10 Ways to Make Your Family Photographer LOVE You!

10. Be on time. Be on time. Be on time. Your session time has been very specifically selected to coordinate with the lighting in your location. Being late might mean you lose that perfect lighting. Plan to be at least ten minutes early, and you'll be all good!

9. Bring your A Game. Bring all those tricks that you KNOW will make your kids smile. A favorite toy? A silly game? The tickle monster? Bring 'em. Encourage them to sing or tell a story or talk about their fun weekend or trip to see Gramma- anything to get them talking and smiling!

Tickles always get the smiles! 

8. Let your child run the show. Now, there are certainly limits here, but stay with me. An hour is an extremely long time for a young child or toddler to sit and follow directions while her parents and some stranger with a camera act ridiculous in order to get her to smile. If she wants to get down out of your arms and pick flowers or dig for clams in the sand, or hunt for bugs, let her. Your photographer will follow her, and it could result in some beautiful images. This is where their imaginations come to life- when they're wild and free. I guarantee, after they've had a few minutes to pretend you're all on a pirate ship, they'll be more relaxed and willing to listen to follow posing direction from your photographer.

Let them be explore!

7. Let your child interact with your photographer. I know a lot of parents come to sessions feeling like they already know how their child is going to act. You're worried about tantrums and inattentiveness, but humor me here. Give the photographer a shot to get to know your child. Let him decide if he trusts her. Let them talk and play and be silly, even if it means taking a break from shooting, and you'll have a much better chance of getting smiles out of him.

 Let them make a new friend!

6. Take a break. Sessions usually last anywhere from an hour, to two hours depending on the lighting present, and how everyone is feeling. If you need to take a break to just sit and chill or let kiddos stretch their legs, or grab a drink of water, or let the baby nurse, you can. Most photographers plan for these types of breaks because it makes a world of difference! Plus, those breaks can sometimes turn into the sweetest moments...

 

Can you tell I love these candid moments?

5. Bring snacks and bribes! Shoots are often scheduled around dinner time or after, plus, these shoots can really take a lot of energy! So bring some healthy snacks and some water and everyone will stay satisfied. I also encourage bribes... I know, I know... but just for ONE hour, your kids will do anything for candy or the promise of ice cream or a toy at the end of the session. It works!

Special treats are always a winner!

4. Do. Not. Match. Please? Although it's easy to put everyone in white polos and khakis, please... help me help you! If everyone comes dressed in the same outfit, the resulting images will have very little visual interest. The intent is to coordinate rather than match exactly!

Coordination- not matching- is key!

3. Remember that it's just an hour. You can do anything for an hour. Give all the energy you can muster. Make the kids laugh. Be silly. Be completely ridiculous! And your family will follow suit! The smiles will be genuine and the fun will be too!

You can do anything for an hour!

2. Trust me. Your photographer wants you to look good. She wouldn't make you do anything or pose anywhere that is unflattering or looks silly. Let go of your preconceived notion of the "perfect" family photo- everyone posed, looking at the camera, and smiling. You'll probably get some of those, but those candid images will be the ones you look back on and swoon over! So don't worry if your photographer tells you not to look at the camera. Focus on what's right in front of you- your beautiful family- and your images will be perfect!
 

"I promise, it'll be great!"

1. If you love your session, let us know! We love hearing your feedback and certainly thrive on any sort of love you show! You could even do one better, and share with your friends how much you loved your session!

xo,
Chels

Hostetler Family | Oklahoma City Family and Children's Photographer

 

This is the Hostetler Family. Believe me when I say they're a pretty cool bunch. Brian is a fantastic graphic designer, Amy did a 5k at 30 weeks pregnant the same day as their shoot, and Kyrie is full of sass and super smarts. They also love the Lord and put all their faith in Him. Basically, I couldn't have asked for more awesome people to hang out with this past weekend!

They had warned me previously that Miss Kyrie (a GORGEOUS name, by the way. It was actually on my list of favorites when I was pregnant with Vesper!) could be a bit shy and was prone to the typical toddler antics- tantrums and the like.

But we didn't find that to be the case at this particular session (much to Amy and Brian's relief, I'm sure!) We talked and played in the grass, and ran away from mommy and daddy, and went hunting for rocks, and just had a good ol' time! And when she started getting sleepy, she just laid that sweet little head into Daddy...

 

She just turned the big 0-2- a major life event, as you know- and is getting ready to have another major life event: she's going to be a big sister!

Congratulations, Kyrie and the rest of the Hostetler clan! What a blessing! I can't wait to meet Baby H and watch your family grow!

xo,
Chelsea

Rylan | Oklahoma City Children's and Family Photographer

Once upon a time, when I was still learning my camera (and truthfully, still shooting portions of my sessions in Auto!), I did a maternity shoot for a coworker and her wife.

 

Fast forward to one night a couple of weeks ago, and THIS handsome little fella jumps out of the car.

