Operation: Love Reunited Portraits at Liberty Memorial, Downtown Kansas City May 12, 2009

I recently met up with this family, really soon after their soldier returned home from his deployment for a reunion shoot! I was so excited to do an Operation: Love Reunited session for this family — all of them together and happy on a beautiful spring day in Kansas City.

Having a little fun:

What a beautiful family!

Love from their dad… these are just so cute:

I had to use a few tricks to get these little guys to look into the camera… :) Sometimes I have to be a little bit sneaky! :) It worked, though! 

Thanks so much for scheduling your session with me! It was so nice to meet you… I’m glad I got to meet the WHOLE family! :) Enjoy your time together, and welcome home!

The photos and other content of this publication do not imply any endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Defense.

One more — super cute — Operation Love Reunited Session! April 22, 2009

After our full day of OpLove sessions (by the way, a huge thank you goes out to Ryan Edick for driving all the way from Manhattan to help out!!), I headed over to visit one last family while I was in Leavenworth. And I love how these turned out.

These photos are all taken in their living room, backyard or front porch area. I absolutely love capturing kids being kids… and it helps when they’re in a place that’s familiar to them. Add in two beautiful blue-eyed kiddos and we have the makings of an awesome photo shoot. :)

Their dad is coming home soon, and I can’t imagine how excited he must be to get back to his beautiful wife and kids.

Look at this face! I couldn’t help but say “awwww!” out loud at every photo. I couldn’t decide which expression is cutest (seriously, a baby boy who smiles right into the camera?!), so I’m giving you three to view. :)

And big sister with her super cute ponytails was just as adorable:

Making handprints:

And the whole family, ready for a certain soldier’s arrival home… :)

Sally, thank you so much for letting me meet your family and capture some images for your soldier. I’m so excited for you to be reunited soon. :)

 

Blog readers, stay tuned. I have an awesome senior portrait session, a newborn, several engagements, some more great seniors and a wedding (yes — it’s officially wedding season!) coming your way in the next few weeks. :) Get excited!

 

The photos and other content of this publication do not imply any endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Defense.

Operation Love Reunited Day at Fort Leavenworth: Part III

A big thank-you to the families who have been waiting to see their sneak peek from the afternoon sessions! Here’s my final post about the Operation: Love Reunited day at Fort Leavenworth. We fit in as many families as we could in one day, offering free portrait sessions to the families of deployed soldiers. The soldiers will all get an album of photos in the mail while they’re away — something to cheer them up and remind them of the people back home who love them!

This was such a fun day. I love doing OpLove sessions, and it gets harder to fit them into my schedule during the busy summer season, so I’m very glad we were able to work in a day FILLED with them!

Here are the photos:

For all of the families who participated, your online galleries should be available soon! Watch for an e-mail from Pictage. If you missed the first two posts, click here and here.

Other families of deployed military personnel: since the busiest time of year is starting up, I can only accept a limited number of OpLove sessions each month. If you’d like to schedule a session, don’t wait! :)

 

The photos and other content of this publication do not imply any endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Defense.

Operation Love Reunited Day at Fort Leavenworth: Part II April 20, 2009

Here are more photos from our Operation Love Reunited day at Fort Leavenworth, where we did as many family sessions as possible in one day for the families of deployed soldiers. If you missed the first post, scroll down — it’s right underneath this one! :) I’m just posting a few shots from each session so everyone’s images are on the blog quickly! One more group still to come… stay tuned!

I got to meet some beautiful families this weekend… it was so much fun!

We made good use of the big wrap-around porch and salvaged an otherwise dreary day! :) I am so excited to send each of these families’ soldiers an album of images. Most of them don’t know it’s coming, so it will be a very fun surprise!

 

The photos and other content of this publication do not imply any endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Defense.

Operation Love Reunited Day at Fort Leavenworth: Part I

This past weekend, I traveled to Fort Leavenworth for a full day of Operation: Love Reunited sessions with the families of deployed soldiers. The Army Community Service office at Fort Leavenworth did an awesome job spreading the word and signing up families to come all day long for their sessions. It was such a fun way to connect with families and give back something to them, since they are all sacrificing so much for our freedoms.

The morning was cold and the rain was coming steadily… not quite the ideal weather conditions for a day of portrait sessions. Thankfully, Fort Leavenworth is a beautiful place and the building we were all meeting at had this wonderful, huge wrap-around porch. So we did all of our sessions there and captured some great shots of families. Then, I’ll be sending an album directly to the deployed soldier, filled with photos of their family.

I’m going to share these images with you in phases, with a few families in each post. We’ll start off now with some of the morning sessions!

