milk time :: amber + violet

in

Occasionally an at-home Milk Time session is necessary. In this case, Amber was hit with a suddenly-weaning 2 year-old and she knew she wanted to capture some nursing memories on film before it was too late. So, I made a trip out to their homestead to do a little Milk Time mini session. Violet didn't actually latch on for very long, but the few minutes that she did were sweet and cozy. I love how she squinted her eyes as if to pretend that she was sleeping. Such peace. 

Because we knew Violet wouldn't nurse long, we used the remainder of the session to capture some sweet cuddles between Amber and both her littlest girls. I really love these photos of them. And thanks to you, Amber, for being a perfect re-entry into shooting after my maternity leave. :)

For those interested in having your own Milk Time session, there are two upcoming dates in the works, which I'll be announcing very soon. But have a new twist on them! How's that for a teaser?! ;)

Hold your babies close today, friends. 

on mother's day

in , ,

In this work I do, I get to see and photograph a LOT of mamas. Mamas at the moment they become mamas, as they pull their babies up to their chests and cry happy tears over them. Mamas who are welcoming their 2nd (or 3rd or 6th) baby into their families, and thereby growing their mothering heart exponentially...again. Mothers nourishing their babes at their breasts, then nourishing their children at their kitchen table with lovingly prepared meals. Mothers comforting, holding, kissing, singing, scolding, teaching, tickling, correcting, carrying, playing, and laughing. Mothers at home in their own spaces that they've created to be soft landing places for their families. 

I SEE you, mothers. I see you because I am one of you. And when I come photograph you, I do it because I want to show you -- through my limited by loving and artistic perspective -- that you are a million good things: you are faithful, steady, sacrificial, blessed, of value, loved and loving. From the moment you get a positive pregnancy test and through every moment that follows.

So Mother's Day this year meant a lot to me as a photographer this year, just as it meant a lot to me personally as a mother who recently birthed her third baby. 

I put together a couple collages to celebrate. Since I didn't have unlimited time, I just made them to wish a happy FIRST mother's day to those mamas I've photographed this past year who just became moms for the first time. But if i'd had more time, there would have been collages of all the Milk Time mamas with their little ones, and all the mamas of 2+ kids in their family photojournalism sessions, and the mamas whose births were for their 2nd+ child. 

If you haven't already, please consider letting me -- or another gifted photographer you admire! -- come by with my camera to "see" you in this way. You will never regret it, not ever. I love the movement going on to #getmominthesquare and similar. I want to get you - the mama, who is usually behind the camera -- into the visual history of your family in an authentic way. So get in touch. 

I'm also going to be launching a new "deal" toward that end soon. Stay tuned.

To end, here are a few photo collages I made to celebrate my own motherhood this mother's day. These three bring so much goodness. My cup runs over. 

Happy Mother's Day... every day!

Love, 

Brooke

family photojournalism :: the hughes family

in

There's a certain quietness to a day with a baby. It's never very eventful in the way you've thought of eventfulness (is that a word?) before having a baby, but it's better somehow, too. In these two hours, Callan and his parents played on the floor with the baby gym, read books, cuddled on soft beds, had a brief walk outside, changed a diaper, had a bath, and went down for a nap. These are not remarkable activities, but no two families do these common activities in quite the same way. That's one thing I love about in-home family photojournalism!

Baby Callan (7 months at the time of these photographs) has a gentle spirit, and he invites you into a sweet restfulness. His mama and daddy are so present to him in every moment. You get the feeling they are always deeply communing with one another. It may be that they don't take things for granted as some of us are often prone to doing, because they've been dealt a diagnosis that demands that. In this family a hard thing has become an invitation to live and love with attentive intention.

It was a gift to be invited in to capture a bit of that. I hope you can feel the love spilling out of the corners of these images. 

life with a newborn :: william glen

in

kristin and i are OLD friends. the since-10th-grade kind of friends. the kind of friends who started off on a bad foot but later found our way into something sweet and enduring. one of the most delightful parts about knowing her for so long is having known her from a time when she swore she'd never have kids, then through heart changes and then a slightly hesitant entrance into motherhood... and now, the present day, when i see her holding and kissing her little boys with an obvious glow of contented love. isn't this the best example of eating your own words? ;)

william isn't technically a newborn in these photos. he's three months old. but i actually really like that, because by then babies are wide-eyed and engaged, and the family has settled into their new status as a family of 4, and it's just a really sweet stage. it's just a different sort of special. (actually, i think Life With A Newborn sessions could be done a few times throughout the first year: at two weeks, 3 or 4 months, and 6 or 7 months... maybe I should have a package deal for that??)

i also really loved watching jeremy -- the daddy -- during this session because he's so engaged and so naturally playful. these boys are super lucky to have a dad like this. 

without further delay, i give you a little peek at a saturday morning with kristin, jeremy, jonathan and william!

I'll have one more session to show you next week after my FINAL family photojournalism session until June. unless i have a baby before then. but i'll try to hold out until after the session. ;)

family photojournalism :: the mciver family

in

Shauna and her baby girl Tatum first came into my life through Milk Time. They have come three times so far, to celebrate and document different stages of their hard-earned breastfeeding relationship. I love looking back at the sequence of images over the course of Tatum's first year. 

Tatum and Shauna at Milk Time, June 2014, November 2014, and February 2015.

Tatum and Shauna at Milk Time, June 2014, November 2014, and February 2015.

Then March came, and it was Tatum's first birthday, that bittersweet, nostalgic milestone that brings many parents to joyful tears (you know it's true!). Here is a family that values and prioritizes one another and really "gets" how rich their ordinary moments are with beauty and love. This little lady is so loved by her mama and papa (and doggy, too). So Shauna and Dustin invited me to come do a family photojournalism session with them the morning after Tatum's first birthday party. We started at their home, with Tatum's bath time routine, getting dressed, playing with new birthday toys, and practicing her tentative new walking skills. Then we put on coats and headed to downtown Grand Rapids for coffees, and to stroll around on the sun-splashed sidewalks.

I like what Shauna said about why it mattered to her to have their family photographed in this way:

“Our daughter isn’t a baby any more! She’s far more interactive and loving at this age than we could have ever imagined. Our little family is everything we’ve always wanted and we are just trying to enjoy each stage even though they pass so quickly. I like to fill our home with images that remind us in the hard times of all of the great times and why we keep pushing forward. ”

Please get in touch with me to do something similar! I'm certain you'll never regret it.