Liza Spinazze Photography » Blog

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE shooting friends??  One, there’s the obvious perk of getting to spend a few hours hanging out with people that you really like. Two, you get to spend some quality time with their kids (which is impossible to do when your own kids are around!). And three, you never have to stop and think “wait, will they think I’m a weirdo if I ask them to do this or that!?” They already know you’re a weirdo, so there are no filters! 😉 Well, shooting my beautiful friend Whitney and her rapidly growing family is always the best.  Love love love all five of them! Not to mention it does me good to start getting comfortable with this whole family of five/ two boys and a girl dynamic they have going on 😉
Spittin’ imageAt last… 😉LoveSmiling at Mama of courseCan’t help but dote on that sweet baby girlI know no one got your baby blues Whitney but you gotta love those big beautiful browns 😉Oh who would have thought we’d all end up here back in 04′Watch out world, here come the Webers!

I had the pleasure of meeting the Schliesmann Family for the first time on a beautiful day at the always perfect for pictures, Botanic Gardens. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, M-O-D-E-L F-A-M-I-L-Y! Seriously, these beautiful people needed the littlest of direction to fall into all the perfect positions. I had so much fun shooting away with the Schliesmanns that I completely lost track of time and ended up holding them hostage for much longer than they probably planned on spending with me 😉 Enjoy, I certainly did…

PerfectThe natural The Baby Gap modelHappy guysZero direction from me here…Makes sense the kids are so cute!Til’ next time, I hope! 😉

You never know what you’re going to get weather wise when scheduling a shoot. Well, on the initial day we scheduled for it was BEAUTIFUL… but the next tricky part of scheduling is hoping that on your chosen day all of your subjects are happy and healthy. Due to a nasty strep bug a reschedule was in order. Seriously, no matter how perfect the day, it is no fun for anyone to shoot sick! Lucky for us the new date turned out to be even more beautiful than the first. Actually, had it been a degree warmer these cute kids would have been sweatin’ in their sweaters! Anyways, so happy I finally got to shoot with the lovely Battaglia family. Shooting friends is always so much fun and add three adorable kids to the mix and you’ve got yourself a pretty great afternoon!

And they’re off!

LoveSo sweetCaught ya!A natural modelMom was looking for a shot of everyone smiling, I think we got it!Genuine smiles are the bestShy at first but little miss sure warmed up for the camera!Personalities captured?

You know it’s a good Fall photo season when a couple of your favorite clients book two sessions in two months! 😉 Lucky for me the Kruegers first wanted to capture some family memories in October while they were still a family of three. Then, who could pass up a November newborn session to document their perfect new addition to the family. And lucky me, we got to shoot in two different awesome locations; a beautiful park in Wilmette right on the water and the brand new Krueger home (high ceilings, open rooms and natural light galore, pretty much a photographer’s dream space). Add into the mix a mama who is way too good at both maternity and newborn mama shots to not be moonlighting as a model, the cutest little strawberry blonde you ever did see who dresses just as well as her mom (did I ever mention I have a sweet spot for strawberry blondes ;)), a perfect little boy, photogenic already at just six days old, and one good lookin’ dad to round it all off! The cherry on top was Calvin, the family pup, who would willingly insert himself into family shots at just the right spot and stand still as a statue while I snapped away. To say these were a great couple of shoots would be a serious understatement…

Oh those pigtails…Perfection
She’s got something up her sleeve for sure…

And then there were four…
Loving mama alreadyHo Ho HoHad to keep this in color because I love how he’s holding on so tight his fingers are changing color! 😉More to loveThe money shot 😉
Calvin in all his glorySigh…

Til next time…

Top Five reasons it was a great afternoon spent with the Balyeat Family…

1. Shooting friends is always fun 2. Said friends just happen to be beautiful  3. First time clients, hopefully not last time 😉 4. Finally shot at a location I’ve always had my eye on and it was perfection  5. Adorable kids who cooperated straight through dinner time!

Be still my heart…

Pure Joy

Baby browns

Mama’s mini me

Remember when I mentioned “beautiful friends?” Well there ya go…

Sibling love