Yay home sessions! This one was extra super-duper special because the little girl, Skyla, had just finished chemo. Needless to say, her family was relieved and celebrating. And the love between them all was palpable. Skyla’s was SO vivacious and lovely- as I think you can see in these pictures. I was so honored to capture these moments. Congrats to their family and please enjoy these pictures.
I mostly do family sessions at parks around Madison, but I also do a home session- where I go to a family’s house and take pictures of their lives. And usually the results are pretty special. I love seeing kids and parents in their element, plus it makes it easier on the kids to take photos at home. Check out these pictures out from 1 such home session and let me know what you think! I’ll post a 2nd home session in a few days :).
It has been quite some time (at least a year?!) since I last posted family photos that were not of my family. So here’s some- I’m sure you’ve been waiting with bated breath :).
I do wish for every family to have 1 family session done (with any photographer- not the mom!) while their kids are still young. Professional photography creates sentimental artwork that your family will treasure more and more as time goes on. Anywho- enjoy the photos- and the life!
Maureen Cassidy is a Madison wedding photographer, Madison family photographer & Madison boudoir photographer who loves capturing connections, love and beauty in Wisconsin and around the world. If you would like to send her a message contact her {here}.
Please plan to arrive at least 15 minutes early to navigate parking and be ready for your session time. After don’t forget to gently wipe your child’s face before you leave the car.
If you are running late, please text me at 608-358-2871. These sessions are stacked so if you are late you lose that amount of time.
Our session will be playful! We start with a few posed photos and lead into a play session; where I encourage you to play with your kids!
The time together will go by really fast but you will be amazed at how many playful and fun portraits I can capture: family, your children, them individually, and even you as a couple.
If you want more time to play or want to bring the Grandparents along, you have the option to book extra time and have a back to back slot, that doubles your time behind my camera.
This is also suggested if you or your child is camera shy or really struggles with getting their picture taken.
When you book, make sure to add ” Extra time”, and be ready to have double the fun.
Come 15 minutes early. When you arrive at the Arboretum Visitor Center, I will likely already be in the garden area, so my assistant will greet you and bring you to me. Parents: if you have a child, make sure their face is clean and wipe down really well: it’s hard to remove dirt in photoshop, especially around the nose.
Be relaxed and happy. I know it can be stressful but the best thing you can do is smile at the camera and let me focus on capturing their attention and personality.
Add more time if you don’t want to feel rushed or if you would like more variety from our session.
I live a really good life and I am so grateful for all of it. In 2016 Neil and I bought a beautiful old house and blended our families together. We both thought it would be more challenging but it’s mostly been smooth sailing. We had Tim Fitch come over one August day to take photos! Tim is super talented and really doesn’t direct but just lets everyone do what they do and captures the moments brilliantly! As you will see, he is king at taking candids! Other highlights were Neil’s sister’s wedding, a big family trip to Zion National park, my family from Philadelphia visiting me here in Madison, a friend vacation to Idaho and my dear father’s surprise 80th birthday party. I took my favorite photo of 2016 there – a 100% sentimental capture of my dad’s happiest smile with his tongue poking out on one side. My dad is a quiet guy and I have only seen this most joyous grin a few times in my life. This photo of my dad (with almost all of his grandkids) makes me so happy, I already have it framed in my bedroom! It reminds me why I love photography so much!
I am really looking forward to 2017! I only took 10 weddings (last year I had 31!). I plan to do more family photography and boudoir. AND I plan to do shit on weekends! For the past 6 summers, I haven’t had much of a summer. I plan to go to festivals, camp as much as I can, as many lazy mornings as I can get and just be more present for my family life. So if you’ve been thinking about getting family photos taken, you should please contact me!
Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you in 2017!
ps. Most of these photos are mine but some are not. Here is a list of photographers whose photographs I am using in the post. Lily Chou of Wild about you Photography. She has mad skills and the fun dance shots are hers from attending Mystic Photography Seminar. Other photos besides Tim Fitch are Amie Heeter, Sharon from SV heart photography, Nikki Hansen, other family members and strangers.
These next set are from TIM FITCH PHOTOGRAPHY! He is king of “day in the life photos”. Pure documentary style!
I got 3 big trips with my family this year. I am so happy my sisters are good planners! Thanks Kathy and Donna for planning wonderful trips!
Then I got a friend vacation in Idaho! It was perfect! Hiking, hot spring, friends, fires, guitars…no kids!
Just a few from Megan and Tony’s wedding.
