Trick or treat, smell my feet...

Halloween festivities are right around the corner.  The Halloween spirit is in full force at our house.  Halloween also happens to be one of my favorite holidays.  It's such a great time to capture the spirit of your little ones in their costumes.

I don't know about you, but I love to make my costumes.  My children have grown into the habit of 'what costume can we make this year,' particularly my daughter.  We don't leave dress-up to Halloween in our house though.  There is usually a ninja or princess wandering the house on a weekly basis.  Sometimes Spiderman will make his debut at the grocery store.  I'm okay with the kids wearing their dress-up gear outside of the house, I think it builds character and is a great conversation starter.

Just a few tips for you on capturing some great shots of your little goblins and ghouls on Halloween:

• Have your little one try on their costume before the actual event so they are used to the different parts of the costume.  Having said that, if there are any pieces your little one does not like, wait until you're ready for pictures before having them put it on.
• Take your photos while the sun is still shining.  The kids are usually so amped to go trick or treating that they're just running around waiting for the time to pass.  This is a great time to get them outside (weather permitting) to snap a few shots.
• If it's already dark, silhouettes are great to capture.  It will give a spooky effect to the shot.
• Be careful with your flash at night, you'll capture your subject pretty well, but be prepared for losing some of the detail of your background.
• Kids are fast so make sure you have your camera set to the appropriate setting.  I would suggest using the sport setting and continuous burst setting to capture moments with lots of movement.
• Most importantly, have fun!  Take your camera with you on your walk through the neighborhood.  We're so lucky to live in the digital age of film.  Take lots of pictures, you'll get a few that you love! 

Here are a few of my favorite Halloween shots of my little ghoul and goblin.  This was from 2 years ago and we made the costumes.  My ghoul was a cheetah and my goblin was Wyatt from Super Why.

Checking out her cheetah makeup

She really got into character

An action shot to capture Super Wyatt

This boy will tell you that he really could fly

Don't forget to get a few pics of the decorations

Featuring Adieelaine...

Hello friends, I hope your summer has been splendid!  I just wanted to share a project I'm working on with a dear friend and owner of Adieelaine.  If you haven't been to Adieelaine's facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adieelaine/585045364838884  you are missing out.  Here you will find beautiful, unique and lovingly knit accessories.

Love what you see?  Pop on over to the Adieelaine facebook page.  Love how it's photographed?  Contact anna sganga photography at annasgangaphotog@gmail.com or visit my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AnnaSgangaPhotography.

I hope you enjoy the eye candy!

A New Birthday Traditon

My sweet Stelli Bean turned 6 a few weeks ago and around that time I started noticing all of the beautiful buttercup fields around the undeveloped areas in what I consider the 'country' of Virginia Beach.  The kids and I love to drive through the back roads on the way home from school.  We mostly look for the horses that are in the fields or the vultures or hawks flying about.  Since we've had a real Spring this year, the flowers are blooming brilliantly and the grass has been so much greener.

I wanted to capture the beauty of the buttercup fields before they were cut or faded away and I also wanted to capture my little girl before she grew any bigger.  After school one day, I brought along our rain boots and a very fancy dress Stelli had gotten for her birthday.  When I picked her up from school I told her we were going to take Birthday pictures and she was thrilled.  We drove to a field a few miles from our house and parked in a church parking lot that backed up to the fields.  The rain was getting close so we had to be quick about the pictures.  The field was beautiful and a little soggy from a previous rain.  Stelli found tadpoles in just about every puddle in the field, she's a real nature gal too!

Here are a few of my favorite shots.  I'm so glad we made it out to do this and I hope this becomes an annual tradition for both of my kids.  They grow so quickly and sometimes it's easy to forget to snap a photo of them on a regular basis.  Their "Birthday photo shoot" will now be something we can all look forward to in addition to celebrating their Birthday.  I hope you enjoy them!

Luck of the Photographer...

I had the pleasure of photographing a family session with the Harris family on St. Patrick's Day.  My clients chose The Hague in Norfolk because it was a special place for them.  When the couple had their engagement photos done, this is where they came.  It was something special for me to photograph this lovely family of three in a place that held such a special spot in their hearts.

The day was not what you would think an ideal photo shoot would be.  It was cloudy and overcast with absolutely no sun shining.  For me, this is one of my favorite kind of days to shoot.  There is little to no need for a flash and the images seem to come out softer and the clients really stand out against the background.  This day was a little chilly to begin with at the start of our session.  I took photos for about 20 minutes before we had to take a break and warm up in the car with a snack for the little one.

I loved the variety of scenery in this session.  The Hague is a great place with the bridge over the River, the urban park like setting, and the stone work around the river.

The next time you see a cloudy overcast day, don't knock it.  It could be the day when you shoot your most favorite photo.  I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do!