04Apr
When we first moved to Florida, I got an email from a photographer friend of my sister’s who offered to do family portraits for our little family of three. Jenn Hopkins was a sorority sister of my sister’s and she now has her own photography company, Jenn Hopkins Photography. The pictures came out so perfectly that I ended up using Jenn to do my pictures for this website and for press packets and media kits for my blog.
Naturally, when it came time for newborn pictures, Jenn Hopkins was my first thought. This past weekend, she came to our house and spent Saturday morning taking pictures of Gracie, Grace and Bean, and of our new family of four.
Jenn was fantastic. Really, really fantastic. I had no idea how hard newborn photos were, though I should have guessed. It’s hard enough for me to get Gracie to lay still so I can change her diaper.
But Gracie wasn’t the hardest to photograph. This little gem was such a stinker!
Jenn showed Bean how to lay on his back for a picture. And then we couldn’t get him to get up. He only wanted to lay there on his back. We tried getting him to roll onto his stomach, sit up, stand up, anything! But he only wanted to lay on his back. So, Jenn basically had to build any picture with Bean in it around him laying in the middle of the floor.
But you’d never know.
Jenn posted some sneak peak pictures to Facebook this weekend and they blew me away!
Although, I don’t know why I was surprised.
She does beautiful work every single time.
Later Saturday night, I got an email from Jenn. She said the photos were beautiful, but that it was the outtakes that were the best. And she was right. I guess no matter how you dress ‘em up, kids will be kids…
1) Maria: What beautiful photos! Jenn really does amazing work. But that last pic is definitely my favorite - it needs to be framed for sure! (04.04.2011 12:34pm)
2) Mindee@ourfrontdoor: Oh my goodness, Jenn is talented! She caught the color of Gracie's hair so well. You all look terrific. (04.04.2011 12:34pm)
3) Meghan: ADORABLE!!! I seriously wish I lived in FL so I could have Jenn do family portraits for me :) The pictures are fantastic! (04.04.2011 12:34pm)
4) Lori @ I Can Grow People: That last photo needs to be shown to all of Bean's future girlfriends. (04.04.2011 12:35pm)
5) kirsten: the pictures are AMAZING! I love them all. (04.04.2011 12:36pm)
6) Sarah @ ExPat Bride: Love that last picture.... just laughed out loud in class. Whoops! (04.04.2011 12:37pm)
7) Stephanie: These pictures are great!! LOVE the last one :) (04.04.2011 12:38pm)
8) Robyn: I aboslutely adore the 1st picture of Bean and Grace love the way they look at eachother! (04.04.2011 12:38pm)
9) Rachel: I LOVE the pictures took of you guys! That last one really shows personality between siblings! :) (04.04.2011 12:44pm)
10) Robin: Amazing! Love the one of Grace in the pink knit. And Bean could not look more adorable. (04.04.2011 12:45pm)
11) nycldenise: That last picture really is amazing. I would use that one definitely. (04.04.2011 12:55pm)
12) Sara @ embrylovescookies: Wow! Jenn is so incredibly talented and you have a beautiful family. Your love for them just pours right out of the photos! (04.04.2011 12:59pm)
13) Lissa: You got so many gorgeous pictures! I love the ones of you holding Grace and her ruffles! Your little guy is just SO handsome too! (04.04.2011 12:59pm)
14) Alaina: Those pictures are great! I love the outtake one, too :-) Cute look on Bean's face! (04.04.2011 01:01pm)
15) Jaclyn: Beautiful photos! I love seeing the results of your Jenn photo shoots :) And that last picture -- HILARIOUS! I would be just as likely to hang the outtake photos, as I would the real ones, haha. (04.04.2011 01:11pm)
16) Alicia: Such beautiful pictures and I loved getting to peek at them again after seeing them on Facebook already. LOVE the last outtake picture...too funny! (04.04.2011 01:11pm)
17) Katie M: What a beautiful family you have there Katie! I love the one where Bean is a little apprehensive holding his sister, so sweet! (04.04.2011 01:12pm)
18) mom of two: SOOOOO precious! I regret not taking pics like those! They are beautiful! (04.04.2011 01:21pm)
19) Leah @ JustPluckingDaisies: these. are. gorgeous!!!!!! (04.04.2011 01:32pm)
20) Betty: I love the last one, hilarious. And she does wonderful work, but she did have two adorable kids to help! (04.04.2011 02:01pm)
21) Sara: Grace has the most rockin' collection of headbands I've ever seen. LOVE! (04.04.2011 02:13pm)
22) Ashley @ A Recipe for Sanity: That is the greatest photo! And I already saved Jenn's website on my computer ages ago for my future wedding. Her photos of your family are so perfect that I want her to do some of ours someday! (04.04.2011 02:16pm)
23) Marie @ It's a Kind of Normal: Oh. My. Ovaries. Katie, ever since Gracie was born I've just been broody non-stop. It doesn't really help matters when I've just started seeing a guy. And while I don't think he's against the idea of kids, I'm still fairly certain he'd go running for the hills if I mentioned just how much I want babies after only 5 dates. That being said though, please keep posting lots & lots of gorgeous pictures. I really love the last one, it looks like you've got two seriously funny kids on your hands :) And those pictures of your original session. Oh. My. Goodness. That was seriously only 5 minutes ago right? Because the Bean Man has gotten so grown up since then. It's scary! (04.04.2011 02:23pm)
