Blog Archives

Vincent // First Birthday Portraits // Elgin, IL Photographer

1/10/2015

I got to meet little Vinny and his family back in December when I took their photos for Christmas, so I was really excited when his mom, Ana, wanted me to come back and take his first birthday portraits! The theme for his party is going to be Elmo, so we incorporated that into this shoot. I made a few simple red pennant banners as well as some multicolored dot garlands for a pop of color. Little did I know, Ana decorated his smash cake with M&Ms that matched my garlands PERFECTLY! His favorite part was definitely the cake smash. It was more of a cake punch for him, because he spent a lot of time just pounding on it :) Happy 1st birthday Vinny!

Boy's first birthday // Elmo theme // Red pennant banners, multicolor dot garland, balloons, chair, chalkboard, Elmo dolls // by Mandy Ringe Photography

Boy's first birthday // Sitting in a Radio Flyer wagon // Red pennant banners, multicolor dot garland, wagon // by Mandy Ringe Photography

Boy's first birthday // Sitting in a Radio Flyer wagon // Red pennant banners, multicolor dot garland, wagon, ONE letters // by Mandy Ringe Photography

Boy's first birthday photo shoot // Sitting in a basket // Red pennant banners, multicolor dot garland, basket, ONE letters // by Mandy Ringe Photography

Boy's first birthday photo shoot // Sitting in a basket // Red pennant banners, multicolor dot garland, basket, ONE letters, Elmo doll // by Mandy Ringe Photography

Boy's first birthday Elmo themed photo shoot // Smash cake session // Red pennant banners, multicolor dot garland, Elmo doll, balloons, cake with M&Ms // by Mandy Ringe Photography

Boy's first birthday photo shoot // Holding letters to spell out ONE // by Mandy Ringe Photography

Boy's first birthday photo shoot // Sitting with a happy birthday bear // by Mandy Ringe Photography

Boy's first birthday photo shoot // Laying on white background with his name on it, inspired by a photo from Young House Love // by Mandy Ringe Photography

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Winter Family Photo Shoot // Family Portraits // Batavia, IL Photographer

1/7/2015

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When Katherine booked her session a month ago, it was contingent upon one thing: snow. We've had a very snow-free winter here in northern Illinois and I was starting to wonder if we'd have to push her shoot back a week or two. By some miracle of nature, it snowed the night before and the day of the shoot! The conditions were less than ideal however. It was only 22° when I arrived at the location (9° with the windchill). And that wind! It was enough to take our breath away at times. Aside from the frigid temperature, it really was a beautiful day :) Lots of big snowflakes coming down! And I got to explore a new location. I had never been to Settler's Hill in Batavia before and I can't wait to go back on a nicer day to look around a bit more. In the end we moved as quickly as possible, took breaks to warm up as needed, and managed to get smiles out of the kids even though they were freezing. With 16 people to photograph, I was really impressed. I call that a success!