Last night I got to hang out with and photography some of my favorite Colorado kiddos and their farm animals! I have a billion sessions to blog. OK, not really a billion. More like 30. But still…!  I’m not much of a writer, I rather like to speak through portraits. But I’ve been told I need to write “at least 200 words” when I blog in order to reap the benefits of a blog, which is to bring more viewers to my main website, and ultimately, more lovely families like this to photograph. Soooooo, instead of blogging at least 200 words, I’ve been opting to blog zero words. Ha ha ha!! But thankfully, this awesome family’s session was enough to put me over the edge and blog. How many words am I at now? LOL!  For real though, I’ve been doing family photography sessions for these awesome people since the baby was born 5 years ago. They’ve always been troopers and made the drive down to Denver to see me. This time, I came up to their farm in Fort Morgan and boy am I glad I did. It was SO much fun! They have alpacas, goats, horses and donkeys. And 3 rough and tumble farm boys and a gorgeous farm girly.  I enjoyed taking portraits of each of the kids with their special animal. Sailor and CC the mare, Pilot and Brownie the goat, Bodhi and Luke the gelding, and Rocket with Taco the donkey. I’ve been enjoying traveling to various parts of Colorado this summer for family photography. I was recently in Estes Park, CO and Breckenridge, CO to shoot family photography sessions for some of my visiting St. Louis families. I’ll have to share those soon.

I know I say this a lot, but THE very best thing about being a family photographer is getting to watch “my kids” grow.  I started photographing Jackson and Mia when they were newborns. And their parents have trusted me with their portraits at least once a year ever since. Sometimes more than once a year. For some reason, I get a lot of family photography clients with twins. Maybe it’s because my family photography is based on connections and there really isn’t anything more special or amazing than the connection between twins and multiples. Jackson and Mia are SO sweet together. Every year I keep thinking “this is the last time they are going to be this sweet and cooperative. Surely they will start to fight someday!”  But every year, they show up with smiles and giggles and inside jokes between them. I hardly have to pose them at all, they are just so naturally comfortable with each other. Here are a few favorites from their last session as well as a small sampling of years’ past.  To book your own family photography session visit www.eyesmiles.com  We are now scheduling for April in St Louis and March in Denver.

Be sure to like us on Facebook here and Instagram here

Interested in Laura capturing YOUR family? Click here

Photographers interested in workshops or workbooks click here

The “A Family” has been trusting me with their family’s memories since they moved here 3 years ago. It’s been a pleasure being their Denver Family Photographer and watching their boys grow over these past years. Now they are welcoming a baby sister into the family and I was really excited that they asked Eyesmiles Photography to document this beautiful and exciting time in their family with an exclusive Storyteller Film.  Capturing their family in traditional still portraits as their photographer AND creating a beautiful short film as their videographer was so, so fun!! I can’t wait to meet their baby girl this month where I will be their Denver newborn photographer. Please enjoy their Storyteller Film below as well as some of my favorite still portraits from their session.

Think you may be interested in a Storyteller Session? Some of the questions I’ve been asked about them:

Q: Our family doesn’t have a “thing” like baseball or horses as a theme for a film. How can we tell a story if we are boring?

A: Your story is in your relationships with one another!! You absolutely don’t have to have a “theme” beyond the fact that you are a beautiful, ever changing family of unique people who love each other. I think documenting who you are to each other, right now…today…is a wonderful “theme” for any film. Like the lyrics to one of my favorite songs “The years are flashing by and everything will change. But way down deep inside – we all just stay the same.”

Q: My kids can be turds for photos. How on earth will they behave for a film?

A: If you’ve ever had a session with me you already know this but I’ll say it anyway. My sessions are SO not like a normal photo session. We are relaxed, we have fun, we play games. And somehow, even when you think it’s going terribly, I always get amazing images. I’m finding the same goes for films. Yes, there will be tantrums if you have younger kids. Yes, your son may throw dirt on your daughter and she may punch him in the nose for it. But these less memorable moments can be edited out of your final film. Also, audio is not part of your final film, unless I want it to be in certain moments. So don’t worry about it. I purposely filmed “hard families” all summer so I would be prepared for anything. Families with lots of kids, families with lots of YOUNG kids, families with lots of kids AND dogs, families with kids with special needs… I’m READY for your family, I promise!

Q: How long does a Storyteller Session take? How can you get quality portraits and a quality film?

A: As I mentioned above, we have done this for many “harder” families and we are good! On some shoots, I have a second videographer and on others, I do it all myself. I am great at what I do and I/we can do a complete Storyteller Session in about 90 min, give or take a little depending on the age and number of the kids. But we’ve done families of up to 6 in 90 minutes.

