Kristina Lynn Photography & Design Blog » Children

Iowa Children’s Portrait Photography | Christian’s newborn session

Kristina Lynn — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:34:43 +0000

I think the BEST time to photograph newborns is when they are just around one week old. It’s great because they are still in the very sleepy stage and are super easy to work with. Take Christian for example, he and mom showed up to the session right about the time he should be getting hungry again. It worked out great because mom and I had a little time to chat about what outfits to wear and what images we wanted to capture, then I could set up my first background while she gave him a little of his bottle to make him really content. It worked like a charm! Since we really wanted to do some naked baby shots, we decided to start there first. I had just picked up some new pieces of fabric to use as baby wraps and was DYING to try a brown one out with him. I love how all the colors came together and really love how the extra texture of the fabric adds to the photo. I also tried out some other print fabric as a background with a simple white blanket. As soon as we wrapped him up in the blanket, he was out like a light! I absolutely LOVE how I was able to capture a few sleepy smiles from this little cutie. Enough to make anyone’s heart melt! You’ll also see photos of this little one at Dr. Gabrielson’s women’s clinic in Webster City very shortly. If you’d like to see more photos from little Christian’s session, check out the Children & Family gallery on my Facebook Page.

Iowa Children’s Portrait Photography | Khale’s newborn session

Kristina Lynn — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:18:05 +0000

Babies, babies everywhere…and loving every minute of it Khale is another one of the cuties that will be featured in the woman’s clinic in Webster City, Iowa. At only a couple weeks old, he was a doll to work with! So easy! We got some great wide awake shots that show off his beautiful eyes and capture a couple great expressions. Then we turned on the heat and watched as he slipped into nap mode. He got really comfortable very quickly and before we knew it he was off into happy little dream world. So cute! If you’d like to see more of Khale and the rest of my recent baby session images, check out the Children & Family gallery on my Facebook page.

Iowa Children’s Portrait Photography | Aleigha’s newborn session

Kristina Lynn — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:02:30 +0000

So as a part of my plan to expand my studio into Iowa, I have partnered with Dr. Gabrielson’s women’s health clinic and will be displaying some of my artwork in his Webster City office. So I have been getting the chance to meet some of his amazing patients and photographing their new little family additions Aleigha got to be my very first model! She is such a sweetie and has gorgeous eyes (I LOVE baby eyes!). She started off the session wide awake but by the end, we got the room warmed up and she feel fast asleep for some very cute naked, sleeping baby photos.

Iowa Children’s Portrait Photography | Lorelei’s three month session

Kristina Lynn — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:51:54 +0000

It’s funny how you never know where life will take you and who you will meet up with again down the road. For example, a couple months ago after posting some of my first images of my niece Quincy, I got a message on Facebook from a couple people I went to college with. Suzie, Adam and I had all been RA’s at Morningside College and had a chance to get to know each other fairly well. But as it usually goes, after graduation we lost touch. When Suzie saw my photos of Quincy on Facebook, she knew she wanted me to be Lorelei’s personal photographer but wasn’t sure that since I’m mainly located up here in Stillwater while they’re in southeast Iowa, if we could work it out. It was perfect timing! I was looking to expand the business down into Iowa more so it was the perfect opportunity. We decided to meet up in Des Moines (kind of half way for both of us) to capture some images of little three month old Lorelei. It was a great session! She’s such a doll and this is such a cute family! Can’t wait for the 8 month session!

Iowa Children’s Portrait Photography | Paxton is 8 months old!

Kristina Lynn — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 02:32:18 +0000

Ok so there’s one thing I know for sure…never go into a children’s session with a solid game plan. Now I’m not saying that you should go into one unprepared…just be ready for the unexpected. For example, Paxton ALWAYS takes a nap from 9-10, so of course we scheduled his session for 10:30 so he’d be bright eyed and bushy tailed. But of course, on the day of our session he refused to take a nap (must have been really excited for his first professional photo shoot! ). And Paxton is always the little boy with a smile on his face, except for the day of the photo shoot. So a session that looked super easy on paper wasn’t so much in real life. But never fear! I’m always ready to improvise and do whatever it takes to get fantastic images!

We started out Paxton’s session outside by the big, green John Deere tractor (I shall refrain from making a comment on the farmer’s color choice of farming equipment). I could tell he was a daredevil when he was standing by himself, holding on to the tractor step, and then decided to let one hand go. Pretty sure Mom got just a little nervous right about then So what better to do with a daredevil? Why not perch him on the ledge right next to the door! I thought it sounded like a great idea! (with close parental supervision of course!) I should say that Mr. Daredevil behaved himself and no one got hurt in the making of these images! On to outfit number two! There was some amazing window light pouring into the living room from the giant wall of windows, so we started to take photos with Paxton on the couch. Right about this time Paxton decided it was almost nap time and started to fuss. Here’s where the creative thinking comes in to play….how to make a tired child last for a few more clicks of the shutter? We had him bang on the coffee table, which entertained him for .5 seconds. Then we brought in Dad to help Paxton stand up which usually makes him a little happier…no such luck on this day. And last but not least, we took him to his favorite spot in the whole house, on the giant, comfy bed in Mom & Dad’s room! SUCCESS…and I must say a huge thank you to Uncle Ryan for showing up at the most opportune time and getting little Paxton to smile for us So even though he wasn’t bright eyed and smiling the whole time, we got some great images of Paxton. I can’t wait to photograph this little cutie again! Want to see more images of Paxton? Check out the children’s gallery on my Facebook page!

