Boulder Holiday Portraits - our family portraits!

Happy Holidays from my little family - the Johnston Beaton Family! Since I know that it's hard to take photos of your own kiddos, especially when they enter the teenage years, I hired another Boulder County photographer, Regina Mountjoy, of Recherche Photography in Louisville. She was offering some great holiday portrait specials - mini sessions which were 20 minutes long which I knew the kids could handle!

Since our move here to Boulder County and establishing our new Baby Photographer Boulder presence, we've been networking and getting to know a lot of other Boulder County photographers. Regina was in the audience in Seattle at a Kevin Kubota workshop on Creative Live and I was really impressed with not only her photography but her other business called the Organized Photographer. I need some of that - I'm definitely the UNorganized Photographer! Anyway Regina's work is beautiful and she was a pleasure to work with and maybe I'll get organized in 2013!









And it's official - I am now the shortest person in my little family! And although with kids of 13 and 15 we don't know who will be the tallest, we definitely know that I will be the shortest from here on out!

and clients often ask where I get my own holiday cards... I love those on Pictage where I sell photos, but these were Tinyprints, a division of Shutterfly, and we've been quite happy for several years in a row!

Happy Holidays!

Another great Breakfast with Santa!

Yesterday was another successful Breakfast with Santa in Frisco - this year with a new venue, the Backcountry Brewery. I love the variety of faces that kids make when they see and approach santa! And I can't always hear what santa says to the kids, but it's always so warm and friendly, I get totally sucked in myself! I often hear him say, "My how you've grown since I saw you last time!" This year's photos online in two places:

A slideshow of the event online here...

and all 300 photos at www.pictage.com/1348416

and a few favorites...

















The Best T Shirt Award goes to Marshall:



And the Best Hairdo goes to Sam K!

I'm having Breakfast with Santa in Frisco this Saturday.....

For the fourth year in a row, I'll be having Breakfast with Santa on Saturday in Frisco! This is a fundraiser for the Summit County Preschool and it's one of my favorite events of the year. A slideshow of the 2011 Breakfast with Santa is here.

Saturday December 15th 2012 8:30am to 11am Back Country Brewery Frisco, Colorado

The photos will be online at this link:

www.pictage.com/1348416

by Tuesday - there are digital downloads available and if you sign up early you will get a $5 print credit!

and thought I would share a few of my favorite photos over the years below...











you might want to join us... even I start to believe when I look in santa's eyes... isn't he darling?

Colorado Family Holiday Portraits - meet the Smith Family

I've been photographing the Smith Family for the last four or five years - usually each fall during the peak color season, but this year we missed and had to do some indoors since it was so cold! But luckily we had an in at the Grand Lodge on Peak 7 and were able to take some photos there without freezing the kids too much!

Family slideshow online here...

and a few of my favorite photos below...

Boulder Children and Family Photographer - Varra Family Holiday Portraits

We chose some local old barns and old tractors in Boulder County for the Varra's family portrait. It was pretty cold and windy so we had to just in the car occasionally to warm those boys up! I find that as it gets cold I'll see kids pull their sleeves down over their hands and it starts to look like they are cold! But Kyle and Luke did really well and went along with all of my crazy ideas!

Slideshow online here...

This beautiful white barn was at the Wise Homestead Museum in Erie. They are holding a holiday gathering at the museum on Saturday December 15th 2012 - I may have to see what's on the inside of this building!

Thank You Mike's Camera of Boulder, Colorado!

As many of you know we've moved to the Boulder area and trying to get established as the newest Boulder Baby Photographer. There are quite a few of us! But I love photographing babies and just want to focus my efforts on baby and children's photography. So I'm going for it and making connections all over Boulder and the Front Range.

I followed a news story last month about Wolf Camera stores closing and learned that Mike's Camera of Boulder took over five of the old Wolf Camera locations. To promote the opening of the new stores that had a contest that each of the five new stores was giving away a $500 shopping spree. I took a photo of myself in front of the new Mike's Camera Thornton store and just learned that I won the $500 shopping spree! So excited!





My plan is to buy a Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 macro lens for $599 - it is recommended by newborn photographer Robin Long whose workshop I recently took here in Colorado. And I believe hubby is going to kick in the $99 for Christmas.

An example of a Robin Long photo taken with the 60mm macro lens at our newborn photography workshop in October. I couldn't even try for the shot but can't wait for my next newborn shoot to use this lens on some of those cute newborn parts! copyright Robin Long Photography

Thank you Mike's Camera for making this photographer's Christmas!

Boulder Baby Photographer - meet 6 month old Goldie!

Goldie is just six months old, and even though she had a little cold at the time of our photo shoot, she shined in the photos! And she proved really patient as we went through a few different options for outfits, hats, and headbands! After an hour she was done with me but also hungry and tired!

I can't quite decide which ones I like best - the boots and hat make her look like an adorable Colorado mountain baby... like she is!

Slideshow online here...