My Dad’s surprise 80th birthday.
Favorite photo of 2016.
Recap of 2015
Life continues to be really good to me. My daughters are the delightful ages of 7&9 and are really great people to be around. They get along with unusual ease for siblings and there is a lot of harmony and fun in our home. I feel fortunate that my kids really get to be kids. And lucky for me they are really good kids! As you will see there is lots of play and not taking ourselves too seriously! The year was sprinkled with fun trips with Neil. A huge highlight was shooting a wedding at Yellowstone National Park then backpacking in the wilderness. Being in nature is where my heart and soul feel most at home! Canoeing along the Wisconsin river is my favorite pass time in this great state of Wisconsin. I highly recommend it!!! I am starting out with high hopes for 2016 with planning to work less and play/hangout more with my kids and friends/family. I really really love my work but my goal for 2016 is work less. I have blocked off a bunch of weekends to take trips with my loved ones. Plus my big news is Neil and I are buying a home together on the east side of Madison! Picture is at the end of the post. We will move in April to a full house of 4 kids!
My laptop fell this summer and I lost some personal photos (always back up) so there are no pics of my parents and few from our trip to philly. Sorry mom and dad! Thanks to all my friends and family and my most amazing man Neil. You all make my life so rich and filled with countless smiles!
I hope everyone’s 2016 is filled love and peace in your heart and mind!
Maureen
Hey all!
Here’s installation #2 of Family and Newborn session highlights for the past couple of months.
I hope you enjoy and that you can feel and see the love these families have for each other! Please scroll through at the bottom to see Installation #1 from a few days ago!
**Also, if anyone is really wanting to schedule a family or newborn session this fall, I only have a few spots left- please sign up soon!
Maureen Cassidy is a Madison wedding photographer, Madison family photographer & Madison boudoir photographer who loves capturing connections, love and beauty in Wisconsin and around the world. If you would like to send her a message contact her {here}.
I’m sure this has been the same for a lot of people but dang (!) this summer has been busy! As such, I haven’t done much in the way of social media updates. But here is a post of some Family and Newborn session highlights from the past couple of months. It’ll be split into 2 parts because there are soooo many photos to share. This is installation #1.
Also, here’s a list of My Top 4 Reasons Why I Love Photographing Family and Newborn Sessions:
1) Continuity. Some of the families below I had the honor of taking pictures for the couple’s wedding, then newborn photos, then family photos. This is the type of photographer I strive to be: one you can (and want to!) call back year after year for all those special moments in a family’s history. I love this because I get to build relationships, see how the kids (and parents) have changed over time, and I think this relationship building allows me to capture more natural shots.
2) I am a kid at heart. The things that I consider my best qualities are those that we also cherish in children: I am light-hearted, fun loving, and happy to play. So doing family sessions gives me a great chance to do my job (photography) while also being myself and hanging out with the kind of people I act like most (kids!).
3) Summer fun! I get to take pictures, mostly outdoors, in great weather, in a beautiful part of the country- yea southern Wisconsin!
4) Seeing how LOVED children are. These parents are exceptional- and it’s a good reminder for me of how amazingly difficult and incredibly rewarding it can be to raise children. My goal is to capture this love and a family’s happiness in photos.
I hope you enjoy!
Maureen Cassidy is a Madison wedding photographer, Madison family photographer & Madison boudoir photographer who loves capturing connections, love and beauty in Wisconsin and around the world. If you would like to send her a message contact her {here}.
Yippie!
Check out all the awesome winners
[here]
Here are the 3 contest winners from this year Best of 2014
Sara and Josh-See more of their awesome backyard wedding here
Angela & Ben & the sweet Avalyn
Amanda-Phil + 2 twins and a new baby brother!!
2014 was a great year for me!
I photographed 25 weddings, 56 family/children/sessions, 21 maternity/newborn sessions & 30 boudoir sessions.
Special thanks so my 2nd shooters & photo editor Sarah from Urban Anchor Photography.
My friend Kat who helps me blog!
And my sweet loving boyfriend Neil who makes my life happier and keeps me filled with love and smiles!
My goal for 2015 is to have a wedding each month! So far I need to book a wedding in November 2015 & December 2015. I already have 20 weddings for 2015. 2 of them destination weddings and maybe one more to come. Maybe just maybe! I will book a destination wedding in Nov or Dec some place warm and tropical!!
I always striving to better my work and I am attending an elite and stellar workshop lead by top wedding photographers Todd Laffler who won 70 fearless photography awards, Brian Callaway who has won 18 fearless photography awards and his amazingly creative wife Allison Callaway who has received 25 fearless photography awards.
