Andrea Dozier | Boutique Photography » Children

Dayton Vintage Children’s Photography

Andrea — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:33:34 +0000

These three boys have a special place in my heart. Their mamas have been incredible friends of mine for many years & it’s very awesome to see their individual personalities take shape as they grow. Having my own son & another boy on the way, we are very aware that when we get together there is some major outnumbering going on! It’s ok though, because with little “mans” {as my son Kevin would say} as handsome & sweet as them, it’s not a bad thing to be surrounded!

Brothers.

Cousins.

I could shoot with this delicious lighting every day and never tire of it {and subjects as perfect as these boys}!

Oh the temptations for three young boys climbing on this contraption… they showed a lot of restraint for this portrait!

After we “finished,” we let the boys cut loose and this perfect scene unfolded. This is why when I say I’m “done” I never put my camera up right away:

Photographing children is outrageously fun & unpredictable! You never know what you will get & they are quite entertaining.
Here are some outtakes from their vintage inspired portrait session:

I enjoyed this session so much, a big thank you to their mamas for coordinating their outfits and helping to keep everything flowing on such a hot March day! We enjoyed popsicles at the end {to my satisfaction}. My one regret is that I didn’t incorporate the women behind the scenes, but I look forward to when we will! ♥

Spring Picnic | Dayton Children’s Portrait Photographer

Andrea — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:23:38 +0000

My mother always preferred lemon flavored desserts, I never understood why. My sweet tooth always wanted dark, rich chocolates. This pregnancy, I find myself reaching for fruits and citrus flavors. I can’t get enough of sweet & tangy combinations. The lemon macarons with lemon curd filling that I made for this shoot are actually just an excuse for a pregnant lady to bake {and indulge} in what I was craving.

I’ve been eagerly anticipating spring and couldn’t wait to start shooting outdoors again. The idea was to create a sweet picnic for two adorable sisters with a yellow theme. As I’ve been assembling this post, Pandora played a live version of Coldplay’s Yellow. No kidding. I had to laugh at the very appropriate selection.

I love cotton candy & how it never fails to take me back to being a little girl. Usually, the portions are too much to eat at once. I made some quick cotton candy suckers by slicing the cotton candy, then cutting it with a cookie cutter. I assembled the cotton candy hearts on the candy stick with a small dab of lemon curd. I recommend them if you have some main desserts but want a pop of color and flavor for a shower, wedding, or birthday. I’ll have to post a DIY with pictures of how I assembled them and some creative ideas. The only drawback: they won’t last long.

Angie’s Family Portraits in Dayton, Ohio

Andrea — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:08:28 +0000

My cousin Angie may fool you with her pretty pastel dress, but this woman is clearly one of the bravest I have ever met. She works as a nurse and loves to “jump out of perfectly good airplanes” on her days off. She’s also been working hard to lose an impressive amount of weight this year. As she raises two beautiful children & has the most positive attitude around, she just glows…

Right now the earth is still waking up, so it’s pretty bare around here. Last fall & throughout the winter I shot most of my sessions in the field just at the edge of Tipp City. It’s ideal for some outdoor shots without showcasing our severe lack of greenery on the trees {plus it’s within walking distance of some other great historical backdrops}. It complimented their spring wardrobes perfectly.

Angie’s dad, {my uncle Dan}, was a Marine so I didn’t get to see her family a lot when they lived in Japan. Her daughter Madison looks exactly like the Angela I remember from when we were little and they were visiting one Easter…

I love these… Austin looked so handsome in his cowboy hat & you can just see how much he loves being with his mama!

When we were finished with their session we stopped to reward “the kids” with ice cream {Angie & I had some too of course!} and wrapped up the day enjoying our treats at the park. Madison picked me my first flower of the year and even though we were “finished” I had to snap one more…

Angie, your family is so beautiful… I had such a lovely day with you three! ♥

Dayton Family & Maternity Portraits

Andrea — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:12:14 +0000

Did anyone see Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland? It was beautiful. I think I was too sleepy to enjoy it properly {being pregnant is hard work}, but I loved they way they artistically translated the story. I’ve been feeling a little like Alice. I was cleaning my closet this week and clothes that fit me just a few months ago now look tiny in my hands. The funny thing about pregnancy is that you expand so quickly that you don’t always have the time to adjust to your new size. It feels like some sort of enchanted body transforming cake is at work. I find myself looking at my “old” clothes thinking they look like they belong to a doll & that they surely must have shrunk {sitting untouched in my closet}. I’ve been photographing women who are nine months along & looking so fantastic that I’m thinking about having my maternity pictures taken at 25 weeks and calling it a day. Would that be cheating? It’s ok though. My {almost} four year old tells us that my baby has a sink, a kitchen, & a bed in my tummy… so there is good reason why he needs lots of room.

