There are families I get the joy of photographing over many years. The family of the Manthey’s happens to be one of these. It’s been so much fun to watch their children’s personalities grow and change from baby, to toddler, to child. They are some of my favorite little people. Wyatt is a laugh riot, he has the best stories, and such a sweet personality. Ariana is adorable and tenacious. Her eyes in the above image are just gorgeous. 

Their dad chose the location and the outfits, wanting to go for more of a vintage feel. We met out at Hobbs Woods near Fond du Lac, WI. It’s been one of my favorite places to explore since my mom started taking my brother’s and I there when we were kids. As I became more interested in photography it’s become a favorite place for nature and portrait photography. Paths, bridges, a beautiful stream, and open field make for a variety of fantastic backdrops. It was the perfect place for these images. 

We were lucky to get a beautiful August evening to photograph. I wanted to get some fly on the wall lifestyle photographs of the family interacting as well a some posed images. The gorgeous evening light just makes my heart all squishy. Finally, a funny little side story: Wyatt wasn’t too happy about wearing his newsboy cap (or posing with his sister) and as the shoot was ending Wyatt traded it in for his cowboy hat. Of course, I couldn’t get resist getting a few images of him goofing around in the hat and the one above was one of my favorite shots that night. When I later found the cap stuck in my equipment and alerted my friend, I was told “Wyatt would love for you to keep it”. I couldn’t help but laugh, thanks for the addition to my prop box Wyatt.