Suzanne McGrath Photography

Photo Session Special AND 10 Tips for Great Family Pictures

Check out that headline!  If you are into family pictures - this post is definitely for you.

First, I am going to offer family sessions again this year!  I had a ton of fun last fall so I thought why not do it again?  

I am offering photo session plus at least 35 images - all individually edited - for just $200!  That's a pretty sweet offer, if I do say so myself.  I have a long list of fun locations and am willing to meet you all over the city.  I've already got the girls's soccer schedules so if you're interested, just shoot me an email or a text and I'll get you on the schedule.  

Now, for the good stuff...(all the pictures you are about to see are from last year and didn't everyone look fabulous?!)

My Ten Tips for Better Family Pictures:

1.  I am bossy.  There.  I said it.  I've been shooting pictures since 2009 so I know a few things about the process - which is why I'm bossy.  However, I definitely like to throw a lot of humor into the mix as well.  If families are having fun and laughing, I get awesome pictures!  And they walk away with a smile on their face.  Win - win.  

 

2.  Coordinate your colors - don't try to be too matchy-matchy. " You've got to coordinate.  Coordinate."  (Name that movie!)  I like to start with a plaid shirt for someone and then pull colors out of the plaid.  Also, think layers - scarves, cardigans, jackets, tights, etc.  If it's chilly enough, layers look awesome in pictures!

 

3.  Make sure your kids like their clothes.  If they don't like their outfit, they can be miserable.  (I speak from experience with my own daughters.)  Trust me on this one.

 

4.  Make sure everyone is wearing comfortable clothes.  It's kind of like #3 above.  But if someone is not comfortable, that will come across in the pictures.

 

5.  Location.  Pick a place where you will be happy and comfortable.  For some, it's an urban setting.  For others, it's a park.  Maybe it's the field behind your house?  Just make sure you feel good about the location because that will come through the pictures.

 

6.  I always say "act like you like each other."  I mean, I KNOW you like each other - but act like it!  What I mean is, smush together!  The photos that look the best have everyone touching somehow.  Trust me.

 

7.  Have a drink before you leave.  You know what I'm talking about.  A drink.  I've even had moms or dads bring a roadie.  (You remember what a roadie is, right?  That's what Solo cups are for!)  I know it sounds funny, but if a drink helps loosen you up - who am I to judge?!

 

8.  Don't worry about your kids behaving.  Really.  I've seen it all.  I have four kids, remember?  Sometimes I will leave the parents in the dust or kick them to the curb (or another street), but it's all good.  Kids are usually less stressed when their parents aren't right there - watching or hovering.  I've got it!

 

9.  Trust me.  (Or your photographer.)  I actually know what I'm doing.  If something sounds strange, just go with it.  It might end up being your favorite image!

 

10.  Have fun!  Try not to stress about what is happening.  I've got it.  I've never walked away from a session without a bunch of good shots.  Ever.  Just relax and enjoy the process.  Truly.   

 

Phew!  If you stuck with me, thank you and I hope you were able to get something out of those tips.  Let me know if you have a good tip I may have missed!

Six on Sunday

Howdy!  I'm just going to dive right in tonight...

1.  I ran the Gobbler Grind this morning with a bunch of friends.  The run itself was miserable and 17 minutes slower than my April half marathon, but brunch afterwards totally made up for that!  And it was a really special half for my friend, Carmen.  It was her 30th half marathon - and it was also her first half years ago.  How cool is that?!

Don't let that picture fool you (I'm the front right - wearing orange) - I look like I'm bending down so I don't block the back row, right?  Wrong!  I could barely stand straight I felt so crappy.  I was the least prepared for this race I've ever been (trying to ward off my hamstring/glute injury by not training) and also, I had used my inhaler twice in the past 12 hours because I'm so allergic to my sister's cat.  Neither of those issues bode well for running 13.1 miles.  Ahhh well, such is life, right?

I have to say the saving grace was the beautiful, albeit hot, weather.  It started out in the upper 30s and when we finished it was mid-50s.  I got HOT!  But the trees and the trails were gorgeous so not all was lost.

