May 2016 - Natascha Lee Studios

Denver / Broomfield Kid's Photographer

by Natascha | May 9, 2016 | Broomfield Children's Photography, Broomfield Family Photography, Broomfield Newborn Photography, Denver Children's Photographer, Featured Post, Studio

Denver / Broomfield Kid’s Portrait session with the cutest little 3 year old girl (her family lives in Broomfield, but we did the photos @ my Denver studio). We’ll that’s what the blog posting started out as -just to share some really adorable portraits I did of an adorable 3 year old girl. Then, as I started finding links to other photos I took of this family, I realized how honored I am to be able to craft fine family portraits for them again and again, as their children grow. The last part of that last sentence is hard to write because their middle child, Miss M, got her fairy wings exactly 2 years ago. The sadness I feel as I write that fact is held in my heart at the same time as this fact: I’m also so grateful I was able to provide things like this stunning family portrait session while she was still with us and very much her: joyful, dancing, full of life and vitality (even though her body was already fighting). I can’t put into words how honored I am to provide heirloom portraits for all my families. This is even more true when one of the family members is no longer with us on earth.

Let’s chat about sweet Miss B – I was so excited to photograph her again! Her Grandma started this great tradition with Miss B’s mom where the kids are photographed at the age of 3 in similar traditional backgrounds/old fashioned clothes/poses. Here is Miss B’s photo, which will proudly hang on the wall along with those of Mom, Auntie, Big Sister Miss M, and Big Brother. Look at that impish little smile! And her sparkling eyes!

Denver Kids Fine Portraiture - Natascha Lee Studios

And here is a BTS (behind the scenes) image from the shoot. See all that yummy natural light in my Denver studio? When doing the type of image I did above, I have to make that beautiful light a “non-issue” so that all the light falling on the image is controlled and from OCF (off camera flash.) So I used both flash and an LED light panel. Anyway, as much as I LOVE photographing with natural light, it’s always fun to mix it up and do something different. Here’s a little backstory for you: in order to get her to stand in the correct spot, I put a little tape on the ground and asked her to stand on top of it, to cover it with her feet. She was great at this.

Denver Kid's Photography - Behind the Scenes - Natascha Lee Studios

And then, after we did the “traditionally lit” work, we moved on to a completely different set up – contemporary expressive with natural light. (Natural light portraits are my specialty.) And since they would already be there @ the studio, why not do a second type of portraits, too? If time allows, I will often suggest we “mix it up” with a change of location, outfits….or even just accessories! Here is my favorite from that second part of the shoot. Her Mamma has serious style, and she brought just the cutest clothes. Little Miss B personifies “cute as a button.”

Denver Kids Portraits - Heirloom Portraits for Denver Parents

Denver and Broomfield Children’s and Family Photographer

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Happy Mother's Day

by Natascha | May 8, 2016 | Featured Post, Maternity, Mother and Child, Uncategorized, Yoga, Yoga Photographer

Happy Mother’s Day!

In celebration of motherhood:

Denver 3-Generation Portraits

Denver Newborn Baby Photography

Yoga Maternity Photography

Denver Baby Photographer

Westminster Family Photography

Washington Park Family Photography

Winter Park Family Photography

Boulder Family Photography

Broomfield Family Photography

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Top 10 Tips for Having a Blast @ Lantern Fest

by Natascha | May 3, 2016 | Outdoors, Top 10 Tips

LanternFest in Denver. It was a cool experience and a good family event and the people working the event seemed super nice. But like many things – it’s so much more fun if you have a few tips beforehand. Here are my Top 10 Tips for having a blast @ Lantern Fest.

Bring chairs, and blankets to be comfortable. If your weather is even possibly going to cold/rainy, bring jackets and umbrellas. And don’t leave them in the car! You will be soooo far from your parked car, that you want to have them with you.
Bring your snacks, drinks, dinner food, including extra marshmallow supplies. (This is important – the “smores kit” you get doesn’t have nearly enough supplies in it.) You’ll get wooden smores sticks @ the event, but if you are like me and have your own really good smores sticks – go ahead and bring those, too. Just be sure to put a wine cork on the end of the sticks so that you don’t accidentally poke anyone during transport. Bring water also – it’s hard/expensive to obtain there. Most of the locations let you bring in anything but glass or alcohol.
Bring a regular long-handled lighter or two. The little ones they give you are very hard to use and you’ll burn your hand trying to use them. You want some space between your hand and what you are trying to light. BTW, that little square piece of cardboard really is the only thing you light; the fuel is embedded in the cardboard. (I didn’t understand this at first, and I went back to ask for the fuel for my lantern!)
Put all of the above items into a wagon or cart to make it easy to carry – but make sure you can lift your cart up the stairs – you may not be able to pull it all the way.
If you have young children, go about two hours before sundown. Doors open at 3pm, the lanterns fly around 8 pm. If you go at 6pm, you’ll still see lots of fun action (like costumed characters walking around, face painting, etc), and your kids won’t be bored by the time the lanterns fly. The downside is that you should expect long lines to get in (both into parking and into the event) at that time.
Since these are held on the outskirts of town, in areas with low fire danger, they may be dusty. Which means you may have lots of dust/dirt blowing into your face while waiting for the wind to die down. If it’s rainy or windy, expect delays regarding when you get to release your lanterns. (In Denver, I think they wanted us all to release at the same time and perhaps they wanted to wait until the wind died down. But the loudspeaker system didn’t work, so no one knew when we were supposed to do. About 1 hour after it got dark, everyone started releasing them.)
Leave the electronic devices (ipads, etc) @ home. Of course bring your camera to take photos, but this is about the experience! You’ll meet lots of fun people and can make some new friends.
The firepits are lit around sundown, and there are only a few of them. The early birds set their chairs up around those few firepits. So unless you were there early, you’ll need to just ask to share someone else’s firepit. Everyone is super nice about this, so just cozy on up!
Bring a flashlight – that will make a big difference as you walk around after dark.
Be sure to take a selfie with your family, facing away from the lanterns so that they create a lovely background behind you.
Bonus Tip: Take a photo of your lantern before it gets dark. You will be provided a sharpie to write hopes, dreams, drawings, etc on the lantern and it will be fun to have a photo of what your lantern looked like before it flew.