It has been awhile since I have taken photos because of the Covid-19 situation, so I was very happy to get back behind the camera again. I had the pleasure of documenting this little guy's 9th birthday by capturing this special day for him in photos. I was excited to do these photos at the Celery Fields in Sarasota. As the name implies, this was a former celery field consisting of 360+ acres. It is a wetlands site on the Great Florida Birding Trail. It is dog-friendly. You can fish, have a picnic, walk various trails and view plenty of wildlife. It is also a popular site for photographers. I had never been there before and had been wanting to visit and shoot there for quite awhile. It did not disappoint. We didn't even get to cover half the area. I definitely want to go back and explore it more. It was the perfect place to take these photos. I'm ready to take your photos here or any local outdoor area to capture you and your family enjoying the beauty of Florida's natural environments. Patti specializes in lifestyle Maternity, Fresh 48, Newborn and family photography. If you are ready to book or chat about your photo session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Inquire Now" button below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309. We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Worried Your Toddler Won't Sit Still? | Sarasota Family PhotographerConcerned about your photo session with your toddler(s)? You might be thinking:
As a Sarasota family photographer, I can understand your concerns with having family photos taken with toddlers. As a young grandmother of six grandchildren (with the seventh on the way), four of them being 3 years old and younger, I know exactly how you feel. You might be stressing that we won't get any great images with your toddler staying still or smiling at all. If this will be your first time working with me, you may be wondering exactly what to expect. Since I am a lifestyle photographer, it won't bother me one bit if your toddler just wants to be a toddler. Whether that's running around, digging in the dirt, or playing in the water. They are being who they are at that moment, and that is what is important to capture and you will treasure forever. It does not make sense to me to EVER try and make a child be anything other than themselves, except how they are feeling at the moment I am capturing them. I don't photograph with everyone stiffly posed, forcing smiles looking at the camera. I may get one or two of those shots, but it will mostly be capturing emotions, connection and true life. I love candid moments. By hiring me as your photographer, this is what you want captured for you and your family. Capturing those genuine, raw, authentic emotions are what you are after. This may mean running around with your children, playing games or snuggling up on a blanket. I always strive to keep your toddler interacting and happy. This will, of course, mean you'll be happy which, in turn, will result in incredible images and a memorable photo session. I will let the toddler sort of and/or let them think they are in charge of the session. If they want to sit down and play, we'll do that. If they want to run, we'll run. If they want to be all lovey and snuggly, we'll do that. May I suggest you not say, "no" or offer bribes? This may actually spoil the session. If you truly want authentic emotion and connection, this probably won't be the best way. I just try to keep it fun and laid back. I just want you to be with your children as if you are on an outing and I'm not even there, at least, for the most part. :-) I absolutely want to finish the session seeing how much you and your children had fun. Excited to experience a relaxed, fun lifestyle photography session? Contact me. I'm ready to have fun. Are you? What Time of Day is Best for Outdoor Family Photo Sessions?Many Bradenton/Sarasota, Florida families wonder when is the most opportune time to take family photos outdoors. We are so fortunate to live on the West Coast of Florida where there are beaches, parks, trails, you name it, in which to choose the best location for an outdoor family photoshoot. All these places and more are so photogenic. However, since this is Florida, the time of day does matter when you want to capture the best and the most flattering natural light, as well as not get too roasted in the heat. Golden Hour is Our Friend for Being the Best Time of Day When is golden hour? It is the time of day about an hour before sunset where the light is absolutely gorgeous and "golden." This type of light ensures everyone will look fantastic! I LOVE scheduling outdoor family sessions during the golden hour. If your family session will include little ones (two months and older), I highly recommend they take a late afternoon nap, if at all possible, and feed them snacks or dinner prior to the session. This will help them be in their best mood possible. However, you may ask, "What if I can't be out that late with my little ones?" No problem. I will be happy to accommodate you in whatever way is necessary. If We Can't Do Golden Hour, Morning Time Comes in Second for the Best Time I can certainly serve your family and still capture beautiful images no matter the time of day. So, if golden hour won't work for you, we can schedule your session during the morning hours, usually around 10 a.m. when the sun isn't up too high yet and the light isn't too harsh. The morning hours actually work best for newborns and toddlers. Let me know when you are ready to capture your lifestyle outdoor family session. I would love to see you at the golden hour. Patti specializes in lifestyle Maternity, Fresh 48, Newborn and family photography. If you are ready to book or chat about your photo session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the button above or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309. We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon
What to Wear to Your Family Outdoor Photo Session | Sarasota Family Photographer Next week, I’ll be able to photograph again. Yay! Outdoors only for now. So, you may be wondering what you should wear to your outdoor photoshoot. There is no absolute right or wrong answer to what to wear. However, there are certain choices that will allow your images to look fabulous! Read on for my suggestions: With this time of year in our Florida weather, you want to keep your clothes simple, relaxing and comfortable. I highly recommend solid neutral colors. It is best to stay away from red, neon and busy patterns. Earthtones – muted, not bright, will look very good in photographs. Think coordinating, not matching. Wear you. If that’s jeans and a t-shirt, wear it. If it’s shorts and a polo, wear that. If it’s a skirt or a lightweight, long flowing dress, wear it. You do you. I just want you to be relaxed and comfortable. Remember. These photos are for you, not me. So, it really only matters what YOU like. Looking like yourself is the greatest way to get fantastic photos that you and your family will appreciate and cherish forever!
