Flowers at the Zoo

Just a fun shot I loved & thought worth posting. We had a family day and took our son to the zoo a couple weeks ago. While my hubby took him through an aviary I stayed outside to shoot these gorgeous blossoms dangling from the trees. I took plenty of animal pictures too of course but this is the one that really jumped out at me!

The Derakhshanians

Here is the Derakhshanian family as promised... and you thought my last name was long! Natasha & I are in the long-last-names club. It's very exclusive. ;o) I met up with the fam in mid-December for this great outdoor shoot on the Plaza. Some might call them a bunch of ham bones... and I would have to agree. It was a really nice day and everyone had a blast being goofy and playing it up for the camera. All shoots are meant to be this fun!

Here is Grandmother. I think she is just beautiful. The camera loves Nily
Guess who the biggest ham is?
Here I got a couple shots of some Plaza window-shopping. I love her red scarf & Natasha & Nily are so cute!
These have got to be the greatest steps in the city. I love how they're all striking a pose.
Overlooking the steps. You can see the string of the famous Plaza lights. I love the warm evening light as they look at.... um... I hope they're not staring at the sun...

At the top of the steps under the pretty arched gate.

Wait a minute... is there room for the photographer in there??
I saw a sign inside a Gap window that said "EMBRACE" so I grabbed Natasha & said "hug someone!"

The Pyle Family

Here we are at the Kauffman Legacy Park with the Pyle family in mid-November. I'm overdue getting this on my blog! This was such a fun family to photograph. They loved making each other laugh & tried their best to crack each other up during their pictures. Hey, I'm glad we got some natural smiles! ;o) Thanks guys for giving me a laugh too!!

The silliness:

And the seriousness:



Okay, who's trying to make these girls laugh?! ;o)

The Smith Family

We headed to Loose Park on this gorgeous fall day to meet up with the Smith family. Dawn's sister & her kids stopped by briefly for the big family photos on the bridge. I love the bridges at Loose Park and Dawn had to have water so we decided this would be the perfect place. And thankfully, the leaves hung on just long enough for this weekend of pictures! The next week all the leaves were totally gone!

I picked out some of my favorites to share. They are such a strong, close-knit family. The love shines through! :o)

Here is the whole group. I love how this shot turned out with them all stair-stepped. We didn't even plan it that way.

The love birds. ;o)

Father & son having a laugh in a candid moment.

The Opfer Family

For this fun little family session I ventured up to north Kansas City to the Opfer family's lovely home in the suburbs. We spent some time outdoors in the chilly morning air for these shots in their cute backyard.

We attempted family shots with their adorable and playful dog Tanner, but he was just waaaay too excited to be outside! We couldn't contain him! :o)

The Purdon Family

On this gorgeous fall day a couple weeks ago we went to Loose Park for family photos. We went all over from the rose garden to the pond. And lots of trees! Dad called the kids a bunch of monkeys because they all requested shots by/on/near/under the trees, but they turned out great!

Hope you enjoy them too!

The Tate Family

This is the Tate family having fun on the Country Club Plaza on the 20th. It was a warm Fall day for pictures and this was such a sweet and relaxed family that it made for a wonderful shoot. (you can click the photos to enlarge them slightly for a clearer view!)

Every little kid loves to swing!

It was early on this Saturday morning before the Plaza got too crowded & restaurants opened so it very nearly felt like we had the place to ourselves.

I love this shot of them by the fountain. I'm not really sure what they're looking at but it's such a nice moment. Love the expressions & the blue water. :o)

These eyes! What else can I say? They speak for themselves!