Cousins Session

Love these kids! Such a fun shoot!

What to Wear

When planning your family portraits it is good to choose your attire carefully. You want to show each individual personality, but you also want the photos to look cohesive.

Here is how I chose our clothes for our family session. I made a dress for my baby girl that I wanted to show off. ;-) So we kind of worked everyone else's outfits to coordinate with her.
I laid out different combinations on the floor until I found a balance of color and pattern that I liked. Below is the result of my fashion work. ;-) Our cute little family...
and then my whole family! We're a good looking group if I do say so myself!
Photos by JessLeighPhotography


** Here are a few links to help you while planning your family photo session.

Taryn has a great post on What to Wear?

Here is a post on How to Prepare for Your Family Photo Session

Simply {L} Photography has "fashion Friday" on her blog with lots of ideas for dressing your family for photos

"C" family

I enjoyed a session with a lovely family a few weeks ago. They have the cutest girls ever!

"P" Family

I love taking pictures of my friends' kids! They're such cuties!

Evolution of a photo...

Some photos come out great and others need a little TLC. During a recent photoshoot with my brother and sister-in-law and their boys we had a couple of photos that required some Photoshop lovin'.
These first two pictures are straight out of the camera. I think its clear why help was needed.
It is often hard to get pictures of families where everyone is looking, happy, no eyes are closed, etc.

I did a little cut and paste to get the best expressions from both photos. What you see below is the cut and paste version.
Here it is after cropping and using the Boost action I downloaded from Pioneer Woman's website.And finally after the final action Heartland, also from Pioneer Woman.

I love this last version best. Definitely an improvement over the originals! ;-)

Christmas Card Samples

Here are a few Christmas Card samples.

"R" Family Photos

Just last week I had the pleasure of taking family pictures for our long time First Steps Physical Therapist. She was first Joe's PT and now she is Christine's. We have grown to love her like family (heck, I see her more often than I see most of my friends and family). Every Christmas that we've known her I offer to take their family pictures and she always made excuses why she didn't want her picture taken (not good excuses either!)... she said they haven't had a family picture taken since her kids were in preschool! Now they're hardly kids at all. But she finally took me up on my offer! What a beautiful fall day it was and her family is just delightful!




Been a long time coming!

Gorgeous Outdoor Wedding!

I had the pleasure of taking the photos for a lovely wedding a few weeks ago. I've recently reattained Photoshop after a long lapse. I have been having fun trying out new actions!

Adoptive/Foster Parent Special

Over the past couple of years I have been able to see more and more people in my life both adopting and fostering. I have been blessed to see parts of that process. There is so much that goes into it that I was unaware of. I am ever impressed with the amount of patience and love that these everyday people possess to go through all these channels and jump through these hoops to bring these babies and children back and welcome them into their homes and families. God is using them in a huge way!
So, to hopefully bless these families I am offering an adoption/fostering special of $25 for a 30-45min minute session and disc for up to 5 people ($10 per person after that). Please contact me to schedule your session.
Thank you for the blessing you are to these children and to those around you who see your example of how God welcomes us into His heavenly family. God bless you!

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." - Romans 8:14-16

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. - Galatians 4:4-6

You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more. - Psalms 10:14,17-18

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. - James 1:27

Fall Family Photos