Simple Expression Photography

Sweet little D| St. Louis Newborn photographer

Tonya — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:57:40 +0000

This little fella was the first newborn of 2012 to visit the Studio and he was…perfect!

Thanks for looking!

Sweet Heart “mini sessions”|St. Louis Children’s Photographer

Tonya — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:34:46 +0000

Happy New Year!

I’m looking forward to a great year and I plan to have new and exciting things happening at the studio.

So let’s start with this!

I’m going to offer “mini sessions” at various times throughout the year!

Since Valentine’s Day is next month that is our “theme” for this set of mini sessions.

In the future, I plan to offer “Cutie Patootie” mini sessions that are not necessarily holiday themed.

Here are the details:

-Price: $100

-Sessions need to be paid for at the time of booking to reserve your spot

-The sessions will be held at the studio.

-Each session is 20 minutes/8-10 edited images on a disc with copyright release. The CD will be mailed to you.

-There are reserved times and dates that the mini sessions will take place.

-I’ll have 4 to 5 backdrops set up and we can add props as we go.

**I plan for these to be somewhat fast paced which will not allow for outfit changes.

-I have lots of hats, tutus and props that we can incorporate.

-I will not be changing backdrops throughout the sessions to save time, there will be a great variety that should work for everyone.

-Some restrictions apply: These sessions are not for newborns or family sessions, those types of sessions require more time.

Sweet little guy | St. Louis Newborn photographer

Tonya — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:07:47 +0000

Last week was busy at the studio with 3 brand new babies visiting. This little fella was pure sweetness!

Thanks for looking!

Cutie Patootie! |St. Louis Child Photographer

Tonya — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 02:13:06 +0000

So this cute little gal belongs to a friend of mine.

I’ve been dying to get her into the studio because 1) she’s adorable.

2) I have added LOTS of new backdrops to the studio and I need models to show them off.

The holidays are crazy busy for everyone and she popped in for literally a minute, I snapped a couple of shots for a Christmas card and they were out the door.

On another note, I am probably the worst blogger in the world. I know this, and I am trying to be better. I always feel like I have to tell the whole story, share all of the details and the result is…well…nothing because I end up not doing it. SO my new approach to this is sharing images with just a few lines to describe. I feel like this is going to be better than NOT sharing at all because I have SO many fabulous sessions to share, every session is unique and deserves to be shared.

That is the plan, now on to the cuteness!

Thanks for looking!

Life is sweet…

Tonya — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:56:45 +0000

I have SO many great sessions to post from fall however I have to share this one with you first because it is just….life!

This session took place at the end of the summer on a very hot, muggy morning.

I’ve done photos of this family since mommy was pregnant so we were totally at ease and they “know the ropes”.

As we got going with the session, it seemed that little Ryals (cute name, huh) was not feeling well and just not herself.

It was challenging that day with a fussy gal, hot conditions, Winston, the white fluffy dog in tow; mom was horrified when Winston started to lift his leg on my bench! LOL!

All of this AND and the pressure to get good pictures!

We kept the session moving and decided after a bit that we would cut it short and that mom would bring her to the studio for some “smiley” shots when she was feeling better.

We ended up scheduling a studio session and having to cancel again because Ryals was not feeling better. As we all know life gets busy and mommy e-mailed me and said she’d like to forget the studio shots and see what we ended up from that hot summer session.

The funny thing was, I had just sort of waited to edit the photos because I knew that we would have more to round out the session with the studio shots.

Once I started editing I realized that we ended up with some priceless memories that day!

Did we get all smiles? Nope. What we did get was a story of their life.

I giggled to myself as I edited the photos, finding one after another that I loved.

On that day it seemed as if these photos would be less than perfect with all of the varying factors.

For example: In the shot below, I cropped in pretty tight because we didn’t need Winston’s behind in the picture!

I posted the photos and within minutes mommy called me, almost in tears and said that they were “PERFECT”!

So my point is…the best, most memorable photos are the ones that reflect life as perfectly as imperfect as it is.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t recommend doing a photo session when your child doesn’t feel well however on this day that is what unfolded as we went into the session and we just made the best of it. It worked out and the photos are priceless.

I love how in the one above daddy has her sunglasses over his while she gives him knucles

Love it!

Myles|St. Louis Child/Family photographer

Tonya — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:47:45 +0000

This little fella and his family were the sweetest and so fun to work with!

