I Love This Family | Alton, Illinois Family Photography

I almost always blog the same day I shoot. Why? Because I can't stand it. I'm usually so giddy over my images that I HAVE to get home, download, and edit sneaks. It's just how I've always done it.

But this family... this family took some time. Because I just couldn't come up with a good enough description for them. I've completely fallen in love with them all. And photogenic doesn't even begin to cover it.

You might recognize Casey and her clan from my past posts about Relish Designs. We're neighbors, we're close friends, we'll some day be business partners I've no doubt. In short, I adore her/them. We met in Downtown Alton for a walk along antique row and had a freaking blast. You can't help but have fun when you're with them. Enjoy the hilarity. We sure did. ;)





Yes, I know the formatting is off! Pppppttttffffftttt!!!! I will be switching the Breathtaking Blog to Wordpress soonsoonsoon. In the mean time, I've LOVING these new storyboards.

Have a fabulous week!
Chantel

Happy Mother's Day | Alton Family Photographer

You know what I love about my mother?

Her chocolate brown eyes. The sound of her voice. The way her eyes crinkle when she smiles. The way she always can tell when I'm upset when I'm faking it for the rest of the world. And our relationship is complicated, to be sure. But I love her with my whole, entire being. And now that I have my own Six Pack I understand her so much better. I know now that mothers are just human beings- doing the very best they can to take care of and raise other human beings. We aren't perfect, we have many, many (many) flaws, and we fail... sometimes several times a day. But we love our children. Deeply. Fiercely. With a passion that takes our breath and raises the hair on our arms.

You know something else about mothers? We tend to lurk in the background. And for most purposes I'm just fine with that and in fact, do a fair amount myself of the backstage deck hand stuff. But when it comes to documenting your life with your children... I'm just not okay with that. Because someday you'll be gone. This is a fact of life we all must face.

Someday we won't be here.

All they will have left are the sweet memories in their head.

And the photographs.

So today I'm announcing a little giveaway over on the Breathtaking Facebook page. I don't care if you're overweight. I don't care if you don't like your hair. I don't care if you think "I take TERRIBLE pictures" (don't worry, I know how to make ya look GOOD!). Your kids don't care either. Someday they will open those old photo albums and point to your image and say "This was my mother and I loved her with all my heart". And they won't give a damn about anything other than your smile.

Yes, I may have little tears in my eyes. I'm such a sap.

So, go click "like" on Facebook here and tell me why the "mother" in your life needs a FREE session with me. It can be your sister, your wife, your best friend... or your mother. All that is required of her is that she be IN the images (you may NOT use this to shoot your kids or your newborn alone... you MUST be in them).

Here's what you need to do:

Upload an image of your nominee on the wall at Breathtaking's Facebook Page here. Then rally your friends and family to go and click "like" under the image. Comments of love are welcome and encouraged but only the "likes" count as votes. At 9am on Mother's Day, THIS Sunday, I will post the winner.

The fine print: This contest is open to anyone in the US but you must cover travel expenses if you're outside the St. Louis Metro Area or Dallas Metroplex. Dallas clients will be limited to certain shoot dates/times. Tell me a your nominees name and why she should win. At 9am on Sunday, May 9th (Mother's Day) I'll count the number of "likes" under each image and announce the winner! And I bet there will be a special little treat for ALL the nominees, too. ;)

So go like me! And then post about the woman in your life who needs to have her picture taken!!!! :)

Love,
Chantel

Little Miss I'm Not Having It | Children's Photography Alton Illinois

Oh, I've seen some toddlers throw some fits in my time. It's par for the course when working with babies and toddlers is your job AND you've got three under school age at home, too. So when Miss Keira showed up at her session last night with her "No pictures, please" attitude going on she didn't know that she'd met her match. Yet. ;)

Big brother Ben was AWESOME and Mama Kate brought her A-game. Together, we managed to talk Keira into a good mood and subsequently the sky opened up and gave us just a glimmer of beautiful evening sunlight. Thanks to all involved (mother nature included!) for these gorgeous images!

We shot in downtown Alton and my my my, I think I've found my new favorite location! Check it out:









Yummy light and some really fun locations down there!



Then we moved on down the road to a little park near my house. Ever heard of Haskell Park? It looks a little something like this:









Oh, she's a funny, funny baby!



Thanks Katie, it was WONDERFUL to see you and I adore your babies. What a freaking awesome job I have!