Here are some pictures from spending a beautiful spring morning with the Waltons…

Jack, I love your curls!

A little known fact about Jack, he’s quite a literary enthusiast.

All styling done by Mr. Jack. I just had the pleasure of watching & photographing him at work.

He kept track of every book they read and made sure Kerry got to every single one. I love how particular little people can be.

She makes pregnancy look so amazing:

I love Kerry’s modern style. It can be hard to find maternity clothes, but accessories & colorful shoes always make an outfit feel more fun {and you can still wear them after the bambino gets here}!

Kerry, you are beautiful in every stage of life. I wish your family all the best and can’t wait to meet your precious little baby! Happy Birthday lovely mama ♥

Snow Day at The Greene | Dayton, OH Family Portraits

Andrea — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:18:38 +0000

I’m sure you remember the unforgettable pint sized beauty Nataly, I know I couldn’t wait to see her again! We met at The Greene in Kettering and had a fantastic time playing in the snow. The elusive sunshine even made an appearance, and I was thrilled with being able to incorporate some warmth into their photographs. Winter in Ohio has been the usual cold, snowy, and overcast. I feel like that bit of sun transformed everything. I say it all the time, but I believe that sunlight looks good on everyone. It’s the most natural, organic way to enhance a portrait. Take a peek & see if you agree:

I always start any session out with some poses. Once we get them out of the way, we start having fun:

After playing, the little ones forget that I’m aiming my lens at them.

The man behind the snow. One of his amazing special-effects-snow-balls blew towards him because of the wind…

I know they made everything look fun & comfortable, but it was truly freezing outside!

I love watching toddlers check everything out. No matter their response, it’s priceless.

Aimee… you’re gorgeous.

Nataly’s enthusiasm is awesome. Love those bouncing curls :]

So it turns that The Greene isn’t just a great place to shop at the gigantic Forever 21 or grab Chipotle. It’s an excellent backdrop for photographs, especially as twilight approaches and all the city lights are illuminated against a kaleidoscopic sky…

Sarah’s Family | Dayton, Oh Lifestyle Portrait Photographer

Andrea — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:06:23 +0000

When I moved to Dayton, I was just starting sixth grade. My new experiences didn’t go very well at my new school. I went from being the president of my student council to “Can anyone… anyone… let me sit at your lunch table please… maybe if I beg?”

On the other hand, I made some good friends at my church. During that painfully awkward year, Sarah became a good friend and we’ve been able to stay close. We’ve had so many long conversations about husbands & children before either of those things were a reality for us. There were years of wonderful, innocent memories made enjoying life {even though we always longed to be “adults”}. Our sons were born on each other’s due date, two years apart. We always look forward to their birthday month & discuss how quickly they are growing. Her family is beautiful & she is blessed with two good “mans” {as my son would call them}. These were taken in the ripeness of fall and I hope they do her favorite season justice. I wanted most of them to remain colorful, because there is such a short time when the colors are naturally this amazing.

Her Shiba Inu, Cider, is so adorable! I love when pets can make a cameo in family pictures, especially one as photogenic as hers :]

I love you Sarah Ann… I’m so glad you are part of my life.

Kevin in Christmas {Changes}

Andrea — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:39:52 +0000

You will have to excuse my absence from my blogs. It’s not that I’m not alive & working. It’s more that, because I am… there are a few things that need to be prioritized in order to be my most productive. Keeping in touch with my readers is important, but so is taking care of my clients.
{I can see them all nodding in agreement with me!}

Every business strives to be unique. I’ve been really searching as to what that means for me. I started to think about “what I do” and “why I started doing it.” I can’t say that I’ve always visualized myself as a photographer. I know it might be strange to admit that on my professional site. You know, I’m supposed to claim that I came out of my mother with a camera in hand, right? I’m supposed to say that I always knew what I wanted and this is it. Well, it’s really not the way it happened for me. Instead, it’s a passion that has been born out of other passions.

I fell in love with an expert in photography, and it’s been fun to learn from him.
I fell in love with my baby son, and used photography to help me remember how beautiful he is.
I fell in love with graphic design and used photography as a tool to make my designs stronger.

Then… finally… I fell head over heels in love with photography & it’s become my obsession.

Something clicked when I started to think about everything that has led up to where I am now. I’ve always offered to do design for my clients as an endnote, but I am professionally trained as a designer. Now I want to incorporate it more into all of my clients’ experiences with me. It dawned on me that it’s like an architect designing a home, then handing everything over to a builder for them to finish. What if the architect was also a builder? Someone with complete control over both aspects of the job would bring a cohesive vision to reality.

