I was working on some blog entries for this week and thought that I would take a minute and share with you what Father’s Day means to me.  This will be a photo-less blog entry *GASP* but hey, it’s late, and well my photo drive is downstairs and I am NOT planning on getting out of bed to get it!  How’s that for lazy for you?  LOL

I am not sure how many of you out there actually read our blogs, sometimes it feels like I am typing to the world that has no time to read anymore.  But I wanted to take a minute to share with you what this day means to me and the value of the men involved in it.

I was blessed 35 years ago to be born, along side my identical twin sister, to a man that has always been there for me.  I lived a blessed and very wonderful life with both my mom and dad and sisters.  We always had everything we needed.  We always had love and two parents that loved each other.  My dad has always worked his butt off to provide for his family and while he couldn’t always be there to play or spend his days in the sun, he provided for his family in a way that allowed my mom to always be there during the time he couldn’t.  That is hard to come by these days and I appreciate more then he knows how hard he worked for us, especially now as a mother.  I know what he sacrificed so that he could allow my mom to be home with us.

My dad has also always had this strong sense of honesty, sincerity, empathy, and a genuine way about him that makes everyone just love him.  He is honest with you no matter what.  He ran his businesses with complete honesty.  He has this strong sense of moral being that is also so very hard to come by these days.  He isn’t the buggy, touchy, kissy, feely type of dad.  He isn’t going to reach over and grab you and squeeze you.  But as a kid, when I needed that hug, he was always willing to give it.  He has always been that man that I look up to and that man that I trust his opinion on everything.  He is loved by many, including all the kids on his bus routes.  I think that alot of my personality actually comes from my dad and I am actually very proud to say that.  He has always taught me to be me, to be true to me and make no apologies for who I am.  Thats how he lives his life today and so many people love him and respect him for that.  It can make you a little nutty when you know dad’s coming over and something isn’t done the way he would have done it.  But overall, I am very proud to call my dad, my dad.  Thanks Dad for all that you have done for me and taught me and passed on to me.  I promise, when I get old and my husband calls me Andy, I will accept that with pride!

Father’s Day also has another special meaning to me.  Almost 15 years ago, I picked up a second dad, my father – in – law.  He and my husband are so much alike that some times it is scary and there are moments when my husband will get called Jim, because there is just no other way to express it.  My father in law has always been a very sincere man.  Heck, I have known him since I was 12 years old, can you believe that! My father in law is the opposite of my dad when it comes to hugs.  He can’t always help it, he just has to grab you and hug you and make sure you know that he loves you.  I can’t even tell you how many times my father in law has told me how happy he is to have his sons marry two women that he thinks so highly of.  That is also something that not many people are blessed to hear.  He always asks how I am and he is always the first to offer me any help, any help at all, just to make my life a little easier that.  He loves my children and will do anything he possibly can to help me with them.  He walks them to school, even in the rain!  I think this Father’s Day was most special for me because I get to see Jim in a whole new light through the eyes of my daughter.  He and Evelyn are the best of friends.  She just LOVES her Pa!  She even leaned in and offered him a kiss today when she saw him and everyone knows, those are not easily given away!  And I can tell you that the infatuation goes both ways.  I am so happy, and so proud to be a part of this family and to have my children get a chance to know their grandpa.  Happy Father’s Day to my second dad, you keep me sane in ways you will never know and your hugs are always welcome!

The third man in my life on this Father’s Day is my husband, Brad.  He and I have known each other since I was 12 and he was 13.  We are middle school sweethearts.  We have always loved each other and always will. We have been married almost 15 years and 3 kids later, we still love each other more each day.  When I said it was time to have kids, he was not exactly thrilled. LOL  Since then, we have had two boys and a daughter and they love their father very, very much.  I finally get to see Father’s Day through the eyes of my children.  This day may not have the same meaning for them yet, but one day it will.  One day they will also reflect on their father like I am today and they will remember him as a man that works endlessly to provide for his family and allow me to be home with them.  They will remember a man that spends his every free moment from work with them.  He plays with them, he swims with them, he plays his god awful music for them (I have officially lost that battle), he does projects with them, he spoils them with McDonalds when mom is out on photo shoots, he takes them to fun places like Air-time and the Metro Beach.  He essentially devotes his every free minute to them.  He doesn’t have hobbies. He doesn’t play golf or go to the gym.  He gets up every Saturday and Sunday more before the family and goes for his runs, showers, and drinks his coffee before anyone wakes up just so he can let me sleep in and not have to take any time away from the time he has with the kids to do those things.  Life isn’t always perfect and sometimes the boys drive him absolutely nuts, but that is the way life is sometimes.  One day they will reflect upon their childhood and see a man that hugs them, kisses them, tucks them into bed every single night, and loves them the best ways he knows how.  I am proud of my husband, not only for how far he has come, and not only for how hard he works, but I am also proud of him for the father he is to our children.  I love you Brad, thank you for being the best Father to my children that anyone could ever ask for.

