Mom’s a winner! That is the message Ella wrote on her mom’s flower-a present she made in Mr. Spark’s Stockbridge elementary school class. Brother Cam hams for the camera while Ella gives mom a special kiss.

Thank you for coming to the studio, you guys, you made me laugh!
Happy Mother’s Day!
-C

happiest family portraits place to  live:  ann arbor?

Would the Ann Arbor area rank high in a national poll of ‘happiest places to live’?  Over coffee this am, looking over a slide show pictures of ‘ happiest cities poll’   I strongly felt ‘yes!   The random poll asked about physical health, healthy behaviors, emotional health  & work experience .  I thought: the Ann Arbor area has to rank high- after all-I see it all the time in the family portraits we make.  Because:

• we live in a pleasant pastoral area- that makes you feel good right away
• Many of the mom’s I photograph from Ann Arbor and Chelsea and Dexter and Saline come in wearing workout clothes after jazzercise or yoga or pilates or spinning… (to plan or choose their pictures, ha ha,not during  the portrait session)…Sooooo, my point is:  the healthy component of ‘happy place to live’ is alive and well here.
• lots of water and trees ( we have lots of places for beautiful outdoor portraits!)
• The families we photograph have strong ‘emotional health’.  I see them at their best when we make the family photographs-the portraits reflect so much love and happiness. I get the impression from the families at the studio that they enjoy living HERE in Ann Arbor, Dexter, Chelsea.
• Ann Arbor, as a college town has lots of youth, energy and optimism.
• lots of employed college grads who loved Michigan so much they never left-or could not stay away too long. They might not live in Ann Arbor proper, but they choose to live close by -Saline or Dexter or Chelsea or Pinckney

But then I thought, hmm, well maybe it doesn’t matter where you live- because Any family who cares enough to have photographic portraits made is just gonna be happy, and so maybe that explain’s why I see so many mostly ‘emotionally healthy’, with ‘healthy behaviors’ people in front of my camera.

Maybe it’s as simple as:  happy families choose to have family pictures made. Period.

So,  regardless of  if Photo Generations was located in Hawaii  or Arkansas (don’t know if Iver ever been there !) or Pittsburg I am positive that I would see mostly happy families in the portraits we make.

So did Ann Arbor (or Dexter, or Chelsea or Saline or Manchester or Milan or South Lyon or Pinckney) show in the national poll???? It’s funny, because Ann Arbor did not directly rank  in the poll, but one  favorite place we like to go to make family portraits DID rank in the top 10!  (And it was listed between Hawaii and Colorado–also, coincidentally wonderful places for family photography!)

And here’s a link to the article that got this ramble about happy families, portraits and places to live started:

Portraits on the Beach, anyone?  we in Ann Arbor love to go here for family portraits

grant’s nine month session

what a wonderful addition to Ashleigh’s senior session! While we were at the water with her boyfriend, mom, who is a firefighter at a neighboring municipality, was checking out the Dexter Fire Fighter’s fleet. We made this quick mother daughter portrait in front of the 1949, still in pumping condition, vehicle, before heading down to the HOT tracks.
thanks for the smiles, gals