Grapevine Dallas Fort Worth Photographer >> Baby, Infant, Newborn, Maternity, Child, Children, Kid Family, Senior, Engagement Natural Light Portrait Photographer
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it's all about the chase for me. i will do just about anything - sing, dance, get dirty - to bring that perfect picture to life through my lens. so welcome to my blog and life as i see it. you'll find plenty of sneak peeks and promotions here with a small serving of my kids and more about me on the side! thanks for stopping by...
melissa darst photography specializes in natural light baby, children and family portrait work. i'm an on-location photographer based out of grapevine, texas. my approach is simple yet edgy, a fresh alternative to traditional children and family photography. i love to pair the unexpected together. Throw some furniture out in the middle of a hay field. Mix polka dots with florals and stripes. Put a little girl in a frilly dress, add a big flower to her hair, then finish with a pair of cowboy boots or rain boots. Love it!
i'm also a mom to three beautiful kids – a 4-year old boy, a 3-year old little girl and a 7-month old baby boy – and wife to the man of my dreams, who is my rock and #1 fan! it is because of them and my faith in the lord that i am inspired. "every good and perfect thing is from above" – james 1:17
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we hunted for magical orange butterflies and i got a new nickname this shoot – miss “alyssa”:) this is another amazing family with a mom who pours so much creativity and energy into my kids at their school. such a perfect blessing and perfect post to go out on just before mother’s day!
slowly but surely, i do promise to blog more of the lemonade minis!! the last time i tried to photograph miss b, she really didn’t want to let go of her mommy’s arm:) this time she decided to show me her bedroom eyes:) i am in love with this precious, precious little girl and i secretly think she could make a great first girlfriend for my baby h. and in a couple of years, maybe even a playmate for miss m since it seems like both miss m and miss b are surrounded by boys in their life. the stripes and ruffles mom picked out photographed great!
i love that miss c and i share a love of antique suitcases, the color mustard and polka dots:) i also loved that she was willing to hop up on this junk pile at the start of her session! we clicked from the start and had a blast digging through her trunk of clothes to put together outfits all the while working to bring bits of her personality and signature style (like the red bandana in her hair below) to life. this arlington high school senior is off to tech in the fall to pursue a biomedical science degree and it was an honor to be able to take her senior photos! i like to let my seniors pick out a song for their video recap and i love that she took me back to an old school classic…the lyrics are perfect for this time in her life, so be sure to check out miss c’s video here!
trish of ruby blue is my new online best friend. you must check out her etsy shop for an adorable line of headpieces and assorted goodies. we keep feeding off each other and throwing all sorts of crazy ideas out over facebook private messages. i can’t wait to see what we dream up next! i think our shared love of all things black and white and striped keeps inspiring each other:) so shooting her new vintage lemonade apron was the perfect complement to my sweet and sour event!! and to top it all off, she makes “made to match” pieces to complement the latest serendipty release from matilda jane, so her talents are endless! check out her creations on the models below.
and if that wasn’t enough to get you all excited, we will be offering a facebook giveaway for the headpiece below. to enter you must complete the following steps by midnight on friday 5/4/12. winner will be chosen at random on 5/5/12 and notified via email.
1. leave a comment on this blog post to enter.
2. you must “like” melissa darst photography on facebook here. leave a comment on my wall to let us know you entered and how you found out about us!
3. you must “like” ruby blue on facebook here. leave a comment on her wall to let us know you entered and how you found out about us!
4. pay it forward and share the giveaway with your friends!
and a couple more bits of eye candy just because….
the sweet and sour sessions have come and gone! now starts the fun of sharing all the beautiful kiddos who came out to sip some lemonade, juggle lemons, chase ladybugs and have all sorts of spontaneous fun! this might go down as my all time favorite mini session event i have done in the history of mdp:) the beautiful miss ag is featured below and because so many people might wonder, her fabulous dress and headpiece is by persnickety clothing. this adorable line is full of amazing texture and details, and it photographs so well…but is a splurge for sure! you can buy online at various online retailers like everything but the princess or in the southlake/grapevine area, be sure to check out ella bella and little orange fish.
