The McGinnae

'McGinnae' is the plural of 'McGinnis', right? If it's not, somebody please let me know.

Susan told the family she'd lined up a special activity for the day after Christmas and told everyone to wear black. They surmised that she'd set up a session of laser tag. Hopefully it didn't disappoint them too greatly when they realized they'd be spending an hour or so with me instead.

First up was what is known in the photography trade as a BOFP: Big 'Ol Family Picture-

Then we got some of the smaller groups:

I liked this next one in color and in B&W so I included it twice. It's my blog and I can do that if I want to...

Hopefully the family finally made it over for that Laser Tag session. And if they did, I further hope that the grandmas kicked some serious butt.

The New Kid!

Sure, we're thrilled that our third child was born healthy and (relatively) happy, but why can't it ever be more convenient for me?

Antonia Lucienne Vontz was born on December 24th at 8:14 a.m. Six pounds and seventeen inches. "Antonia" was the fictional name given to my great, great grandmother Annie Pavelka by Willa Cather for her novel "My Antonia". Lucienne was the name of my wife Angel's great Aunt for whom her mother Lucy was named.

After a long and, for me -- isn't it all about the dad anyway? -- mostly sleepless night Antonia made her debut and I got to hold her for the first time (thanks to my mom Bonnie for the skillful camera work):

Then it was time for ALV's first close up. She, not unlike her brother and sister, is a little camera shy:
Also, not unlike her brother and sister, she has hands (I'm tired and running out of clever things to write here):

Because I'm a pro and this is what I do (and because I'm much, much bigger than her) I was able to get a picture of her without her hands in front of her face:Later that day, the kids got to come up to the hospital to meet their sister for the first time. A beaming Emma Cate holds her little sister for the first time:

Then it was Owen's turn. You might not be able to tell it from the picture but he's decidedly less impressed than Emma Cate with the baby. Could be because he knows that he's now out-numbered:

Of course he became a little more interested when he realized that Emma Cate wanted to hold her again and, because she was holding the baby and that's the way it works with siblings, he decided to show interest and try to take her back:

After two long days in the hospital under the skillful care of the good people at North Kansas City Hospital, Antonia finally made it home. And the kids finally got to open the last of their Christmas presents.
Many thanks to all the friends and family who have helped us so much to ease Antonia's transition homeward. We're blessed to have three beautiful children and to have so many people in our lives to help us deal with the realities of that circumstance.

G,A, T, M, G, C, & J

I grew up with the Sonnenberg boys so it's always a treat (and to be honest, a bit surreal) every time I get together with them to do pictures of their kids. The last time we attempted to get all the cousins together for a picture, Grant & Molly were Wee Ones. In the intervening two years Crews and Janey have been added to the mix. Since we were at Mike & Mandi's house (and Janey was less than two weeks old) the first order of business was to get a picture of their kids with the newest addition:
Then it was time for a few of Janey by herself:

And there were times, to be honest, when she wasn't too happy about it:

Then we worked on Crews:
And finally, the big daddy of them all:
Seven kids under the age of nine thank you very much. The personalities that show through were well worth the patience it took to get this shot.

Now that we got that covered I'll need the next two years to recuperate before we try it again...

The Myricks

Kami & Russell have bringing their kids in since their oldest, Keali, was 3 months old. Since then they've added Averi and Thurman to the mix and they've been great clients and featured on my website and studio walls ever since.

Kami wanted to something a little different for the holidays this year so we met early in the evening of the 7th for pictures featuring the plaza lights in the background:
Another with the kids acting a little more lively:

And one to prove that Thurman does in fact have a top to his head (apparently getting his cowboy hat off of his head is quite a feat):
Finally, the parents got into the act:

Thanks to the whole gang for getting together on a chilly December evening.

Lily & Adam

I have the honor of being with Lily & Adam at their Bar/Bat Mitzvah in February and to get ready we did a session in their backyard. Here they are acting more collegially than a brother and sister have any right to:

Lily jumped right in and was great in front of the camera:
Adam, on the other hand, wasn't as... eager to have his picture taken but he came around and we got some great shots. Of all of them, I think this one is the most "Adam":Another great one of the two of them together:
And one of them that I liked without really knowing why. Let's call it the prom picture:
Finally, putting the rope swing to good use. On second thought this one might be the most "Adam".

Thanks for a great afternoon guys. I'm really looking forward to being with you in February.

Michelle, Doug, Skylar, and Jiggs

Doug, Michelle, Skylar, and, Jiggs the miniature dachshund (as opposed to all the really, really big dachshunds out there...) came in for a family session and to get some pictures for Skylar's 1/4 birthday.

A word about Michelle- she's one of the owners of and trainers at Twin Fitness (http://www.twinfitness.com/) and I can't recommend her and the service she provides highly enough. Whether you're looking to get back to your fighting weight or looking to lose those extra holiday pounds I'd highly recommend giving her a call at 913-648-TWIN.

Having said all that, a few pictures of the family:

The Amiris & The Igoes

Carol Igoe and I ran in some of the same circles in high school. And by that I mean that she hung out with the cool kids and I did not. Nevertheless, it was great to hook up with her on Facebook this fall and to find out that she's raising two beautiful children. We got together on a blustery fall day at Loose Park and to Vincent and Elizabeth's credit they were troopers (Mohsen -- not so much...) as we worked through all manner of family and individual pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:
After we wrapped things up with their family, Carol's brother Chris and his wife Dana brought out their boys Jackson and Preston so that we could get some pictures of their family and some of the grandkids together for Christmas presents.
Thanks to all for braving the cold.

Cindy, Ben, Leo, Ana, & Mateo

Cindy and Ben won an auction at St. Peter's school last year for a gift certificate to Six Columns Imaging, Inc. Fairly ambitious if you ask me given that Mateo wasn't even born yet... Nevertheless they timed it just right to make sure that he was old enough to be an active part of the family pictures in October.

Speaking of the family, here they are on one of my favorite bridges (okay, of the two bridges) at Loose Park:
Here's Mateo looking at something goofy that I'm guessing Leo was probably doing to entertain him:And then another from the bridge with a slight sepia tint:

Leo, posing more beatifically than a boy his age has any right to pose:

Not to be outdone, a happy little Ana:

And finally Mateo's three and a half teeth, Ben's knees, a bridge, and a big ol' happy smile:

A big thanks to Andrea Ways-Newman who is an old and dear, dear, dear friend of mine and of Six Columns Imaging who was apparently there the night of the auction and helped persuade Cindy to bid on the gift certificate.

Caroline & Matthew

There is never a dull moment when I get together with these two.

Our session was at Loose Park just before Halloween as the fall colors were hitting their peak. Here are a few of my favorites from the session.