family photojournalism :: the ott family

in the still-dim morning hours of a saturday during advent, the Ott family can be found in the kitchen making cinnamon rolls (from scratch!) and drinking hot cocoa with whipped cream. their littlest one, not even yet 2 months old, is still sleeping soundly in her room while they do this, and as they decorate the personal christmas tree of their 7 year-old, schaeffer, in her bedroom. none of them can wait for gracie to wake up, so they gently rouse her, dressing her tenderly by a space heater, before heading out into the living room to decorate their huge christmas tree together. daddy snuggles a drowsy gracie while schaeffer and mommy put all their most special, memory-rooted ornaments on the tree together. christmas music is playing softly in the background. the timer goes off for the cinnamon rolls, so they frost them, dish them up, and gather round the large coffee table to enjoy them while doing the day's advent reading. after that, it's back into mommy and daddy's big, luxurious bed for family cuddles and reading books together. i think they could have stayed there for quite a bit longer, but i dragged them out to the sofa for a couple smiley family portraits before taking my leave. i imagine the rest of their saturday together was as cozy and warm and full of love as those first two hours, and i'm a little sad that i couldn't stay for all of it. 

happy advent and merry christmas to you, Otts!

smile :: the ward family

mitch, lauren, and baby rosie had me at hello. and being at their birth was a moving experience, one i was honored to be present to. so it gives me such happiness to be allowed to continue in the role of photographing them here and there. i saw lauren and rosie in novemeber for Milk Time, and we arranged this little christmasy mini-session last weekend, too, so that they could make and send out their first ever family christmas card (hooray!). we got a few natural portraits, but some of my favorites are the moments in-between. 

happy christmas, ward family!

life with a newborn :: edward

Edward was born peacefully at home, and for the first 12 weeks of his life he was privileged to have both his mommy AND daddy home with him. This family has been incubating together these last few months, becoming intimately acquainted with all the nuances of one another, relearning ways to live life as a family of three. 

About a week before Loretta was scheduled to return to work full time, she got in touch and asked me to come do a Life With A Newborn session, provided 11 weeks old wasn't "too old" for that sort of session (it isn't). 

Loretta and John are very much equal partners in caretaking for baby Edward. I watched with a warm heart as they each tended to him -- diaper changes, feedings, cuddles -- and sang over him. 

I'm so happy with this set of photos, because they capture a tiny snapshot of this really sacred season in this family's life together. Here you're invited to take a peek...

If you're freshly home with your own newborn (or even if it's been a few months), please do yourself a favor and get a Life With A Newborn session done. I promise you, the sweetness you'll feel every time you look at them for years to come will be SO worth it. 

birth photography :: avery douglas

Libby and Joe. After difficulty and loss, they got to welcome their firstborn into the world on an unseasonably snowy november day, four weeks before they were expecting him. 

Though he was quite early, Avery came out crying healthily, showing us all his ridiculously adorable lips. And every step of the way leading up to his arrival was drenched in peace, and his birth was so smooth. His little heart kept plugging away at 140-ish bpm the entire time, regardless of how intense the contraction, and his mama pushed him out in less than 30 minutes. 

Libby's mom and sister and future brother-in-law were all close at hand, and able to welcome their newest addition within an hour of his birth. There are so many special moments here. Enjoy...

I'm eager and waiting to photograph your birth story, too. If you're considering it, don't hesitate. Let's get a hot beverage and discuss. 

GIVEAWAY :: One-hour photo session

This weekend, Brooke Collier Photography hit 1,000 "Likes" on it's Facebook business page. In some ways, there's a silliness to this landmark, because I have a feeling people "Like" things without much deep sentiment behind that action.

Still, I'm feeling weirdly giddy about it, and so I've decided to celebrate this business growth landmark with a give-away. And it isn't a wimpy one. It's a good one. Because I know there are lots of those 1,000 "Like-ers" who are sincerely interested in and excited by my work, which means so much to me, you guys. SO much. I'm so grateful.

This contest is open from Monday 11/24/2014 at 4 p.m. EST to Sunday 11/30/2014 at 11:59 p.m. EST. 

You can enter the give-away below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

personal :: a snow day

i took one look out the window this morning and declared it a snow day. which meant we would not even try to go anywhere today, we would stay in our jammies as long as we wanted (or, if not jammies, then our snuggliest clothes), and we would do special things like make hot chocolate and eat a pot roast for dinner. 

one thing i love about this house we now call home is the light in the winter months. it's brighter in here during the months when all the many trees that crowd our home on every side have lost their leaves, letting the dim bluish light of winter come unhindered through every window. 

and yesterday i got a new lens in the mail. the lens i have been dreaming of owning for such a long time, but which i haven't allowed myself to "splurge" on. really, though, it's a business expense, and this 35 mm f/1.4 lens will serve me SO well at births and in dimmer, in-home family photojournalism sessions. 

so between the beautifully-lit snow day spirit, and the acquisition of this new lens, i felt inspired to photograph my personal life for the first time in a long time. it's been a busy season of shooting for others, and that's left me little energy for telling the stories unfolding under my own roof. so today -- when it felt like joyful inspiration instead of duty -- i acted without delay and set about to shooting a sort of Day In The Life. however -- it should be noted -- i didn't start until after breakfast, because the idea didn't come to me immediately. :)

this snow day also contains guest appearances from our interns and boiler room community, whom came over from across the alley to help shovel this morning, and then again this afternoon for popcorn and tea. 

though you won't see ME in any of these images, you should know that i am the one behind the scenes who prepares meals, who snuggles and plays with my little ones, who tidies up the messes as they unfold, who watches through windows as this kids play in the yard, who changes diapers and clothing, and whose heart swells a million times a day with incredible love for this family i've been given. 

come join us for our snow day!

details i love and want to remember: hazel cutting up random things (in this case, the packing materials from my lens shipment), gus eating crayons, gus' cheesy grin that he's suddenly started flashing at the camera from time to time, hazel's deep delight in getting outside in all weather (and her new pink shovel that she used three times today to do "digging"), gus's obsession with stranding between the twin sinks upstairs and turning on the faucets of both simultaneously, hazel learning to draw shapes, how all the men in our community are bearded, the frequency of crockpot meals and fried eggs in this house, the laundry baskets that show up in the background of almost every scene, late-day meltdowns from the littles, and the inventive "office" set-up tim has created for himself in the living room. 

all is a gift.