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Michelle Stoker Photography

Tampa Family Photographer

Mom & Me Mini Sessions

March 26, 2025 Tampa

Mamas, it’s your turn! With Mother’s Day coming up, it’s the perfect opportunity to capture YOU with your little loves. I am excited to offer Mom & Me mini sessions at three locations – West Park Village in Westchase, Philippe Park in Safety Harbor and my in-home studio near Westchase. Two gorgeous outdoor choices and an indoor (air conditioned!) bright, neutral space. 

These sessions will be around 15 minutes long and will include at least 15 high-resolution, edited images in an online gallery. The photos will be delivered within a few days so you’ll have your gallery before Mother’s Day! The cost is $225.

Scroll down to get a glimpse of each location and then click the scheduler link to find a date and time that works for you! Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Please click here to reserve your session

West Park Village in Westchase – Saturday April 26th morning

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Christmas pajamas mini sessions

November 18, 2024 Family

I am so excited to offer Christmas pajama sessions! These sessions will take place at my in-home studio and will be super fun and relaxed!

Select dates: Sunday, December 1st and Sunday, December 15th
(I could possibly add on Sat. December 7th if anyone is interested!)

10 minute session with 10 high-resolution, edited images in an online gallery for $195

Please click here to reserve your session

Here are some example photos of the setup! 

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Hailey is ONE!

October 21, 2024 Baby Hailey

Hailey is ONE! On October 11th, we celebrated Hailey’s birthday in the beautiful Georgia mountains in Blue Ridge on our annual Fall trip (and while avoiding Hurricane Milton). Hailey is the perfect addition to our family. She gives the best smiles and loves to flirt with her Dad. She loves watching James run around the house and giving high fives to Claire. Her favorite foods are sweet potatoes, pasta, corn on the cob, quesadillas, and strawberries. She takes two beautiful naps a day and still wakes up for her midnight milk snack. She is such a fast crawler and will be in the other room before you turn around. She’s starting to stand on her own and recently took her first steps. She’s getting more confident and will be walking soon!

Now that Hailey is one, that means our last baby is officially a toddler. While I feel a little sad that the baby chapter for our family is complete, I am eternally grateful that we got to experience it three times. Before I was a parent, I didn’t fully grasp how special it is to watch your child grow from a tiny newborn, to toddler, to preschooler, to little kid, to big kid, etc. The same baby with the tiny fingers and toes is the same kid that you’re tossing a baseball to. The same baby that wouldn’t sleep longer than 2 hours at a time now needs to be pulled out of bed to get to school on time. That same baby that loved to rub their cheek on anything soft now has a twin bed full of colorful stuffed animals. Comparing my 7 year old (wasn’t he just a baby??) to my 1 year old shows how fast time goes and how quickly they change. It’s a reminder to embrace each stage and enjoy them in the moment. I remember asking a family friend (with two adult children), which stage was her favorite and she immediately said “all of them!”. I think about that often. 😊

Thank you Darlene Barlows for these beautiful beach photos of our family and capturing Hailey for her birthday! 

To look back on Hailey’s earliest days, here is the blog from her birth story and her newborn session and my letter before her birth and our pregnancy announcement. 

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How to pick outfits for family photos

October 1, 2024 Family

I know how you’re feeling. You have family photos coming up and now comes the hard part… deciding what to wear! But don’t worry, I’m here for you and I have a helpful plan to get you started!