2.  Last night my family and I headed out to my sister's house.  I shot their family pictures at Lake Lenexa and we stayed for dinner and a rousing match of laser tag.  Check out our backdrop for pictures:

Not too shabby, eh?!  

And to make it even better - our cousin Vicki was in town and drove out to Aimee's house to hang with us for the evening. It was so fun to get to see her!  I stole Vicki's picture off Facebook:

The evening was capped off with a Husker win and I haven't seen the hubby that excited all season - such a great finish to a great evening!  Loved it.  (Well, I didn't love being allergic to Aimee's cat because that makes my lungs hurt and I become wheezy.  Gross.)  But still a great time!

3.  Speaking of wins - how about them Royals!?  Remember last Sunday I posted early because we were getting ready to head to our neighbor's driveway to watch the game?  Yep - this is what it looked like.  So awesome!

I am just sad I didn't wake the big girls up to watch the finish.  But, hindsight is 20/20, right?  

We celebrated with 800,000 of our closest friends on Tuesday!  (I totally stole this photo off Facebook to show my friends and family what it was really like here in KC.)

But seriously, school was cancelled, the hubby and I each took an emergency vacation day, and we headed downtown.  What should have taken us 30 minutes ended up taking an hour, but honestly, that was nothing compared to what some people went through.  (The interstate looked like a parking lot because people seriously parked their cars in the middle of the street and walked to the rally/parade.)  We ended up parking about a mile and a half away from the parade and walking down.  We met our friends and hung with them for the day - and we didn't lose each other once!  

The kids were TROOPERS!  For real - there was no whining or complaining.  Here was our view while waiting for the parade:

It was nuts but seriously awesome.  We didn't have any trouble at all and people were nice and just so excited to be there.  The big girls "got it" but I don't think the little girls really, truly understood what a big deal this was for Kansas City.  My hope is that attending the parade will take on more significance as they get older and realize how cool this was for our city.  

The players were so classy - they all wore T-shirts that said "Thank you Kansas City".  It's hard to adequately describe the feeling.  I think we were all just so darn proud of this team and our city.  It was really a special (though exhausting - not gonna lie) day.

4.  We were able to celebrate another winning team again on Friday night!  #2's soccer team won their division for soccer this past fall and were recognized at the Comets game.  

Obviously not all the girls were able to make it but we still had fun.  It's fun to see the girls interact with each other outside of just playing soccer.  Plus, I love all the parents on the team - everyone is no-drama, down-to-earth and just plain nice.  That is priceless.

5.  I almost forgot to show you my goods from my day thrift shopping with my friend, Christi.  We headed down to the West Bottoms early (arrived at 9:15am) and did some damage.  But mostly - we just had a blast!  Here are my treasures:

The vintage sled is for Christmas/winter decor on my front porch.  The stool is going to be a plant stand in my bathroom (needs to be cleaned up) and the watering can will be put to good use next summer.

Here's a close-up of the smaller stuff:

• Fluted milk glass pedestal (for my nightstand)
• Fluted milk glass candy dish (it was just too cute and cheap to pass up)
• Glass jar with a lid (for my bathroom china cabinet)
• Set of 3 brass candlesticks (I already have a set of 6 of these but you can never have too many)
• 2 Readers Digest books (Christmas-y covers will be great for staging the house this season)
• Milk glass Goblet (I'm going to use it as a planter)
• Brass owl (just so darn cute!)

Luckily, the weather Friday was almost perfect and we were able to eat outside.  We both love the Crave food truck and totally indulged.  So good!

6.  I took pictures of my girls yesterday - in 25 minutes.  Seriously, so fast!  But I think we got a good one for a Christmas card so it was worth it.  Here's an outtake:

Aren't they so cute?  Man, I love those girls!

And there you have it.  I'm headed to bed.  Have a great week!

Six on Sunday

So it's only 6:40pm and yet it feels like midnight.  This time change thing blows.