Myles mom came prepared, she had been on my website and had done some homework. She knew of some shots that she loved…such as the one with the knit hat, bare shoulders and close ups of his sweet little face. We did those shots in the studio, incorporated some fun color with the orange background and then we headed outside to do their family shots. I love that they brought daddy’s guitar, what a great way to show the character of their family. It’s always great when mommy’s can give me some idea of what they hope to get from the session yet still let me do my thing.

I love the way these turned out and they do too!

Thanks for looking!

Beautiful! |St. Louis Teen photographer

Tonya — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:47:22 +0000

This beautiful gal is the daughter of a friend of mine and she needed some quick photos for a modeling portfolio.

I was so excited to work with her because well…she’s absolutely gorgeous and just a natural at posing.

We took some of these outside at the studio!

I keep finding little nooks that work amazing for photos! Yay!

As always, thanks for looking!

Big News…The Studio!

Tonya — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 04:14:18 +0000

I am beyond excited to announce that I now have a studio that is outside my home! I have to tell ya, I loved using my home studio… however I did not like having strangers in my home.

It always seemed so strange to me to have someone find me through the internet and show up on my front porch with a 7-10 day old baby.

I never had any problems, it just always made me uneasy.

Now on to the Studio…

I was not really looking when I found this great little space and I was not concerned about the “natural light” because I have become so used to using my studio lights and achieving great results however I love natural light and take advantage of it any chance that I can.

So, I recently did my first session at “The Studio” and I am SO excited with the results…it turns out that the natural light in there is awesome!!

This family couldn’t have been sweeter! I had been talking with the mommy to be for months in preparation for their sweet baby and in the meantime I ended up finding my studio space, who knew?!?

Because I was in the process of moving, this little fella was almost 3 weeks old (this can be tricky as they get older)he was perfect and was out like a light throughout the entire session! I was so happy that they worked with me and waited for me to get most of my things moved in and for being my “first customers” at the studio.

Here’s a sneak peek for them!

Below: Daddy is a competitive softball player and wanted some pictures of his boy in his glove

Thanks for looking!

Just playing around…

Tonya — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 05:40:57 +0000

Wow, where did the summer go???

I’ve been on a little bit of a hiatus, still doing sessions but considerably less over the summer because…my kids are growing fast and I love the time that I get to spend with them “just playing around”.

The summer goes by way too fast, it seems like I blinked and now it’s time for them to head back to school (insert a big frowny face here).

I have had the best summer however now it’s time to get back in the swing of things. I was “just playing around” with some new overlays that I recently came across and i thought that I’d share. These are fun and whimsical overlays from digital eye candy, you can find them here. These are great for me because they just came out with a “Hush little baby” version and that’s right up my alley with all of the newborns that I see. I love to play in photoshop and add few little surprises to a session. Take a look.

Thanks for looking!

Good morning Sunshine!

Tonya — Sat, 28 May 2011 18:09:32 +0000

Whoo hoo!

The sun is finally starting to peek out and I couldn’t be happier (my clients are too!).

I’m ready to get outside, smell the fresh air and feel the grass between my toes.

I’ve spent these rainy days booking sessions… and dreaming of sunshine!

With that said…

My session availability will be limited beginning now through August.

I will not be booking weekend dates at all.

I always leave room in my schedule for newborn sessions and because they can not usually be “scheduled” they keep me on my toes!

Please contact me in advance if you’re expecting because there are lots of babies this coming this spring and summer.

I will not likely be able to fit in your newborn session if I haven’t planned tentatively in advance.

Please contact me as soon as possible if you would like for your session (whatever type it may be…newborn/toddler/family) to take place between now and the end of August.

Thank You!

Now on to the good stuff!

I met this sweet couple over a year ago when I did mom’s maternity session.

I later had the opportunity to meet their sweet little girl and we created beautiful memories with their newborn session.

NOW, guess who just turned ONE and we met for a little one year celebration.

We ended up with SO many great shots from this shoot, mom e-mailed me and expressed how happy she was that she would be receiving all of the photos on a disc because it was going to be impossible to choose.

This just confirms that my new way of pricing my sessions is making my clients HAPPY!

I love this one in color however it looks great in black and white as well!

LOVE this one!

AND…one from her newborn session, sigh.

They grow so fast and I am so privileged to be able to capture beautiful memories.

Thanks for looking, have a great weekend!