Twin Cities and Iowa Portrait Photography | Follow me on Twitter!

Kristina Lynn — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:34:08 +0000

Well I finally did it…I got with the program and joined Twitter! I was dragging my feet because like I NEED one more social media place to have to update everyday, but then realized all the potential it could have. So help prove my old thinking wrong and show me how GREAT Twitter can be by following me. And to make it an even sweater deal for you, I’ll be doing special Twitter Only specials in the near future so click the link below, start following, and get in on the fantastic deals I have in store

Iowa Children’s Portrait Photography | Ava’s 3 month session (guest starring Logan!)

Kristina Lynn — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:52:29 +0000

One nice thing about having a big family is that it usually grows quickly when everyone starts having babies! First my cousin Eric and his wife Rachel had baby Logan, then about 6 months later my sister had Quincy, followed by Ava and Laila born to two more of my cousins on my dad’s side. (Needless to say, Christmas will be CRAZY this year with all the new babies together!) And I’m so blessed to be a photographer and be able to capture the milestones of all these little ones! A couple weekends ago, another one of my cousins, Amanda, got married (blog post yet to come from the wedding day!) so Stacy and Ava came from Chicago while Eric, Rachel, Logan and the grandparents came from the Sioux Center area. Since we had everyone in one place, we decided we’d do Ava’s 3 month session and try for some group photos. Well let’s just say that getting an active 10 month old (Logan) and a 3 month old in one photo can be quite a challenge! We didn’t get many photos of them together but we did get some great shots of Logan by himself along with a group photo with Grandma & Grandpa! After that we switched gears and focused all the attention on baby Ava. She had some of the CUTEST outfits (the green one is my favorite!) and is so laid back that we could even get her on her tummy without a fuss. AND we learned that she can hold herself up pretty well which created the best photos from the session, in my opinion. She’s such a little doll and I can’t wait to photograph her as she gets bigger! These are just a few of my favorites and if you’d like to see more check out my Facebook Gallery.

Twin Cities Family Portrait Photography | Amy Lynn’s family session

Kristina Lynn — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:25:07 +0000

I am always amazed at the power of the internet! I mean, what a great marketing tool…you can reach people all over the world, you never know who will land on your site and fall in love with your photography. For instance, I got a call the other day from Amy Lynn, owner of Les Amis photography down in Louisiana. She is originally from the Stillwater area was planning a trip up to see her family and wanted to do a family session. She had done a search for photographers in Stillwater and found little ‘ole me Of course, being a photographer, she could do the session herself for the most part but she wanted the experience that most of us photographers don’t get…being on the other side of the camera, experience the photo session like a regular client and not having to edit the photos herself. She fell in love with my work and luckily I had some openings for the weekend her and her son would be home. I felt so honored that another photographer wanted to use me as their family photographer!!! (I’m STILL pumped about it if you couldn’t tell )

We had a very small window of opportunity to do the session and the weather started to worry us. Luckily the skies were just overcast and the rain held out long enough for us to do our session. Amy Lynn knew she wanted some fairly more traditional family photos with her parents and then some that were more photojournalistic with her and her son. Oh I had so much fun! What a great family and her son is SO adorable!!! I absolutely love all the images from this session Here are just a few, with more on my Facebook page and soon to be on my website!

Iowa Portrait Photography | Quincy Jane’s 3 month session

Kristina Lynn — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:27:01 +0000

I can hardly believe it’s been three months since little Quincy joined our family. My how time flies! She’s getting so big and full of expressions! It wasn’t long into the session before Quincy had her first baby meltdown of the day (being a model is HARD work!) so I set up my laptop, hooked up my hard drive and put on some soothing Kenny G music which usually calms babies down. However, Grandma informed me that even at the early age of 3 months, Quincy has a very particular taste in music and preferred a little Lady Gaga over Kenny G. I didn’t believe her so, to prove her wrong, I turned on some Lady Gaga, thinking that Quincy would continue to have her meltdown, thus postponing the session until she calmed down. Oh but how I was wrong! Grandma quickly picked up little Quincy, snuggled her tight and started bouncing her to the music and surprisingly Quincy calmed right down! Who knew Lady Gaga was the new thing in children’s music! HA! So for the rest of the session, we played some of Quincy’s favorite songs like “Poker Face,” “Just Dance,” and “Telephone.” Good call Grandma!

These are some of my favorite shots from the session, including a 9-up wall collage that I’m going to talk my sister into hanging in the nursery…WAY to cute NOT to! Stay tuned for more images of Quincy in the upcoming months. I learned some new tricks at After Dark, a photo conference I attended last week in Minneapolis, that I want to try out on Quincy the next time I’m in Iowa. I love having a little model of my very own!

Twin Cities Portrait Photography | Website updated!

Kristina Lynn — Sun, 16 May 2010 06:06:11 +0000

Hi everyone!

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated my website so I decided it was time to just sit down and do it! So if you haven’t been there in awhile, you should go check it out. There’s new photos, new information (including links to some of my favorite stores that I partner with – oh and a couple sweet sites for high school juniors and seniors!), current specials, and a new video on the Senior Gallery page. Stop by Kristina Lynn Photography & Design dot com today!