1.  We had a fabulous Halloween!  The girls all trick-or-treated with various friends.  The weather was do-able.  Certainly not warm, but everyone lasted and no one came home crying.  I enjoyed an hour or so to myself, drinking red wine.  Ahhhh...so nice.

Going left to right:  The Incredibles, Robin, a peacock, and a goth witch.  (#4's favorite color is black and she didn't want the cute witch costume.  Oh no.  She wanted the all black witch costume.)

We carved pumpkins over three nights - Wed, Thurs, and Fri.  I think they all turned out pretty great.

After trick-or-treating we had a few neighbors over and had a great time.  I love our neighborhood!

2.  I think I am done (for now) with hanging frames for my gallery wall.  They aren't all filled with artwork yet, but it's a good start.  I wanted to do something to try to take away attention from the TV.

3.  On the shower front, we didn't make as much headway as we hoped.  Therefore, we're going to have to do some work this week.  The hubby managed to frame in the large niche and put down the curb, but that was it.  This week we're going to do the pre-slope.  Once that's dry we can lay down the liner and put in the mortar bed which is what we'll tile over.  Such a process.  Sheesh!

4.  It was a fairly busy weekend.  #1 had a swim meet both days (which really halted work on the shower), Halloween was thrown in for good measure including a 5-girl sleepover, and I had 3 photoshoots!  We're lucky #2 didn't have any soccer games.

Speaking of photoshoots, here's a few sneak peeks.  

That sassy pose just kills me!  And yes, I also got one with her foot down.

 

And how cute is this next one - with the dog?  Totally the all-American family.

 

Next up...

This little red-head made me work for it!  I've forgotten all my one-year-old tricks now that my baby is 5.  And a half.  No matter - we got some good ones!

 

If you've been reading awhile, you might remember I photographed a wedding a few years ago.  Well, Darcy and Chris were the happy couple and as you can see above they expanded their family and they're going to add another one in Feb.  Isn't that cool?!  And don't you love his red hair?!  So cute.  

 

And these guys we've been friends with since we moved to KC some 18 years ago!  In fact, we had a photoshoot together a few years ago.  You can check them out here.  (That link just took me a good while to find because I thought I took their pics back in 2012.  Nope.  It was clear back in 2010!)

 

(I swear Christi's eyes are open.  When I open it in Bridge they're fine so I think the pixels are getting compressed a bit on my screen.)

I adored Sydney's animal print pants and have to hold myself back from getting them for my littles!

 

After my sessions were done I shot a few with my girls:

So sweet!

5.  Remember last Sunday how I was so excited not to cook this past week?  Well, it was nice but not as nice as I thought it would be.  Turns out the sides (veggies and fruits) take some time to prepare.  I'd like to try it again when I have time on a Sunday to prepare everything else.  I think that will make a big difference.

Speaking of preparing the veggies - I did that today.  The little girls helped which was actually really great!  We cut up green beans, broccoli, butternut squash, zucchini, green onions, and Romaine lettuce. It will really help my evenings.

So what are we eating?  We're trying some new recipes!  

• Tonight:  potato soup in the crockpot + apples + roasted zucchini + French bread for dipping

• Monday:  Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Bacon and Smoky Roasted Chicpeas + Green Beans + Fruit  (I'm sure I'll make homemade mac-n-cheese for the littles)

• Tuesday: Crock pot Balsamic Beef Sandwiches with Blue Cheese and Crispy Shallot and Au Jus + Asparagis + Fruit 

• Wednesday:  Crunchy Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Breasts with Ranch Roasted Potatoes + Broccoli + Fruit

• Thursday:  Spaghetti and Meatball Soup + Caesar Salad + Fruit  (Last time I made this I think I shorted the meatballs - bad idea.  Also, this time I'm going to use smaller pasta like medium shells.  But the flavor was great and I really loved the chopped up veggies hidden in there.)

• Friday:  Pizza at my mom's house

6.  I'm thinking about updating my blog - both design and function.  I've started checking into it but sheesh - it's not cheap!  I'm going to have to mull it over.  But I've got years of archives and projects and no great way to search.  I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet.