*I started this blog thinking it would be short but then just kept typing and typing. So I came back to the top to give a few helpful tips to remember. 
Start with mom’s outfit. 3-4 coordinating colors. Limit of 1 pattern/design. Avoid full white if possible. Don’t size up for kids, get their current size. Maybe even size down for things with straps (like overalls). Put shorts/diaper cover on babies in dresses. Have everyone try on everything on at least a week before the session. If wearing new shoes, break them in inside your house. Decide if adults will wear smart watches. Plan to take everything out of your pockets. If clothes wrinkle easy, plan to put change once you arrive at the location

When my clients ask for advice on what to wear, I always tell them to “start with mom!”. Kids and husbands are so easy to shop for! You know their size and what looks good on them, so you can find their outfits after yours. Moms – decide on the vibe you want for your session. Casual or fancy? Relaxed or formal? Then, decide if you want to look for a dress, skirt, pants/top. Then, try to think of a few colors that you feel your best in or that you want in your photos. If you don’t know about colors, that’s totally fine! It just helps narrow down what to look for. Then… go shopping! I suggest going to a physical store first so that you can try things on and get a feel for what exactly you’re looking for. If you don’t find something in a few stores, you have a better idea of what to look for online. Once you find *your* outfit, then it’s time to look for the rest of the family! 

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Fall 2024 Family Mini Sessions

September 23, 2024 Family, Tampa

It’s time for my annual Fall family mini sessions! Due to high demand, these sessions will be limited to returning clients only this year.

This is the perfect opportunity for updated portraits of your beautiful family. There are 5 location options, all within the Westchase area.

Northwest Equestrian Trail on S. Mobley: Saturday October 5th, Saturday November 23

West Park Village: Sunday October 6th, Sunday November 2nd, Sunday November 17th, Sunday December 1st

Waterchase clubhouse: Saturday October 19th, Sunday November 10th, 

Bridge in Radcliffe: Saturday November 16th, Sunday November 24th

Highland Park: Saturday November 9th

Scroll down to view example images at each location. If you are interested, choose a location and date that works for your family. I can also offer some weekday late afternoon/early evening sessions. Please reach out for a custom date.

Click on the scheduler link and fill out the details to reserve your session. Let me know if you have any questions!

Click here for the calendar to reserve your session 

Mini sessions are 20 minutes long and include at least 30 high-resolution, edited images in an online gallery delivered within one week. The cost is $295

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Hailey’s Newborn Session

November 6, 2023 Baby Hailey

Here’s our newest baby girl, Hailey Brooke! I am forever and ever grateful to be able to grow these precious babes and add them to our family. My sweet friend Leah came over to our house for Hailey’s newborn session and let me say, having “bigger” kids makes photos soo much easier! They were eager and excited to get in the pictures with their baby sister. The hardest part of the session was finding something for me to wear that fit and I felt good in postpartum. I definitely Amazoned that shirt last minute. It opened my eyes again to what my clients experience before their sessions! 

Hailey is ten days old in these photos and is now approaching four weeks old. She is doing so well. You’ll find her either sleeping, drinking milk, wanting to party at 3am, cuddled on our chests, or blissfully napping in her mini crib in the living room while her siblings play loudly around her. She fits right into our craziness. Looking through these photos makes me think back to our newborn photos for Claire in 2020 and James in 2017. I love having the photos to reflect on those special times and see how tiny they were. 

Here’s our Hailey honeycomb (as James has officially nicknamed her). Leah did such a great job and provided so many images in the gallery, it was hard to cull it down to these favorites. I love them all!

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Hailey’s Birth Story

October 23, 2023 Baby Hailey

I’m thrilled to introduce our daughter, Hailey Brooke Stoker. Hailey was born on October 11th via repeat c-section at 39 weeks. It was a beautiful day and as I did with my other two babies, I want to share her birth story here to remember all the details and to share what a routine scheduled c-section is like. I have been told by many anxious mamas over the years that our story (especially James, our frank breech baby) encouraged them and helped prepare them for their birth. Welcome to the world, Hailey. We’re so glad you’re here!

Claire Birth Story here

James Birth Story here

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Dear Honey, We’ll Meet You Tomorrow

October 10, 2023 Baby Hailey

To Honey Bear, our little girly…

The day has finally come. We will get to see your precious face tomorrow and hold you in our arms. We have been anticipating this day for a long time. We found out that you were coming back in February, right around Valentine’s Day and now it’s close to Halloween. We were full of gratitude and excitement to grow our family again. You have a very kind and smart Dad that loves you so much. We have been together since we were teenagers and have always said that we wanted to have three kids.  You have an older brother named James and an excited older sister named Claire. You are the missing piece to complete our family. We all like to call you Honey, since we have a Brother Bear, a Sister Bear and now a little baby girl, just like in the Berenstain Bears books. I bet it will take a while for them to start calling you by your real name.

