Connection | Indianapolis Family Photographer

The fall is such a blur. Every fall. Session, Session, Session, Edit, Sleep, Repeat. Sometimes I have a hard time processing it all until it’s over. I took this session in though - this session moved me. At the time of shooting this last fall, Susie and John had been together over 51 years. They have had a lifetime of ups and downs and I think the photos speak for themselves that they have made it through it all, and they continue to love unconditionally. In my back and forth emails with Susie, I commented how much of an inspiration their marriage is to many and she gave me some wonderful words of wisdom: “Please remember that when you have a family your time is very divided between children, work, caring for your home and your spouse.  Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the inertia of it all and the spouse usually ends up being last on your list.  Just remember not to lose touch with each other.  When the kids are finally in bed, the dishes are done and all is quiet in the house……make time for each other.  Stay connected.”

If you are looking for a family photographer in the Indianapolis area, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388. 

Since the Beginning | Carmel Family Photographer

We photographers like to talk about the clients that have been with us since the beginning. We feel we owe a piece of our success to those that came to us when we were still figuring things out, still learning, still growing our businesses and still come back year after year. The Bellamy’s are one of those “with me since the beginning” clients. Jessica is a great friend of mine, and her family’s first session was back in 2015 - a portfolio building session. I used things like a wagon and pinwheels to engage the kids. There was so much I didn’t understand about lighting and posing and session flow back then. But that’s what hundreds of sessions gives you: the experience to know what works and doesn’t and how to see light and how to engage kids without busy props.

Below is the Bellamy’s session from fall of 2019. I’m super proud of this one as I scoped out two new locations for their session (when you photograph families over and over again, you start to run out of locations) and it was absolutely perfect. And location #2 was fun and colorful - perfect for their kids’ vibrant personalities (:

I may have include a few shots from Session #1 at the end of the blog for some extra entertainment.

And let’s flashback to 2015 (:

If you are looking for a family photographer in the Indianapolis area, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388. 

The Kirkpatrick Family | Coxhall Gardens Family Session | Carmel Family Photographer

Sometimes it’s funny to me how the first time I meet many of my clients is the day I photograph them. It’s pretty standard in the industry and I guess it takes a certain type of person to drum up conversation with all types of people (the little humans and the adult humans) to help the session go well. I have to win clients over and make them smile, and be playful, and have fun in a short period of time. Something like this would completely stress me out several years ago but now, it’s all part of this gig. My planning helps. I get to know my clients by sending a questionnaire where they share their kids’ interests and their hopes and dreams for the session. This planning portion has been so key in helping me create a vision for a session before it even happens.

I met the Kirkpatrick family for the first time on a PERFECT evening in May. It not only was a perfect evening but they were the perfect family. We played, swung the kids around, tickled, adored the baby bump on mom (baby #4!!), and most importantly, had fun. The vision I had for a playful, candid session came to life. Amazing clients make amazing pics….

If you are looking for a family photographer in the Indianapolis area, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388. 

Light + Love | The Smith Family | Carmel Family Photographer

I'm always amazed when a family can get multiple people up and picture-ready for an early morning photo session.  (I know when I wake up I'm always so glad all I have to do is put my contacts in and slap on some casual clothes - no make up needed here! You're welcome clients - I make you look good!!)  (:  Eric and Kristen managed to get themselves ready, as well as 9 month-old Theo, and teens Cayden and Conner.  And the dogs joined us too!  They all looked amazing and we had a wonderful session.  Kristen's parents even drove up from Bloomington to join us at the end.  Thanks to the Smith's for once again trusting me with their memories. 

If you are looking for a family photographer in the Indianapolis area, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388. 

Fantastic Family | The Manifold's | Indianapolis Family Photographer

There is SO much I can say about this family but I'll keep it short and to the point - they are amazing.  I first met Aaron and Erin in November 2015 when they were expecting their youngest, Sawyer.  I had the privilege of shooting their maternity and newborn photos that fall/winter.  I loved getting to know them and their two young boys.  You can check out these sessions in my blog archives.  I admire their patience and their sweet love they show for their children that radiates in my photos of them. 

This summer we met not once but twice for photos.  (:  They had a mini session in July with just their family and then in August we held an extended family session with Aaron's parents and siblings and fam.  His parents were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary that month - again - amazing!  And oh my did we have a fun time!  I think one of my captions for my photos I posted on FB was that this family was so much fun that I'd like to be invited to Thanksgiving dinner.  Or at least maybe for dessert. 

Anyway, back to the session.  My absolute favorite part was the interactions between the grandparents and the grandkids - timeless and priceless.  They are grandparents that genuinely embrace that title and are not afraid to get down and dirty with the kids (as you'll see in the photos below).   

New clients are great and new clients are necessary to keep the business open, but those steadfast clients that come back time after time - those are the clients I truly cherish and they really make me love doing this.  The Manifold's are one of those steadfast clients and I'm truly grateful for them. 

If you are looking for a family photographer in the Indianapolis area, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388.