideas that may help:

1)     Having a back up plan is helpful.  You may plan for your niece to walk down the aisle first but your back up plan may be that she walks down the aisle with your matron of honour (someone the child knows and loves).

2)     Giving the child something to do while walking down the aisle may help distract them from the many grown up’s faces (man this must be overwhelming for a child).  Throwing petals from a basket for example would be a good distraction.

3)     Instead of walking down the aisle how about riding a decorated scooter or being pulled down the aisle in a wagon? 

4)     Have a loving familiar face at the end of the aisle that the child can be motivated to head towards.  Even better if the loving face has a treat for them.

In finishing, I truly believe children add so much enjoyment to a wedding.  Allow their little personalities to shine.  I have found if you give children the time to express their nerves while not allowing yourself to react in a hostile, frustrated manner, then 80% of the time the child becomes interested and then will participate.

Good Luck

I chased this guy around as he hopped from stalk to stalk - it was pretty cool.

Then I came upon him - it looks like he's smiling at me! :)

My favorite are always the butterflies and moths. I think the light really made this guy extra gorgeous.

Some chickens awaiting their new coop:

Their French bulldog, Suzie - isn't she a cutie?

Their little granddaughter, who is just full of energy - if only we could bottle it :)

We even found baby toads! They were so teeny-tiny!

Then we finished up with some fireworks -

I hope everyone had fun, safe, and relaxing weekend!

Toooooooo  Cute!

Photographs by Jackie Manetzke taken in association with Amy Pflasterer Photography.

I can't believe how much he's changed! Turns out he was hiding blond under all that dark hair! It's been five months since I saw him and his mommy and I was SO excited to see them once again.

He was raring to go and just as cute as could be.

Unfortunately we had to cut our photo session short since it was getting late, but I hope to see them soon! I love nothing more than to see a child I've photographed grow and change. It surely is the most wonderful perk of the job! It's like having one, very big family.

Here is a sneak peek from their session..... Enjoy!

and one of just beautiful Natalie :)

We hope you enjoyed these.... as always we love comments :)

-C.

"Aaaah don't move! Hold that pose! No, no, don't move!" I say, trying really hard to hypnotize them into stillness while digging my camera out of the bag.

By the time I adjust my exposure, the lovely portrait I had in mind turns into the following:

Since inadvertently precipitating the fall of tiny daughter (but happy to have recorded the event), I figure it would be rather proper at this point to introduce myself to the mom. The least I can do. Really.

Joy seems definitely more receptive to my Belgian devilish charm than cohort Ivy. Ivy does not like me much. Coming across as a freakish photographer barging in out of nowhere may have something to do with it.

Joy is a HAM. She gets up, works her angles and gives me... Zoolander's Blue Steel. I swear!

Then, prima donna-like, breaks into an aria...

And bursts out laughing.

My five minutes are over. I love my life.

I'm going to start offering Storyboards in my Pricelist. I think these turn out so cute. You can put up to 5 images, or less if you would like them to be bigger, and you can add a name or go with just the photos. I think they are a great way to have and display all the images you love from a session instead of making you choose just one favorite.

So not only did I take pictures of my niece this week, but I picked up Addison from summer school on Thursday, and went out and took pictures of her. We went to the same locations as Kiersten and I did, because I really liked the way the other ones turned out and I just wanted to play around in that spot a little more. Addison did an excellent job for me, but I think she was pretty tired. She kept falling asleep in the car. They must have wore her out good at summer school. I used my new blue chair some more too. I absolutely love the way it looks when you play up the color in an image.