That is what Father’s Day means to me.  So if you read this and feel inspired to share what Father’s Day means to you, I would love to hear it.  It is nice to know that someone reads my thoughts and hopefully many of you can relate.  Share with me your stories.  Tell me what Father’s Day means to you.

Good night to all!  XOXO!

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here Happy Father’s Day!!.

Monthly pictures are definitely commitment!  It isn’t always easy to find time once a month to get meet up with us and come up with something new to do but the effort is so very worth it.  It is one of the packages offered in our newborn packages. If you are someone that loves to see the growth of your child captured each month to keep a record of his first year, this package is for you!  Babies change sooooo much during that first year.  You start with a fresh newbie lump of love and then you see the first smile, the first time they can hold their heads up, the first time they can sit by themselves, the first time they stand unsupported and then crawling and walking.  It is amazing to see the changes just month to month let alone of the span of one year!  The babies also have a chance to get to know me and feel comfortable with me as each month passes.  This allows for easier picture taking because they already have a level of familiarity with me.  If you are having a baby recently, this would be a great package to consider.

Baby Jude has been seeing us just since Easter and his 5th month birthday and he has grown so much in that little bit of time already!  I look forward to seeing this little guy every month and I will be sad for his first birthday to come and go!  Thanks to Jude and his mom and dad for sticking it out and continuing to visit me every month!  See you at 8 months!

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here 7 Month Old Jude.

We photograph at Yates fairly often in the fall, but this location is great all year long!!  This year we had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful High School senior at Yates on a very cold but very beautiful snowy day.  Clients seem to only considering Yates for fall family sessions, so if you haven’t seen it in the spring and summer, here is your chance.  (We think you’ve been missing out!)

A couple of weekends ago we had the pleasure of meeting a family at Yates for their family photos.  This family visits Yates each fall, so what a perfect place for us to capture some images for them to cherish!  The weather was beautiful, as was the scenery.  We really enjoy photographing near water and Yates is a great spot for that, as you’ll see from some of the peeks from the session here on the blog.

Yates Cider Mill – Sneak Peeks!

Ready to book a session at Yates?  Give us a call, drop us an email, or even pay us a visit on Facebook!  We book up quickly, so don’t delay and miss out on this fantastic weather!!

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here Spring at Yates Cider Mill.

Our most favorite place of all time has been George George Park.  This park has everything you could possibly want in color and texture.  It has every element that every client wants.  There is a great bridge, water features, rolling lawns, trees, rocks and plenty of shade.  Here is a picture I took this weekend while waiting for our first morning client.

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Another new favorite of ours, well an oldie but goodie, is Yates Cider Mill. We recently visited Yates and it was absolutely gorgeous for a “summer” location.  The fall, not so much because of the crowds.  But Yates was absolutely gorgeous for spring/summer photos.  It also has fantastic elements with the woods, the river, the very cool looking fences and some of the Yates buildings also make for a great backdrop.  I don’t recommend this location in the fall since it is clearly their busy, busy time of year.  But for the other seasons, this place will do well for those of you looking for a location in the Rochester area.  Take a look below at one of the images I captured this past weekend.

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Our third most favorite place to visit is Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farms in Rochester.  Up until recently, it was our go to place for our Rochester friends. Sadly, they are now charging a $50 photography permit to use the premises.  If it is a place that you wish to visit with us, unfortunately, that cost will be upon the client. Here is a lovely picture of the lilacs that I happened to capture as we were wrapping up our shoot from that day.

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Sooooo what else do you have for me?  I am open to suggestions and enjoy finding new places to frequent.  As I am sure everyone else is ready for new scenery as well.  Send me a link, post a picture on our facebook page, Please SHARE Happy Thursday!!

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here Location Location Location.

