Evan's newborn portraits with Big Brother Aidan

I've been photographing big brother Aidan since before he was born (Mommy came to me for maternity portraits!), so I was happy to be asked back for the family's brand new bundle of joy, Evan. As much as Aidan looks like Mommy, Evan looks like Daddy... it's so funny to see how brothers can be so different.

This shoot took place in the family's home. I scouted the prettiest brightest place I could find... the master bathroom! We used an ottoman and a boppy for most of the baby posing. I had some new baby things I couldn't wait to try out, and Evan was a great sport in the little-bear cap and cocoon. Aidan was happy to get up there and be a ham while Evan was feeding, so we got some wonderful big brother shots as well!

Toward the end of the session, Aidan was so kind as to get up on the ottoman and snuggle with his little brother-- absolutely precious, priceless, intimate shots. Evan was so comfortable with Aidan crawling around him, he slept peacefully while big brother crawled around him, kissing and cuddling him. As his grandma said, "Aidan has one volume setting... LOUD!"

I'm willing to bet that Evan is a little comforted by his silly brother's jibber jabber, as he surely heard that voice while in the womb.

Finally, we were able to get a casual shot of Mom with both boys... a picture they'll surely be taking for years to come, but the boys will never be this small and sweet again. I hope that 20 years from now, they can all look back on this one and smile. If Dad is any indication, these little guys will grow to be quite strapping burly young gents!

As I was leaving, I could hardly resist snapping one of Aidan, shirtless, hanging out in the hall. He was checking us out, and I had been playing peek-a-boo around the corner with him. Again, a hall I'm sure he'll look down many more times. Each time, he'll have grown bigger and bigger.

Traveling to Wine Country

On a recent trip to California, we stayed in the artsy little town of Sebastopol. It's near Petaluma, and is roughly 50-something miles north of San Francisco (should you ever happen to travel through, you should definitely stop in to Alice's Restaurant for a quaint, friendly, creatively delicious dinner). I didn't have much of an agenda, just did a lot of driving around to see that part of the country... and a LOT of enjoying the lovely cool weather. I was really looking to get some nice vineyard pics, maybe some nice mission pics (see Mission San Rafael below), and some nice Golden Gate Bridge pics.

So without further ado, here are some favorites!

The Inaugural Blog

So I hear all the cool kids have a blog these days, and I'm jumping right on the bandwagon. I figure this will be a fun and frisky way to showcase some of my favorites, and keep my clients, friends, relatives, and industry associates informed as to what I've been up to lately.

I'm Kasey Marsh, owner and photographer with Monkey Tree Photography. I am based out of Friendswood, Texas (a southeastern suburb of Houston) so you will find a generous amount of beach fare among my collective works. On the business end of things, I shoot weddings and "early family portraiture". I say "early" family because I really don't shoot many large formal family portraits, and keeping my number-o-subjects down to a minimum allows me to better capture candid moments and relationships.

I am a huge fan of natural light. I love variety and color. I love old churches, new dresses, antique jewelry... and hearing the stories behind all the little choices my brides and grooms have made in planning their big day! I take the responsibility of photographing a wedding very seriously, and enjoy getting to know my clients beforehand.


It's also quite a privilege to be chosen as baby's first photographer-- there is nothing like those little tiny baby feet in mom or dad's big hand to remind us all where we started; how sweet and innocent new life is. Often expectant mothers will consult me for maternity portraits or "belly pics".

Moving right along to the infant and toddler world... I'm not big on props and "things" and fake backgrounds. I prefer a simpler setup, a non-cluttered image space, and a portrait where the child is the main attraction. Often, I am working portrait sessions with the same low-light camera equipment and directional light I use to capture the candid moments between brides and grooms on their wedding day! You'll find that many of my children's portraits have a more intimate feel to them than traditional portraiture, and you'll see a much broader range of emotion than your garden variety "say cheese!" poses and forced smiles. My mode of operation involves more sitting, interacting, playing with the child and meanwhile capturing all of their little smiles, giggles, perplexed glances, and sometimes even a few little tears.