Belly to Baby | The Kluesner Family | Fisher's Maternity and Newborn Photographer

November 19, 2015 in Maternity, Newborn

It is something super special when I get to see clients go from "belly to baby" and watch their families grow. The Kluesner's (Amy, Brad, and 2 year-old Henry) were expecting to add to their family in late October - another baby boy. We met on an August evening at Heritage Gardens in Fisher's for their maternity photos. I actually know the Kluesner's through some mutual friends, but as neither of us realized until right before our session, my husband and I facilitated a marriage prep program that they participated in when they were engaged. I had a great time getting to know them during both the maternity session and their on-location newborn session. I also loved meeting sweet Henry - a smiley and energetic boy. (:

John Thomas Kluesner came into the world a couple weeks early. He must have been ready to go, go, go because he was bright-eyed during most of our newborn session. He was not having it for the majority of the posed portion so we turned our efforts to getting some sweet lifestyle shots. I had a hard time narrowing down the photos for the blog - the ones with John and mom and dad just make your heart smile, right???

Kelly Martin Photography offers custom on-location lifestyle and portrait professional photography services in Indianapolis and surrounding areas. Session types include family, newborn, maternity, children, couples, engagement, seniors, lifestyle and more! Real. Creative. Personalized.

If you are looking for a maternity or newborn photographer, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388.

Extreme Family Photos | The Luchon Crew | Ogden Gardens

November 13, 2015 in Children, Family

I was a bit nervous and completely excited about my first big family shoot. I was going to be visiting my hometown of Valparaiso for a few days in October while my eldest son was on fall break from preschool, and during that visit I was able to schedule a multi-family shoot with the Luchon's. 10 adults and 9 kids. I even decided I needed an assistant for the job so I persuaded my Aunt Debi to help - mainly to entertain the kids and keep them looking at the camera. (: She did great by the way - wish she lived in Indy!!

I know one of the Luchon sons (Eric) from working with him at a local grocery store way back when and I also took his family's photos back in September. That led me to this gig. Again - I was so excited to meet this crew and see how the shoot would play out. And let me tell you - everything went awesome. The weather was great, the kids all behaved, and I feel the big "extreme family photo" (their words, not mine) was a success.

So, you want to meet them?? We start our tale with Mimi & Papa (Keith & Christine).

They had four children: Eric, Audrey, Austin, & Alex

Eric was the first and he married the lovely Samantha. They have three beautiful girls - Corbin, Lily & Ivy.

Audrey was the second born. Her and her husband, Ethan, have two handsome little boys, Gabriel and Henry. Henry could not keep his tongue in his mouth - SO cute!

Next was Alex. He and his wife, Sarah, win the kid award with four: Vincent, Tiffany, AJ, & Harrison. Vincent was so sweet to his siblings and seemed to actually enjoy getting photographed; Tiffany was a bit shy but super sweet; AJ seemed like the wildman of the bunch; and Harrison just learned to walk so he was a man on the move.

The youngest of the Luchon's is Austin. He and his girlfriend Shelby live in Chicago.

Large families truly are a blessing. My husband is one of four and it's rare that all four kids and their families are at the same place at the same time. But when the stars align, my in-laws light up. I saw the same in the Luchon's that day. When you gather all of these people, that pretty much are together (or even exist) because of one strong, everlasting marriage between two people - it's pretty amazing to see. Keith and Christine are very proud parents and very loving grandparents. The next picture was my personal favorite - these boys obviously love their papa. (:

Last came the group photos - lets wrangle 19 people and pose them, make them smile at the same time, and keep them interested as I rattle off 100 shots - easy peasy. And the "just kids" shot - picture 12 adults making crazy sounds, shouting at the various kids, making funny faces - just pure chaos. Love it...

I sincerely thank the Luchon family for allowing me to take part in their "extreme family photos" and I hope to maybe do it again someday.

If you are looking for a family or children's photographer, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388.

