Let’s start off with Newt Scamander. Jake looks just like the Eddie Redmayne right?? We purposefully did not cut his hair in the months leading up to these Halloween Lifestyle Portraits so that it would be perfect. I did quite a bit of freelensing with all the kids images and I think it really adds to the dreamy quality. Freelensing makes it feel make believe. Jake was so into this character and has watch “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” several times. He has studied how Newt walks and talks, how he doesn’t really make eye contact, and he used all of this throughout our shoot. Actually all these images are undirected! After the fact I got the idea to Photoshop in some of the fantastic beasts and I have to say it was so awesome. I love the way it turned out! Also in case you didn’t know this about me and my family we are huge on all things fantasy : Harry Potter, Star Wars, Percy Jackson…sign us up for all of it.

Did I leave a major fantasy trilogy off that list? Obviously! Lord of the Rings! Next up was Gandalf and oh how I love this old soul finally dressed up to his age. Okay, maybe he isn’t that much of an old soul. Evan was also totally in character. All my children have beautiful eyes, but Evan’s are the deepest color I think. He had a great idea to add Gollum into one of his images and I was happy to oblige.

Kate was darling Belle, Beauty and the Beast the live people version came out this year. She insisted that she carry this book as the only way to complete her costume. Because “Belle loves to read and is super smart.” It was kinda my favorite thing she ever came up with. She refused to twirl! What can I say except this girl has her own mind for sure. Probably all that reading she likes to do…

Adam has decided he is too old to dress up for Halloween. But we had a completely separate day in the week before Halloween where I painted the kids faces. I have never taken the time to really do that before and it was SO much fun! Adam also got completely into character with the face paint. He is in drama club here and I think really enjoys acting. It should be fun to see where it takes him!

We lit a fire that night and played with smoke and flames and all sorts of creepy light.  This created build up to the actual event. Don’t you feel the build up is the best part anyway? I am so grateful I took the time this year to have such a fun Halloween extravaganza, and most of all am so grateful for these four muses I call kids.

Halloween Lifestyle Portraits

[tg_small_content class=””]Anna Rasmussen is a featured and award-winning family portrait photographer in Topsail Beach, NC. She loves documentary-style family photography and beautiful lifestyle portraits. Her two favorite things to photograph are travel logs and birth stories in the hospital, but she also loves everything family – from capturing the joy of expectant parents in maternity photography, the first days of a baby’s life in Newborn Fresh 48 Sessions, the beauty of everyday chaos in Family Day-in-the-Life Sessions, and on-location family portrait sessions. Anna is an on-location photographer, serving areas of coastal North Carolina, including Wilmington, Hampstead, Topsail Beach and Surf City. Book a session here with Anna today! Thank you so much for stopping by!

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One of my favorite things about North Carolina is the availability of just about every type of landscape. These photographs were taken five minutes from North Topsail Beach and here we are in a thick lush forest. It is so beautiful! I used my 24-70mm on my Canon to capture this gorgeous golden light. You all are already aware of my obsession with red heads!  I am sure it comes as no surprise to hear how much I love this darling curly headed child. She is a true performer. She was ready to do whatever I had in mind and was the sweetest little pixie! Hope you enjoy these fun images!

Topsail Beach Childhood Portraits

Have you ever wanted to do portraits like this of your child? First of all I would recommend finding a photographer who has a similar vision! I do not like portraits of my children sitting in a studio and having artificial light splashed on their faces. An environmental portrait is better at capturing a child’s true mood and beauty. Why? Because children are most happy and carefree out in nature. This is why I love to photograph them there. Humans are more confident when they are in nature and confidence leads to comfort in front of the lens.

[tg_small_content class=””]Anna Rasmussen is a featured and award-winning family portrait photographer in Topsail Beach, NC. She loves documentary-style family photography and beautiful lifestyle portraits. Her two favorite things to photograph are travel logs and birth stories in the hospital, but she also loves everything family – from capturing the joy of expectant parents in maternity photography, the first days of a baby’s life in Newborn Fresh 48 Sessions, the beauty of everyday chaos in Family Day-in-the-Life Sessions, Topsail Beach childhood portraits and on-location family portrait sessions. Anna is an on-location photographer, serving areas of coastal North Carolina, including Wilmington, Hampstead, Topsail Beach and Surf City. Book a session here with Anna today! Thank you so much for stopping by!

