life with a newborn :: ellison

about 6 weeks ago, i photographed ellison's birth. then my favorite thing happened: her mom and dad also invited me back for a newborn session. i'm always so glad when i get to see the babies whose births i photographed, whether by watching them grow on facebook or photographing them with their families later on. 

here's a few bits of fun background information to flesh out the story these images tell...

• amy created the loveliest, and most unabashedly girly nursery for their sweet girl. so we hung out in there quite a while. the walls were the palest whisper of pink. 
• i got a little carried away when darren leaned over ellison and started tenderly touching and talking to her. absolutely heart-melting. also heart-melting was darren carrying ellison around in his dirt bike shop, talking with her about the adventures they'd have in the future. 
• though i'm not really a pet photographer, darren and amy's pets -- a dog and a cat -- were very present throughout their session, and i think they add something so special. both are protective of the newest member of their family. 
• amy is a dancer and just generally a mover, which has translated into ellison being rather addicted to movement. there was so much swaying and bouncing going on during our session, that my camera's auto-focus was working hard to keep up. :) but i just love that ellison still craves her mama's unique movements, and goes to calm when she's in her arms. 

without further ado, here's ellison at [almost] six weeks old...

also note: this is session is a pretty typical example of how i do newborn sessions. i'm not a baskets/headbands/props/body-wraps/poses kind of photographer. i prefer to keep babies in the spaces they normally occupy, and in the arms that are usually holding them. to me, this seems the more authentic thing, the thing i'd want to catch in a bottle and keep forever. it's what's so sweet about newborn-hood. of course, this is right in line with my family photojournalism practice. :)

mini-session sunday : spring 2014 edition

i recently held my 6th mini-session sunday! i love doing mini-session sundays! the fast pace, the energy, the seeing and playing with so many families in such a short span of time. 

families (or couples or individuals) sign up for a 25 minute session, and they end up with 25+ finished images with full copyright permissions. the cost is $125. so it's a great way to get some update family portraits for quite a bit less than you might otherwise spend. 

anyway, i wanted to share with you a few of the highlights from the evening... look at all these happy, shining faces. people are amazing....

mini-session :: the saigeon family

michelle and eric are expecting a baby boy very soon. meanwhile, their darling daughter is nearly two. there was, therefore, much to celebrate with photos. so we had a little mini-session at my favorite nature center, to capture the fleeting beauty of a belly swelled with baby and a toddler growing quickly toward kid-hood. 

in about a month, shortly after baby comes, i'll do an in-home family photojournalism session with them, where we'll document the details of their life with their newborn son. i can't wait for that.

this is the good stuff. happy sigh. 

birth photography :: arielle

teresa's sister had the idea of purchasing birth photography for teresa and her husband travis as a baby shower gift. i just have to say, that's pretty much one of the best ideas ever! forget the motorized baby swing that will be useless after 4 months! birth photography is a gift that gets more and more meaningful over time. i thought that was a really amazing idea, and so thoughtful. 

when the birth day arrived, NO ONE knew that teresa was in labor at the hospital. so there was this delicious secrecy to the whole thing. teresa and travis were in it together, so in sync and mutually supportive. there was lots of laughter between contractions, and an open-hearted quality in both of them that was a gift to witness. 

because they did not know the baby's gender, they had a little list of boy and girl name possibilities lying in the window sill when i arrived. i peaked at it, wondering which of those names was going to be put into use in just a few short hours.

their labor process was smooth. they were blessed with a beautiful day, as gorgeous natural light streamed through the windows the entire time. their nurses were jovial. and because teresa had an epidural, she was relaxed and joyful, and we had a really lovely time "hanging out" in those final hours and minutes leading up to their baby's birth. 

i'm a bit at a loss for words to say just how sweet this couple is, how well they love one another, and how fortunate little miss arielle is to be born into their love. but i think you'll be able to see it in the pictures. so, without further ado...

as an aside: you all know that i love bartering. well, when i met them for their maternity session, they paid me with homegrown, whole CHICKENS. they were huge. and cooked up beautifully. you also are welcome to propose a barter!

also, an update: i'm filling up for birth photography in 2014. i can still squeeze one in for the first part of June. November and December still have openings. so, if you've been sitting on the fence, sit there no longer, friend. climb down and give me a call. :)

family photojournalism :: the huffs

katie, chris, and their kiddos tucker and savannah, registered for one of my spring mini-sessions a little while before they were given a hard-to-swallow diagnosis for tucker. and though the diagnosis made sudden sense out of so many behaviors and struggles over the previous two years, it also puts a certain weight on the future, a weight they were carrying with them on the day of mini-session sunday.

so, coming into the mini-session -- which are usually more posed, intentional family portraits -- they did not have high hopes of achieving a hold-still-and-smile set of images with tucker. honestly, that was (and is always) more than okay with me. so, we threw that expectation out the window and i said, "let's just follow him around and play. we'll see what happens." with the tension thus diffused, and tucker free to be his wild and active little boy self, we climbed fences and lept off them, did a few rounds of peek-a-book from the men's outhouse, and finally kicked off shoes and got into the creek. 

the end result is something that i just love. a story emerged that is really about tucker (but don't feel too badly for savannah, she had her own "milk time" session recently). to me, these photos celebrate tucker, in all his wild wonder. looking through these images of him playing, and his family right there with him in the midst of it, you can't help but fall a little bit in love with the cutie. 

personal :: first haircut

she'll be 3 years old in less than a month. she has never had a haircut. i was afraid that if i cut it, the curl would be lost, because i've heard horror stories. but the hair was... um, BIG. 

after beginning to imagine what a slightly shorter cut might look like, we decided to go for it. our neighbor-friend Chelsea came over from across the street, scissors in hand, and set up shop on the front porch. she's a pro, and a darned good one (you can find her here, if you're interested). 

hazel was looking very sleepy and i wondered if she might even doze off during the haircut. but drowsiness coupled with a large orange balloon aided in holding her still. also, the chocolate chips that were promised as a reward at the end. :)

so, here's the story of my daughter's first haircut, on the front porch of our house, by a good friend, at the age of 35 months...