Just a little picture to put a smile on your face :0)

www.captureamomentphoto.com

Today I thought I would share with you a couple of businesses that I know of, follow, use, refer to, etc.  I hope that you are then inspired to link up and share with me your business. Not all of the fabulous people below are mama’s but it doesn’t make them any less fabulous.

Michigan Home Mommy Works

Michigan Home Mommy Mag

Cake by Olivia

Tonia’s Stampin Up

Giant Cupcake Smash Cakes

Bargains To Bounty

It’s So Me Boutique

Kids In Distress

J&P Molter

Cerwin Consulting LLC

Regina M. Franco, PLLC

Kyrsten Niemiec PLLC

Baby Elephant Designs

Max & Ollie’s Vintage Boutique (LOVE THEM!)

This list is not the end, just a few that I visit and have used in the past or are friends of mine.  Also, so of them may not be moms so to speak but they are all incredible people! I am hoping to be able to make this list longer and longer, so help me.  Comment and Link up your biz!

Here is a list of Blogs that I frequent or follow on Facebook.  I am sure you will quickly see the Mom trend here as well.

Food Babe (Just started following her. LOVE IT!)

Michigan Home Mommy Works 

The Coconut Mama

The Marketing Mama

Nifty Mom

Crunchy Betty  (My true Inspiration into the world of make my own beauty care products!)

Ramblings of a Suburban Mom (Love this lady’s sense of humor and her HOT hubby, hehe

Centsless Deals

Paint The Moon Photoshop Actions and Photography Tools (Can’t even say enough about her photography AND her tools.  Fabulous!)

I have a crazy long list of people that I follow, read, like and LOVE.  I don’t get to read about everyone of them but when I need something or need inspiration, I know I can rely on my network to get me just what I need.  So lets continue this network, make it bigger, Larger, AMAZING!  And lets be sure to pass our biz on to other fabulous mama’s and home grown Michigan Businesses.  So Link up, comment, do whatever you need to do to be added to my list.  I promise to follow it up with another blog down the road.  Maybe we will make it a feature or something.  Who knows.  Nite, Nite to you all!  Happy Wednesday People!

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here Link Your Business!.

Recently, I found a new facebook page designed for Michigan Moms that work from home or have businesses based out of their homes.  Needless to say, I was intrigued.  I am a mom that works from home, after all Capture A Moment Photography started from the office of my home and I forced Jen to do it with me.  Yup, twisted her arm and everything.  For the first couple of years, we ran our businesses out of our homes.  Obviously we met with our wonderful clients at their homes or nearby parks. But a majority of all the work takes place in our homes.  We do most of our editing at home, our phone calls from home, the work that is needed to deliver all of those wonder images, yup, done at home. Why do we do most of our work from home?  Because we want to have the opportunity to be there for our children.  In order for us to be successful at what we do, we have had to rely on our mom based networks and that is how Capture A Moment Photography came alive.

Michigan Home Mommy Mag is just another extension of that Mom Network for us.  It is a place to advertise our biz, to learn more about other Michigan businesses and find new connections with new Michigan moms.  At the end of the day, us Michigan Moms are just trying to do the best we can for our families.  Us Moms gotta stick together.

So be sure to check out Michigan Home Mommy Works blog, facebook page and Online Magazine and join them! LIKE THEM! FOLLOW THEM! Let me know what you think!  Let me know what else you would like to see!  Happy Tuesday!!

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here Michigan Moms.

The picture below is a great example of just this theory. The kids in the pictures are mine and my niece and nephews.  So before you get mad at me for picking on kids or their families, I have a right, it is my family.  We had the great idea to take pictures of the “grandkids” for my mom for Mother’s Day in their Tigers outfits.  My mom is a Tiger-a-holic!  And she needed new and updated pics of her grandkids.  What else could have been a better idea?!?!? Anything ELSE!   You see, when you are the photographer and they all know your every button, they don’t exactly participate in the way you had imagined when you got together with your sisters and came up with this bright idea.  Here is a great example of how almost all photo shoots with more then one child goes…

www.captureamomentphoto.com

Pretty much every session with a child and even more often with more children, someone ends up crying, for some reason. ALWAYS!  If this happens to you, rest assure, it happens to every one.  PERIOD.