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The golden hour for these family portraits was show stopping. Add in these simply gorgeous people and I am looking at images I will always love! I did my fall mini-sessions on this family’s beautiful property and in exchange took some portraits of them. I feel pretty lucky to have models as friends!

See all these golden light family portraits in Hampstead, North Carolina.

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The parents left their home nation for the opportunity to have more children. These three beautiful boys are so loved and what a delight it was to capture that. In this country we have problems, but this here is the American dream. They are living in this country, growing the family they want and have found a new religion here that brings them joy. I know people say we need to focus on the negative to fix problems, that we can’t just ignore what is bad, or there will never be change for better. But I just cannot agree. Focusing on what is good, beautiful and wonderful is the way to make positive change. Let’s celebrate that and make more of it.

Sunset Family Portraits Durham North Carolina

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I had a wonderful bible study last week with my friends. One question that stuck out to me from the book we are reading was this : “How would you ever learn unconditional love if you were married to someone who met all the conditions?” Being married and being a mother does not mean that everyone in this family is perfect. Or perfectly suited in personality to me. The older my kids get the more I realize this. My Father in Heaven has sent all these spirits to me and my husband. They have a myriad of different personality quirks and traits. I loved each of them from the moment they were placed in my arms, but as they grow up and we butt heads, I have to learn to re-love them.

Unconditional love actually sounds like an attainable goal when you talk about about your own family members. But what about the billions of other humans that populate this world? What about those who disagree with us on matters of faith, politics and morals? Can we learn to love them unconditionally? I wonder if it is possible for me. I love to read. I recently read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It is fiction, but fiction based on a real place and real situation. A situation that before reading the book I would have said influenced my life greatly. My viewpoint changed reading the book, I saw from the side of others, people who were raised in a completely different world than me. Perhaps that is the best kind of unconditional love I can have. To listen to another’s viewpoint, seek to understand it and respect them.

As always I am SO grateful for the artistic journey of my life and the opportunity to capture my love and the beauty of the world around me, in my own home and in the places I travel to. I am loving getting to know so many other photographers throughout the world and am excited to be participating in a blog circle with some of my photographer friends.  We’re linking to each other’s posts, so you can check out what they’re up to. This month, I’m linking to a fabulous photographer who lives in my favorite place : England! She is sharing a beautiful family portrait session this month. Click here to check her out : Newborn and Family Photography in Reading, Berkshire

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I love my job! I love photographing families and capturing them in all their different stages of life. I have to say there is something nice about a family like this one. It is like a breath of fresh air after chasing a two year old around! I love both aspects, but a nice polite teenage boy who will smile at you and hug his mom? Golden. Here is hoping my boys turn out as well mannered as these three. It is a delight to photograph their awesome family. You can see all the images at the previous link.

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How about the beautiful eyes in this family?! Keep those genes going strong because they are just straight up gorgeous. This was my second time photographing this family and I always love a repeat client. I know them and they know me and my style. Can I just say I have the best clients? Maybe all photographers think this, but I just adore all the people I photograph lately. In fact, in many ways I feel that learning to love people better has actually made my photography better. Obviously life is a journey for all of us, and I feel the older I get the better I get at being loving and non-judgemental. I still have plenty far to go int his quest, dont get me wrong. I am not anywhere near to perfect at it. But I have honestly felt a growth there, of love for my fellow humans. When I love someone, my ability to capture that person for real increases. Maybe this is all hogwash? Ha! But I believe it! All the photographs from this Hampstead Family Portrait Session can be found on my proofing site.

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These two cute boys could not get enough of the Miss Anna potty talk. Whatever it takes to get them to smile and laugh is worth it I say!

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I have been having lots of thoughts today about my style. I feel like I don’t have a set style, instead I am following the path of my life and documenting what I think is beautiful. Or interesting. The connections between people that make me feel something. I have friends who have told me I have a distinct style, but when I look at my collective gallery I have a hard time seeing it. Perhaps I am just too close? Anyway, just random thoughts from today.

This family was delightful. Sweet boys and lots of fun times playing on the beach. I really just love the relaxed feeling of beach sessions. You can see them all at my online proofing site.

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This little guy loves tractors and dirt and all things boy. It was so fun to watch him run through the fields and play with his sweet parents!

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