Winter Portraits: Salem, Oregon Photographer

February isn’t exactly the first month that comes to mind when thinking about outdoor portraits but even during this chilly season when very little is blooming beautiful outdoor portraits are possible.  I probably wouldn’t bring really young children outdoors quite yet (at least not without several layers of clothing!) but Mckenna and Kayla are (newly) 6 and (almost) 8 and did just fine.  We alternated between the girls at each location and they swapped in and out of their winter coats more times then I can count which kept them warm enough to be cooperative!  We used the same location as last year, though last year we waited a little later so there was a lot more blooming.  Fun to see how the girls have grown and what a difference a month or two can make in a location!

Kayla is probably one of my very favorite subjects to photograph, I’m almost positive that she is going to grow up to be one of those people who just can’t take a bad picture!  She makes my job so easy it’s ridiculous.  I’ve been joking with her that I’m going to have her come along on every session I do with kids to have her show them how it’s done because she has the art of posing and good eye contact with the camera down.  She’s quite a little ham but I love it!

Mckenna is the oldest of the three girls (littlest sister had her turn last fall!) and is excited to celebrate her 8th birthday with a Disney’s Brave party really soon.  She has gorgeous long hair and got the hang of the “model pose” I showed her in record time.  Girls this age are a lot of fun to photograph since they usually think posing is fun and they aren’t quite at the age where they are self conscious about what they look like and their true personality really shines through.

If you’ve been putting off your child’s “birthday portrait” because you’re worried about the weather or don’t think that the scrubby bare trees make for very attractive photos it’s worth reconsidering.  Even overcast February days have good portrait potential and as an added bonus the park is pretty empty of people to dodge!