A big thank you to all of the families who came to participate and to the wonderful people who coordinated all of the sessions. I’ll post more photos of the other sessions very soon! :)

 

The photos and other content of this publication do not imply any endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Defense.

Operation: Love Reunited Session in Leavenworth February 22, 2009

Last week, my brother went back to Iraq to finish his tour. It was so nice to spend time with him while he was home on leave, and I feel like through his deployment, I can understand a little bit better what the families who are experiencing military deployment go through during that time. I am even more excited about my participation in the Operation: Love Reunited program, where photographers offer free sessions to families during a deployment. 

This weekend, I got to meet another wonderful military family through the program. Both parents are active duty Army, stationed in Ft. Leavenworth. When Jen e-mailed me to do a portrait session of them to send to her husband, who is currently deployed in Baghdad, I was excited. I love these surprise portrait sessions — I send an album directly to the deployed soldier, who usually doesn’t know that it’s coming! It’s such an awesome way for me to give back to the men and women who sacrifice so much — including precious time with their families — for our freedoms.

I met the family in their Leavenworth home, since it was too cold outside for an outdoor location. With sessions in the home, I like to capture families doing what they do best — spending time together! So we started off with Mom reading a book to the kids (their dad’s favorite one!).

And we even got a few close-ups of the kids by themselves to send to Dad! I love these, and I’m so excited to send him portraits of his beautiful children!

I can’t decide which of the next two photos I love more. She is just the most precious girl! These are definitely some of my favorite kids’ portraits.

And some sister-brother bonding!

I love this classic headshot of Mom! I’m sure her husband will, too. :) It’s no wonder the kids have beautiful smiles — look where they got it from!

Mother-daughter photos just never get old, especially not with two lovely ladies. :)

Such great smiles! I love everything about this — from the joyful smiles, to the American flag print in the background…

The bear in the photo below is “Daddy Bear” and it plays a recorded message from Dad to daughter!

Jen, thank you for scheduling a session with me. It was a joy to meet your family, and I can’t wait to send the surprise package to your husband!

If you know a military family who is going through a deployment, send them my way for more information about an Operation: Love Reunited photography session!

This also helps me meet my goal for #81 on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days (don’t worry, even though I’m crossing that item off, I’ll still be doing may more OpLove sessions!).

Christmas Capture Contest Winning Family December 23, 2008

Several weeks ago, we finished up the ericamay photography 2008 Christmas Capture Contest. Out of the several finalists, a big group of blog readers, wedding clients and friends read and voted for the winning family. And just in time for Christmas, we were able to meet up to take photos of Dean and his family.

If you missed the results post, here’s the nomination for their family:

I would like to nominate Dean Purkeypile’s family for the Christmas Contest.  Dean is fighting for his life with Leukemia.  As Christmas approaches, memories surface of past Christmases and family.  I remember the profound joy of spending time with family that included Dean. As my cousin, Dean made up the Purkeypile family which enveloped all with a kind word and laughter.  As a Christian man, Dean lives his life in faith. In life, loving is a gift we can give to each other. During this Christmas time, I believe a gift I can give back to my cousin is the gift of love…a portrait of his wife and family, especially his little grandson, Max.

Because the precautions given to patients undergoing cancer treatments and the freezing cold weather in Kansas City right now, we searched for an indoor location that would give us enough space and freedom for photos, but wouldn’t be overcrowded. They suggested the KU Medical Center, and we were able to capture some really great images with the whole family.

A few of the group shots:

I love these photos of Dean and his wife Bonnie. I wish all parents took more photos together.

Dean’s youngest son and his new wife as of Thanksgiving weekend — the newlyweds!

I’m also a big fan of mother-daughter photos… aren’t these ladies just beautiful? 

And one of all “the guys” — Dad, sons, and grandson!

Okay, now prepare yourself for a cuteness overload. I’d love to have a full photography session of just this little guy, grandson Max… if you have time for a session before you move to New York, call me! :)

I love this photo of Mom and baby… doesn’t look like it was taken in a lobby, does it? :)

There is a whole series of photos with Max’s hair all crazy like this. Dads are so fun, aren’t they? :)

And how precious is this? This is why I love relaxed portrait sessions… natural, real moments are preserved.

Thanks so much for allowing me to capture images of your family during this Christmas season! May 2009 be filled with blessings and joy for you all!

Family and friends, click here to sign the guest book for the online album and receive notification when all of the images are available!