mr. d’s special requests for his 5th birthday party = a bounce house, birthday cake (not cupcakes), cheetos (his hands in the bowl below, finger lickin’ and all!!!), hotdogs (no bun) and lemonade. oh, and lightning mcqueen of course. love 5-year old party planning!!
as for my special vision for this year’s big event….keep it simple and small….and homemade. you might remember that last year d had a really big country fair party (why did i do that to myself at 34 weeks pregnant?) and you might remember this post earlier this month where i talked about my dream for my kids with their imagination and creativity, so this year i set out to simplify. and i truly did….but i had no idea that i could literally make this party come to life in the way that it did with the crap from my garage. seriously. i know most american families out there can actually park in their garages, but mine is more like a storage shed. drives my hubby cuh-razy (and really me too) but i am exploding with photo props and decor and i really do use it all constantly!! every time i think about clearing room and parting with things, here comes another shoot or event where i put it all to use and there i go thinking it is all worth it. makes perfect sense, right?
mr. d went to work showcasing his stellar 5 year old handwriting skills for me with a welcome sign and food labels. at the start of this fall, he could not even write his own name and now look at him go! proud mom moment:) this party gave us plenty of room for lessons on handwriting and spacing, so yes, i had to help guide him on how to fit his oversized writing onto a small placecard holder:) but despite my perfectionist nature, his oopsies and sign for the front door won me over with his precious smudges and his small “w” up in the corner where he soon saw that he was not writing quite big enough for his big poster. love that memory and my boy!
we cut sponges into squares and painted/sponged all of our black and white checkered racing flags, bunting and posters. great lesson on patterns too although the monotony of this job wore on them. the lemonade stand from my recent sweet and sour sessions became the piston cup pitstop where kids could fuel up with water or lemonade on their way to the bounce house.
we also contacted a local discount tire shop to recycle some old damaged tires and then spray painted them for the party. i loved how this blue one turned out to be a perfect cake stand! gave in and bought the cake after buying all the supplies myself and then coming in $10 under the cake estimate. i figured that was worth my time:) but we did make the topper and also homemade cake balls!!
of course we had our a wide selection of cars themed toys from d’s toybox along with with other basic items from the garage like screwdrivers, mechanic rags and toolboxes that we used as embellishments on the serving tables to bring the theme to life even more!
all this said, i can honestly tell you it was probably the least stressful or involved kids birthday party i have planned. i did minimal cooking and kept it simple with a small spread. i know not everyone has traffic signs and tires on hand but i hope this can inspire you to use what you do have laying around, be creative, ask around and borrow what you can to bring to life a party that your child will love but that does not have to cost a ton of money!!
such a special occasion to be able to photograph the g family. mama g below has taught my 2 oldest kids, so i love, love, love the chance to share my passion with someone who pours their passion into my children!! and miss m loves photos about as much as i do, so that makes it all the more special:) big bro mr. c is a highschool SR this year, so things look a little slided below only because we had to give him the spotlight since he’ll soon be off and away. i had a great time with you guys and love our last minute location find!
i adored my time with miss e at the matilda jane minis. she was a joy to photograph and i loved every single image of her, but this first one….well, it pretty much just melts my heart:) this is the kind of face as a mom you want to always remember of your little one. and her hair! it is completely to die for. and she’s just the age of my mr. d – ooh, can i secretly arrange his first love?!!! ha, ha….
i never dreamed “orange crush” (like the name for my new couch?!) would be such an amazing addition to my collection. it really does complement so many different wardrobes and settings so well, and i love how it can photograph in different shades.
just realized i left a couple kiddos off the blog from my mj mini event:) i have been photographing this little one since she was in her mama’s belly! can’t believe she is 2 and her amazing baby head of curls has transformed into a long set of pigtails. love this little girl!
what symbolizes the sweetness and innocence of childhood for a little girl better than a pink swing, a pony and a dollhouse? i adored this setting for ruffle-bottomed miss T who had the sweetest spirit and smile and set of killer eyelashes. this was her first time in front of a camera…pretty unbelievable…and just wait until i can blog her two cousins that were with her.
ps – this cute little number miss T is wearing is by vintage couture.
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