Meet my favorite family of clients. They have been with from the beginning, like the very beginning when I wasn’t even good. Mom was my very first maternity client and since then I have done like 9 or 10 sessions for them. I have watched them grow from a family of 2, to a family of 4. They have watched me grow and watched my business grow. So many laughs and memories have been shared it’s hard to remember them all. We have some wonderful sessions, and some that were just an all out disaster. To be honest the ones that have not gone smoothly have been some of my favorites. It is real life captured, and their kids captured just how they were at that phase in life. Our last session together was about 18 months ago. It was probably one of the craziest sessions I have ever had. Nothing went right, nothing. I got tons of pictures of the kids making faces at me and running around like crazy but there were no “perfect” every smiling at the camera shots. Typical for the ages. We decided to take last year off from a session and this year when mom contacted me she said she thought they might be a in a better place. She was right! This was one of my easiest sessions in a long time! It’s amazing how much can change in such a short period of time, and how much our kids change. I had so much fun playing and laughing with these two and watching them interact with each other. Whatever mom bribed them with (the rumor from the oldest was that is was pepsi WITH caffeine) worked. I love this family and hope they love the results from this session. Here’s just a quick sneak peek of the many shots we captured!
Look at this beautiful baby girl and look at all that hair! Baby C came to visit me a few weeks ago along with her big brother, mom, dad and grandmother. I first met this family about 2 1/2 years ago when they were pregnant with their son. It was one of my favorite sessions, and still is. Mom and Dad are both gorgeous and have matching wonderful personalities. We instantly clicked and their session was a breeze. Big brother’s newborn session was also a breeze. He had slept like a champ. Fast forward to 2017 and the sessions went a little different this time around now that we had a 2 year old toddler to contend with. He was a man on the move for the maternity session. When I say we couldn’t get him to slow down, I mean we couldn’t get him to slow down. We could barely get dad in the pictures as well since he was the one chasing him. Needless to say this made us a bit nervous about sibling shots once baby sister arrived.
We were right to be nervous! Sibling shots were definitely a bit of a challenge. Big brother wanted nothing to do with them and was up and running away. As a last resort we busted out the iphone and played some Lightning McQueen and luckily that caught his attention enough that he sat still and let us get a few shots. Success!
I thought the newborn part of the session was going to be the easy part. I was wrong! This little princess had other things planned. She was way more concerned with staying awake and trying to find out what little brother was up to. She was having no part of sleep. We waited about 2 hours with her and still she wouldn’t give in. Finally we called the session and decided to try the next day instead. I am so glad we did! She came in the next day and was already sleeping, and she left that way. She let me go through a ton of poses and got some amazing shots! I couldn’t be happier!
Newborn baby W came to visit me last month. I had the pleasure of meeting his mother and older sister last year for a one year photo session and cake smash. I was delighted to find out at that session that mom was expecting and wanting me to do newborn photos. It’s always such an honor when parents keep coming back to you and trusting you with their family.
We started the session with sibling photos which are typically very challenging at this age. Surprisingly this part of the session went great! Big sister was so good and loved being next to her baby brother. It was almost too easy! I am always so relieved when we are able to get great sibling shots as I know moms always have their heart set on them. I am the same way. I also am a mom of two though and remember how the newborn session went with my youngest and her 2 year old sister. It was a mess, literally. We got one shot of the two of them together before there was a massive blowout all over big sister’s lap. She was traumatized. She didn’t want to hold her sister again for months after that. We did get the shot though, and I still love it today and love the memory of what it took to get that shot!
The rest of the session went didn’t go quite as smoothly Baby W decided he was more interested in what is going on around him rather than sleeping. He kept a pretty close eye on me the whole time. It took a good hour or so to get him to finally get to sleep where we were able to grab a couple sleepy baby shots for mom. For a while there I didn’t think he was going to give!
Spring has sprung in Raleigh and I tried to take full advantage of that. Rain is always an issue in April and we have had some crazy weather this year so trying to time sessions with the blooming azaleas is no easy task. Luckily this mom is also a photographer so she kept a pretty flexible schedule and we kept an eye on the gardens to wait for them to bloom. We met up at the WRAL azalea garden for a mommy and me session with her two sons and their newest addition daughter Ella. I can’t believe how big Ella has already gotten as I was just taking her newborn photos not too long ago. Unfortunately she wasn’t super happy to see me. She made us work hard for the few smiles she gave us. I know she has a beautiful smile because I see them all the time in her mom’s instagram feed. I guess she just must be saving them all for her. She is a cutie pie though and it was great to be able to see and snuggle on her again.
Here’s just a real quick sneak peek for mom!
Newborn baby Drew came to see me a few weeks back along with his big sister. They recently moved to the area and called to see if I could fit in a newborn session for them as the photographer they had originally booked with was near their previous home. I am so thankful that my schedule allowed it as they were such a great family to work with. Big sister did fantastic for her sibling shots. 2 years old is a tough age and the last thing they want to do is take pictures, but she was a rock star. She is definitely in love with her baby brother. She would pop in and out of the newborn room in my studio and just pet him or give him a quick kiss and then she was off and playing again. It was so sweet to see.
This sweet boy gave us lots of smiles during his session and luckily I was able to capture a few of them. He slept right through his part of the session and let me move him from one set up to the other without stirring. He was such a cute little guy he looked adorable no matter what set up he was in. It was such an enjoyable session. I will get to see this sweet family again in about 6 months as they are one of my baby planners. I can’t wait to see how much both of them change by then. Thank you for coming to see me and sharing your sweet baby’s with me.