as promised, here is the second chunk of photos from our amazing week Up North.
in this chunk we visit sutton's bay (again), northport, the grand traverse lighthouse, empire, and glen arbor, as well as our "own" little house and campsite. you'll also get to meet our friends ryan and alicia and their girls, lilia and elayna.
hello, friends.
i've been quiet in this space. see, we had a bit of a sabbatical, as we do every august. the sabbatical was mostly from our ministry work, but i also managed to take about a 2 week break from photography.
for one week, we unplugged entirely. here in michigan we have what everyone calls Up North. it refers to any place north of where you live in the lower pennisula. the further Up North you go, the more wild and fresh and free it becomes. we went pretty far, to the Leelanau Penninsula, where we rented a little house to use as our home base. from the little house were were a mere 10-20 minutes away from several quaint and quirky villages like leland, suttons bay, northport, and lake leelanau (the village). we were close to Lake Michigan (oh blessed fresh water ocean) as well as the long and clear Lake Leelanau, and of course we waded and swam in both.
we adventured every day between gus' naps, frolicked in fields, prepared and enjoyed simple foods (including giant plate-sized pancakes almost every morning), took naps, stopped into local shops, had ice cream daily, and visited many beaches on the lakes.
our final two days we spent with friends in empire and glen arbor, just a bit south of where we'd stayed in the little house. we tried out tent camping with them, which was a first for us but a well-travelled road for them. don't know if we could have done it without them and their gear.
i don't know if one can ever be ready to leave Up North and return home again. i certainly wasn't quite ready.
here is a selection of images from our trip, in roughly chronological order. these photos feature Fishtown in Leland, Sutton's Bay, and Lake Leelanau (the lake). this is half of what i'll share on this blog. the other half will be coming up in a couple of days!
while sipping beverages at a favorite coffee shop downtown, kati and i talk and talked about photography, about home birth, chiropractic, and new motherhood. her depth and spirit struck me as we spoke. this woman approaches life with a softness that's rare, combined with a rootedness that makes her unshakable.
in the days leading up to the birth of her son, kati was soaking up all the empowering, natural, home birth stories she could, and patiently remaining present as one day, then another, then another passed after her EDD.
finally, 8 days after his EDD, labor began. it intensified in the dark hours of night, and i joined them a little after 2 a.m., shortly before she hit transition. clearly feeling the pain, she never wavered, and never tried to give up. jed was right there with her, so "in the game" with her. we teased her afterward because the "worst" thing she said during transition -- a time when so many women swear or try to run away -- was, "i don't know about this!"
when her baby's heart rate was showing slightly worrisome decelerations, her midwife looked her in the eye and told her it was time to get down to business and get that baby out. and in an instant, kati centered herself, gathered her courage, and proceeded to make the most productive pushes you can imagine. in just 30 minutes of pushing, and in spite of a few tense moments in which he was a bit stuck, kati moved her sweet baby out of her body and onto the bed, where he was tenderly caught by their midwife and coaxed out of his "wind-knocked-out-him" state and into a healthy, full-throttle cry.
within 30 minutes of his birth, their new baby BOY (it was a surprise) received his first chiropractic adjustment from his daddy, complete with kisses on the forehead. it was incredible to see the calming effect of his daddy's touches, and how his crying slowed and ceased as his tiny spine was brought into alignment after a difficult birth passage.
afterwards, jed and kati kept looking at one another and saying, "we did it! we have a child!"
i was a bit sad to take my leave, but happy to know that the scene i was looking at was exactly the one they had dreamt of and prepared for: a new family, in love, snuggled in bed at home.
kati and jed, i'm so honored that you invited me into this space. and so impressed by you.
With the sun still low in the sky on this lovely august morning, we walked down to a meaningful section of the great lake's shoreline, enjoying the warm water occasionally splashing at our feet, the pastel light, and the sweet fellowship of a tiny girl with her mommy and daddy.
Really, Lake Michigan. Could you be any more beautiful?
Thanks so much, Ben, Sarah, and Gwen!
becky is a brand new mama. she is also the best friend of one of my dear clients, jessica, whose maternity, birth, and newborn photo sessions i was lucky enough to do. it's my favorite thing to meet new clients who are friends referred by previous clients because the links that bring us together are friendship, and they've already seen and appreciated something i've done and know they want the same for their own family. so ideal.
and indeed, becky and mac and rori and rufus (that's the family dog) were as kind and interesting as i would expect them to be based on their connection to jessica and her family. as i photographed them, i listened with high interest to the story of their lakeside home, which they had just moved into after spending years dreaming up and designing together. i love that this was their family project, and that they are now welcoming their newborn daughter into a completely unique, one-of-a-kind, and highly personalized home, where they anticipate growing old together.
and rori. well.... rori is just fantastic. fresh and wide-eyed and lucky enough to spend much of her time cradled in the arms of two of the most tender parents you can imagine.
the images toward the end of this session were taken at the lakefront property that's been in mac's family for generations, and which will be a part of rori's childhood "normal" for years to come. i just love that: roots that go deep into history and indefinitely into the future. i also love all rori's facial expressions in that set of images. :)
thank you so much, mac and becky.
I'm happy to be able to announce (click on the event you want more details on)...
Tickets are already on sale for the workshop and for mini-sessions. Get on it by clicking on one of the event listing above. Milk Time tickets go on sale September 15th.