If you get lucky, at some point, you will get your picture.  But parents, lets not be picky here.  If they are all looking at the camera, and no one is crying, be happy. Be VERY happy!  There was only ONE picture in the entire set of images that turned out this way.  And let’s face it, I was hot, tired, and my throat was completely dry from begging, whistling, barking, meowing, sneezing and what ever, you name it, I tried it.  You get what you get and you don’t have a fit!  That applies to me too! LOL

www.captureamomentphoto.com

What does this have to do with Pinterest you say?  Well, I guess it is the point that sometimes these funny images are better then the perfectly edited, everyone smiling and looking like they love each other images. And from our Pinterest board with just such images, these are hard to come by.  I wish, no I hope, that you read this and share with me some of your outtakes.  Because I enjoy them.  I really do.  They inspire me and give me hope and actually make me feel better.  How?  Well after my throat has dried up from making every possible noise known to man, including discussing the sounds that come from other parts of your body and still not everyone smiles, I at least know you appreciate it too.  Sooooo, when you pin something or find something on Pinterest, make sure to Pin the ones that make you smile and there better be at least a few that are just simply silly!  Happy Pinterest Pinning!

If you haven’t already, join us on Pinterest and follow us for Pete’s Sake!   Get with it, right now!  And if you want to take a chance with your kids and getting some fabulous images, call us today to make your appointment!  586-646-8189!

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here Pinterest Thursday! Funny Outtakes.

I truly believe that it is important to document the growth of each new baby throughout their first year.  They change the most during those first few months and it is a time in life that you will only vaguely remember.  We as parents believe that we will always remember every little detail but sadly that just can’t be true.  The little details of daily and monthly life become blurred and blended into years and as they age and we age, we lose some of those precious memories.  A child grows, learns, explores and changes daily. The monthly shoots with Leo give us all a chance capture his cute little essence each month.  His smile without teeth, how he doesn’t quite sit up but almost rolls over.  All these little things are now captured forever and we are proud to be a part of that!

We offer multiple packages for you to have the chance to capture every moment possible during that first year with your newest member of your family.  Our packages are as flexible as we are and we truly want to make sure you get every image you could possible want for that year. If you are expecting or your freshie was just born, contact us today and set up your appointment for your first shoot!  After that we can discuss a package that will work best for you and your little one for the next year.

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here Five Month Baby Photo Shoot with Leo.

The other day I had the pleasure of photographing one of the sweetest little girls, and some of the session I did in the natural light in the front photography room.  I swear the most recent chair I picked up was made specifically for little girls and one of our favorite printed green backdrops.  We often keep that in the natural light room.  Part of photographing children is being flexible.  We always give them a little bit of control because a happy child makes for much better photos that a forced posed one.  So when she picked the couch in the waiting area, I rolled with it.  The lighting in there isn’t the greatest, and I didn’t have high hopes, but much to my surprise, I love them!  Apparently she has a good eye for a spot in natural light, even when I don’t see it at all.

She did fantastic and I think her mom is going to be pleased with the results.  Mom didn’t have high expectations, and figured one good shot was great, and two was even better, but unexpected.  I’m pleased to say that she will have a lot more than one good one to choose from.

If you haven’t seen our recently expanded space, NOW is the time.  We are booking up fast but the studio is a great place for when the weather doesn’t cooperate.  When it is too hot, when it is raining or when you don’t feel like chasing a child through the park.  Oh, and if you happen to find another cool chair that you think we should add to our collection, send us an email pronto.  We LOVE chairs!

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here Children’s Photography in the Studio.

Spring Sneak Peeks are finally here for this graduating senior, his girlfriend and his pretty adorable little sister.  I had an awesome opportunity to spend some time at our favorite George George Park this weekend.  It was fun getting a chance to meet this dynamic family.  Of course big brother was totally not interested in having his pictures taken but mom gave him no options.  And then little sister was more then willing to give me her award winning smile.  I had a great time with all of you and thank you very much for the opportunity.

It is amazing to watch how fast the world responds to the warmth of the sun!  The trees are blooming, the grass is turning green, the fountains are running.  It is a perfect time of year for pictures for this graduating senior and his little sister.  They were all so very willing to take a long walk out to the always amazing black bridge at the back of the park and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect.  Thank you for spending the evening with me at this beautiful park on this beautiful day!  Good Luck to you!

Now is the best time to book your senior session for your son or daughter.  Don’t wait until it is chilly and cold to set up this date. Now is the time, it is absolutely gorgeous outside.  Call today! 586-646-8189

Capture a Moment Photography services Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, and Souther St. Clair Counties.. Their work is quickly becoming recognized as some of the most creative portrait photography in the area. You can read the original blog post here Spring Sneak PEEKS!.