 

And I just wanted to keep him! But he didn't want much to do with me. He was super shy, and so I decided we didn't need to take any pictures right away. Why not just go exploring! So that's what we did. I put my camera away and we just walked around town and talked, but to no avail. 

 

Finally, I hit on something. I asked him about his dogs. BINGO. Little man opened up and told me all about them. He was so sweet and charming! I asked him if he wanted to come live with me, but he said no on account of me only having one dog, and he in fact has three. I can understand that.

 

 

 

 

We had so much fun running around Deep Deuce, looking for dogs, airplanes, and places to run and play.

 



And near the end of the shoot, as we played in the dirt, he pointed to a large rock amongst the pebbles. Then he dug it out and get this: he gave it to me. Me! It meant a lot to me, considering the fact that he wouldn't even look at me an hour before!

Thanks, Snow Family for letting me be a small part of your story!
xo,
Chelsea

for the love of music.

I'm a musician. A vocalist. I have been ever since I can remember. So imagine my glee when my daughter started asking questions about the instruments she heard in the bluegrass music that we listen to in the mornings. She wanted to know the names of the instruments and then she wanted to know what they looked like. And then of course we had to pull out Daddy's guitar and play on it a little bit.
She can now properly identify a violin (or fiddle as we usually call it since we're listening to bluegrass right now), a banjo, and a guitar. Quite impressive considering all are string instruments. She also likes when the "girly" sings.
I love to see her eyes light up when a banjo opens up a song and she says, "Momma, s'at a banjo? S'at a banjo, Momma?" It makes me so happy to watch her pretend that her toy ladle and frying pan are a bow and fiddle. And my heart swells when I catch her singing "Iiiii'll fly awaaaaayyy!" as she plays with her Play-Doh. I am so grateful that I have passed on a love for music of all kinds.

xo,
Chelsea

Undeserved.

It hit me at the strangest moment. As I my hands were submerged in soapy dishwater and dinner over-cooked on the stove, I watched him sweep the walkway in our front yard. I turned to look out over crumb and clutter-covered kitchen counters and a dining room table with dried-on spaghetti sauce and the pink paint that remained after the Valentine's crafting months ago, into a messy sunroom where pillows were tossed haphazardly onto the floor amongst books and blocks and my two fair-haired babies watched a television show that certainly exceeded the recommended daily limit.
And somehow, I saw beauty. And I thought of how this was never the life I wanted for myself yet how blessed my life has become.
This life that is daily filled with tantrums thrown and meals refused and counters wiped and re-wiped and dogs shooed and laundry folded and refolded after the babies tossed it onto the floor.
Where windows are smudged and dishes are dirty and the sink smells and the shoes never make it to the basket.
Where the carpet is beyond salvage and the furniture is second-hand and the light bulb in the fridge has been burned out for a week and the bananas always brown before you can eat them.
Where time and patience and naps are often in short supply.
Where the back yard needs mowing and the toys litter the floor of my shower even though the children have their own bathroom and mending piles up in my closet.
Where everything needs painting and updating and plans are big but the time and budget is small.
Where my bed only stays made for about five seconds before that darling little blue-eyed creature crawls into it and begs, "Momma, snuggle!"
Where in the dark of the wee hours of the morning, I stare into the bright lights of that damned and blessed baby monitor checking and re-checking that those babies are still fast asleep, covered up, and peacefully dreaming of the adventures that were had.
Where a little boy plops himself into my lap and insists that I read book after book yanked from the shelf, and then discarded in the middle of the floor.
Where night after night, he lays his tired bones next to mine and grasps my hand as sleep comes fast and heavy, and then kisses my cheek when the morning comes too soon.
Where tears are numerous, and dedicated to moments of extremes- anger, hurt, fear, frustration, yet still and often, joy.

And all this... mess of a life- the marriage, the children, the house, the mortgage, the two cars, the dog...  it was never what I wanted. It was the makings of a dull and repetitious and empty life for which I refused to settle. Because when my body was younger and my mind was more naïve and my eyes were too wide and wild, I was sure that all I ever wanted was a life lived fast and free...

And God found me and rescued me from my own selfish destruction and placed in my path those amazing blessings that I never asked for and I certainly didn't earn. And even then, when days were long and hard and the babies refused to sleep and I- short-sighted and merely mortal- began to mourn the loss of my freedom and my body and my time and my rest and my youth, He continued to bless me. To give me more than I thought I could handle, and more than I deserved.

How great is His love for me. How many are His blessings. How vast His faith in me... that He would entrust such a rich life to one that did not at first appreciate the utter and absolute wonder of the simplicity set before her.  I am forever grateful that my God is greater than my self, and that His plans for me are far bigger and more exquisite than my inferior, inglorious dreams.