Alrighty then!  That's all I've got for tonight.  Have a fantastic week!

 

 


 

 

More Family Pictures at Iron Woods Park

The hubby has been gone this week and I am beat!  Therefore this post will be short on words...

I have a few more sesisons to highlight and thought I should show my sister and her two kids tonight!

I have to say, they were AWESOME this year.  Man, what a difference a couple years makes:)  Last time I photographed these guys it was a lot of work and this time time it was just a lot of fun!  I got a ton of great images all in less than 45 minutes.  For real.  I am fast!

Here goes...enjoy!

My nephew is a ham.  He would look every which way but AT the camera.  But when I got him it was good.

Those brown eyes...so gorgeous.

My niece has grown into quite the mature, young lady recently.  

Grant and Sydney together...

I think my nephew looks like he's got something up his sleeve - rather mischeveous, huh?

 

And the family...I love the backlight in these two images.

And there you have it!  One more session knocked at Iron Woods Park.

 

Family Pictures at Ermine Case Jr. Park, KCMO

OK.  So I actually had a few photo sessions last year and I failed to show any of them.  I thought it would be fun to post them in January since it's too cold to actually shoot outside now!  This family was tons of fun.  Lori and I run together but this was the first time I had met the rest of her fam.  They were great.  And her kids?  How cute are they?!  Take a peek for yourself...

 

 

And these last four.  I die.  If Ava were my daughter I'd totally do a series of these on canvas.  I'm thinking big, like 16x24.  Don't you think that would be awesome?!  

Seriously, I could have easily posted another 10 shots.  These guys were so fun to shoot!  It's hard to believe this was less than two months ago and tomorrow it's going to feel like -10*.  Crazy!

 

 

Sneak Peak...Three Months Later!

A thought dawned on me today...I haven't blogged all my sessions from last fall.  I started out on a roll and then BANG!  I hit a wall.  I was struggling just to keep up with editing and designing cards that blogging took a back seat.  I think I'll rectify that situation over the next few weeks.

First up - the McDowell Family.  These guys are repeat customers and Carmen is my great friend and running partner.  Although I have to admit I did a double take the day of the pictures.  I'm so used to seeing Carmen dark and early in the morning with no make-up and pony tail that I hardly recognized her!  She cleans up GOOD:)

I could go on and on about how adorable these boys are and how much fun I had with them but I'll let the pictures do the talking...

 

 

The Anderson Family...{Kansas City Family Photographer}

These guys were great.  No, really.  They were.  I could gloss over my mistake and you'd never know I messed up.  But that wouldn't feel right.  It would feel like I was lying.  So here goes...

I had to shoot this wonderful family TWICE!  The first time we shot down at Loose Park and I used a rented lense.  Well, the lense did not behave as I expected.  In hindsight, I should have shot everything with my trusty 50mm 1.4 lense, too.  However, when I checked the back of my camera, everything looked awesome so I just continued on with the session.  The girls were great and we were getting some fun shots.  

But when I got home and downloaded the photos, I thought something looked off.  But I just scanned through them really, really fast and picked one to blog that night.  Yet when I sat down to officially edit them, I realized I was sunk.  There was MAJOR sun flare in about 90% of the images.  Unfortunately, the rented lense did not behave like my 50mm.  So, I had to fall on my sword and confess my mistake.  I felt AWFUL.  

But this family was so great about it.  We decided to shoot the second session much closer to home at Iron Woods Park and they rocked it out!  The second session was fabulous.  I am so thankful they gave me a second shot because I think it was totally worth it!  See for yourself...

Love this one!  The girls were having so much fun.

 

The youngest is full of spunk and sass.  Loved it!

 

The middle daughter was fun and a great model, too.

 

I adore this shot of all three girls.  They clearly love each other and get along really well!

 

And their oldest?  Your typical 5th grader who wants to model but is slightly shy.

 

I think this family shot is so fun - all bunched up together.

 

Lastly, this is a typical shot with kids.  They love to make silly faces!