Lifestyle is truth. It is reality. It can be a mess sometimes. It can be beautiful sometimes.
Photography has changed so much over the past several years from having to be that perfectly posed, forced “fake” smiles to reality – real connection, raw emotion, natural and authentic smiles. Those “perfect” portraits were probably very stressful for you, especially if you had little ones trying to get them to sit still, smile when asked or keep their “Sunday Best” clothes clean and wrinkle-free before the photo session. In today’s world, more and more photographers are getting away from those “perfectly posed” photos to real life photos. Mostly, photographed in your own home – where you and your little ones are most comfortable. Those are moments you want to remember. What your house looked like at that time. How your nursery was set up. What your older children’s rooms looked like – messy or clean. Families want to remember what they were doing together as a family – playing, cooking, whatever. Why have another portrait of everyone standing stiff and smiling at the camera. Why not showcase your real life and invite others in to see your family, just the way you are. Everyday life. Those kind of photographs will capture real moments you had interacting with your family as you spent time together. Those kind of photographs will mean the most to you, your extended family and friends for years to come. That’s why I have begun to move away from very structured and posed photography to a more real portrayal of family reality. With just a little guidance and some prompts, I can capture your real and true lifestyle. You may think your home is too small or isn’t in showcase condition. Doesn’t matter. It’s your home. Your comfort zone. Your happy place. You don’t need to have everything necessarily in its place, such as, pillows perfectly straight, the bed “hotel” made. Your home is reality and there is beauty in reality – capturing your family as you honestly are. These lifestyle photoshoots are very relaxed. You can be in your jeans, a dress, barefoot – whatever makes you and your family comfortable. Laugh, play – feel completely at ease, and definitely no forced smiles. The day of the photoshoot may be capturing the good, the bad and the ugly. But, that’s okay. Those fleeting moments were real - ones you won’t get back from that particular time in your life. Get away from that “picture perfect” Christmas card photo. Show your family and friends you are human – showing the natural, the connection, the emotion – doing the things you love to do together. We are not perfect, so why should your photographs try to show you are? I used to think that way, too, but now I love showing reality in photographs, reminding everyone that life is beautiful, just the way it is.
Are you ready to capture your newborn and/or family showcasing your real life? Click "Let's Start a Conversation" button below and let's make this happen!
I was able to capture this lovely family while on vacation. They are extra special to me because this is my son and his beautiful family. Always love photographing them whenever I'm in town.
It's amazing how fast little ones grow. That's why whenever I visit my family, I always make sure I capture images, especially since we don't live in the same state. It's so important to keep them "little" in photographs - frozen in time. These are treasured and cherished memories that will last a lifetime.
I would love to capture your family's memories and freeze them in time. If you are ready to book or chat about your photo session at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Book A Call" box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309. We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
I do photography because I absolutely love to capture babies and families in the moment. For as long as I can remember, I have always loved taking photos. I always wanted to have photos to look back on, to remember what I was doing at the time, how I looked (which sometimes I may not want to remember what I looked like) LOL, where I traveled, etc. I especially love to take photos of my family. I love looking back and recreating the memories we made, what we looked like, what we were doing, where we were. Having photos of my own family is so very important to me. I think that's why I started making photography my profession, albeit later in life, but it's never too late to do what you love, right?
Now, I want to create memories frozen in time for other families. From maternity, Fresh 48, newborn to families. Priceless! I want to create and show the connection and emotion of what's happening at that time. So, when they look back through their album or enjoy viewing their wall art, they will be taken back to that moment in time and feel the same love, emotion, comfort and contentment. Or, they may feel sadness or grief because the photo includes parents that may have since passed, but they are so glad they had photos with them so they could remember and show future generations. I especially make sure that mom and dad are in the photos. It is so special to be in the photos with your children. Think how as they get older, how much they will love seeing you with them years from now - remembering the emotion, the laughter, the silliness, the comfort and, most importantly, the love you shared. This is why I do photography. Let's start creating those memories for you and your family.
