I just love this in-home session. We literally just played with baby Carson and photographed his amazing reactions! It’s a testament to the fact that a family session can be anywhere and anything you want. One of my favorite photos from this shoot is the photo of Carson sitting in his little rocking chair. Someday, he will tower over that chair. I am so thankful I was able to give them a photo of the day he fit just perfectly on it. My other favorites from the shoot are the floor-perspective ones of him trying to crawl. Nothing describes the age better than to get on that level with him. A huge thank you to the Beckman family for giving me the honor of being able to do a couple of shoots with this little angel over the last couple of years.
The only thing that might be better than seeing my wedding couples get married, is getting to see them again after their wedding! And if I’m really lucky, there will be a baby, too! To believe that I used to be completely indifferent to kids until I had my own. Now that I know our family is complete, I just want to scoop up all the babies. And in COVID times, that’s not even possible. I haven’t had a baby snuggle fix since last year! And that is when this session is from. Baby Charley joined Libby and Phillip and unlocked their new parent status. Look how little and new he was. I just love the way his little hands look in their bigger hands. The sweet way he’d open his mouth to yawn or try to say something, and then just get tired and pass out. Those first few weeks can be hard. And then out of nowhere, you have a toddler. Thank goodness for the photos you can look back on.
How beautiful is this family? For this early summer shoot, we headed to the Whetstone Park of Roses in Clintonville as the roses were just starting to emerge. Baby Jack couldn’t quite walk yet but he was all smiles the whole time. He just loved being in his parents’ arms, playing, and getting snuggles. One of my favorite photos from this shoot is the photo you can see his new bottom teeth peeking through! Isn’t his laugh just infectious? I always find that so fascinating about photography. Even though it’s not video, you can still almost hear that giggle. You can still almost see him stumble and be caught by his parents. And you can definitely feel the love from his parents.
UGH!!! SO much cuteness on the blog tonight. I shot Emmy and Ro’s wedding a few years back, so I was over-the-moon when they contacted me for newborn photos.
Meet Quentin! These photos were taken last year, so he’s now a busy toddler. Wow, how quickly it goes. When I met him, he was just the smallest bundle of sweet, sweet, love. I think one of my favorite things about this shoot was that their dog kept following the baby and never left him out of his care. It reminded me of Nana, the nurse dog in Peter Pan.
I also loved that they did the shoot in their nursery. It just describes so much about his life that he’ll love looking back on when he’s older. I am so loving all the family photos on the blog this month. I think it’s just what my soul needed. When we’re all asked to stay so far apart, it’s nice to know that we can always curl up close to the ones we love the most.
I love watching this family grow and am so blessed to have had the pleasure to do another session with them last year! Since our last shoot, they added a beautiful little girl to their family. A blond and brunette. Who could ask for anything more? We went to Jeffrey Mansion on a beautifully sunny day. Their youngest was so much fun to watch. She walked with a purpose and I think she probably ruled the roost at home. I just loved the outfits they wore for their session. It made every photo POP with life. Thank you so much for having me, Kali!
This session was over a year ago, but I just love it. A lot of times I’m asked what my newborn photos look like. I think this shoot is a great example. It’s a lot less posed than some of the more traditional newborn shoots. Plus, mom and dad are fully included in the photos as well. I just love capturing the sweet interaction between mom, dad, and baby. I also adore how small and fragile these little balls of love are when they’re so new to the world. The hand-to-baby ratio size never gets old to me. It’s because I’m photographing such a blip of an instant. In another couple of days, Leo was no doubt so much bigger already than in these photos. Now that he’s a full-blown toddler, this makes this shoot even more fun to revisit!
Welcome to Familypalooza! I’ve done this blog series under the name Babypalooza the last couple of years and it’s only been a week-long blog event. This year, Familypalooza is ALL MONTH! One blog a day for 30 days. I hope I can do it! That’s so much blogging.
For day one, I am so excited to share a session I did last year with the Byrne family! They wanted to get a photoshoot with their beloved dog Rory who sadly passed soon after we took these photos. Since then, they have welcomed a new baby boy into their family and I had the honor of photographing him last month. His close-ups will also be a part of this month’s family celebration. Check back in late September to see some of the photos of this precious babe and his excited older sister on the blog.
