“It has been over 10 years since our family has taken a family portrait… 16 years ago our family suffered a great loss, losing a brother and six months later a sister… so taking a family photo comes with a range of emotions and is not as easy as it seems.  It comes with heartache, knowing we are not all there, but it comes with triumph, knowing that God has given us the strength to keep smiling… thanx to Marlene for capturing such a beautiful time and moment in our lives, we feel so blessed to have this portrait and make more memories…”  Analisa Hruda from the Alvina and Don Heinrichs Family, Mitchell Manitoba

On August 25th I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful family.  Photographing several young children, who would rather play and run around and enjoy the gorgeous weather was a challenge – but, they always seem to co-operate for the perfect portrait!  :-)

The first family we photographed were Analisa, Matt and their boys…

Next it was Tammy and Charles and their lovely girls…

The children were tiring, so we went indoors to photograph the large family group…

Next we photographed mom and her daughters… hard to say which is the mom!

And then the lighting was perfect for outdoor portraits and so we photographed Jewel and Mike and their children…

I so often hear from people that they want to wait to have their portrait taken for one reason or another. “My child is missing a tooth.”  ”I want to lose 10 lbs.”  ”I’ll wait till they’re in school.”  ”We’re finishing up a renovation and our budget is going towards that.” And they miss out on how beautiful their children are at each stage of their life.

I recently chatted with a client that had her 2 year old daughter in for her portrait 4 years ago.  She told me that she absolutely loved that photograph of her – because “I’ll never have that two year old again if I wouldn’t have had the portrait taken. You think you will remember what she was like at that age, but you don’t – and the photograph reminds you.” Beautifully said!

“We’re completely impressed by Marlene’s artistic work!   Our photo session was fun and relaxed.  Thanks for redeeming the infamous ‘family photo’ shot.  We’d definitely come again.” Robert & Sina Bateman and girls, Steinbach, Manitoba

I met Sina in early May when she came into the studio for a pre-session consult.  She definitely knew what she liked and didn’t like.  I love clients like this.   I had a clear idea of what I was going to do when they came in and I found  photographing them was so easy.  But I should say that all my clients that come in for a pre-session meeting get a chance to know me as well – and that makes for an easy session!

Here are some of our favorite images from that session…

And then I wanted to try a family on my new copper tiles and we were all pleased with the results.

Such a beautiful family!  Thank you.

“I had seen my friends get their photos done at Marlene’s Designer Portraits and I loved them.  It knew it would be professional and FUN!  :)

Marlene was so friendly and seemed honestly excited to take my portraits.  She made me feel special and not in a forced put-on type of way.  I loved posing and feeling like a super model for an hour.

I love my portraits because Marlene KNEW exactly what she was doing!  She captured my essence and my body shape perfectly.  I loved so many of the photos!  There was so much variety and I felt like Marlene put her heart into these photos.   What one word would I use to describe the portrait experience?    ”Exciting”   I will recommend Marlene to my friends and family because of the 100% money back guarantee; of the time spent with us before the session to plan and co-ordinate everything; Marlene made it a fun experience and because I believe my portraits are absolutely priceless and shows exactly what I wanted it to!” Michelle Koop, Steinbach, Manitoba

Can you see why I titled this blog post ‘Breathtaking’?    I couldn’t choose just a few photos, so sit back and scroll down and enjoy these photos.

I loved Michelle’s enthusiasm when she came in for her initial consult.  I knew at that time that I would have a great time photographing her and when she booked I was very excited.   When she came in for the portrait session – she was wearing these 5 inch heels and she had a smile on her face in anticipation.  Then she put on her grad dress and I caught my breath – she was stunning.   Here are more of my favorites from her session…

And this is probably my favorite portrait of Michelle I took that day!

Sigh – okay, I’ll say it again.  I LOVE my job!

A change of shoes … and more photos…

And … my favorite from the entire session….

The high school senior girls that came in this year had so many fabulous looking grad dresses – they were all unique and fun and classy and pretty and suited each high school senior to a ‘T’.   I get a chance to see (and photograph) these dresses before anyone else!   I love my job!

“I chose Marlene’s Designer Portraits to photograph my grad photos because my sisters had gone there for their grad portraits.  I had a great time during the session because Marlene had lots of pose ideas and fun props.  I love my portraits because the colors look great and if I could use just one word to describe this experience, it would be:  imaginative !” Lindsay Friesen, Grunthal, Manitoba

Lindsay came in recently for her grad portrait and I was immediately captivated by her gorgeous dress!    It suited her perfectly and I was immediately excited to photograph her!

It was a fun session and she was open to all kinds of ideas I had – and here are my favorites from that session.

I was excited to use my new ‘string ribbons and beads’ to create some portraits – they worked perfectly with her dress!

Her sisters, Ashton and Chelsea where here in 2006 (Ashton) and 2009 (Chelsea).  Here are some photos from their sessions.

Ashton

Chelsea

Beautiful girls – all of them!