Betsy Jo Photography Blog

Elizabeth Park captured my attention in overload during this session. We had great light to photograph in, some wonderful leading lines and flowers, and a sweet, inquisitive little boy who enjoyed the day as an adventurous outing. Samuel is such a well-behaved 3-year-old. (I mean, how often do you see those words together in a sentence? ‘Well-behaved’ and ‘three-year-old’?

Samuel was happy, composed and carefree all in one. And does he adore his parents or what?! He kept us on our toes as he explored and discovered, but was such fun to photograph! And since today is rainy and gross here in CT, I’m glad we get to feel a little taste of summer through this gorgeous family and the location they chose!

I had a hard time deciding on which ones to journal, so many of this photogenic group. Thanks for a great session, Samuel and family. It was so nice to finally meet all 3 of you! Enjoy your images-

I can’t say how happy this picture feels- and there are so many more like this, Deidy! The leading lines of the arches, your sweet family, the green grass leading up to the 3 of you. How your adventurous little boy is looking off to the distance to see what else he can learn about. How Daddy looks like he’s smiling, even though you can’t see his face. And Mommy, looking down with love at her little boy. It’s all about the details and the emotion. Love it.

Yeah, somebody loves his Mommy. Dearly.

Samuel has such a zest for life… Who knew that blowing bubbles could be so hilarious?! And then he checks behind him to make sure Mom and Dad see the humor in the whole thing:

Samuel decided it was time to explore, so we took the opportunity to get just Mom and Dad alone while he took off. As soon as he saw we were taking more pictures, Samuel ran up and hugged his Mom with all his might. So glad he did!

Here the little inquisitive part of Sam is so obvious. He had to see just how my shutter worked. Which made me rather happy, as his eyes are stunning here. Brown eyes photograph so well, and look beautiful when put in black and white:

Doesn’t he just look the part, leaning to the side all serious?

These next two show just how much Samuel totally admires his Dad:

And I had to end with this one. If you’re not careful, it could put a lump in your throat. (Not like that has ever happened to me or anything…)

*Thanks for a wonderful session, Samuel and family… It was so nice to meet all of you!

*Lots of posts to check out below*

Illinois images are all finished- Thanks again to all who so graciously made me feel welcome! I had a wonderful time, and look forward to seeing some of you again! Now it’s back to East Coast ‘shooting”–

So, when Emily called for a photo session and told me that she and Bill hadn’t had professional pictures taken since their wedding 15 years ago, I was right on it! I love it when couples decide it’s just time to document their relationship- for any reason. We met at Fox Hill on a weekday evening (one without rain, which is hard to come by lately!) I’ve wanted to do a shoot there for awhile, and Emily said that when they lived in the area, she and Bill would go up there often. It’s always nice to do a shoot in a place that has meaning.

I always encourage people to incorporate props into their pictures, so Bill & Emily brought the hat that Bill wears all the time, and then also some live props! Their nephews and niece joined the session part way through, and all 3 of the little ones did so well.

A certain someone told me that he never has taken a ‘good’ picture, and he’s terribly unphotogenic. Hearing that, I decided I would have to meet up with the challenge. I think I proved you wrong, Bill!

So typical of these two- Bill says something funny and he knows it’s quite humorous, and Emily cracks up-

Mr. ‘Unphotogenic’ himself-

There are so many of this next shot where everyone is looking right at my camera, and it’s all set up neatly. But I absolutely love this one the best- the interaction, Austin reaching to move the parasol, Olivia thinking that this is pretty special–that she gets to hold it, Caleb wondering where Mommy is… the whole thing makes me smile. So the posed one didn’t make it to the blog. This one did. Love it.

Oh, those eyes:

One of my favorites, for the same reasons as the group shot above-

Hello? Love this image. This location is about a mile from my house. I got home that night and asked Paul, “And why don’t we go to Fox Hill like all the time… ?”

Oh, this one makes me sing inside-

Don’t they look all serious and romantic? Ummm, I just told them to talk, and do their thing. So this picture looks lovey-dovey and sweet, deep and thoughtful, right? All I know is they were hungry, and this conversation involved words like ‘pizza’ and ‘Caesar salad.’

Thanks, Bill and Em! I have no idea how you’re going to choose your images– too many to pick from. Thanks for being so easy-going!

*Lots of posts below- very busy with photo journal entries…*

Sometimes I get to do things that remind me just how fortunate I am. That was the case throughout my trip to Illinois. So many opportunities to meet new people and rekindle friendships with those I’ve known since I was just a very young girl. Such was the case with this whole crew. I remember in my teenage years spending all sorts of time with Melanie before she moved out West. I can remember times up at the Cape with family, staying at Uncle Al and Aunt Gladys’ house, digging for clams down on the bay, and going barefoot all week long. It was easy to photograph all of them for this shoot; I’ve known them all my life, and felt very comfortable. It was good to see Don & Sandy’s family again now that they live in IL, and be able to document some memories in photographs.

Of course, we have to start with the grand kids:

Watching the paddle-boats:

I love how this photo below almost has a ‘Cape Cod’ feel to it, even though it’s in Central IL!(Thanks Jim and Sandra, for the use of your property!)

Love this one of Todd- so typical of his happy nature:

Don’t know why, but I love this set up:

Um, all I can think of is Christmas picture…? I like how everyone’s interacting and totally ignoring me here:

Thanks Don & Sandy and family! It was good to see you all again!

We started Bonnie’s session in a tiny little town where I assumed we maybe wouldn’t find much for backdrops. Not so. We had a great shoot, traipsing over town and country looking for just the right light and super unique spots to grab some images. Of course, I had to visit the field of yellow flowers (weeds, really) when she wore a white sundress. ‘Love shooting in fields of yellow!

Another person with amazing eyes… I’m seeing a pattern here.

LOVE white on white- and the crackled paint makes me want to sing! (I won’t, don’t worry.)

I think this spot looks like it came out of a little villa in France. And the bokehed light peeking in from those windows makes me smile.

Working in the ivy on the fire escape:

Speaking of making someone smile… Bonnie really started to beam when Dale met up with her toward the end of our session:

This session was great– I had all sorts of extra helpers! First, thanks to my sister Melinda for working the reflector for me! She was quite the pro at getting it just how I wanted it, and it definitely shows in the images.

Lori was such a sweetheart; I had never met her before, and she was so kind and welcoming to me. It should be no surprise, though. I’ve gotten to know a certain brother of hers since he married my sister some years ago, and his whole family is so kind. (Plus every single one of them has these amazing eyes that they so graciously passed on to my niece and nephew…)

Lori was so relaxed, and it shows in her portraits. Her desire for her senior picture session was a more laid-back, casual feel, and the clothes she chose reflect her easygoing personality.

I had to add the last few from Lori’s session: Carter and Kerigan had so much fun ‘helping’ their Aunt Lori and Aunt Betsy:

Carter is fascinated by trains, and thought he was pretty big stuff on the tracks:

Kerigan found this flower pinwheel in her Grandma’s garden and loved holding it up in the (rather blustery) wind:

Thanks so much for going with the flow while all sorts of adorable nieces and nephews were running around with you, Lori! I thoroughly enjoyed the time with you.