I know what you’re thinking.

You’re thinking, “Wait, I thought Emily and Bobby only shot weddings and engagements? I thought they turned away all baby/kid portrait shoots?”

We have actually been flirting with the idea of accepting limited kid sessions this year. We like them because they’re usually a low-stress, fun way to document an afternoon in the life of a family. As with our wedding coverage, we tend to focus primarily on capturing real moments and interactions in a creative way with these portrait sessions, and the “okay, everyone look here and smile at the camera!” shots are kept at a minimum.

Anyway, Kara has been a close friend of mine since we were in junior high. I’ve loved the few times I’ve been able to snap some photos of the Moore family, and I think Bobby really had a great time for this one too. We took these in November, just in time for Christmas card season (aka one of the most rewarding times of year to be a photographer… it fills me with so much joy to see photos I took on people’s holiday cards!!).

Anyway, here’s Kara, TW, and Lydia. And Gulliver the cat. (There’s more details about shoots like this at the end of the post.)

If these are the kinds of portraits you’d be interested in with your own family, let us know (emily@emilyporterphoto.com). The standard rate is $350 for 1-2 hours of shooting (Mondays through Thursdays only). Prints, albums, and high res files are purchased a la carte from the online proofing & ordering gallery.

I know I just posted a slideshow the other day, but we still had a wedding to shoot and I had a few more folders of photos to comb through. Also, I myself am typically not a slideshow person. So I wanted to present a set of photos in the good ol’ fashioned way here on the blog.

I am so proud of the relationships we built with our couples this year and the photos we took of them. I am so proud to know them. We get to spend our weekends documenting the best days of people’s lives. Sharing that with Bobby has been an incredible experience this year. Bobby was my 2nd shooter for almost every wedding in 2010, but in 2011 he really stepped it up and cranked out some remarkable photos. And he has alleviated so much of the stress I used to experience when I was running this business all by myself.

In previous years I split up my Year in Review posts into engagement photos and portraits… but this year, I decided to put all of our favorite images into one jammin’ post. These aren’t in chronological order, they’re just our favorite photos, and only a fraction of them.

2011 was such a great year.

Black Eagle Child – She Has Funny Hats by blackeaglechild

 

I have to say, though.. that probably my very favorite photo of the entire year….. was this one. Of me on my wedding day, about to marry Bobby. Taken by Ken Kienow. I look at my wedding album all the time, and I love the photos we’ve displayed in our home. There are no words for how much his photos mean to us. To have my own set of photos from the happiest day of my life…. it’s the most wonderful thing. (You can see more photos from our wedding on Ken’s blog and on Wedding Chicks.)