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Fall 2023 Family Mini Sessions

October 2, 2023 Family

Since I am having my third baby in mid-October, my Fall family sessions are going to be limited to returning clients only. If you’re a new friend, please reach out in 2024, I hope to work with you then! Thank you for your understanding.

It’s time for my annual Fall family mini sessions! This is the perfect opportunity for updated portraits of your beautiful family. There are 5 location options, all within the Westchase area.

Highland Park: Saturday November 11 and Sunday December 3
Waterchase clubhouse: Sunday November 12 (sold out) and Sunday November 26
Northwest Equestrian Trail on S. Mobley: Saturday November 18 
West Park Village: Sunday November 19 (sold out) and Saturday December 2
Bridge in Radcliffe: Saturday November 25

If you are interested, scroll down to choose your preferred location and find a date that works for your schedule. Then, click on the calendar link to reserve your session. Let me know if you have any questions!

If none of these dates work for you, I can offer some weekday late afternoon/early evening sessions. Please reach out for a custom date.

Click here for the calendar to reserve your session 

Mini sessions are 20 minutes long and include at least 30 high-resolution, edited images in an online gallery. The cost is $275

 

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Stoker baby coming in October!

April 24, 2023 Baby Hailey, Michelle and David

And baby makes 5!! We are so excited to share that we are expecting our third baby in October! We found out that we were pregnant right before Valentine’s Day. It’s funny, all 3 of our pregnancies are connected to a holiday. James was around Halloween in 2016 and Claire was around Mother’s Day in 2019. We were ready and trying for a third baby and are very grateful that it worked out. I was able to see our little nugget on an ultrasound at my first appointment at 8 weeks and then again at 12 weeks. SO much growth! Between those two appointments, we ventured to New York City for Spring Break and I am still very proud of myself for solo adventuring around the city with two little kids during the tiring first trimester! I’m in my second trimester now and I feel like I have my energy back and thankfully the food aversions are gone. Good thing because I’m hungry allllll the time.

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Hi friend! I’m so glad you’re here!

Hi friend! I’m so glad you’re here!

My goal as a photographer is to provide authentic and joyful photos of you and your most loved ones. I love my morning latte, reading books with my three little besties, getting outside in the sunshine, and exploring new places with my high school sweetheart.

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Instagram

  • First day of VPK! ❤️
  • Sharing a snippet I just wrote in my gratitude journal. ❤️ “In 24 hours, I will be getting my sweet
  • First MLB game for our baseball loving boy! ⚾️ Thank you @tampahillslib and @raysbaseball for encouraging children to read over
  • James is FIVE! 5️⃣ My baby boy is officially a big kid, full of energy and wonder. His favorite meal
  • Early birthday celebration in Orlando for our almost 5️⃣ year old boy!! ❤️
  • Nothing better than a @backstreetboys concert with my sister (and getting to see my college bestie!)!! These guys still put
  • How sweet it is for our kids to be loved by you, @davidstoker ❤️ Happy Father’s Day to all the
  • About a week after my jaw surgery, when I was feeling completely miserable, I knew I needed something to look
  • My little loves. So glad they’re mine
  • Easter 2022 ❤️ (swipe to see these big kids as babies two years ago )
  • Well, now that I’ve had my pre-op appointment, it’s officially feeling real! On Tuesday morning, I will be heading to
  • Alden is one!! I had the best time exploring downtown Tampa with the Kuhn family to celebrate Alden’s first birthday.

Recent Posts

  • Mom & Me Mini Sessions
  • Christmas pajamas mini sessions
  • Hailey is ONE!
  • How to pick outfits for family photos
  • Fall 2024 Family Mini Sessions

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