Love,
Chantel

15 years later.... | Alton, Illinois Family Photographer

What happens when you take this cute couple:



And add on 15 years of love? You get this, of course:











That's FIVE amazing, funny, lovable children and ONE happy marriage. It's a beautiful thing. :)





I loved seeing them all interact with each other. They have a lot of fun together.







That kiss we had to work for. 11 year olds are WAY too cool for kisses from Mom. ;)

Not too cool for THIS though:



And on that note, I'm getting ready for my second session of the day. Sneaks coming tomorrow! LOVE being busy again. :)

Lots of love!
Chantel

Relish the Moments | Alton, Wood River, Edwardsville, Jerseyville Children's Photographer

Casey of Relish Designs and I got together again this morning for a second modeling shoot. You can see the first one here. I'm always delighted to showcase her work and my children continue to put up with us forcing them into adorable clothing and running them around in gorgeous park settings while in no way allowing them to play on the playground equipment! Poor Nolan and Noah joined us this time and both got completely ripped off as far as playtime goes. Just as we finished, one of my twins fell and gashed the back of his head open. Head wounds bleed. A lot. He's okay but that was the end of our fun. No pictures of the carnage though. LOL

As usual we paired my Hannah and Casey's daughter Reece. I love the way their completely different colorings set off against each other (and Casey did an AMAZING job pairing their clothing for this shoot!)Reece is as fair and delicate as they come with her wide blue eyes and pale golden ringlets. Set against my daughter's flashy copper hair and cat-like topaz eyes they make quite the stunning pair. Or at least, we think so... though we might be slightly biased. ;)



The girls have really become best friends. A relationship I encourage both because I love Reece's Mama so much and because Reece is the sweetest, most well behaved child I've ever met. She was born grown, as Casey likes to say.



Isn't that yummy? The light was NOT perfect today but when I snapped that image something magical happened! Another of her beautiful sapphire eyes



The bestie, looking annoyed with Mom and stunning even with crazy, wind whipped hair



She was not amused with me today... ;) That dress is a new design of Casey's that she made specifically for Hannah (I get paid for these modeling sessions in clothing!!!). It's called, of course, the "Hannah"!

This is Nolan:



He is Reece's little brother and man is he a sweetheart. I nearly grounded my children for being mean to him last night. Don't be mean to my little Nolan. *growl*





Notice the bow tie? Casey MAKES those. And she makes regular ties, too. Noah doesn't want to give it back:





I swear we keep modeling sessions fun and enjoyable for all involved. No children were bored in the making of this blog post...



Love the designs you see here? In addition to sewing both dresses and making the ties, Casey put together the entire cast of outfits you see. Everything from the hats to the shoes to the coordination across the outfits was created by Casey (you should see her beautifully decorated HOUSE!) Check her out on Etsy Facebook or at her Blog. And tell her Breathtaking sent you! I promise you will NOT be disappointed in your purchases!

Levi | Alton, Illinois Baby Photographer

Sweet, darling baby Levi. I lurve his little self. I've known his Daddy since we were in, what, middle school? Levi is the spitting image of his father and it cracks me up every time he grins at me. I could snuggle him all day and today I got the chance. Well, he had to take frequent Milk breaks but what 3 month old doesn't? And, as usual, my last shot was my absolute fave.....

Is this not perfect? I adore the name on the wall concept.



She's a beautiful Mama. :)

Okay, Mr. Serious, let's get this party started!



How about a smile? Pretty please?



That's more like it!





Dude, I promise the bear is NOT going to eat you!



Not convinced?



Ok then, we can be done for the day. But I'll be back. Oh yes my little friend. I'll be back.

Love,
Chantel

Relish Designs+Breathtaking Photography=Awesome | Alton, Illinois Children's Photographer

Here's an example of what happens when beautiful design meets good photography on a gorgeous model:



This is the same darling creature from the snow sessions. Her Mama, Casey, and I went to high school together. As fate would have it, I landed just a block or so away from her when we moved back. And as fate would also have it, she and I have a ton in common and have been spending plenty of time hanging out. In fact, I'm not sure we've gone longer than 48 hours without getting together since we moved!

And as you can see above, she's an extremely talented seamstress! I'm always awed by crafty people. She had an "idea" for a dress the other day. Just a concept, mind you. And a few days later I went over there and this had been born:



And it does this:



Yes, my daughter is begging for one just like it, too. And I may or may not have commissioned a similar style for myself for this summer. ;) It's so soft and comfy looking, I couldn't help myself.

Meet Casey of Relish Designs! She's talented, very sweet, and super easy to work with. Her Facebook page is here, so click and fan her and just wait... we're cooking up fun stuff to come....