Patti specializes in lifestyle Maternity, Fresh 48, Newborn and family photography. If you are ready to book or chat about your photo session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Book A Call" box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309. We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Did you know Grandparents Day is fast approaching on Sunday, September 8?
Grandparents absolutely love their grandchildren and dote on them as much as possible. I am sure your parents love to see photos of your children when they can't be with them or live far away. Imagine how much more they would love and enjoy having photos with their grandchildren to cherish forever. Grandparents usually have everything they need, but having images of their family, especially being in the photos themselves with their grandchildren, well, there's just nothing more special than that. I certainly wish I had more photos of me with my grandparents. That's why every time I visit with my grandchildren that live out of state, I always, always take pictures with them. I cherish them and I hope they will cherish them just as much as they grow older and these pictures are passed down from generation to generation. I recently saw a quote that said, "Keep memories alive for generations." Photos keep those memories alive. That's why I am offering a special Limited Edition Photo Session in honor of Grandparents Day to take lifestyle photos of children with their grandparents. This would be such a beautiful gift to give them on Grandparents Day by gifting them this session with their grandchildren. OR, if your parents do not live in the area, you could use this session to update your own family photo and send them the photo as your gift to them on Grandparents Day. I bet they will say it's the best gift they have ever received! Life passes by so quickly. Don't let this opportunity pass you by. Read the details on the flyer below and book your date and time now! When I first started my photography business, I wanted and thought everything had to be perfect with regard to posing babies. I thought they had to lay a certain way, wear certain things, be wrapped, be placed in some type of prop, and be posed in usually unnatural type of poses. Even though, I never perfectly posed in a way that would bring harm to them as safety was and still is always my number one concern when photographing babies. However, earlier this year I started seeing more and more natural, lifestyle type of photography that really opened my eyes and thoughts that photography doesn't have to be perfect to create beautiful, lifelong memories for families. What really turned me around was when I purchased an online lifestyle newborn photography workshop. After watching and studying that lifestyle type of photography, I absolutely fell in love with it and began to totally change my way of thinking and realizing it was okay to photograph babies and families in their own natural, real-life environment capturing true raw emotion through connecting with each other, with very little guidance from me. What an overwhelming burden that was lifted from me. No more cumbersome and sometimes heavy props to pack up, unload, set up and then load back in. No more "perfect" posing. It was such a release and a freeing feeling. Now, all I need to take with me is my camera. Since making the change to lifestyle photography, I have been updating my website and have been removing most of my previous posed images and replaced them with a mom looking down on her newborn or children making muffins in the kitchen or playing cards or just babies just as they are. I am a proponent of baby-led posing now. Photographing lifestyle in the home is just so easy, natural, relaxing and fun. The switch from posed to lifestyle was really a no-brainer. It's the best decision I have made in my photography business. It just opens up many more doors, for example, adding families. Previously, I was only shooting maternity and newborns and sometimes the mom and dad with the baby, but not really the entire immediate family. Now, it's just so much more comfortable knowing no one has to look perfect, no one has to be put in stiff poses and no more staring straight into the camera and saying, "cheese." In fact, it will be rare if I ask you to look at the camera. If I am just photographing the baby at the time and your toddler comes running and jumps on the bed, that's great! I'll capture it. That is real life, raw emotion and, most importantly, connecting with one another. Lifestyle is more like a storybook rather than a book of stiff poses. Are you ready to create your own storybook? Great! Click on the button below now so we can get started on telling your story and creating an heirloom of your visual history that will be passed down from generation to generation.
DreamWorld Photography is so excited to announce we are expanding our services. In addition to capturing your maternity, fresh 48 and newborn photos, you can now include your family portraits, all in the lifestyle setting of your own home and/or even outside if you love your front or backyard.
I absolutely love the lifestyle genre of photography. Families don't have to feel awkward in traditional, stiff, look at the camera posing. With lifestyle, you never have to worry whether you or your children are looking and smiling at the camera. I probably won't ask you to look at the camera at all except for a very few shots. Lifestyle is all about connection - connecting in a natural way and, of course, having fun while doing it! Those will be the best and the most memorable images we will capture. Below is a lifestyle example of a family with children baking and playing cards with their mom. Are you ready to capture your real life and make lifetime visual histories of your family? In celebration of this new service, we are offering a limited edition session on Saturday, July 6, 2019 with only six slots available. You must live in Manatee or Sarasota County, Florida to take advantage of this offer. Follow the instructions on the flyer below and let's get you and your family booked.
Patti specializes in lifestyle Maternity, Fresh 48 and Newborn photography and now families. If you are ready to book or chat about your photo session with Patti at DreamWorld Photography, click the "Let's Start a Conversation" box below or call Patti directly at 941.405.3309.
We only take a limited number of clients each month. Will you be one of them? We hope so. We look forward to hearing from you soon. |