Hey guys! I’m back! Happy 2020! I hope you all had a warm and joyous holiday season. The holidays can be a whirlwind but I hope that you were able to slow down a bit and enjoy some time doing the things that matter most to you (even if only for a day).

I am incredibly grateful to have had a fantastically busy holiday season with both work and family. It was my first holiday season as a FULL TIME photographer and I am so grateful to have been so busy. Holiday mini sessions were fully booked and I got to work with 20+ amazing families. Some I have had the pleasure to work with in the past and some I worked with for the very first time. We tried to stay as warm as possible while getting some beautiful images and having as much fun as possible. 

To every single family I worked with this winter and all year round- Thank you for your continued support. I am humbled and gracious that you chose me to photograph your family. Because of you Erin McBrine Photography is really beginning to bloom and grow into everything I had hoped it would be.

So basically…. you make my dreams come true. 

After a quiet and revitalizing month of January I am refreshed and ready to knock this year out of the park and make it my best yet. This year I will be focusing on establishing a clearer voice and solid style to my images. Simple, natural & emotional are the words that keep popping into my head when I think about what I want my art to portray. I want to try some new ideas and really push my imagination to its outer limits. I have some exciting things in store!

Since it's February and the greatest day in the whole year will soon be upon us, I have decided to create a soft & simple boho themed shoot for….you guessed it…. Valentines Day! Many of you may know that Valentine’s Day is also my birthday so I have always had a particular affection for the day if you will. I LOVE my birthday. Yes, I’m getting older. Closer to 40 blah blah blah. But growing older is a luxury that not everyone is afforded so yeah ...I live for my birthday (and you should too). 

Lets jump right into this year’s Valentines Day Session with none other than my amazing kiddos Finna & Ronan!

These kids have had a camera in their faces since the day they were born. Now..they haven't always been so enthusiastic about being in front of the camera. In their earlier years there were plenty of tears and pout-pout faces but the older they get...the more they seem to enjoy it! Sometimes they even ask “Mama, can we have a photoshoot today?” Well of course we can!

This year's Valentines session was shot in the first week of February. We were so lucky to have had fantastically warm weather that week. Yes we even went barefoot! Now it certainly wasn’t a toasty July-like day but it was around 50 degrees (F) outside and for February that's like a heat wave! Ok well maybe not a heat wave but we made it work. 

The swing was created from some white birch logs, some rope and artificial flowers purchased at Michael’s Craft Store. Someday I might do a sort of diy tutorial for projects like this but for this particular project I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Making this swing was a series of trials and comedic errors. There were a few different versions I had put together but finally settled on what you see here in these images. It was pretty and sturdy enough to hold my 40lb children safely so that was good enough for me. I got up on my ladder and tied the rope to the tree branch and we were ready to go.

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I picked up the kids outfits on Amazon. I buy a lot on Amazon. Not only camera gear but I do find a lot of my backdrops, props and outfits on there as well.  I wish I weren't so dependent on Amazon but the convenience of it at this point in my life is key. I do try my best to support small businesses when I can but I know I can be a bit better. Maybe a good goal for 2020 will be to shop locally and buy more from small businesses.

I did expect Finna’s dress to be a bit more creamy colored but it is beautiful nonetheless. It is really great quality and was reasonably priced. Her flower crown was perfect. It fit her exactly how I wanted it to. Finna LOVES getting dressed up and feeling “fancy” so she felt really pretty in this dress. As a whole I was very happy with this outfit. Now how do you get a girl to smile this pretty when she is sitting on a swing, outside, barefoot in the beginning of February? Well ...a fart joke of course. There you have it folks. My secret weapon for producing such glowing smiles such as these-fart jokes. 

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Ronan’s linen jumper was also purchased from Amazon. The color was perfect. The fit was a bit snug but we made it work with some adjustments. If I were to ever order this jumper again I think I would size up one. Overall I loved the general look of the jumper with a simple white t-shirt underneath. In typical Ronan fashion he wasn’t too impressed or displeased with the outfit. Normally he’s just pretty happy when his Mama is happy. And I thought he was just adorable. My sweet little Mama’s boy surprisingly isn't always the easiest to persuade to look at that camera and make him smile at that. If a fart joke doesn't work (which lets be honest- it usually does) I simply just say “I have a secret”. That’s what I did here to get this coy little blue-eyed boy to smile.

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We finished off this speedy session with a few sibling shots. By this time they were pretty “over it” but managed to smile and laugh at each other a few times before the wrestling and whining started!

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Though the entire shoot was only about 15 mins, all in all, I feel like this shoot was a great success. We had so much fun dressing up and getting outside with barefeet in the winter. 

It’s these simple pleasures in life that ignite our happiness.

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I'd like to end this blog post with a quote from Maya Angelou. I hope to let it inspire my life and decisions on this next crazy trip around the sun.

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”