24) Mellen: I am giggling so loudly, that our dog is barking at me! What a beautiful family, what a talented photographer! These pictures make me wish I lives in Florida so Jenn could take pictures of my family! (04.04.2011 02:32pm)
25) Rebecca Marsh: New blogger/follower here!!! Oh my goodness. Jenn has defiantly out done herself. You have a beautiful family. And I literally LAUGHED OUT LOUD when I saw the last photo. That photo has " Senior yearbook" written all over it!!! (04.04.2011 02:52pm)
26) Life of a Doctor's Wife: Those are gorgeous! She does wonderful work... but you also have a beautiful family. Love that "outtake"! So hilariously precious. (04.04.2011 02:54pm)
27) Kristin H: These are such beautiful pictures of your truly lovely family - and I love that last one! (04.04.2011 03:01pm)
28) Jen @ Caved In: I had never thought about getting pro pictures done of my hubby and I but thoughts changed when I saw the pictures from the first round. But these are just stunning. Amazing work Jenn and if you know of anyone in st. louis who is as good as you are, let me know. I'm dying for some pics of my peanut. (04.04.2011 03:07pm)
29) Maureen: I love that first picture of them on the floor. suuper cute! and the outtake pic is pretty awesome as well. (04.04.2011 03:07pm)
30) kk: i find that Bean has grown so much since his first session. gracie is such a cutie! (04.04.2011 03:14pm)
31) Maggie: Beautiful! The last one is my favorite : ) If I were you...that's the one I would frame! (04.04.2011 03:18pm)
32) Shelley: Oh, you're so right - these are so fantastic I didn't take a breath while I was looking at them. She sure does fabulous work! The one of Bean & Gracie on the floor (not the outtake) is begging for an enlargement. (04.04.2011 03:24pm)
33) Lisa: Haha the pictures are all beautiful, but that last one was priceless!! (04.04.2011 04:25pm)
34) Nikki: These pictures are amazing! It's amazing how much of a gift Jenn has. I hope that you share more! (04.04.2011 04:27pm)
35) Niki: Love the pictures! (04.04.2011 04:53pm)
36) Chloe: Love this! These pictures are adorable!! Jenn is so talented!! But you are right. The last picture is the best! haha (04.04.2011 05:02pm)
37) Meredith: That last picture is SO FUNNY! My fave Grace one is when she has her tiny little arms behind her tiny little head like she just chillin. :) (04.04.2011 06:11pm)
38) Sonya: That last picture is priceless! All of the pictures are just beautiful! (04.04.2011 06:29pm)
39) Christina: Outtakes ARE the best!! They are some of my favorites. :) The one of the four of you, right before your "worst/funniest/weirdest sibling" pic brought tears to my eyes...what a BEAUTIFUL picture of a BEAUTIFUL family! (04.04.2011 06:36pm)
40) Stacy: These are all great but I love the last one! I am a long time reader but never really comment. I wanted to congratulate you on the new addition to your family! She is adorable (and tiny). (04.04.2011 07:31pm)
41) alison: all the pictures are adorable Katie! especially the last one!! (04.04.2011 07:42pm)
42) Kat @ Living Like the Kings: I am OBSESSED with these! They're amazing! AMAZING! And the outtakes really are the best. (04.04.2011 08:32pm)
43) Amy L Butler: These were so beautiful they almost brought tears to my eyes. You have a beautiful family and Jenn took amazing photos. I am quite jealous as I have two children myself, ages 6 yrs and 17 months, and we yet to have a family portrait. One day maybe... Thanks for sharing! (04.04.2011 10:04pm)
44) Waiting for Bulgaria: So beautiful. But that last one is priceless. (04.04.2011 11:13pm)
45) Ella: Beautiful photos! The last one made me laugh - so cute! (04.04.2011 11:17pm)
46) Holli: Oh my..caaaaa-ute pics! I think I threw my back out laughing at the last one.. She does really great work!! (04.04.2011 11:57pm)
47) sarah: thx so much for sharing your lovely photos!!!! (04.05.2011 01:31am)
48) Lesley: The pic of Bean and Grace is really sweet, he looks like a great big brother. You guys look like one big happy family! (04.05.2011 04:55am)
49) Amanda: Oh my goodness!!! They are beautiful pictures (of beautiful children of course). That last one made me *almost* spit my water onto the computer screen. SO GREAT!! (04.05.2011 08:23am)
50) Beth: Seriously, that last one will be replayed many times over. Priceless! (04.05.2011 08:29am)
51) Erin: Those pictures are unbelievable amazing! So good!!! Can she come up to Tallahassee!! I especially love the first and last ones of Bean and Gracie! Precious! (04.05.2011 09:25am)
52) Julie S.: That last picture is so stinkin' funny. The rest make me so very anxious for October. (04.05.2011 02:48pm)
53) Alyssa: Oh these pictures are so wonderful. Bean just seems to fit the big brother role so well. And the family pictures are so precious. They make me want to pack up and move to Florida so I can have Jen take my family pictures too. That's not irrational at all right? (04.05.2011 05:54pm)
54) Mariya: Wow, great photos! (04.06.2011 12:13pm)