Family Portraits: The Hathaways December 13, 2008

The Hathaways were one of the families who were nominated for our Christmas Capture Contest. In the nomination submitted by Carolyn, she explained that they deserved a free family portrait session because of all the changes that have happened recently in their family: they just moved to Ft. Leavenworth from California back in 2006, shortly after Eric was deployed with the Army, returning just a few weeks ago. Now, in a few months, they’ll be stationed again somewhere else. Whew! I was so excited to read their story and to see that they were voted as one of our winning families! Hathaways, you were even better in person! :)

The whole family was so easy to photograph, so fun and really willing to take great photos together! These are some of the most well-behaved (yet entertaining!) kids I’ve met. And they’re also so, so adorable.

And their equally awesome parents, who are doing an awesome job raising polite and fun-loving kids:

It was incredibly windy and pretty chilly, but they did a great job looking warm and not too windblown!

My favorite group shot of the session:

I think these next three would look awesome in a series on a wall in their home. It’s not often that a 13, 10, and 7 (or 8?)-year-old are all this photogenic. :)

I love when family sessions capture unscripted moments — when I meet your family for a session, I try to keep it as relaxed as possible so kids can be kids and parents can interact in a natural way. I just love capturing images that really portray your family how you are on a daily basis. Some of my favorite unscripted moments from the Hathaway’s session:

(Right after this sweet shot, Katie had the best shocked face a 13-year-old can make! Ha ha.)

I love this image — everyone laughing and looking at Dad! :)

Moms and Dads just don’t get enough photos taken together. It’s so important to keep taking photos together to really capture the love that grows over the years — and to provide your kids with some awesome images of that love! Hathaways, you are such a great example to your kids (and so cute together!).

Another one of my favorites (seriously, you guys are all model-worthy!):

And, of course, a shot of mom/daughter and dad/sons:

Loose Park is such a cool place for photos, even in the middle of December. I love the bridge, the vines and the bare trees in this photo!

A few more favorite unplanned moments (I think we’re setting a record here for the longest family portrait post ever!):

Hathaways, thanks so much for taking time to meet me and capture some fun images of your family this holiday season. Carolyn, thank YOU so much for nominating them. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful start to 2009!

Also, Sunday is your last chance to participate in the Cans for Comments drive. Just leave me a comment (click on the link below) and for each and every comment left anywhere on my blog, I’ll donate a canned good to the local food bank!

Family Portraits at Loose Park December 8, 2008

Ericka contacted me about doing a family portrait shoot a few weeks ago — while she was still deployed in Kosovo with the Army National Guard. She knew she’d be coming home for a few weeks for leave in December, and wanted to make sure we could fit in a session! Of course, I said yes! :)

So, after a day of painting and preparing our new house for the big move-in, I rushed over to Loose Park to meet up with Ericka and her mom, brother and two adorable nieces! I’m so glad I got to meet all of them and capture some fun photos of the family!

Check out Ericka’s super cute nieces!

I love this one of Ericka and her youngest niece, whose nickname is Ziggy:

The whole group — I love how all of the girls are wearing purple! So pretty!

We also took the time to do some portraits of Ericka by herself. How great does she look?!

Ericka, thanks for getting in touch with me — I’m so glad we were able to fit in a session! Enjoy your time at home, and we’ll be praying for a safe return from your deployment! I’m excited for you to see all of the images from the session (including more adorable ones of the girls and some beautiful ones of you!!). Click here to pre-register your family and friends for the online gallery.

Family session: The Sumpters September 18, 2008

Reunited.

You might remember part of this family from an OpLove session a few months back — now, meet the husband and dad of these beautiful ladies. Jason returned home for a short leave during his deployment to Kuwait. He just arrived back in Kansas just last night, but they knew they wanted to squeeze in a family session right away. It was such a joy to see this family all together, reunited, and loving each other in a way that proves that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I can’t believe how adorably cute these little girls are. They have such awesome facial expressions and the cutest little personalities. I hope I get to see them grow up! Seriously, see what I mean? :)

I just love this photo. Too precious — the big sister-little sister relationship at its finest:

More cute family bonding, on the canoe docks at Shawnee Mission Park. This was a great location for family photos, because the girls were really captivated by people fishing, boats, the water, geese and deer! It’s also incredibly picturesque.

The lighting was absolutely gorgeous this evening for their shoot. I couldn’t get over how awesome the sky looked. I love this silhouette, of Dad reaching for his daughter’s hand. So great.

Kristy and Jason, thanks so much for asking me to capture your family’s memories. I am so excited that I have the chance to get to know you, watch your girls grow up and preserve your legacy for years to come.

Jason, have a wonderful time at home over these next few weeks — and thank you, again, for your incredible service to our country.

Friends and family, the entire album will be available soon. Click here to sign in and get an e-mail when the photos are ready!