Suzanne Tenuto Photography Blog » Children & Families

Winter Babies

suzannetenuto — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 02:37:57 +0000

I was so far into wedding land in the fall that I forgot how much fun it is to make good old family photos. Particularly of the little bambinos – oh those teeny toes and fingers, I don’t know how their moms haven’t just gobbled them up (I’ve been known to sneak a little kiss of the baby feet periodically…whatever, you would too, they are irresistible and it makes them laugh!).

Here are some of my favorites from some of the baby sessions I’ve done this winter. If you simply can’t get enough, check out some more on my Facebook page!

Beach Sessions

suzannetenuto — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:07:43 +0000

When I was a kid, I hated the beach. What kid hates the beach? Me, that’s who. We would spend summer vacations in Wildwood, NJ, and we always had to stay somewhere with a pool because I was such a big baby about going to the beach. I hated the long walk (those of you who have been to Wildwood know what I mean), the sand sticking to me, not seeing all the way down to my feet in the water (if they could get me IN the water), and that I had to stay there all day long. What a brat I was.

Flash forward to adulthood…and I LOVE it. What the heck was wrong with me?? It’s so nice to be away from the city, relaxing on the beach, drink and magazine in hand and not keeping track of time. Though I have to admit, I still do not LOVE being in the water and not seeing which marine creatures are about to bite my toes off…

I was down at the Jersey shore (no, not the one with Snooki and The Situation) a couple of weekends ago and scheduled some family portrait sessions in Cape May and Ocean City – yet another reason to love it. Next year I will definitely be dedicating more time to beach sessions…just another excuse to get down to the shore!

Here are some shots from the beach sessions – a few even ended up taking a dip!

Zoblotsky Family

suzannetenuto — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 02:41:10 +0000

I met my friend Tracy’s kids Molly and Eli a few years ago. It was right around the holidays and since they were in the middle of Hannukah I brought them chocolate gelt as a small Hannukah present. Would you like to know how they thanked me? They gave me a nickname – Poopsanne. Yes, you read that right. Eli thought it would be funny to replace “Suz” with “Poops”, and it stuck. So here we are about 3 years later, and I am still referred to as “Poops” in the Zoblotsky household. I’d have it no other way.

Anyway, this shoot is a LONG time in the making, I’m so glad I was finally able to get down to Dallas to do it. I don’t know if any of you have had the pleasure of visiting Dallas in July, but I was lucky enough to experience it at its finest – triple digit temperatures AND triple digit humidity. Needless to say, we had to find a place indoor for our photos, and we ended up at the Gaylord Texan Hotel. This place was PERFECT! The huge atrium gave us lots of yummy natural light, and the AC was cranking to keep us comfy!

Tracy always tells me how much she likes my slideshows, and now she gets one of her own! Check it out here.

Flashes of Hope

suzannetenuto — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 21:37:21 +0000

You’ve heard me mention Flashes of Hope before on here, but last week I finally had my first event at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It was seriously one of the best experiences I’ve EVER had…but I have to admit, beforehand I was a little nervous. You see, I LOVE kids, I love their laughter and innocence, their ability to bring so much joy to everyone around them, and I think every child is beautiful in his or her own way. I was afraid that these children would be different because of the experiences they’ve been through (some have dealt with pain that I cannot even begin to comprehend), and that it would upset me so much that I wouldn’t be able to do my job.

I was SO wrong. These kids were…well…kids. They laugh and smile and play, make fun of their siblings, run around so fast I can’t catch them, and they bring joy to their families and to the staff at CHOP with their incredible personalities and strength. I learned a lot in that one afternoon at CHOP, in fact my time there went by way too fast.

Please visit the Flashes of Hope site at www.flashesofhope.org to see the wonderful things they do for these families and cancer research, and enjoy the following photos of my new friends!

Mr. Baby is here!

suzannetenuto — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:56:50 +0000

Welcome Mr. Baby! Remember beautiful, preggers Gina from a couple of months ago? She and her husband Tony welcomed Anthony Joseph into the world on, ready for this? MOTHER’S DAY! What an amazing Mother’s Day present! I have to admit, I am having a hard time calling this child by his actual name, because he has been referred to as Mr. Baby for so long.

I was able to pay Mr. Baby & family a visit in the hospital, and then a few weeks later for Mr. Baby’s first official photo shoot. He even got all dressed up for the occasion…I mean, c’mon a tuxedo onesie?? Does it get any better than this?

