The perfect newborn session. Thats what this was for me.
First, a little backstory.
Before this session I was feeling a little hum-drum about newborn sessions. I’ve just never been that good at the whole- make baby fall asleep, perfectly pose them on a backdrop without waking them up, while you’re sweating-cause its 80 degrees in the room to keep said baby sleeping. (sounds like fun eh?) I’ve given it the ol’ college try. And done ok, but I wasn’t about to be making any calendars anytime soon. and that kinda bummed me out. SO. I did some hardcore thinking, about how I like to play to my strengths. The things I love. The things I’m drawn to and enthusiastic about. None of which was sleeping-cherub baby photos. Maybe it was time to take them off my repitoir.
That’s where this session comes in. Corey and Sheila (the proud mom and dad) are dear, dear friends of ours. This session was sort of a gift to them. As I was getting ready for their session, I felt particularly excited- not just because they were my great friends and I got to snuggle their sweet babe- but also because I realized I had no expectations placed on me! I could do whatever I wanted and I knew they would be happy and grateful! Going into their session with that mindset, totally changed the way I shot. I approached it like all my other photography sessions. Capturing connection. Emotion. Little moments. With some direction and fun little projects thrown in for good measure. And the result- was my favorite newborn session to date. This is what I want to do. THIS is what I love. If you hire me for a newborn session, THIS is what your session will look like. I will still bring headbands and props, but they will be usued in a less typical way. No more ‘ill hang out for 4 hours until baby falls asleep’. Its so much more fun, natural and special this way. In my opinion. And please note….yes they did have an adorable nursery, but many of these shots were taken just with window light and a small piece of plain wall, or with their living room floor as the background (complete with dog beds that we moved out of the photo) or just the sweet dresser and wall decal used as props. What I’m trying to say is really, your house does NOT need to be spectacular to do this type of a session. I promise.

And just because i have a little rant left in me….I know what some of you moms in particular might be thinking-
‘I just had a baby, I don’t want to be in any photos!’(and trust me, i do understand. I have 3 kids myself) But guess what. Im here to tell you, you should be. You should be in some photos with your baby. Who is with your baby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for, pretty much the entire duration of your infants life? You are.

Who does your baby know and love more than anyone in this world? You.

Why should you not be in your babies photos? Do it for them. Do it because, I promise, when they are 5, 7, and 35 they will love seeing photos of you with them, when they were babies, and so will you. When you are 60 and have grandkids, will you be thinking ‘Jeeze, I look fat and tired. why did I agree to be in those photos!?’ Of course you won’t! I (hope) that you will look back at your photos and remember this incredibly fleeting time in your life, and remember how perfectly imperfect it all was.  Thats what parenthood is to me.  And thats what i want my newborn sessions to be from now on.
Perfectly imperfect.

Well, it wasn’t quite a wedding, but you wouldn’t know that to look at the photos. This was one of my favorite senior shoots this summer (although i had a lot of favorites!) When Kayley said she was going to bring her moms wedding dress, i was pretty pumped. i LOVE original…and i love when seniors, or anyone im shooting, gets into their photos, and brings things, or comes up with ideas they’d like to try. So anyway, when she pulled the dress out, i almost died. She looked like a PRINCESS. How good is mom’s taste for having such a rockin’ wedding dress? Oh, and isn’t her hair AMAZING as well? I may or may not have brought a photo of her to my hair dresser and said, ‘ i want THIS color.’  

Here is a reacent senior session i just finished. It was my last one of the year actually! I normally dont blog them this soon after i post the gallery, but since im rather behind on blogging, and on a roll tonight, i went with it! Rachel and i had a ton of fun walking around Bowdoin chatting. and taking pictures. and talking. and giggling. yah, we had fun!  :)

Here is a shoot i just finished editing a few weeks ago, which was SOOOOO late! Things got crazy when i had Amry, and my work suffered for a bit. (um, maybe still is?) But im so lucky, that Kendra was sooo patient with me. She never once even ASKED how they were coming along, and even told me to rest up, when i know she was dying to see her photos! Now thats selfless! Kendra and i went to school together, and havent seen each other much in our adult lives, but we are working to change that! It was so so much fun to get together, and hang with her family for awhile. SUCH awesome kids, and just such a great family all around. Im so happy that we are seeing more of each other now. Arent they ADORABLE?

