Mighty for Madison: Support Small Business (and a Family) in Your Community

I’ll never forget that first nice day of Spring in March, when it was 75 and windy. I spent it at the Golisano Children’s Hospital celebrating Maddie and her purple hair. She’s lost it by now.

Maddie is just about 6 years old, and recently diagnosed with Leukemia. She’s smart and fun, and she may be small, but she is mighty.

Her parents run the kid oriented business, Spotlight Performing Arts Studio, which is how we met several years ago. We’re all members of the local merchants association.

Maddie is already deep into treatment, and they expect to be in the hospital for the next 5-6 months. John and Kaitlyn also have a little boy, Jackson.

As parents, all of this is hard to fathom. We did what we felt we could, but there’s such a long road ahead and they could use all the support we as a community can give.

It’s been awhile since I shot this session for them, but their needs remain the same. Please join us in supporting these beautiful people while they go through the impossible.

Here are some ways you can help:

Sign up for the meal train: https://www.mealtrain.com/trains/40oeg7

Donate to their gofundme page: https://gofund.me/7839e43d or give directly on venmo @kaitlyn-barthelmes

Family Pictures in Fairport NY at Fellows Road Park

From their engagement session to their wedding. Then from one newborn session, to family portraits with two little kids.

You might not know it, but there’s often a lot of chasing involved when you photograph toddlers in family pictures.

The chase and the hard work makes it feel so rewarding when we actually capture that one moment when everyone is happy, interacting and smiling.

Are these four the cutest or what?

Fairport NY Senior Pictures: Alicia, Class of 2022

Alicia has to be one of the sweetest high school seniors I have ever worked with on senior pictures.

She’s always up for anything, down to earth, and multitalented too! For her senior pictures at the Webster Arboretum, she rocked everything from her field hockey pinny to her prom dress. But don’t let those kind eyes fool you, from what I understand, she is pretty fierce on the field at Fairport High School!

Thanks for a fun night capturing your senior portraits, Alicia, and cheers to what’s next!

-Lori

Family Pictures at Seneca Park: Rochester NY Family Portraits

The setting at Seneca Park was perfect for fall family pictures in Rochester NY.

This cutie pie two year old had his fill of playing in the leaves with his family, including his uncle and grandparents. Throwing the leaves at each other and being silly together provided some great opportunities for candid family pictures.

Alongside the leafy fun, there were also some posed family pictures included in their set. Their fall colored wardrobe worked perfectly with the colorful October trees.

Say hello to this cute family if you know them!

Also, huge “thank yous” go out to Shauna from SLZ Photography for her assistance in making this session happen!

Family Portrait Mini Session Events

Candid Fall Family Portraits at Chase Farms

Our last October mini session event went on rain or shine. Because it was all about the Halloween costumes!

It’s a moment in childhood that parents can never do justice on their iphones in the dark on Halloween night. The kids are too hyped up to stand still. It’s dark out. The pictures are always a blurry mess. All of this is why this event is one of our most popular fall mini session events.

Our families are so creative when it comes to their Halloween costumes, and we love taking these unique family pictures.

Some families opted for a traditional candid family mini session (ie. sans costumes), and that’s ok too. Your family pictures, your call!

Want to learn more about our candid mini session events? The 2022 schedule should be dropping soon, so go check it out!

Candid Mini Sessions in Fairport NY

Apple Farm Family Pictures

My son reminded me this morning that technically, according to the calendar, it’s still Fall until December 21st. So this blog post about fall family sessions is absolutely, 100% NOT late.

It might be a bit more blustery than these apple picking candid mini sessions in September were though. Apple picking is basically THE fall family activity in Rochester NY, right? We plan an apple picking candid mini session event every year, and it’s always one of the first to sell out.

This year we met a few new families and chased a few new kids around the apple orchard at Schutts Apple Farm and also at The Apple Farm in Victor NY. The family pictures we capture at these events are always some of my favorites, every single year.

If you’re interested in learning more about our Candid Mini Session events, we’d love to chat with you!

Family Pictures at Sunken Gardens in Rochester NY

3 Month Old Pictures

Family pictures with a 3 month old aren’t always this easy. This little love was content to observe the world around her and accept all of the snuggles from her wonderful, albeit tired (she is only a 3 month old after all) parents.

Sometimes we shot candid family pictures of the three of them, other times we tried to get her to smile. There’s a magical power that most mom's have. It’s the ability to make your own 3 month old grin in her second portrait session. It was the first time I’d seen it happen in real life, and my heart can’t take the sweetness.

I mean, seriously, look at these - can your heart handle it?

High School Senior Model Session

Molly's Inspired Senior Portraits in Fairport NY

Non-traditional senior pictures that were outside the normal box, this senior portrait session was really unique!

Molly brought a strawberry dress and her personal vibe to this Fairport senior session. As we worked together, it really felt more like we were creating art rather than senior portraits.

I think I’ll let her Senior pictures do the rest of the talking!

Congratulations Molly, and thanks for trusting Lori and Erin Photography with your vision!

Keuka Lake Senior Portrait Session

Cassidy's Penn Yan Senior Pictures

Ahh, Fall senior pictures are the best. The weather is cool, and the colors are vivid.

Cassidy is a Penn Yann Academy Class of 2021 senior. She lives in the heart of wine country with Keuka Lake right down the street, which made a gorgeous backdrop for her senior portraits.

She was excited to show off her new tattoo, a subtle line of text on her arm. I was glad to celebrate your senior year, and this milestone with you in such a beautiful setting!

Congratulations Cassidy!

Carly's Sunken Garden, Senior Pictures in Rochester NY

Carly is a Class of 2021 high school senior at Gates Chili High School.

We visited the Sunken Gardens in Rochester NY for her senior pictures. When you look at Carly, you can’t miss those eyes! Gorgeous inside and out, this volleyball playing high school senior is bound for great things.

I so enjoyed her senior portrait session! If you’ve been following the blog, she may actually, look familiar. That’s because we photographed senior pictures for another member of her family recently! Check out her sister, Lexie, and her senior pictures from last year!

Enjoy Senior Year, Carly!

Bryce's Golf Senior Portraits at Cobblestone Creek Country Club

Bryce is a high school senior at McQuaid High School. He was eager to include his passion in his senior portraits. He is a fierce competitor with a golf course in his backyard, so it was an obvious answer to the question of “where should we take our senior pictures?”

We wandered the course for a mix of traditional senior portraits and also some unique action shots.

And how about that field of black eyed susans? Swoon!

Congratulations on your senior year at McQuaid, Bryce!

Candid Family Mini Sessions: St. Patricks' Day Scavenger Hunt

One thing’s for sure - the family pictures we take at our candid mini session events are nothing if they’re not real. We plan the events, and essentially hope for nice weather. While it was sunny for our Pot of Gold Scavenger hunt, it was also pretty windy.

But that didn’t stop our family portrait members from bringing their “A” game to the Leprechaun Trap contest.

One of the values behind the portrait membership program centers on the idea of doing something together.
While we couldn’t photograph each family at home making these amazing traps, we know it was an activity they’ll remember doing together. Especially when they look back at their family pictures with their trap, and on the scavenger hunt as a family.

Time spent together is more important to us than the perfect family picture. This is why we believe that our candid mini sessions make sense for your next family portrait session. You can actually read more about that here!

Congrats to the winners of our contest - The Miller family!

Check out our next event here, we’re going to give back for Earth Day and we’d love to have you join us!