Melissa Hassey » Family Portraits

A new addition!

melissa — Sat, 19 May 2012 12:55:50 +0000

This week I was lucky enough to photograph yet another amazing newborn baby!! At just 2 weeks old, baby William was really wonderful for his first official portrait session. He never made a peep and was really alert and interested in everything we were doing. I was also privileged to photograph his proud parents and adoring (not to mention adorable!!) big brother, Jimmy. Jimmy was awesome and kept wanting to hug and kiss his little brother, which was great!

Although Dad is trying to raise 2 Yankees fans, I won’t hold it against him… too much! This is a great family and I had a fantastic time capturing these moments for them!

Another Spring Mini Portrait Session at Strawbridge Lake Park!

melissa — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:17:43 +0000

I was excited to meet up with another family that I have known for quite a few years now. Watching families grow is so amazing and I am truly grateful to get to preserve some of these moments in time for them through my photography.

Strawbridge Lake Park is always fun and it was a beautiful day outside! The kids, especially, were excited to see quite a few momma geese and their goslings swimming in the lake. Though, really, seeing that never gets old! It’s tough to see, but the geese are swimming in the lake in the photo where the family is holding hands.

We also had fun skipping, laughing and eating cupcakes & grapes! I hope you enjoy these few!

Baby Boy Easter Portraits!

melissa — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:56:18 +0000

For about a year now this family and I have been trying to get together for portraits…. maternity, newborn, etc… but we just couldn’t seem to work it out! I was so excited to finally get to meet little Mikey for his 9 month/ Easter portraits! He is such a happy and handsome little man! (Don’t you just love his little suit?) We had so much fun! His mom & dad are laid back and fun and made my job easy! Finally getting to meet Mikey was worth the wait.

Baby Adrian!!

melissa — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:28:03 +0000

In November of 2010, I was lucky enough to photograph Regina & Dritan’s beautiful wedding at The Valley Green Inn. This time around I was so delighted when they contacted me to photograph their new son, Adrian!! Adrian is…. absolutely adorable! He was amazingly good throughout the entire portrait session too. We accomplished so much and he kept up with all of it… including outfit changes and room changes, etc… Even when he quietly fell asleep out on the bed, he was perfect. A wonderful model already! He is clearly loved and adored by his family and it is easy to see why.

Here is a link to view Dritan & Regina’s wedding day blog: http://melissahassey.com/2011/01/valley-green-inn-wissahickon-park-fairmount-park-wedding/

And here is little man Adrian and his adoring family:

Kisses from his Aunt, Grandmom & Uncle…. So sweet!!

Center City/ Rittenhouse Portraits!

melissa — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:28:01 +0000

Yay! Another Center City portrait session. I love these! Sam and her mom were so much fun. Sam has always made my job easy throughout the years. She is full of personality and style (she even picked out her own wardrobe!). She is enamored with dogs and pigeons, 2 of my favorite animals as well. It was cute to watch her chase after the pigeons. We wandered the streets, stores and parks around Center City. It was a great day overall.

Below is one of my favorites from the day…..

Center City Portrait Session in Philadelphia!

melissa — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:48:18 +0000

I just love this family! They are fun, open minded and beautiful! This is the 4th year (wow!) that I have had the absolute pleasure of photographing Cheyenne. He gets more and more handsome each year…. however that is possible! Here are a few pics from previous years as well as a couple of past blog post links:

2008, 2009, 2010

http://melissahassey.com/2010/10/batman-at-the-philadelphia-art-museum/

http://melissahassey.com/2009/09/spiderman-in-rittenhouse-park/

This year we traveled around Center City. We stopped at City Hall, Broad Street, Prince Music Theatre and the Comcast Building. It was SO much fun! I can always rely on this family to collaborate ideas with and, as you will see, to dress impeccably. You all are the best!!