 

 

Six on Sunday...Veteran's Day and a Birthday Weekend

Phew! I'm here but I'll admit I'd rather be in bed.  It was a crazy-busy weekend.

1.  Our weekend started off early with a Veteran's Day celebration at #1 and #2's school.  (I wrote about it here last year.)  This year we were super lucky - both grandpas made the trek down here.  The girls were so excited to be able to walk into the assembly with their grandpas.  The hot breakfast was great, the assembly was nice, and the small group discussions were informative and fun to watch.  Most of all, it was such an honor for us that both grandpas so willingly drove down here from Omaha, NE and Sioux Falls, SD.  Thanks Jerry and dad!

My father-in-law, Jerry, is on the left and my dad, Gary, is on the right.  #1 isn't in the picture because she was busy doing her Girl Scout duties.

2.  Guess who is turning FIVE on Tuesday?  Yep, #3.  We had her party Saturday afternoon.  When I asked her what kind of party she wanted this year, she insisted on a party at her house.  I was totally willing to oblige, but I knew I needed to call in reinforcements.  Therefore, I hired a balloon artist from Up, Up, and Away Balloons.  John was AWESOME!!!

The kids ran around like maniacs on a major sugar high.  Seriously.  It was a mad house!  But once John showed up and started making balloon hats and animals, the kids were pretty much mesmerized.  And I was mesmerized.  The things he could do with balloons - purely amazing.  Of course I didn't get a good shot of the birthday girl with her mermaid, but I did get a couple others I can post on here.  (I don't post the kid's friends without permission.)

Here is #2 with her octopus:

Here is my niece with Rapunzel:

Lastly, my nephew with his alien (this was by far the most popular selection):

After the balloons were done, we turned towards an ice cream cake.  It was delicious and the kids seemed to enjoy it.  Here is #3 blowing out her candles.  

Party favors were super easy because we really didn't have a theme.  I just picked up random bits here and there.  But I figured kids love balloons - so we just tied a balloon right to the container.

All in all, the kids seemed to have a blast and I know #3 was mad at me when everyone left.  She wanted them all to stay a lot longer!  But I'm glad we ended on a note of wanting more.  That is better than meltdown city. 

3.  While my parents were here this weekend my mom kept remarking about how much #4 is talking now.  As in, she doesn't STOP talking.  It's so funny to hear that because just a few short months ago we were having her tested because of her lack of talking.  She has a couple little quirks that crack me up.

When we ask her a question and the answer is affirmative, she stresses it.  Like, if we say, "Is that your purse over there?"  She'll say, "It IS."   It's just so cute because she's so expressive.

And I've said it before, but she says "otay" instead of "okay" and I can't get enough of it.  Just adorable.

4.  Today we went to our first ever indoor soccer game.  And we all loved it!  I swear, I wanted to get out there and play.  #1 decided to play it this year and therefore we asked #2 if she wanted to try it out, too.  And sure enough, she did.  Since we couldn't find a team for #2 to join, #1's coach is letting her play with his team for the first session.  (Second session is full.)  She did great.  She was a little timid during her first rotation out on the field, but that didn't last long.  She got right in on the action.

And #1 got a lot of touches, too.  That's nice because she prefers to play defense so she doesn't always get a lot of touches.  And not only that, it was really fun to watch them play together.  I saw #1 give #2 a pat on the back while they were rotating out.  It was really sweet.

5.  The new fad in third grade seems to be animal hats.  The first I heard about it was Friday morning.  It only took two days of pleading for #2 to talk me into taking her to JC Penney to buy a hat.  I have to admit, they are adorable.  She chose a monkey with a flower in the monkey's hair.  It looks so cute on her!  When she went over to her friend's house to play later today they both wore their hats all afternoon - in the 70 degree weather!

6.  I made it to #6.  WooHoo!  I figure I should provide a photo update.

I have two galleries to post and one to finalize which will happen tomorrow night.  It's been a really busy fall!

Once the galleries are all finished, I need to start on Christmas cards.  I have finalized one family's card and have a few others to create.  They're so fun to make that I can't wait to get started!

