Looking for inspiration for your next portrait session? Whether we are in the fields of Harford County or downtown Baltimore for an urban feel, this is a good look to inspire you. Neutrals with a pop of color bring interest to your clothes without distracting from your faces. (after all, you don’t want all of your attention just on your clothes!)

Think beyond matching white button ups and khaki pants to really express your personality in your portraits. (after all, you don’t want your great grandchildren to view your images and think you really dressed alike on a daily basis, do you? Unless you actually DO dress alike on a daily basis, then I suppose it would be perfectly natural.)

© lux amoris

Today’s photographer spotlight is on Emily Southerland of Emily Southerland Photography in St. Louis, Missouri!

You can visit her on the web here at http://www.emilysoutherland.com/, or visit her blog, and her facebook page.

10 Questions
About the image…
1. Why do you love this image?
I love this image because it just makes everyone smile. How can it not? I loved the mama’s “outie” belly button and HAD to try this shot, adapted from a Tara Whitney idea but with my mustache twist.

2. What were your settings with this image?
ISO 500
SS 1/200
aperture 3.2
lens: 24-70L
natural light

About Photography…
3. What do you love about Photography?
I love catching perfect moments in crisp, beautiful color/black and white. I love seeing personality in my subject’s eyes. I love being able to preserve the RIGHT NOW for myself– a big sappy sentamentalist!– and to be able to do that for others as well.

4. What type of Photography do you specialize in and why?
I specialize in portraits of babies, kiddos, and teens… With family moments thrown in. I do love photographing couples in love, but most of my work leans towards the younger set. I particularly adore babies and high school seniors. I find myself drawn to this instead of weddings/landscape/macro because I love the spontanaeity you get when you can arrange the best times and places for photographs. I love that I can get most any subject to let loose and really become themselves in front of the camera. And I love the intimacy of working with people, but in small numbers.

About your life. . .
5. What are your favorite hobbies and pastimes?
I LOVE baking– particularly cupcakes. And I have discovered a passion for sewing that has taken over my imagination completely. I’m an artist at heart, and love love love creating something out of nothing. Fabric just happens to be my medium of choice these days. As for pastimes, I love going to movies, eating amazing food, exploring markets fairs and festivals, road-tripping, and playing board games with family and friends.

6. Who or what inspires you?
I am inspired by wildly creative people, most of whom I find online these days. Etsy artists, other photographers, designers… I am in awe of the original ideas out there that still exist. How do they come UP with that stuff???
I am also inspired by vintage, boho, gypsy, Anthropologie, my nostalgia for my own past, and my mother.

7. Who are some of your favorite singers/bands?
I am currently loving Regina Spektor and Ingrid Michaleson, but also adore folk/bluegrass singers like Allison Krauss and the Wailin’ Jennys, etc. I prefer ballads to fast songs, and mellow to hard.

8. Do you have any personal projects?
Indulging my own creative projects has been my creative lifeblood these last weeks of winter. So far, I’ve taken a belly photo for each week of my third trimester (you can find them here), made an elaborate set of snowflakes and hearts for Valentine photos of my son (found here), and done a LOT of sewing and crafting. having personal projects keeps my creative well full and I LOVE doing them!

9. What would your ideal day be like?
Wow— this will be fun! My ideal day would begin in a breezy apartment in Rome, Italy, waking slowly to the sounds of the city outside my open windows. My hubby would be with me, and my kiddos asleep in another room. After a leisurely breakfast on a balcony/patio, we’d head out to explore the city with a stroller, good shoes, and some spending money. I’d also have my camera and journal in my bag, so that if the whim stuck me, I could stop and capture some of our day on paper or in photographs. We’d enjoy a mild, sunny day in piazzas, getting food from street vendors, sitting by a fountain to drink Orangina while the kids splash their hands in the water. We might check out some outdoor markets, watch painters doing their thing… take the kids to an outdoor puppet show…When we get a bit worn out, we’d head back to our apartment and everyone would get a nap, me included… I’d read a great book to fall asleep, and the open windows would waft city sounds to us as we dozed. In the late afternoon, when everyone woke, my sister would come and make us an amazing dinner from fresh marketplace ingredients, then stick around to babysit while Joe and I headed out to have a date together– perhaps some cinema, maybe some outdoor musicians, or just a stroll to get gelato and enjoy the night. The day would end with some romance *wink* and since my man goes to sleep before me, I’d then burn the late night hours away doing something creative, just for me, be it a sewing project, some painting, some altered art… Something. And I’d fall into bed exhausted, but completely content. Mm!

