"V" Family {Glens Falls Hudson Falls, NY Children and Family Photograher}

I hope everyone had an amazing holiday... I know I did! I may even have boogied a little bit to Just Dance 3 with my girls to ward off the turkey coma... but there aren't any pictures so I cannot confirm or deny this. It was just really great to spend family time at home with children who were willing (and maybe guilted) into spending time with dear, old Mom. To me that's what Thanksgiving is all about... spending time with my children... not the guilting them into it part. LOL

Right before the holidays I had the opportunity to take picture of a really great family. They were so nice and their little girl and twins were just adorable. I wanted to share a storyboard with you from their session. I just thought these photos too precious not to show together.

Enjoy! And happy start of the holiday season!

Yesenia

Baby "N" {Hudson Falls, NY Children's Photographer}

New preview available on my facebook page of Baby "N"s First Christmas pictures.


Love that outfit!

"S" Family Preview {Glens Falls, NY Family and Children's Photography}

I often fall in love the with the children I photograph... all their giggles and smiles. Then there are those children I've photographed over and over who often come to feel like a part of the family. Today's session was so special because rather than just feeling like family... it was.

I know it's not Christmas yet but I couldn't help but share the following from my cousin's session. Isn't this the most darling set of photos... ever?!






Alright... so I might be biased but these are some gorgeous kids. It was so great that I finally got them on the other side of my camera.

Happy start of the holiday season! Can't wait to share my next few sessions.

Yesenia

Happy Halloween! {Bolton Landing, NY Children's Photographer)

I love the fall. Probably more than I love the summer... and we all know how much I love summer in the Adirondacks. So far my time in the North Country has consisted of an unusual winter, an odd spring and freak fall snow... I'm starting to think maybe I brought the bad weather with me (we did, after all, have a blizzard my last year in Maryland) LOL. Despite the weird weather, we've had lots of good days too and luckily Halloween was one of them.

Halloween has always been a favorite day in our family with elaborate costumes and Halloween parties at schools and with friends. This year, being in a new place, I was wondering how it would go and was happy when a friend invited us to go trick-or-treating in my hometown. We had a great time and this was the first year my little one really got the knack of it. And by knack, I mean we had to pull her away from the houses luring her in with their Halloween decorations and promises of sweet goodies.


Sisters. I just loved this photo. This was taken right before my little witch reached over took her mask off and gave her the best and sweetest kiss ever.


Every good witch casts a spell or two on Halloween.


The Bride of Frankenstein returns. I have to say I'm most proud of this costume as I made everything head-to-toe. She got lots of compliments on it (which is good because I had to bribe her into being this this year LOL). I always wanted to do B Movie themed Halloween... I think this is as close as I'm going to get.



Masquerade Madness. How beautiful did this whole costume turn out? Of course, my beautiful girl makes it work...


Waiting to go trick-or-treating... come on, Mommy!


This is my favorite photo of the night. I just love it and so did she!

Hope everyone had an amazing Halloween! I know we did!

Yesenia

Breast Cancer Awareness Month and LLS Fundraiser

I'm not posting any photos in this post because my photography is not what this post is about. I've asked a friend to write a guest piece since she works very hard year round to raise money for the fight against cancer.

A note before continuing... Tiffany inspires me. She puts her heart, spirit and money where her mouth is. I love women of action. While I try to be one, she personifies it.

Following is her guest blog post. I do really urge you also to go to her team fundraising page and read the story of the little boy, Cory, that she mentions at the end. It really tugged at my heart.

In the world of “cancer,” one reigns supreme; Breast Cancer. In fact, there is a whole month dedicated to breast cancer awareness and the fight against breast cancer. Thanks to early detection, funding, and research, both women and men have a higher chance of survival against breast cancer today than they did even ten years ago. This is great news, and we should applaud the efforts of foundations like Susan G. Komen for their work in the fight against this life-threatening disease. Unfortunately, cancer does not start and stop with your breasts. There are many types of cancers that do not receive the publicity that breast cancer does. Among these silent killers are blood cancers.

Leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma are the common names for cancers of the blood cell, bone marrow and lymphatic system. It is estimated that every four minutes, another person is diagnosed with a blood cancer. That means 360 people each day are told that their lives will never be the same. That is 131,400 families each year who will have their lives interrupted and live in fear they will lose a loved one. It is estimated that every ten minutes, a person dies from these cancers. 54,020 people this year will lose their life to lymphoma, leukemia, myeloma or another type of blood cancer. That is 9.5% of all deaths from cancer. *Source: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society www.lls.org

In the March 2010, my husband’s cousin Greg was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic lymphoma. For the next several months, Greg endured the harshest of treatments, designed to kill the cancer cells that riddled his body. Due to the toll these treatments took on him, Greg was put into a medically-induced coma. It was a chance for his body to devote all its energy to fighting the cancer, but we were all presented with the severe reality that Greg may not ever come out of the coma. For weeks, Greg’s family was by his side. I believe it was twice that they received calls in the early morning telling them to come to the hospital to say their good-byes to Greg; that he was not going to pull through the day. Almost daily, Greg’s mom would update an online Web page which allowed the rest of us to keep tabs on his condition. After what felt like much longer than the twenty to twenty five days that Greg was in and out of sedation, we finally got the news that he was awake. Greg was not out of the woods yet, but at least he was awake!