P.S. Fellow camera nerds – the hospital photos were my first run with my new Nikon D700 (#5 on my 10 in 2010 list – check!). Mr. Baby wasn’t quite fond of the fluorescent overhead lights at the ripe old age of one day, so in order for him to open his eyes we only had some very dim lights on in the room. This camera handles low light like nothing I have ever seen. I didn’t use any flash and some of the pictures were taken at 8000 ISO! Yes, 8000, and almost no noise whatsoever!! I am in love.

Brenna’s First Holy Communion

suzannetenuto — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 02:27:41 +0000

Up until recently, my only frame of reference for First Holy Communion photos was the following:

Yep, that’s me, age 7, on the day of my First Holy Communion wearing a dress that I believe several of my cousins wore as well (also, check out the bag…what did I need a bag for?? It’s not even big enough to hold a Barbie). So when Brenna’s mom asked me to take her Communion portraits, that was the picture that popped into my head. And although I am as cute as button (HA!), I knew I wanted to get a little more creative and take it outside the studio.

We were lucky enough to get into Brenna’s church (Sacred Heart in South Philly), then we took a ride over to FDR park for some fun outdoor photos, and headed back home for studio shots. I am SO happy with the results, and Brenna was a fantastic model, I hardly had to tell her to do anything! Here are some of my favorites, if you’d like to see more, check out the video!

Jonah

suzannetenuto — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 04:49:16 +0000

Hopefully all of you east coasters have been enjoying the amazing weather we’ve been having! This weekend made me crave the beach BIG TIME. I am just waiting for mother nature to slam us with a mid-April snowstorm, just to be funny.

Today’s post is on a shoot I did a few weeks ago – it was one of the first warm days of the season, and even though there aren’t any leaves on the trees yet I think it has a very spring-y feel! I met up with almost 2 year-old Jonah and mom and dad at FDR Park in South Philly for our session. Jonah’s mom, Heather, is an old family friend, and one of the things I love about photographing families is how many people I’ve been able to reconnect with and meet their new little families!

How CUTE is Jonah?? He was rockin’ his little striped jacket and collared shirt like a seasoned pro. To see more of this photo session, check out the video!

Welcome Little Jake!

suzannetenuto — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 03:37:27 +0000

There has been a new addition to the Tenuto family! My cousins Joey and Dina (and their daughter Victoria) welcomed Jake Joseph into the world on December 31st. Way to go on the tax break! My parents were not so lucky – I am a new year’s baby.

Here are some pictures of 1-month-old baby Jake and 2 1/2-year-old Victoria. Victoria looks so grown-up next to Jake, she could pass for a 1st grader. Ah, the chaos of having 2 children under the age of 3, it was quite entertaining to watch Dina juggle it all, but she is handling it like a champ. Joey is lucky. Speaking of chaos, Victoria spent the majority of the time running around, playing, and well, being a toddler…but man, she got right into character when I bribed her with a lollipop! That bag of Dum Dum Pops is the best $2 I’ve ever spent!

I am not just saying this because they are family, but boy are they CUTE! If you want to see a little more of Victoria and Jake (you can catch a glimpse of Dina and my mom too!), take a look at the slideshow here.

Bagameri Family

suzannetenuto — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 06:56:53 +0000

Last week I blogged from Florida during its coldest winter blast on record…and now I am blogging from southern California where the weather is, well, not so great. Who was it that said it never rains in southern California? Well, they lied. So much for leaving Philly in January for some tropical weather!

I bring to you another warm weather shoot (yes, I am a bit behind on blogging some of my fall shoots!). You may remember Anna & Bence from our photos back in the spring. They were just as fun and photogenic this time! I really do love this family, we just hang out, play around and I can capture everyone just being themselves. Here are some pictures from the shoot, if you want to see more, check out the slideshow here.

In the meantime, I’ll be on the lookout for some California sunshine…

Emma & Connor

suzannetenuto — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 01:53:14 +0000

One of the many things I love about fall: it’s warm enough that I don’t feel like my fingers are going to fall off, but it’s cool enough that I can chase around little kiddies and not break a sweat! I try to enjoy this time of year as much as possible because it always seems to be gone in a flash (um, yeah, this weekend the temps are not even going to reach 50! SERIOUSLY?). Also, no pun intended. Get it? Gone in a “flash”? I crack myself up with my incredibly lame photography humor.

I recently got to do a really fun shoot with Connor (age 2 1/2) and Emma (6 months) on a beautiful fall afternoon. Connor was kind enough to keep me entertained while Emma endured several wardrobe changes…both of them smiling and happy the WHOLE time.

I love it when babies have big bright eyes – if you look closely you can actually see my reflection in Emma’s eyes in some of the shots!