10. If you weren’t a photographer, what other profession would you like to pursue?
I used to be a high school teacher… And while I am not missing that specific job, I think I’d still love teaching in some capacity— even if it was just an evening community college class in writing or art or photography. I’d also LOVE to be a life coach!! Weird, I know… but I’d LOVE that. Or a movie or food critic… Lots of things sound amazing to me! Mostly, though, I love being an artist and a mama, so I am content.

Come back next week as I put the spotlight on Niki Strbian of Niki Strbian Valokuvaus!

This amazing Bel Air, MD family was one of my New Year contest winners, and they joined me at my Mother’s Day event in Harford County recently! (the rain date, as the original mother’s day event was experiencing those fun monsoon-type rainstorms) They were real pros, laughing and playing as if I wasn’t there during their portrait session..

The elder daughter is so perfectly photogenic that I wanted to photograph her all day. Not only was she perfect at taking direction, but she had the most beautiful eyes. The younger daughter was the perfect toddler. All over the place and full of fun. When she laughed, she laughed with her whole body. (that is my favorite kind of laughter!). And the boy? He was a RIOT. He kept making the silliest of faces to see if I would catch him, and was an amazing help at getting his little sister to giggle.

I hope that when my children grow to be a bit older, that they act anything like these kids. Sweet, great manners, and really good to each other.

Check out those happy faces! The bottom image is my 2nd favorite from the session. My favorite is still to come, posted a bit further down…

More family lovins, and taking a stroll. Well. Jog. But hey– parents got a great workout and the kids laughed hysterically the whole time.

As they were joining the Mother’s Day event, I thought it important to include a shot of mom with her babies. Most moms do whatever they can to shy away from the camera. It’s natural, I know you can’t help it. I do the SAME thing. There’s always some excuse. My makeup isn’t done. My hair is a mess. I hate this outfit. Well…. I’ve got to tell you, you have to get OVER it! When your child looks back on the photos, they aren’t going to be sitting there picking your appearance apart the way you do. They will look at the photo and see how much they were/are loved. I know this, because that’s how I feel about my own mother’s photos. I’ve always loved looking through her old photos, and the ones that are most important to me are like that. The two of us hugging, playing, running, laughing. Loving. I may not have any memories of the particular day the photo was taken, but seeing us together makes me remember the LOVE we had back then, the special bond between a mother and her child.

And Dads, you aren’t exempt. Dads have a different, but just as special, bond with their kids. In fact, that inspires me– I think we need to have a Daddy portrait event. Why should Moms get all the fun? (I promise you, Dads out there: it will be FUN. I won’t make you sit uncomfortably, faking a smile. Just you playing with your kids. Roughhousing. Tickling. Laughing. Loving.

My favorite image of their session. I made this into a 20×30 sample canvas and can I say that it looks AMAZING? If you came to see me at the Toddler Fair saturday, then you saw it at the front of my booth. AMAZING!

© lux amoris

I thought it would be appropriate to start this fresh, new blog with a fresh, new life.

I recently visited this beautiful little newborn girl in Riverside/Belcamp MD in peaceful Harford County, MD for her very first portrait session. She was such a little sweetheart at 9 days old!

This family waited a long time for their sweet little baby, and their love for each other was just tangible. Her nursery was painted with such attention to detail in a cherry blossom theme (the inspiration for Mom’s cherry blossom maternity session last April), complete with a flowering tree mural right on the wall!

I love images of Mom and Dad snuggling their newest addition. Look at the love in Mom’s eyes! And protective Daddy gazing out the window, thinking of their future.

Proud big brother! He was such a handsome little ham– always ready to pose for me. He made sure I was comfortable and didn’t need or want anything through the whole session, making sure to check in with me every so often. Is that not the sweetest?

Sweet newborn baby kisses.

I love to photograph skin on skin moments, snuggling and loving together.

At 10lbs, 1oz, she was a little chunker! Love seeing her size in comparison to Daddy’s hands, though.

Look at those sweet cheeks! Baby rolls are the best.

Chillin’ out.

Help me test out this site, will you? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

© lux amoris/jen snyder