Something about Seasons

Pennsylvania seasons sure didn't disappoint this year!

New love stories ushered in 2020 with boudoir sessions so classy, but so fierce -- even we blushed.

The beautiful blossoms of early spring were bittersweet. Like so many others, our business came to a sudden halt as everyone tried to figure out how to stay safe during a pandemic. Trust us, we were feeling ALL the feels right along with the rest of the world. We still got to witness the beauty of the season, though. Some things are universal and for always.

Our hearts leapt with joy when we got our green light to get back into action. And who knew what a fabulous summer we'd be blessed with! Bare feet, watermelons, giggles, splashes, and all the ice cream we could eat framed some of our favorite moments with our summertime clients. ❤️

This year, Eastern shore boasted cleaner water and beaches than ever. We spent time capturing God beauty in those bursting sunrises and tranquil sunsets that provided backdrops of stunning art for families to cherish.

Fall here has brought a bounty of color, explosive fun photo shoots, and cozy campfires that are warming our souls. It's impossible not to jump into the leaf pile. All. The. Way.

We are really looking forward to witnessing families taking in all the sights and sounds of the holiday season and bonding over baking cookies. The magic of the holidays is here! Add a little Mudpies N' Butterflies magic to the mix, and it's a recipe for fun, art, and moments captured to cherish forever.

PS — We’d be remiss not to thank all of you who purchased gift cards for yourselves and for others when business slowed down in the spring. Thank you, our Mudpies N’ Butterflies family!

Golden Hour Family Fall Fun

Dad’s going to have his hands full with these pretty little ladies!

The golden hour didn't disappoint through this session — we always chase the best light, angels, and surroundings that match styles. We love aligning visions and creating looks that are both timeless and treasured moments. We make it our mission not only to capture the smiles, but also to frame the natural interaction, resulting in galleries overflowing with perfectly-edited digital images with VARIETY.

Our team of photographers always pays attention to detail: shirt tails, pockets full of phones, sunglasses on heads... hey, it happens. Getting all the kids to the session in one piece isn't always the easiest (WE KNOW). But once you're there, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing we have you covered. The hair out of place, the buttons you forgot to snap, the hair ties on your wrist, and everything in between… we’ll help you manage it all.

Our job is to deliver images and products you’ll be in love with. We stand by that goal, and we guarantee it.

Speaking of being in love, we fall in love with this family a little bit more every time we capture them. Here's a small glimpse.

From new father photoshoot to author of New Mom's Guide to New Dads

Guest post by Andrew Shaw

I can distinctly remember having our preemie twins in a photoshoot at the Mudpies studio, which, somehow, was five years ago. Or yesterday. It all seems the same.

My wife and I fell in love with the work of the Mudpies team that we saw adorning the walls inside Wellspan York Hospital near the NICU. When we found out they can expertly handle premature babies, we were sold.

At that point, with so much uncertainty in those early days of our second and third kids (we had a 2-year-old son as well), we would take any certainty we could get.

The girls ended up looking absolutely perfect, as did our son with a bashful smile as he was placed near them. My wife looked gorgeous holding them, too.

In the years since, we’ve done many Mudpies shoots, with their work now adorning our own walls. Newborns becoming infants. Infants becoming (loud) toddlers. Toddlers becoming… well some days it seems like teenagers but the calendar says they are 5, 5, and almost 7.

I’ve grown a lot, too, since those early days. I learned how much pressure is on a mom to do everything for everyone. And how expectations vary so much for dads — it was a surprise to see a dad in the NICU, for instance.

That all helped inspire me to write The New Mom’s Guide to New Dads, my effort to help mothers understand what it’s like to be that anxious, confused new father who is trying to pretend he has it together. I tell my own stories of #dadlife, tap into expert advice, and mostly help new moms get into the mentality of a new dad so they can have better conversations and a better, shared empathy for each other.

I don’t know what life will bring me next as a dad. Who knows what our next portrait will be like — what stories we’ll have shared since the last one. But I do know we are all better when we improve our communication and understand that there’s a lot more that goes into parenting than the perfect Instagram shot or the memorable canvas that hands on a wall. All of the life that happens in between those moments — that’s what makes those picture-perfect moments worth saving.

Let's bring allllll the families together!

Time flies, there is no doubt about that! Families grow, move miles apart, get remarried, have more kids…but time stops for no-one! Capture these memories when you have the chance. Whether you are all local or visiting from across the world, take a moment to get them all together. We promise to make it fun and painless. We will capture all the different grouping possibilities as well. And we can promise that you will have amazing images to keep for years to come.

Change of Seasons

Change. It's inevitable. We do it daily. Actually, every second of the day things are changing all around us. We welcome and embrace each new season. 

So with seasons changing, so do we. While we are true to our style and brand...we haven't been just shooting behind the lens. If so, we would be stale! Year after year we keep growing and evolving. If we wouldn't, how can we stay up to date fresh and stylish for our lifetime clients? 

We brainstorm, get creative, and pull together some amazing sets and concepts. We also spend hours and hours learning and perfecting our craft. Behind the scenes, we are taking workshops and classes from world renowned professionals. We strive to stay on top of the latest trends while creating timeless, sharp, crisp, clear, and vibrant images for all of our families.

 Sometimes we find some photographers like our ideas and often they replicate concepts and sometimes they just plain ol' playgerize. We are flattered ...but one thing that contributes to success that has stood the test of time isn't from mimicking others, it's from being innovative yet doing so in such a way that our clients want to come back -time and time again, because it's about the experience they had while with us and the professional product they leave with. 

We wanted to write this blog to keep you updated on the things we have changing! We are adding some new faces to the Mudpies team, but, just because they are new to the team doesn't mean they are new to photography or new to the studio, but rather their focus is on other areas of Mudpies that can be grown. Stay tuned for formal introductions!

 We had been keeping a secret this year.... (Many of you have already visited) We added a huge new natural light studio in southern York County to our client set options and we are excited to offer this space to compliment our awesome studio hosting our carefully designed newborn suite in Dover.  With 18 floor to ceiling windows and sky lights, this will receive gorgeous light year round! We look forward to hosting brides, boudoirs, bumps, babies, seniors and more in our space. 

And that's not all...we are keeping a few other BIG 2019 Announcements for another blog 😍  

 As we move on from fall folliage sessions ..we continue planning out wardrobes these fun Camping Christmas minis as well as our natural light studio farmhouse Christmas style for the holidays. Timeless images that are not "Christmasy" and will look gorgeous on display year round.

We also are pleased to announce we can offer snow sessions ALL winter- SNOW or NOT, starting late December.  How awesome is that?! Yep. We have our own snow machines and these sessions will be sure to show off the beauty of winter! We are planning some playful sessions in January and February with our very own winter wonderland creations You will want to book these now! Spots will fill up fast!

Before we rush into the next season, let's soak in the last part of Autumn. Although the leaves were not changing as soon as we thought, we were able to add a little magic to make everyone's images colorful and stunning. Here’s a peek at some of our foliage sessions!

Fall Maternity Session

This adorable family is about to grow by 2 feet! We loved capturing this time for them. Kristen booked a Rock the Bump Session to highlight their little girl becoming a big sister. The session was super fun and Mommy was glowing! Check out a sneak peek!

Fall foliage

Autumn is right around the corner and we are thrilled to start taking some beautiful portraits outside with the leaves falling. Nothing is more amazing than colorful Fall foliage! We would love to capture your family’s portraits in a relaxing, outdoor, setting. Email us today to schedule your session- servelovecapture@gmail.com