Feb
15
2015
After photographing the emotional journey of Allyson giving birth to her sweet Abigail, we decided to do very simple newborn girl photos. We planned a creamy neutral color palette to keep the highlight on the innocence of the first few days of life. We were hoping for a sibling image, some sweet detail images, and one of Allyson with all three of her kiddos.
But on the evening before the session, the older two children came down with fevers. So instead of the crazy and full on energy of a session with siblings, we had a quiet relaxing morning with just mama and baby. A session with no siblings is just as relaxing as this video of Abigail settling down to sleep makes it seem.
I’ve said it before: if I could only photograph two things it would be mamas with their newborns and newborns outside. I was able to do both with Abigail.
Allyson is the talent behind The Journey by Ally so it’s always a special honor to be asked to photograph a photographer’s baby. And when Allyson said the following words after her session, I remembered again why I love to give new mama’s the gift of seeing her love for her baby.
Thank you again for this image. It reminds me how sweet & tiny she was. All that sleep deprivation blurs the mind! It’s one of the only images post-partum of myself that I actually like. You are amazing!
Since Abigail was born in August we were also able to sneak outside of the studio for a quick image. For safety sake, I only photograph newborns outside when it is at least 75 degrees and preferably above 80 unless baby is well wrapped and wearing a hat (and for that situation I pose them inside before carrying them out and taking a quick image).
This turned out to be one of my very favorite images I took in 2014.
You can see it hanging here in the gallery wall in my studio in my signature barnwood frame with a torn edge print.
Would you like to capture simple images of your sweet baby in your arms or outside? Contact me today to tell me your story and get your due date on my limited calendar.
Jan
11
2015Meet my nephew Holden.
Let me begin by saying I would never do this with a client’s baby. This is my sister Monica and her partner Ruth’s baby. These ladies passionately rescue animals. I’ve lost count of how many animals are in their house 😉
This little cat is mine and his name is “Princess Wand Mermaid Ariel Unicorn Pegasus”; I call him Hunter. :-p
Ruth and Monica sneaked the cat into the studio to cuddle with them while I cuddled with Holden. Hunter kept escaping and burying himself in the brown rug next to Holden and I.
Holden was all posed and ready to go with one of his mommies was right next to Holden. I wrapped my fingers in between Holden and the kitten’s paws while I waited for the kitten to fall asleep in the position I was holding him in. Honestly, the posing of the kitten was very similar to posing newborns. It helps that the kitten was only a few weeks older than Holden (5-6 weeks).
All that to say: this is likely a one time image and we were all aware of the safety risks and not something I would do typically.
My favorite part of the kitten images? The monochromatic color scheme. I love newborns on monochromatic color schemes. It’s so dreamy and leaves the focus on your precious baby.
Oh, and in addition to the kitten, we totally nailed the cousin shot as for the grandparent’s Christmas gift. There may have been marshmallow bribery involved.
However, the marshmallow bribery was totally worth it! Here are my mom and dad opening a 20×30 canvas of all four of their grand babies at Christmas.
My mama cried in joy for a good 10 minutes after this video was taken. This reaction and resulting joy is one of the reasons I highly encourage my clients to purchase products rather than just digital files. Digital files can corrupt or grow out of date (think 3.5″ floppies), but a new file can always be made from the archival print or album that you enjoy in your daily life.
Would you like to create fine art portraits of your little one? Contact me today and we’ll talk about your vision.
Dec
29
2014I have so much fun putting together the newborn superlative post for each year! Here is 2013 if you’d like a flashback to last year.
This year I photographed 20 newborns! I’m only able to show you 18 of these adorable little ones because I love being able to respect a new mama’s privacy. You can see my favorite image, the baby who wouldn’t sleep, the most beautiful mama image, the baby who just wouldn’t stop smiling, and so many more in this little slideshow video below!
Dec
10
2014Meet Connie. She’s 38 weeks pregnant with baby number 2 and she’s been up most of the night with contractions.
She checked into Greenville Hospital system early in the morning and was already 6 cm.
Connie shamelessly begged for and loved her epidural.
And then she waited and waited and waited. I snuck into document her birth at around 8 centimeters and the hospital was hopping. Connie still hadn’t seen her on-call OB because of 5 back to back deliveries.
So we passed the time watching Korean dramas, sniffing Connie’s pregnancy scent of choice (dial soap), swapping stories about past births, giving Connie hair massages (where I was dubbed the doula-photographer), Facebook messaging with her friend Karen in Germany, and laughing away with our most amazing nurse Kathy (who is also a photographer!).
Finally Connie got to see her on-call doctor (her favorite!) and then he ran off real quickly to eat lunch around 5pm.
And then it was time to meet sweet baby girl Allie. Kathy was amazing. I can’t stress that enough. A few practice pushes and then the most beautiful and peaceful delivery I’ve ever seen.
Below is the video slideshow of Connie’s birth and sweet older sister Abbie meeting her for the first time.
Interested in having your birth story captured so that you can relive every detail? I only book a very limited number of birth photography sessions each year (less than 6!) so contact me today to see if we’re a good fit!
Oct
08
2014I’m toying with the idea of doing pure sweet newborn photography mini sessions during the winter. I really enjoyed the outdoor mini’s this summer and I don’t want the fun to end. What would you think of a 1 hour long newborn mini session and two set studio set ups (here we did family and one beanbag backdrop)? Interested? Let me know!
Meet tiny little Brooklyn. She loved nothing more than cuddling in mama and daddy’s arms.
See that little grin? Oh, it melts my hear! Mama and baby shots are always my very favorite and I was so happy to give Tracy this precious gift!
Okay… so maybe family images are my favorite. Daddy Mike is so in love with his new little girl and his beautiful wife.
And then we add in big sister Bailey who completely posed herself for this image! I couldn’t be more happy with how this family series turned out! It helps to have such relaxed subjects 🙂
Brooklyn was one of the best sleepers that I’ve had in a long time. Easy to pose and so sleepy. Relaxed parents really make a session run smoothly and I really appreciate when parents have such confidence in me.
What I loved so much about this little mini session was being able to showcase Brooklyn’s delicate little features with simple images and simple hats/headbands like these ones.
We did capture a really cute image of big sister Bailey with Brooklyn. Bailey wasn’t quite two yet and this age can be a total wildcard in images with newborns.
Lest you think I’m a two year old whisperer, know that daddy and mommy were right outside of this frame and all of the below silliness occurred. These are real life images of a toddler and a baby.
Tracy and Mike, thank you for letting me photograph your precious girls and family! I so enjoyed having you in the studio!