I am also doing some mentoring this year with Kirsten Lewis who is a crazy amazing family photography and wedding photography!!
I love my work and I am grateful that I get to photograph love and connection between people. It’s amazing witnessing such joy either at a wedding or family/newborn shoot…
Boudoir photography continues to be one of passions. I really love working with women and photographing their beauty. I get to be more creative in boudoir vs the rest of everything else I photograph simply because I can pose people. Kids are not going to sit still and wait for me to find the light or their best side…
It uses a different part of myself plus I LOVE seeing women feel good about their selves and it makes a killer gift!
Thank you Madison for continuing to welcome and accept me into your community! I am excited for 2015.
Maureen Cassidy is a Madison wedding photographer, Madison family photographer & Madison boudoir photographer who loves capturing connections, love and beauty in Wisconsin and around the world. If you would like to send her a message contact her {here}.
The best of 2014 family photography contest is still going on. You can go vote for your favorite: Here
Selecting only one photo for the contest was a hard task. So I put together a compilation of other great ones through the year. Just for fun!
I hope you enjoy viewing these family photos!
Thank to all the families who have hired me! I am a lucky lady to be able to photograph such love and connections!!
Maureen Cassidy is a Madison wedding photographer, Madison family photographer & Madison boudoir photographer who loves capturing connections, love and beauty in Wisconsin and around the world. If you would like to send her a message contact her {here}.
Below are 56 photos to choose from for my 2014 Family Photography contest (and maybe I forgot some?-let me know if I did!).
Maureen Cassidy is a Madison wedding photographer, Madison family photographer & Madison boudoir photographer who loves capturing connections, love and beauty in Wisconsin and around the world. If you would like to send her a message contact her {here}.
2014 was a great year! My daughters are 6 & 8 (which I consider their golden years) and are so fun and loving towards both me and each other. We have it pretty sweet, and I’m blessed to have a really wonderful family! My family even went on a cruise together this year- which was a big highlight for all of us. Even though I live far from my sisters and parents we all see each other throughout the year. My sister Donna had a 3rd open adoption go through so I have a new niece in my life!! (She is in the newborn photos).
I also have a super stellar (& adorable) boyfriend Neil. He is the best!! He photographed some weddings with me and we went on some great adventures together in 2014. He is an incredibly supportive partner + he can handle me! I love the friends I have and the people in this town that I get to interact with. I know I’m a people person but Madison is filled with such great people. I swear, I have not met an asshole here yet and I’ve been here almost 5 years! I love it here. Besides the bitter cold it’s perfect.
Notice other photographers in here? Hell yeah!!! That is one of the gems for me in Madison. Some of my closest friends are the other rocking photographers in Madison. Everyone is so nice to each other and we are a community and help each other and have a lot of fun together. We get to share what we have learned, critique our work, be back up for each other, brainstorm ideas, joke around, go dancing, 2nd shoot for each other, watch each others pets…
Special thanks to the 2nd shooters from 2014 who took all the photos of me shooting weddings. Patricia Espedal from rejoy photography, Sharon for SV heart photography, Laura Zastrow from Laura Zastrow photography, Amie Heeter, Nikki Hanson and Neil Thompson!
Maureen Cassidy is a Madison wedding photographer, Madison family photographer & Madison boudoir photographer who loves capturing connections, love and beauty in Wisconsin and around the world. If you would like to send her a message contact her {here}.
The fall is big time for family photos! I have been so busy photographing lots and lots of wonderful families! I would love to showcase each session individually, but for now I wanted to put together some photos from sessions this fall. I know recently I have been blogging a lot of weddings, but truth be told my business is only half weddings. The rest is families and boudoir. I soooo love being part of families for even a half hour- to hang with, play with, get to know, and of course, photograph the story of a family- especially when I’m able to do so year after year. I have been photographing many of these families for the 4 years I have been in Madison. I love being able to document the playful times parents have with their kids. I strive to get animated photographs that families will treasure for years. Thank you to all of the loving parents and children that trust me to photograph you!
Also! If you could be so kind and vote for me best of madison photographer I would SOOO appreciate it!
http://madisonmagazine.secondstreetapp.com/l/BOM-2015/Ballot/ArtsampEntertainment
-scroll down to “Photographer” category
-enter “Maureen Cassidy Photography” and enter required info
-you can vote daily-voting ends this Friday!!
