Rachael, Jonathan, and Stella are almost four!

This is a very special family to photograph, and I have shared many milestones with them, from Rachael’s pregnancy with Stella, to her as a newborn, at 6 months, and celebrating her first birthday.  They are always full of smiles and look great in front of the camera.  Rachael is an absolutely glowing pregnant mama, Jonathan is a proud father, and Stella is an absolute doll as she is about to celebrate her second birthday.  I look forward to seeing these parents welcome a new baby into their family and to Stella becoming a big sister!

An expectant mama, a red dress, a beautiful sunset, and a flash

While I love working with couples and families, getting to work 1/1 with women is really special also.  Since I knew it’d be just us for our session, I suggested a sunset session, with about half in glowing orange daylight, and half after the sun had set and I could get creative with flash.  Mom’s red dress added some extra excitement and opportunity for creativity, as we were able to light and silhouette her belly against the fabric.  It was a pleasure working with this lovely lady, and I wish her only the best as she welcomes her baby into the world!

Shaina, Seth, Ross, and Ilan are almost 5!

I have known this mama since Elementary School, and she’s been one of my best friends since High School.  We’ve had a lot of fun adventures together through the years, of course pregnancy and parenthood being one.  As she’s due to have this baby any day now, I encouraged her to capture her bump and her last few days as a family of four.  She willingly obliged, and chose to conduct this capture at the carousel as a way to keep her boys engaged.  We also played in the nature at the park, capturing some ‘So You’ moments for this family, and freezing these special moments in time!  I can’t wait to meet your new little bundle of joy!

Lauren, Evan, and Jack are almost 4!

What a great session to kick off 2016, definitely setting the bar high for the year!  This family is visiting family in South Florida from their home up North, and contacted me to capture them, as they are a soon to be family of four!  We met at one of my favorite parks.  I’d only shot there once before, but I was again impressed by its beauty, and can’t wait to get back there with my own family to explore.  The light through the trees is my favorite, and there are some spots where I felt like I could just stand there all day and shoot until I filled up my memory card! Well, maybe not all day, b/c the light would move, but, I seriously loved it.

And I loved working with these people, too!  Mom took my advice for photographing young toddler boys, which is to bring something he likes playing with, but she wouldn’t mind being in the pictures.  She also didn’t over-correct him and let him do his thing, even when that included throwing his shoe in the river (we did get the shoe back with the help of some volunteers)!  We of course encouraged him to look my way occasionally, but this gentle approach allowed him to feel like he was there to play, which really allowed me to capture his personality and moments that are ‘so you’ for this family!

Rooney, Michael, and Jackson are almost 4

I have several mutual friends with this family, so I was delighted when they called me to schedule their maternity session.  Maternity sessions with a couple expecting a first baby are always special, but I especially love new sibling maternity sessions!  It’s so much fun to capture some of their last moments as a family of 3 before a new little one turns an only child into a big brother!  And with all the joy and love between these three, there is plenty waiting for the baby boy to come!