Bold & Beautiful | The Zulkowski Family | Indianapolis Family Photographer

November 07, 2015 in Family, Children, First Birthday

This was the first session that I ever had to postpone due to rain. I don't think it had rained significantly in about 5 weeks and then it had to pour on the day I had a session scheduled with the Zulkowski's - a session that had been on the calendar for months. It honestly was the best thing that could have happened because we rescheduled for the next morning and it. was. gorgeous. The colors. The light. One happy family with happy kids. (:

This session was held at Glenns Valley Nature Park on the south side of Indy. I had a session there a few weeks prior and the leaves had not started to change much. Fast forward 3 weeks later and it was transformed into a fall wonderland. I think the photos speak for themselves!

Like many of my clients, I met Mandy (mom) in the accounting world. We both worked at Adayana, the last job I had before leaving to stay home with my boys. We were bonded by stories of motherhood, babies, pregnancy. Her two boys, Jax and Kai, are only about 16 months apart so I think Mandy was pregnant pretty much the whole time I worked with her. (: And when she wasn't pregnant, I was. Her and her husband also have two older daughters, Randi and Jessi. They are such a help with the boys and also so gorgeous. I asked Mandy if I could borrow them to help with my kids - sounds like they are a little too busy for that. (:

Kai celebrated his first birthday in September so the family brought some fun props. He was a ham!! I LOVE photographing one year-olds!!

The rock of the family - the parents but first and foremost, husband and wife.

A HUGE thank you to the Zulkowski's for a fantastic morning!

If you are looking for a family or children's photographer, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388.

The PERFECT gift | Kelly Martin Photography gift certificates

November 03, 2015 in Marketing

Wasn't it just summer? Pools, picnics, parades.....and now we are already hearing Christmas music in stores??? How can it be? Well, might as well accept it. Truthfully I put "start Christmas lists" on my to-do list for this week - because this year I'm going to have it all together (yeah right).

I struggle each year to find the perfect gift for friends and family....especially those that "have it all." My husband and I are honestly not very tangible people - we enjoy doing things together and going to events rather than obtaining physical presents. Plus with kids - there is bound to be SO MANY gifts, it gets overwhelming - add in two December birthday's (my hubs and my youngest son) and it's beyond overwhelming - it's us screaming "where are we going to put all of this stuff??!!"

For those of you that can relate and want to make shopping easy on yourself this year - consider getting a friend or family member a photography gift certificate. Some families put off family photos for years and years - some not wanting to make the investment and others just not wanting to make the time. Help them get over that hump and capture some great memories. I will work with your gift recipient to ensure they receive the type of session they want.

I'm offering two different designs (as shown below) and you can purchase them in any amount. As added incentive - for each $100 of gift certificates purchased, YOU receive a $25 credit towards a future session fee. WIN WIN!! (:

And these aren't just available for the holidays. They are also perfect for baby shower gifts, birthdays, gifts for soon-to-be high school seniors (yes, I do senior sessions too!) and the list goes on and on.

You can purchase a gift certificate and I will mail it to you to personalize (the back of the card has a space to add To, From, Amount, etc.) and deliver. Or I can personalize it and mail it out to the recipient for you. So easy!!

Send someone you love the PERFECT gift!

If you are looking for a family or children's photographer, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388.

Fall Mini Sessions | West Park, Carmel | Carmel Family Photographer

November 02, 2015 in Fall Mini Sessions, Family, Children

On October 17th I held my first fall mini sessions of the season at West Park in Carmel. I had two families join me on that chilly, bright sunny day: The Kerrigan's and the Babbs.

The Kerrigan's were referred to me by our good friends the Landrigan's (they were one of my first clients and haven't hit the blog yet - stay tuned for that). Mary and Adam have a very active 2 year-old, Isaac, and another boy on the way. I'm honored they also chose me to be their newborn photographer when #2 arrives in December (due on Christmas day!!). What a Christmas blessing for this family (:

My second session of the day was the Babbs Family. They are ironically also good friends with the Landrigan's but we also all know each other from a marriage prep course we facilitate called One in Christ. We facilitated with the Babbs at the October session and I was able to talk them into a mini (: Sarah and her husband Eric have an almost 5 year-old girl Maggie and almost 2 year-old twins Charlie and Mary Cate. The kids had fun posing (the girls) and running around (Charlie). Mary Cate was digging the camera action. I was glad to get to meet Sarah and Eric's children after hearing so much about them during our marriage prep weekend. (: Eric and Sarah demonstrate such love and patience with their children - such an example for others. We all know having young children is chaos but the rewards are oh so sweet.