I had my last session of the season this afternoon.  It was such beautiful weather and they were really great!  I run with Carmen so it was fun to see her all made up.  Carmen - you clean up nicely!!  And I loved how they coordinated together.  Since I have all girls it's really fun to see how boys dress and act.  (They climb on EVERYTHING!)  Here is just one sneak peek:

That's all folks.  Time for me to hit the hay.  Have a great week!

The Lancaster Family...{Kansas City Family Photographer}

I have actually had these images ready for a little awhile but just didn't have a chance to blog them.  I've been busy 'round these parts!  I introduced Kristen and her family a couple weeks ago during Six on Sunday.  So it was really fun to get to shoot them!  I had a hard time narrowing it down, so there's quite a few images on here.  Enjoy!

I present to you - the Lancaster Family - as shot at Lenexa Lake:

I absolutely loved how Kristen styled the whole family for this shoot!  I wish I was that good.

 

This is their #1.  He is either 364 or 366 days younger than my #1.  Crazy, huh?

Here is their #2...

And lastly, their #3.  She is very close in age to our #3.  It's really fun to watch all their kids + our kids play together.

Don't you love the hat?

 

 

 

Six on Sunday

Howdy!  I'm here tonight but I'm not sure I'll be here next Sunday.  We're headed to Lincoln for the game next weekend and I'm not sure I'll be able to stay awake past 8:30pm next Sunday.  

1.  We have a major problem here in our household.  #2 pierced her ears back when she was 5 years old.  Once she started rotating earrings, her ears got infected and she let them grow shut.  This past summer she got them re-pierced.  I had vowed not to take her again, but I did it.  Fast forward to now...

Her ears keep getting infected.  Ugh.  At first we thought she just couldn't wear those cheap earrings from Claire's.  So we only bought her sterling silver earrings.  However, that didn't help at all.  They are still getting infected and we are cleaning them religiously.  I did a little internet research and now I'm wondering if she can only wear gold earrings?  I went out yesterday and bought her 14k gold earrings.  Do you think it'll help?  Does anyone have any experience with this?  We're dying here...she is my DRAMATIC daughter and I get mad at her when she flinches before I even tough her ears.  It's not good.  Not good at all.  If you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them!!

2.  #1 and I made Apple Pie Cookies last weekend.  They were delectable.  Seriously.  If you have two hours to spare (not really much of an exaggeration), you should make them.  With Honeycrisp apples.  Only double the recipe.  Here is our finished product.  They do not look nearly as good as they tasted!

3.  I went for a long run today - 8 miles.  I haven't done an official long run (past 6 miles) in awhile.  It was hard.  And I am sore!  Thankfully I went with my friend, Carmen.  She ran the Chicago marathon three weeks ago and has taken time off since then.  So she was slow and I was slow - a happy occurrence.  And there is no way I would have gotten my bum out of bed if she hadn't been waiting for me at 7am!  But all in all, it was a beautiful morning and a GREAT way to start my day.  Loved it!

4.  #1 had a going-away sleepover party for one of her really good friends.  Her friend, Ashley, is moving across the country.  Ashley's a doll and her family is awesome so it's quite sad.  However, I was able to do a mini-shoot with the five party girls for a few minutes last week.  This is what I was able to capture.  (Getting five 10 year olds to listen is HARD.  They giggle.  A lot!)

5.  Last night our family headed over to my sister's house to carve pumpkins.  My parents were in town, too.  It was great!  My mom cooked dinner and we messed up my sister's house with pumpkin guts.  The girls had a blast carving pumpkins.  Except that by the time #2 got the pattern marked on her pumpkin, she was done.  Enter my dad.  He finished it up in no time.  I'll have to get a picture of them tomorrow night.  They're great!  Here are the in-progress scenes:

Since #4 is a little too young to do much, she made her own fun.

6.  It was a busy weekend for me.  I had three photoshoots.  Here's a sneak peek from each one!

That's it.  That's all I've got tonight.  Have a great week!