This winter will be the perfect opportunity to explore my options and debut them for you to see. I’ve been slowly making investments that will help me transition into a photographer who will bring my specialized design to the printing process. I do feel very excited about this next chapter in my story… stay tuned :]

Kevin tagged along to an engagement shoot last week. I have now started to consider Tipp City as my personal studio {been there many times in summer/fall} & knew just where I wanted him to stand… I say, “stand,” because we all know that three year olds are almost incapable of being posed! I look forward to the day when he will cooperate a little more, but I guess on the other hand, I never know what I’ll get when it comes to him ;]

Lucky for me, he was obsessed with really big trucks on the road. And a really big truck was going by…

I don’t normally bother to ask Kevin to smile, I have to find other ways to make him laugh. If I do, I normally get something like this next picture. Oh boy…

I tend to take the definition of “photojournalistic” & “candid” to the max when it comes to children {like my son}. It’s why when I get to work with adults, I tend to exclaim, “Oh wow, you listen so well…” Now you kind of understand why I say that!

When Kevin could just barely walk, I became obsessed with pictures of his reflections. They are near & dear to this mama’s heart…

His coat was getting red from rubbing on all the brick buildings :]

There will be more sessions to post, stories to tell. I don’t think I’ll be updating my blogger site. If I ever do decide to do more baking, I’ll just post images on here. Again, I’ve had to prioritize and there hasn’t been a lot of room for that hobby.

So very excited it’s December… we love Chrstmas around here :]

Distel Family | Dayton, Oh Family Photography

Andrea — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:32:10 +0000

My cousin, April, has two very sweet baby girls. It’s so cool to see how her family has grown & to be able to document it with my camera. She is from Northern Ohio, but was gracious enough to meet me at a park in Sydney (about half way for both of us). I usually like to scope out locations before we shoot, but only Googled this one. Turned out, {to my relief}, we had plenty to work with!

Miriah is a year old, and I love how at that age, everything is new & their curiosity is so obvious. She made me smile all over again working with these pictures.

And because her shoes were insanely adorable, had to show them in color :]

Recap of October II still in the works as well as three weddings & three engagements. I am gonna be a blogging machine for the next couple weeks ;]

Bannorra Family | Dayton, Oh Children’s Photographer

Andrea — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:12:48 +0000

I’ve known Tara & Tiffany for years. We met through my church youth group, and they were like big sisters to me. I’ll never forget sharing chimi-cheesecakes at Applebees {where I eventually worked with them} or piling into Tiff’s old white station wagon for high school football games on Friday nights. I was actually with them, at an Elms concert, the first time I ever remember being introduced to my husband.

Photographing them with their children is pretty much as good as it gets. When people make your life more beautiful for so many years & encourage you through every teenage disaster, then, you have an opportunity to show them how special their life is… it’s just cool.

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With all my love, enjoy.

I love standing back quietly as a witness. Watching. Waiting… for innocence to bloom through my lens.

Tara{h}: He is growing so fast. But he couldn’t be more handsome or sweet. You’re a beautiful mama!

Love the colors in the next two of Tara & Zak. They were some of the last ones we took as the sun was setting.

Love my lens. Especially how it enables me to give Photoshop a break so often…

Tiffany had asked me to do her wedding while I was still in school for graphic design. It was a really big encouragement, since I had never thought of doing photography that way before. I regret not doing her wedding for her, but she has continued to help inspire & coax me in that direction.
The next time I was asked by another friend, I said yes.
And good things have happened.
I will always try to continue making it up to her…

And one more…

Sometimes I add lens flare in my “digital darkroom.” This one was natural {rainbow & all}. Lucky timing.

Hope you enjoyed these photos, they were truly a labor of love. Thanks for being part of my life {for so long} you two!
Which one was your favorite?

Little Ones in October | Dayton, Oh & Columbus, Oh Children’s Photographer

Andrea — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:21:12 +0000

October has been a pretty {busy} good month. I feel so blessed to be busy doing something that I love more & more all the time. It’s kind of scary that after all the pictures I’ve taken lately, all I want to do is take as many as I can before we hibernate for winter. Then keep taking them until my fingers freeze.

Thank you for keeping up with my work & viewing my stories. I am thankful for all of you who support & encourage me… and… who contact me about working with you or people you know. I realize that all of my work comes from your support. Thank you.

Here are a few samples of pictures from some of the shoots that I’ve finished recently.

Sebastian was nine months old in these pictures. I loved watching him discover leaves & sticks, then see how his eyes reflected every thought in his head.

I was able to sneak in the Frazee family portraits while I was in Columbus a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it rained. Kelly {mom} was really flexible & we did an impromptu shoot inside. I love the way these look in black & white, I think it helps show the mood of that day & the way the kids were feeling being stuck indoors.

I have one more post ready for this week. Other than that, I’ll be baking a wedding cake. Then delivering it to Columbus. Then photographing that wedding.
After a long long nap… you’ll be seeing more of the October family, babies, engagements, and weddings on here!