Children Portraits | Melissa LaCouture | Rhode Island Portrait & Family Photographer

Collin’s Portrait at the Studio – RI Children Photography

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Melissa Lacouture

What a beautiful little boy, Collin, is! Blue eyes, brown hair and the most adorable smile. He is also a “Mama’s boy”. I sort of hate the term, but that’s the only way to put it. There’s nothing wrong with loving your Mom a lot! Collin took a little bit to warm up (despite my wonderful rendition of “Elmo’s Song”). Even when he was comfortable Mom still had to be very close by. I think it’s adorable. It may also mean that Mommy is doing a pretty good job making her baby feel safe and secure. That’s what Mommy’s do!

He was having a great time playing with my reflector. Actually he couldn’t have picked a better place to stand!

Mommy had a secret to making Collin laugh…

So adorable!

All the kids love to look outside the window at my studio. Especially if they like trucks. There is a garage across the street.

2011 Rewind :: Preschoolers and Big Kids – RI Portrait Photography

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Melissa Lacouture

My final rewind post and my final post of 2011! What an amazing, amazing year! I can’t wait for 2012 – to meet new familes and to see everyone again. 2012 is going to be a big year for new siblings! Four of my families are expecting a new baby this year!! I can’t wait to meet the little ladies and gents!

This last batch of photos includes some of my favorites kids and photos. Older kids can be a little intimidating because if they don’t like you… well you know it! They have hit a point of self awareness. Now all of a sudden they have opinions on what they want to do for the pictures and how they want to look. I love it when they can have some fun with me – when they say “Take a picture of this!” and do something pretty ridiculous. In this post is a family I’ve done pictures for around 6 times now! They love pictures, my kind of family! I love my sassy rockstar with her tinsel star backdrop. The one’s in her roller skates are awesome! A lot of these kids’ parents were my friends in high school. My daughter also makes an appearance in this one. She is sitting on ledge in front of the roll up grate. Speaking of my little girl this post features her best friend from birth, her best friend from Gymboree and her best friend for school. She is a lucky girl to have so many buddies. Putting these posts together has made me feel lucky as well. Thanks for letting me photograph what you love the most – your families! Happy New Year!

2011 Rewind :: Toddlers – RI Baby Photography

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Melissa Lacouture

Toddler… Oh, it’s a bad word for some people. The terrible two’s, troublesome three’s. Anyway you cut it this is the group that gets the most grief. They are older and wiser. They know what they want and they want it now! This is the group that makes me work for it. I have to wear many hats when photographing the toddler. Sometimes I’m a total goof ball, running around, saying silly things and acting a fool to get some cooperation. Sometimes it’s a marathon and I literally just chase them throwing optimal lighting situations and beautiful backgrounds out the window. If the toddler wants to stand in front of a dumpster then I either have to make it work or wait until I can trick them into doing something else. For the skittish toddler I am quiet and patient waiting for my moment to pounce. Whatever it takes. Parents have told me that I have the patience of a saint. I think it’s that I just love kids. You have to if you want them to be comfortable with you. They can smell phony-ness a mile away.

I actually own one of these crazy toddler creatures. He is the type I would have to chase around to get a nice picture. I’m starting off this post with my two favorite pictures of him from 2011. I can’t get enough of his hair! I love it so much that it drives me crazy! Next up will be the kids!

2011 Rewind :: Family Portraits – RI Family Portrait Photography

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Melissa Lacouture

Although I’ve been doing wedding photography for coming up on 9 years this portrait “branch” of my business only started in October 2010. I will give you some background… In September of 2009 I sent out an email to my closest friends and family explaining that I wanted to do a family portrait day. I told them I would be in Roger Williams park for a certain amount of time and that they could pick a time to come for… say 20 minutes or so to get a nice portrait of the family. Did I mention that I was offering to do this for free? Photos are so important to me so I wanted to make sure that the people closest to me had some nice ones of their loved ones. Only one person did it (thanks, Marisa!). Then in September of last year I thought “I’m going to try to do a family portrait day again, but this time I will post it on Facebook and actually charge money.” My husband said when I came up with the idea he thought “It’s going to be so sad if no one does it again”. My family portrait day turned into three days, I booked 20 people, and 99% of those people have been repeat customers or referred future clients to me. I would say my business started there.

In the past year I’ve met so many great people and made new friends. I never would have dreamed year ago that I’d have a web site, a studio, and so many wonderful clients. 2012 is going to be a really exciting year for me. I can’t wait to start on the plans that I have. Before all that happens I thought we should take a stroll down memory lane and leave 2011 with a bang! Here are some of my favorite family portraits that I’ve taken over the past year, definitely not all of them but a nice mix. Enjoy the family love! Next up will be newborns…

Tristan and Addison’s Portrait Shoot in Pawtucket – RI Family Photography

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Melissa Lacouture

Sometimes after I do a portrait I get a little jealous. I see these great pictures of someone else’s family and I wish it was my family in them! You might also get a little jealous if you continue to look at this blog post. My studio is in an old mill building which means the outside is just as cool as the inside. When I saw Tristan’s sweater I knew Mom and Dad would be down for something a little cooler so we ventured out. Not cooler in temperature because it was like 60 degrees out. I mean cooler in attitude. We really lucked out with the weather, wardrobe choice and a really fun backdrop. Everything came together perfectly.

I’m crazy for this picture…

And this one…

When Mom first emailed me she told me that her husband was in Afghanistan! We couldn’t set a date until she knew exactly when he was coming home. This is a really sweet family and I’m so happy that everyone is safe here at home and able to spend the holidays together. I hope these pictures make the homecoming just that much sweeter.