I haven't the holiness to see what He sees all the time. I haven't the strength to bear it in my withering mortal soul. So I just continue to trust that dirty dishes and mismatched socks and messy hair and piles of mail are all signs of a life lived fully and humbly and simply. I take my cues from small cherub faces, flush with laughter and arms held around my waist and words whispered quietly in the dark. I remind myself that this is holy work, and this life that I never wanted, is the life I could never ever replace or trade for all the world...

xo,
Chelsea

The Farams | Oklahoma City Family and Children's Photographer

Photographing the Farams was an absolute joy! Mason was one of those dream babies that just grinned and made moony-eyes at his momma for the entire session.

And boy were those eyes big and blue! Can you even believe the peepers on this kid? Gorgeous.

But I guess you can't help but be gorgeous when your momma and Daddy look like this

I've known Lauren since college when we were both living the show business life and running around in wigs and stage make up in the Music Theatre Department. Really just babies! Since then we've both gotten married and had babies of our own. And yeah okay, maybe she was crowned Miss America somewhere in between there...  ;)

Thank you for being lovely, Faram family. It was great fun! Let's do it again soon!

xo,
Chelsea

The Marlin's Little Gentleman-Themed Baby Shower

Some of our closest friends are expecting their third baby- a BOY! They have two little girls and now it's finally time to welcome a little fella into the mix! Kayleigh wanted a "Little Gentleman" theme for the shower, so I got to work planning a shower that was tasteful and cute!

Truth: I am not a huge fan of baby showers. They tend to be overly cutesy and I just can't stomach all the baby blue diapered rubber duckies or pink pearls and bows, so I was glad that my friend chose a cute theme that could be done with a neutral color palette. I chose black and tan. Like a boss.

Again, we created a simple image and then uploaded it to a Facebook invite. It was fast and easy and worked like a charm!

 

I collaborated with my mom to come up with a unique idea for the centerpieces. I created the top hat center pieces by rolling up diapers, wrapping with felt, and setting on top of a circle of black poster board. I rolled the edges of the "brim" to make it look more like a hat, and then stuck in a shishkabob skewer with a cut-out of a bow tie (other variations included a mustache and a baby rattle!). It was super easy, and I've never seen one like it! We gave all the diapers to our friends at the end of the shower, and other guests took home the "skewers." Win-win!

 

 

A couple of things about the centerpieces: I initially rolled four individual diapers and wrapped with felt, but soon realized that it looked much more round if I rolled the diapers all together like so:

 

 



Either way, once they were on the table, they looked very cute!

 

We didn't play any party games, but I did have a few activities for the guests to do as they arrived and mingled.

There was a "Wish Tree" in lieu of a guestbook. The guests could write out their wishes for baby boy and then sign their names. I attached them to a key ring and gave to my friend to place in her baby book at the end of the shower.

 

And there was also a "Diaper Talk" station. The guests were encouraged to write a sentiment- sweet or funny- on a diaper and place in the basket. That way when my friend is up at 2 a.m. changing ANOTHER poopy diaper, she'll have a good laugh! I think people really had a good time with this one!

 



And of course, we had the usual diaper cake- made by the momma-to-be's mother!

And as favors, we gave the traditional cigars

 

There was also an adorable bow-tie garland with baby boy's name on it, but somehow I managed to forget to photograph it!



My friend had a really great time being showered by all of her friends and family, and I've already been recruited to help design the next baby shower for another friend! Don't drink the water, folks. I'm telling you it's contagious!

Congratulations, Marlin Family! I can't wait to meet little Malachi!

xo,
Chelsea

Nacho Li-Grey's Luchador-themed First Birthday!

I can't believe it's nearly Easter! We're practically a third of the way through this year already? I've been looking so forward to so many things this March and April. We've had visits from family members, parties, birthdays, picnics, road trips, and baby showers so far!

One of the biggest events I was planning was Grey's first birthday party. I decided way back in October of last year that I wanted to do a Lucha Libre theme for his party. See, we love Nacho Libre... Okay, that's not entirely true. *I* love Nacho Libre, and I think Grey's little round tummy just reminds me of Jack Black in "stretchy pants" summoning his "eagle powers." I mean, who doesn't love a baby belly? And yes, just like Vesper's Menagerie-themed Birthday party, I made him a costume. Nevertheless, we went with a fiesta theme and threw in some luchador touches! Here are just a few snapshots of his day:

We did a simple Facebook invite. It seems to be he easiest way to do things these days, but I did make an actual image for his invitation which turned out SO cute!

 

I made the tissue paper fiesta garland and luchador mask and then added balloons in various locations. I loved how the garland turned out because it was super cheap ($2 for two packages of colored tissue paper) and it was a very substantial garland. Some garlands end up feeling kind of wispy, and I was going for bold! We wanted lots of bright colors!

 



and later in the day, we put that piñata centerpiece to good use! The kids had SO much fun trying to bust that thing open! That's our little Birdy with Daddy helping her take a couple of swings.

It was all very simple and handmade, but that's the best way to do it- especially when they're only a year old! We had so much fun celebrating with our family that came over. Thank you to everyone who helped make his day so special!

And just for good measure, here's a picture of Grey on his birthday morning in his birthday present:

 

Happy Birthday, little Bear!

xo,

Chelsea