1. Madison’s women magazine BRAVA is coming back! And so is Women’s Expo in the fall. Good for Madison.

2. We’ve been having perfect, gorgeous weather. After a looooong winter, I’m finally soaking up the sun without the humidity and AC running. Spring is fabulous in Wisconsin.

3. I’m getting lots of babies being born for me to photograph in June/ July! Pregnant bellies in June, babies in July to be exact. I am so excited! I really love creative maternity and newborn sessions.

4. My daughter really can’t cut her hair any shorter.

5. So greateful for the wonderful families I got to photograph recently. Thank you:)

Some of the blog readers asked for the “After” hair photographs to my daughter’s self-hair cut, so here they are.  She actually cut her heir on the right side almost by the skin, so the whole left side had to be cut short. I really didn’t want to/ wasn’t ready for a boy’s haircut on her. My heart is still broken from seeing all that golden hair on the floor. Makes me so sad.  I didn’t want to cut all of it off. When we walked into the hair salon, the lady had a very cute haircut with right side being long and left side being short. I said to her, “We’d like your haircut but on her,” pointing to my little girl. It fit perfect with her pink converse shoes, rocker t-shirt and jeans. My baby has a punk hair cut! I figured it’s going to be easy to take care of, not so much hassle as long hair after swimming, and yet still cute enough to know she’s a girl. We will see. What do you think?

before:

after:

As a mom, you are busy picking out the outfits for kids, planning the coordinating outfits for family, and last minute details before the session. But did you know, that in group portraits, it’s always mom whose look is most important? As a photographer, I always try to find flattering angles for everyone. As a mom, I know lots of mom are very self-critical of their own portraits. A family portrait can have everyone with cute expressions, but if mom doesn’t look her best, it’s rarely picked as the family portrait.

So I asked my friend, sometimes client, marketing consultant and make consultant, Melissa, to give us some make up tips for moms on how to look your best in portraits. I hope you find it helpful because I sure did! She motivated me to get a better skin regime. I always admired her make up and style. We originally met many moons ago, when Melissa did my professional wedding make up. That was back in 1998 in Janesville. We re-met many years later in Madison, when this familiar face mom showed up to a session with the most adorable little son. For those who attended Madison Baby Expo this year, you probably met Melissa at our booth. And if you are this blog reader, you most certainly would recognize her son’s photos. He’s one of my favorite little models and I’m so glad I’m going to have another gorgeous little mode: they’ve having a new baby later this year.

Melissa always manages to have flawless make up despite of being a busy mom. I am not an every day make up wearer, but I like to know how to apply it well when I do wear it. In portraits, I have seen a big difference when make up is worn.

Tips from Melissa:

“1.  Best mascara for photos:  Any brand that you feel comfortable in BLACK!  The only exception is very fair AND very blonde people and then it should still be brown/black.  If you are tan and blonde, still go with black.  Even if you don’t normally wear black mascara, it makes your eyes pop in photos.

2.  Keep foundation natural looking.  Unless you have a foundation that is already a perfect match, I would recommend going to a cosmetic counter or Sephora to have an exact match picked for you by an expert.  If you are worried about buying a color now when you might have a tan later, then buy foundation that matches you NOW and NOT a darker shade.  It’s very easy to add bronzer later.  If you don’t feel comfortable in most foundation, buy an exact match concealer to cover up any typical small discoloration, acne, dark circles, etc.

3.  Finishing powder/powder:  I use and recommend a translucent loose powder on everyone.  It minimizes shine, provides no extra color and it helps keep makeup looking fresh longer.  If you typically use a compact powder, that works too, but apply it with a brush and not the sponge.  Also, keep the powder color either color-less or the exact match of your skin now.

4.  Eyeshadow:  If you already wear eyeshadow, then you basically know what you feel good in.  These tips are for those who don’t typically wear eye makeup or don’t feel comfortable in a lot of shadow.  In a nutshell, keep in light and natural.  1.  Find a light neutral, NOT glittery base color (cream, light pink, white) and sweep it over your entire lid.  2.  Apply a line of neutral eyeliner (grey, brown, navy) above your upper lashes only and blend as necessary.  3.  Apply BLACK mascara (unless as noted above).

5.  Blush/bronzer:  Don’t wear anything TOO glittery or TOO brown for your photo shoot.  Both do not turn out too well in photos.  If you typically avoid pink, go with a brown tone that has pinkish tones.

6.  Overall tips:  1.  DO NOT WEAR TOO MUCH GLITTERY MAKEUP!  If you are going to have a shimmer, think a light touch on your brow bone OR a sweep on your cheek bones NOT BOTH!  In photos it can appear too shiny (or oily looking).  2.  Look your best!  Get some rest before the photos and make sure to drink a lot of water days leading up to the photo shoot.  3.  Adopt a habit of good skin care, wash your face twice a day, and wear a moisturizer (WITH SPF 15) at the LEAST everyday.  Good makeup starts with good skin.  ”

Thanks again, Melissa!

If you found these tips helpful or have a few of your own, feel free to leave a comment!

And since I don’t like to post without a photo, here are a couple of my daughter from a year ago, when she and her cousins decided to do each other’s make up.

I love fun designs and when I spotted these, I knew I could incorporate them into our Story Cards. Story Cards are 5×7 or 5×5 Custom Cards printed on linen textured paper.

Our little girl is not so little anymore, she is 3+ years old. We’ve been letting her hair grow out because we love seeing her long, silky blond hair. Grandma likes to put in braids, I like piggy tails, daddy likes a pony tail. This year her hair has gotten pretty long, reaching pass middle of her back.

Today, our daughter was sitting at her kiddie table and using kiddie scissors to cut out shapes from a magazine. She knows the rules – stay at the table. Did mommy forgot to tell her one important rule? No cutting your own hair? I didn’t know I had to! But, that’s what she did. Daddy stopped her because he was closest but she already cut off a big chunk, right next to her ear. Yeah, it’s pretty short. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. My baby’s pretty hair! Well, she’s a big girl and not a baby anymore. Tomorro

w we will have to make an appointment to a hair salon so they can finish the job professionally. I just hope we don’t have to chop it all off, maybe they can do some creative countouring around the face so it’s still longer in the back. Unless it’s a mullet, then we better go short. I saved the golden lock:(

I was just going to post all the awesome ideas for girl’s hair that Mindy from Cute Girl Hair Styles blog offers. Wow, some really cute and unique ideas! She has graciously allowed me to use some of her images and link back to her blog. If you are a mom with a long hair girl, I hope you find these useful! I think a fun hair style can sometimes spruce up a photo session and make the look all the more unique.

{Photography in the post below ©  Copyright Mindy from Cute Girl Hair Styles blog}

I love this one.  And this one is also so beautiful yet she makes the instructions make it seem like they are simple to make too.

Instructions for the Twist back here.

And so many more gorgeous hair styles with step by step instructions, supplies you need, photos to illustrate each step and even instructional videos. I love it that Mindy also feature specific hair styles for holiday such as St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, etc.

Hope someone besides me also gets inspired by her beautiful her styles for girls! I just hope my girl’s hair is not going to have to be totally cut off. Sigh.