Last year, we did this front porch session before the front porch sessions were even a thing! I love that they chose to do their photos at their home. For my family, we love having our family photos taken at our home, too. No park or cool city backdrop will ever match the sentimentality of your home! But honestly, not many people have such an awesome front porch as the Byrnes do. I would spend most of my days on it if I lived there. I have been so thankful to have this family in my life. Our daughters are pretty close in age so it’s also been fun watching them grow up (so quickly). So much love to you guys!
I am so excited to be carving out the whole month of September to highlight some of my favorite family sessions from the past couple of years. I consider my company to specialize in weddings, but I adore photographing families. It is such a nice practice to come together and just BE with each other. Having a photographer there to capture it all is the icing on top. I will be attempting one blog a day for every day of September. I don’t know if I can do it (that’s a LOT of blogging), but I’m going to try my darndest. I can’t wait for you to see this body of my work that has been hidden for too long! And not that this is strategically planned or anything, but I do have some fall openings still (wink, wink)! Contact me today to reserve your spot!
It’s been a month since my daughter Finney turned one. I’ve often thought about how I could write a blog post about it and what I wanted to say. Tonight I asked myself, how do you measure a year? I giggled a little and immediately started singing the RENT song “seasons of love”. That song has always been able to make my lower lip quiver, but my subconscious answered my question for me with song lyrics. You measure a year in love.
I wasn’t allowed to hold Caddie right after he was born. For his safety, he was taken straight to the NICU and I didn’t get to see him until maybe 10 hours later. Finney, on the other hand, was put in my arms. What a gift! I stared at her, and she was warm and small. Her skin was new and soft…i studied every inch. I felt like the only thing I could say was “she’s so beautiful.”
When we took her home and slept with her in our room for the first time, we were thrown because she grunted like an old man the entire night. At first, I was concerned that she wasn’t alright. But she was. And that was just who she was. While she doesn’t grunt in her sleep anymore, she does make so many different noises at us. She loves to growl. And she’s smart. One of the first things she ever said was “thank you”. She can also say “good girl”. In fact, she says more two-word combinations than she says any individual words. She has a fierce and loud little temper if she doesn’t get what she wants. Mostly, however, she spends her days greeting people with a smile and a cuddle. She hasn’t learned the difference between kissing and biting and has drawn blood on all three of our faces.
She is loved. Caddie adores her and helps her when she needs it. He gives her hugs daily and tells her how much he loves her. We all do. Her cheeks are very full and just beg to be kissed. Scott and I feel so blessed that Caddie and Finney are ours. We have never felt so much love in one place.
As a photographer, I, of course, felt obligated to do a professional mini-shoot with her each month. Some months this was more challenging to schedule in than others. Somehow they all just flew. Overall, there’s no rhyme or reason to them… just cute outfits I had in her closet.
For her first birthday, we had a small family party with a “watercolor” theme. I can’t take credit for any of the ideas as I Pinterested them all. I was, however super excited with the way it all turned out. She has made our life so colorful and bright so I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate her.
My baby is already gone and in her place is a smiley little toddling angel. I can’t wait to see who she becomes and I am cherishing every step along the way.
Ah, my cup runneth over in day 5, the last day of Babypalooza!! Today I feature the love of my life who turns seven months old today! Finney Roux, you are loved beyond words. You are so sweet, laid back and always flashing smiles to everyone in the room. You love to talk and say “da-da”. You always seem to be moving and will be crawling any day now.
You have been through a lot with us this year and have handled every hurdle without any kind of reaction whatsoever. From coming out purple and needing immediate c-pap, to moving into the hospital for over a week while your brave brother faced open heart surgery, to your countless ear appointments and tests, you have handled each thing we throw at you with total indifference and happiness! You are a true force to be reckoned with, my dear. Even though you are laid back and happy, you can still voice your opinion with a vengeance. You already have an amazing ability to hold a grudge that you inherited from your mama. You are always looking around and have a fear of missing out when mom and dad try to go on date night. You laugh gutturally like a little old man. You have precious almond-shaped blue eyes and only your mama knows the intricate patterns that can be seen within them. I stare at them as I nurse you and think about all the things I hope your little eyes will see someday. You are 7 months old but currently starting to fit into 12-month-old clothing. All of your teeth seem to be growing in at the exact same time so the next few weeks should be interesting. Time is already moving so quickly but I’m so blessed to be able to see you most of every day and watch as you figure out this big crazy world we live in. Thank you for being my beautiful daughter. You are my everything! My little slice of heaven.