That was a small victory in Greg’s story. He went on to go home to continue out-patient chemotherapy treatments; spent a year fighting against a fungus that moved in as the chemotherapy destroyed his healthy cells, along with his cancerous cells (a nasty side effect of the treatment that people don’t tell you about); and is now on the maintenance phase of chemotherapy. As a cancer survivor, Greg will spend his life with the shadow of a recurrence hanging over him.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) is one organization that has taken up the fight against the malignance known as blood cancers. Greg has joined the growing group of people that can call themselves cancer survivors thanks to the efforts of LLS. Through the volunteer efforts of thousands of people, LLS is able to allocate over 76% of monies raised towards finding a cure for cancer and supporting those who have been diagnosed with the disease. I am delighted to say that I am one of those volunteers, and when the time comes that a cure for cancer has been discovered, I can proudly (and honestly) say that I played a part in it.

I cannot say that I have an altruistic motivation for raising money for cancer research. No, that is not the case with me. I have a very selfish reason for wanting to fight cancer. Though I have never experienced the disease myself, I have watched friends and family members fight to the brink of death against cancer. In too few cases, I have watched my loved one pull back from that battle, scarred and weaker, but alive; more often, I have seen them lose their battle. I do not want to continue to see the people I love – even people I do not know and may never meet – lose to this disease. That is why I want to be a part of finding a cure for cancer.

You can help me, too. On October 28, 2011, I am holding a fundraiser for LLS called “Dessert and Coffee for a Cure.” I have enlisted the help of local bakers (and friends) to bake an assortment of palette-tempting desserts. Along with these, we will have gourmet coffees, hand-crafted by another volunteer. That’s right, no machines needed to create these caffeinated concoctions. You will be able to experience the talents of our volunteers – with free childcare! – for a $15 donation per individual; $25 for couples. Tickets can be purchased at the door or you can go online to http://pages.teamintraining.org/md/balt11/tsander2ec to make your donation. It is my goal to raise $3000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. With a small contribution, you can be a part of the cure.

For more information on the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, please visit www.lls.org.

You can also visit my website to read about a special boy named Corey.

Please consider making a small donation. And for those of you in MD, please take the time to support this event. It will mean more than you can imagine.

Although I am no longer offering free sessions to build my portfolio, I will make an exception for anyone in the local area making a $100 or more donation to Tiffany's team. Those that do can book a free family session with me between 17 October -17 November. I'll include 15 custom Christmas cards and a CD of your session (A $225 value).

Yesenia

Alice in Wonderland (Glens Falls Children's Photography)

It's been way too long since I've last blogged! I'm really not sure where the time went except that it was well spent. I can say we enjoyed our time away with days at the lake, visits from friends and family time together. This, for me at least, has been one of the best summers I've had in a very long time... even with a broken foot and allergies! LOL

I'll have to do a post with my favorite photos of the summer but for now I wanted to share an Alice in Wonderland -inspired photo session I did today. I wish I had more photos but the little miss was just not having photos today... you know, it's a woman's prerogative as to whether or not photos are in the cards! I felt so bad for mom who wanted pictures so much but this is a hazard with children photography... some days they are all for it and other days they aren't... Besides... who wants some strange lady with a camera poking around when they are having fun?!

We've rescheduled to do another session at a later date. Which, in my opinion is something everyone should look for in a photographer... especially, children's photography. Flexibility. Will they be willing to work with you (at NO extra charge) if the environment or timing isn't the best. If the answer is yes... that's the photographer for you. I'd say the only exception to this is newborn photography... you just don't get the sweet sleepiness after the first week... which is why the sessions are scheduled for longer and cost more... Plenty of time for changes, feeding and quick snuggles with mom or dad.

Now on to Alice...




Isn't she the sweetest little thing?!

I'll be doing another Alice session soon as I have been pondering this session for a while and there are so many photos I still have rattling around in my brain... so stay tuned for The Alice Session II.

Yesenia

Tea Party Preview {Hudson Falls NY Child Photographer}

In the lull before the storm (Hurricane Irene), I had an amazing opportunity to do a photo session I've been yearning to do for as long as I can remember - A vintage tea party.

Pretty regularly I googled, looked longingly at pinterest (follow me on pinterest here) and tried not to spend my children's college funds on etsy (join my circle here)... all because I wanted to take amazing pictures like the women whose blogs I follow. And don't get me started on how many photography-related facebook pages I've liked...

Luckily, my old friend, Andrea, agreed to let me take over her backyard and her children to check another box off my photography to-do list. I just think her daughters are to-die-for beautiful! Poor Andrea and her husband later on in life when they have to scare the boys off!

The best part was the look of enjoyment the girls got (in between annoyance at the cameras being in their faces... LOL and my Lily the worst with this!) when they saw the pretty table and the goodies.






The girls (Hmmm... it may have been the moms... LOL) really loved the vintage hats I got from a local antique store.



I can honestly say that I'm really happy with how a lot of the photos turned out and equally as happy that I finally can look at my own work, sigh contentedly and say to myself "Beautiful!".


I have to stop myself there before I post all of the photos! Hope you enjoy the sneak peek. The rest of the preview can be found on my facebook page here.

Yesenia