I started Familypalooza September 1st with a session I did for the Byrnes last year. Now I’m so excited to share the session I did this year 10 days after baby Wyatt was born. We made it a front porch distanced newborn session because of Covid-19. The photos never do justice to how small these babes really are. When Jess brought him out, I felt the breath pass out of me. It is such a cool experience to meet a newborn for the first time. So new, tiny, and helpless. And Wyatt was so bright-eyed and awake, which I absolutely love. His eyes soaking up all the new sights, trying to make sense of it all. And I felt so grateful to be there. This year has been very challenging for so many. But here in the middle of all of that, is a new precious life.
I hardly ever do studio shoots, which made this session so unbelievably special for me. Writing about it now is even more special because I just did this little guy’s first-year photos a couple of weeks ago! Meet baby Owen. He was so awake for our shoot, but I loved that. I love his calm little eyes, his squishy little cheeks, and how snuggly he looked when he was all bundled up. And what’s even more exciting is this little guy is going to become a big brother right around Christmas time! Thank you to the Caudills for becoming such a big piece of my heart over the past few years. I can’t wait to share their most recent shoot in the coming weeks! XO Jess
Today is my birthday! I just love that I was born in September because it’s right when the air starts to become manageable and the whole world feels like it’s air-conditioned lol. Strangely enough, most of my good friends are Virgos as well. I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence, or if it’s a Virgo thing that we just like each other. Either way, today I’m celebrating. And I’m celebrating on the blog by posting this session from a family I just love and adore.
Late last year I had the honor of meeting little Camille! She is the daughter of one of my past brides and grooms. From the moment I met her mom Traci, we just clicked. Now I have shared their engagement, wedding, and now the start of their family and I couldn’t feel more blessed. She was awake for most of our session, and I just melted at her beautiful and inquisitive little eyes. Seriously, babies are the best. The absolute best. And thank you Andrew and Traci for letting me give baby Camille her first closeup!
More adorable cuteness on the blog tonight! I was so excited to meet up with Jon and Kasia again (I did their wedding and engagement shoots a while back). Welcome to the world Amelia! This shoot is part of a large collection of family shoots from last year that never saw the light of day. So, technically, Amelia is now a year old. Still, I just can’t get enough of those adorable newborn cheeks. And look at her beautiful lips? She’s just a stunning little Gerber-worthy babe. I also love the way her parents styled her nursery with flowers and soft pinks and creams. And definetly not to be forgotten, their doggie was dressed to the nines for his photos, too!
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.
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.
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!
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!
Today’s post is a fun and unexpected change of pace. Three years ago I photographed Caddie’s nursery. It was the off-season and I was trying my very best to stay busy and preoccupied while staying home with a toddler who at the time hardly talked (although he made up for it with smiles!). There was a call for entry for nursery design photos for an online blog. I knew that there are far more exceptional nursery designs out there. But I also knew that everything in Caddie’s room was either placed or made with love. It was also a great excuse to clean the room that was otherwise a toy disaster area. Time passed and the submission wasn’t accepted. That happens a lot. I think for every 5 publications I submit I only get one published. Oh, well. Fast forward three years later, the Bump.com, a VERY prominent maternity blog picked up one of the photos. In this blog, there are some of the most beautiful nurseries I’ve ever seen. And tucked right there in the middle of it all is Caddie’s sweet and humble room. So excited to share this today!
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.
