I recently met a family with a few furry children through the Operation Love Reunited program. The program is a good way to capture some photographic memories prior to a service member’s deployment. The soldier then receives a little book of those photographs while overseas to help keep their loved ones close at heart.

For this family, we made it out the day before deployment. Luckily the weather was great and the dogs were happy! We even picked up a random neighborhood dog who wouldn’t get out of the frame. I cropped him out the best I could!

Oh, yes! I am still catching up from last Christmas! These three cute kids and their lumbering dog just had to get posted.

Gorgeous Day, gorgeous light, and a nicely typed out note on my car telling me not to park there again or else I would get towed! At least they were polite about it:)

Don’t forget to look for the wolf in sheep’s clothing hiding in the grass.

I totally forgot that this little girly didn’t have any of her photos up. Christmas kind of came and went and zapped all my ability to think straight with it!

This munchkin did not much like anything about me! She especially didn’t like my studio, the lights, or the whole idea of having her portraits taken. I can safely say that she was having none of it. I was amazed that, in between all the chaos, we actually captured some peaceful moments! I especially love the calmness of the one of her on mom’s shoulder.

I have since had the opportunity to see her again and she seems to have completely forgiven me for putting her through such a torturous ordeal! Hopefully she’ll venture into the studio again when she starts wobbling around on two feet and give me a second chance!

Kali & Jonathon!  What a stunning bride and such a gorgeous, fun wedding to end the year with!

There were so many incredible surprises throughout the day!  Have you seen the dance scene from “500 Days of Summer”?  No?  Then google it and then try to imagine coaxing your own wedding party to pull off all that choreography!  Yes, it was quite amazing!  There were so many other beautiful, inspiring, and special moments that I realized how fortunate I am to experience these major life events as part of my profession.  It is also a little bittersweet knowing that 2011 will be taking me away from photographing weddings.  Instead I will be renewing my focus on family and portraiture.   I will miss all the little moments– the excitement, the families, the amazing friendships of the wedding parties and , of course, I will miss all of the awesome, crazy receptions!  Kali & Jonathon’s reception was no exception!

Congratulations you two!  Here’s to a beautiful life together.

Click here to view Slideshow.

Cuteness!  Total cutenesss!  This young lady can totally rock all shades of lavender and purple.  Now I want a little velvet jumper just like hers.  She is at that perfect age for lots of giggles with just a little bit of forward momentum–not quite able to run away from the camera yet!

I can’t wait to see her as she grows!

The most adventurous family in Anchorage is back again with their yearly Fall Portrait Extravaganza! Every year they pick a new location and every year I think the girls actually have more and more fun spending a few hours in the wilds of Anchorage with me.  It has become such a fun, laid back, annual event that I look forward to every fall.

This year, there is a cute photo of the girls singing into flower microphones and the lyrics they made up were all about my exceptional photography skills at taking photos of the ground!  Yes, that’s right, I take lots of photos of my feet when I am trying to get my equipment set up and the girls thought this was a talent worthy of a song!  Luckily I caught them in the act, and I think it’s one of my favorite photos of the bunch.

]]> http://melissashelby.com/2011/01/another-fall-adventure-alaska-portrait-photography/feed/ 0 http://melissashelby.com/2010/12/my-looney-boys-exhausted/ http://melissashelby.com/2010/12/my-looney-boys-exhausted/#comments Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:51:08 +0000 Mel http://melissashelby.com/?p=1725

Every year I say that I am going to hire a photographer to take family photos for me and every year I wait until the last minute and try to do it myself.  This year was no different.  My 2011 New Year’s Resolution is to book a holiday session for next Christmas with someone else before the end of January!

These little love monkeys totally have me all figured out.  They go on hyper-alert the minute the camera comes out and they morph into spazzed out performers.  Chaos hardly begins to describe it.  Sid starts vogueing for the camera and Sol pulls out the dog and pony show.  There is non stop-bouncing, running, face making, yelling, banging and knocking.  I’ve made the mistake of enlisting their help whenever I do a new lighting setup or studio change and so their game now is to do a crazy pose and then jump up to see the photo on the back of my camera. All this is done with much cackling and howling in the background.  This is all fine and good when I am just testing things out, but when I try to do things for real, there is no hope.  Unfortunately I’ve trained them this way!  Their new favorite pose is to stick their rear ends up as high in the air as they can to ensure the camera gets maximum exposure. (Those have been edited out!)

It’s funny to me that I am completely unfazed if it’s someone else’s child I am trying to take photos of! For my boys, however, Dad always has to be enlisted to do the off camera entertainment and to assure me that my blood pressure will revert to normal within the hour.  This year was more of the same.  Luckily, through the chaos, their personalities shine through.  Their expressions are priceless to me and they represent their little souls to the fullest.

Next year, however, we are going to have the whole family in the photo and there is going to be a feeling of calmness and tranquility and someone else is going to pull the trigger.  I am sure of this!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is almost here!  Have you had a session in the past six months that you would like to use for your own personalized Holiday Cards? Take a look at the most recent templates for 2010.  Fonts, colors, and sayings are all adjustable!  Two sided flat cards on linen, pearl or watercolor paper are currently on sale if you purchase more than two boxes.  Cards come 25 per box and include envelopes.  Folded cards and the always fun “tri-folds and accordians” are also available.

Don’t have a past session to use?  Book now before December 4th to receive your cards in time for the holidays.

Interested in a “mini-session”? Well, good because I am too!  I have never tried mini-sessions before but I am up for it if you are.  Mini-sessions will be scheduled up to December 3rd.  Times are limited.  Call me if you are interested.

Mini Sessions will include a quick 30 minute session with one backdrop.  Group and individual portraits will be taken.  The fee is $225 and includes the session, two boxes of flat cards, 1 8×10, and 2 5x7s.  You will have approximately 10 proofed images to choose from.

]]> http://melissashelby.com/2010/11/christmas-cards-holiday-portrait-sessions-2010/feed/ 0 http://melissashelby.com/2010/10/babes-in-the-woods-anchorage-portrait-photography/ http://melissashelby.com/2010/10/babes-in-the-woods-anchorage-portrait-photography/#comments Fri, 29 Oct 2010 21:45:52 +0000 Mel http://melissashelby.com/?p=1649

I was absolutely sure I was going to freeze these little fellows out!  The day before had been cold and windy and I was just trying to imagine how and where we were going to go to keep them warm.  Somehow, magically, there was no wind and no cold.  To top things off we had what was probably the last bastion of yellow trees left in Anchorage!

These boys were the happiest, most easy going little dudes I’ve ever had at a photo shoot!  The smiles came easy and often and they didn’t complain one bit!  What fun to look back and see so many priceless shots!

Total cuteness!  This is my third photoshoot with this “precious angel baby” (as my mother would say!) and I have to say, it is so much fun to watch her grow!  She was talking up a storm and even said some sort of version of my name.  I think it was “Missa”.   I can’t even imagine what she’ll be like next year.  I hope she still has those adorable cheeks and her most excellent sense of style!