For several days over the summer I had the pleasure, once again, to photograph the models for the 2016 Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show and Auction at my Denver Family Photography Studio.   These wonderful kids and young adults always have SO much fun getting professional headshots done and practicing their runway walks.  They are some of the bravest and strongest people I know.  With appearances every year by Jamie Foxx and his sister, DeOndra Dixon as well as other hollywood celebs and local sports celebs with huge hearts and ties to the Down Syndrome community, the annual Be Beautiful Be Yourself fashion show is THE place to be this November 12th! You can read more about the organization and event at www.bebeautifulbeyourself.org

If you are a Denver or St Louis community member and would like to learn more about an awesome opportunity to fund raise for your organization (school, church, charity, sports team, etc) through family photography, email me for more information about a really cool fundraiser project I’m offering.

I’ve been MIA the past month because I’ve been working SO hard on getting this new, exclusive session offering ready for you! New “Storyteller Sessions” are now available for booking! Portraits are a wonderful and concrete way to preserve your family’s memories. They make beautiful custom photo albums and priceless heirloom wall gallery pieces.  The Storyteller Session takes these memories one step further. We create a beautifully, custom edited short film of your family, and include it with your Storyteller Session. Want to remember that silly face that Joel made when he was annoyed with Bailey? Or the beautifully awkward gait of your blooming tween who is growing at the speed of light? The laughter of your kids when they were temporarily forgetting that they were supposed to be fighting over who’s turn it was to wash the dishes?

These family short films are exclusive  to Eyesmiles Photography in the Denver and St Louis metro areas. Because of their custom nature and the time involved to create them, we can only book a few each month. We are already booking them for as late as November so if you are at all interested in these, please contact us as soon as possible. If you have a session already booked for 2016 and would like to ADD a Storyteller film, please also let us know asap so we can be sure to plan enough time. Storyteller Sessions take approx 2 hours and result in 25-35 portraits AND your Storyteller Film.

Here is an example of a Family Storyteller Film. Enjoy!!

Since my younger son started ballet a few years ago, we’ve been blessed to meet so many wonderful friends. When one of our homeschool/ballet friends received that long awaited news that she was ready for pointe shoes, I had to help document that for her. My large, Denver natural light warehouse studio is the perfect place to showcase ballet dancers’ grace and strength.  I had miss M come in with her hair down and we photographed (and filmed-more on that later) with her hair down and while she prepped her hair and makeup. One of the things I love about ballet is the discipline required and the maturity and self-reliance that comes with it. I loved capturing miss M’s independence and pride as she prepped and put on her shoes. “No moms required”

Once she was ready, we captured dance portraits of her in action as well as some beautiful arabesque audition photos and dancer headshots. I also thought it was important to get some beautiful non-action posed portraits of her at this age. No doubt her beauty and talent will continue to grow and it will be such a wonderful heirloom keepsake to have when she is older.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to a new product/service I will be offering starting in late June. Storyteller Sessions result in, not only beautiful portraits, but a professionally, artistically edited short film of your dancer (or children or family).  I will be posting much more about these sessions soon. But in the meantime, you can enjoy miss M’s short film here:  Denver Dance Photographer- Miss M Short Film

If you have a young ballet dancer in Denver, especially one who is getting her first pair of pointe shoes soon, consider booking one of these personal ballet portrait sessions for her.  Flowers are a wonderful sentiment, but these images and film will be something to cherish for years and years to come.  Please email me at laura@laura-siebert.com to find out more information about Denver dancer photography Sessions.

One of the coolest things to do as a child and family portrait photographer is to “bring out the awesome” in each of my clients.  I feel like my job is 70% psychology/human interaction and 30% technical expertise.  I pride myself in being able to find that “spark” in even the most introverted people.  Everyone has that certain something that really brings out the spark. It might be a hobby you are passionate about or a special pet or talking about a loved one.  And when I click with someone and “IT” comes out, I know I’ve done my job as a portrait photographer.  Usually it’s a subtle shift in a person’s outward expressions but it’s there and I notice it.  On a recent trip to St Louis to shoot some family and child photography sessions, I encountered such a cool shift I had to share.  I’ve been photographing Miss Merus since she was 2 years old. She is a sweet, quiet, thoughtful  little soul and has always required a little coaxing to bring out that inner light in photographs.  When she shines, she really shines (you can see her inner light in the Mothering Magazine cover).  But here’s the really cool part. When she was 6, her mom was happily surprised and blessed with twin daughters. Little sisters for Merus.  During our last session, I was photographing Merus alone and having a little trouble letting her light out.  Until I asked her to help with her sisters.  Oh it was so beautiful to see her transition. Anyone can see that her “spark” is being a big sister. And she is such a great one. Look at the transition in her photographs from the beginning of the session to the sister part.