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As some of you may know, the Small family has been expecting. Our little girl was due  on the 22nd of September, and per usual…she showed up right on time (just lik eher  brother). Amry weighed 8 lbs 3 oz. and was born at 5:34  pm, after a fast and furious 6 hour birth. (hopefully someday here ill post some candid [don't worry, not scary]  shots of the day, and her, right after she was born, but for now, i wanted to post a few of lately.

This was a fun little impromptu thing we did one evening. I was 37 weeks. 

Anddddd…what kind of a photographer would i be, if i didn’t post a ‘before and after’?? (Also the top i was 38 weeks)

And one of her ‘official’ one week old photos.

Ugh. Meet Elizabeth. Gorgeous, sweet stunning and up for anything! I had SOOOO SO much fun on her session. She climbed in a boat, asked a man with a super cool old car if she could hop in for some pics, AND got IN THE WATER for some photos, which came out amazing if i do say so myself. I really do feel….that…sometimes going that extra mile for your photo shoot can make for some amazing results!!! Anyway, here are Elizabeth’s photos, I look forward to doing more Senior Photos for Thornton Academy again next year!

Click here to see one of my favorite photos from her shoot!

Hold on to your horses. This is a long one. I shot Jean and Brandons wedding, earlier this summer. June to be exact. This was super special for me, as they are good friends of mine. Brandon, and J (my husband) are actually cousins, and quite close, so ive known Brandon since i met J. It was so, so….wonderful to see them get married, and how happy they were, AND i got to hang out with a ton of my friends at the same time. Plus, they spoiled me, which was super nice, since it was like 80 degrees and i was rather fat (well, ok, pregnant). anyway. i wont ramble much more. Here is a ton of shots from their day. And if you’re feeling particularly awesome, feel free to leave me a comment and tell me which one is your favorite!?

I have to be honest here. Family reunions aren’t my most coveted sessions. I DO enjoy them. I enjoy photographing all the types of sessions I do, otherwise, i wouldn’t do them. BUT. They aren’t always my most favorite. The Kohlers however, we’re pretty awesome. They wanted a nice mix of ‘traditional, hang on your wall- family shots, and also really wanted me to do my thing with candids, and lifestyle-ish photography, so i had a lot of room to be creative with them, which makes me happy

We started out by doing some traditional Family pictures at their house where they all flew to enjoy a vacation together, from various parts of the country. Then, we ventured across the street to the Beach, for some fun, candid shots, and to give the kids a ‘break’ and also grab some more group shots.

I really enjoyed spending the day with them, and i hope they call me again next year when they’re all in town!!!

Phew. never fails. Its about this time of year that im elbow deep in sessions to edit, and between staying at home with my two guys during the day and working half the night, my blogging starts to suffer. So, im going to try to start back at the next session i have to blog, which is actually about 20 sessions ago! LOL jeepers. Anyway, i LOVE LOVE LOVED this session. It was to die for. their outfits, our locations, the light, oh and the ADORABLE little miss? I’m one lucky photographer. Enjoy!

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Hey there. Its late, and hotter than a mother here in Maine, but I’ve really REALLY been wanting to share this shoot i did a month or so ago. Elizabeth and her lovely family, are expecting another peanut. We had been talking since before she found out she was pregnant (long before actually) about doing this shoot. This was they’re third shoot with me this year, and i cannot wait to photograph the birth of her sweet new addition, and watch their family grow through the years. Elizabeth and i have grown to become good friends, through our meeting from sessions. I am so fortunate to meet such wonderful people doing what i love. I could not be grateful enough. Well, without further ado…here is their ‘pregnancy announcement’ shoot.