The Pop Shop in Collingswood!

melissa — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:35:08 +0000

It had been 3 years since I last saw this family…. but it was well worth the wait! Three years ago I photographed Joseph on the Main Street in Haddonfield, NJ. Below is a portrait from that session. how handsome is he!? And wait until you see how much he’s grown!

Since that time, Joseph acquired a little brother, Ethan! Another cutie! These boys were so much fun. We met at one of their favorite family stops: The Pop Shop in Collingswood, NJ. I had never been there but it is adorable and I can see why kids and adults alike completely packed this diner on a Saturday afternoon.

Admittedly, Joseph had some moments where he really didn’t feel like being photographed much. Though, once he got a hamburger and a drink in his belly, he was goofy and full of smiles! I can completely relate, Joseph!

And heeeeeere’s Ethan!

Fall Portraits at Valley Forge National Park

melissa — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:54:01 +0000

This portrait session took quite some time to actually happen! It seemed like nature was trying to keep us apart. There were multiple days of bad weather, unfortunate illness and then, to top it off, we couldn’t find each other at the park! It actually became quite humorous!

Thankfully it DID eventually happen and I finally got to meet the absolutely adorable Hannah! She is a new walker/ waddler, which I always love! She has a wonderful personality and apparently loves to eat!

I met with Hannah and her mom at Valley Forge National Park. I brought a bunch of apples for some Fall fun and boy did Hannah love those! We actually had to hide them for a bit just to get a few portraits without the apples. Ha!

Anyway, this blog took me a while to put together as Hannah is so cute that she made it tough to choose! I hope you enjoy…..

Eastern State Penitentiary Family Portraits

melissa — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:06:01 +0000

I recently got to photograph a really awesome family at the Eastern State Penitentiary. It was great!! I have known the mom, Cari, for…. well, basically my whole life. Her and her 2 brothers were mine & my siblings first friends. We grew up only 7 houses away from each other on a row home block…. which, to all you suburbanites, basically means right next door.

We did everything together it seems and I have some really great memories from those times. Cari is 3 years older than I am and so, officially, she was really my sister’s friend. Even still, I tagged along everywhere just like any annoying little sister. One memory that stands out is when I begged to go to Cari’s birthday party. Everything was going great until her parents went upstairs. Suddenly the lights went off and scary movies were playing. I even remember getting locked into a hallway with a boy for “7 minutes in heaven”. It was more like 7 minutes of AWKWARD!! After that I decided that I wasn’t quite ready to grow up just yet. I was still happy climbing trees and playing with bugs (I think I still am).

Here are a couple of photos of us and some of our siblings….

As for the portrait session, it was great! Chad (the dad) had the great idea of photographing at the Eastern State Penitentiary, a location that I have always been fond of for it’s history and peeling paint/ textured walls. Jordyn & Luke (the adorable kiddos) were great and I think that they had a lot of fun exploring this creepy space. Towards the end of our time there we were told that we actually weren’t allowed to photograph there. Go figure! Well, at least we got some portraits in before we were reprimanded.

It was great catching up with Cari and photographing her family. It’s always amazing to see someone from your childhood. It’s a great reminder of where you came from and how time has passed. It’s funny, we used to pretend we were married with kids….

There is certainly an irony to them being so happy in a penitentiary…. but I just couldn’t get them to stop smiling.

Briya has become a Bat Mitzvah!

melissa — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 02:34:45 +0000

I recently was honored with the opportunity to photograph Briya on the day that she became a Bat Mitzvah! I first met Briya and her fun family a couple of years ago when they won a Silent Auction raffle at a local school. Here are the fun pics from that session: http://melissahassey.com/2009/09/raffle-winners/

It was really wonderful to see them all again. I learned, as expected, that their friends and extended family are just as kind and fun as they are. Bonus!!

It was a wonderful day filled with love, joy, singing and air guitars….

Mazel Tov, Briya! Thank you for having me there for such a special moment in your life! You are beautiful, kind, mature and very very well loved!