I recently had the pleasure of photographing the beautiful little Erin when she was only 8 days old. A lot of people wonder why newborn photographers like to work with the babies when they are so new, so let me shed a little light on that! During the first week or so of life, babies are their sleepiest. And I don’t mean just sleepy, but DEEP asleep. That makes it much easier to pose a baby! Babies that are awake will tend to flail their arms and legs and kick out of most poses. Another reason we like them so early is because most of the time their skin looks great! Those of us who have had newborns before know that baby acne can set it after a few weeks, as well as really flakey skin. So under best circumstances, a newborn session is arranged for before your due date to insure that the window of time that would be best for your baby’s first official portrait session is reserved for them! Because I run a boutique studio, I work with a limited clientele and that gives me the flexibility to move around session dates as need be. Normally, we schedule the session for a date approximately 6 days out from your due date and then adjust as needed based on when your baby actually decides to enter the world! The session itself runs very smoothly. All I need you to do is sit back, relax, keep the baby’s tummy nice and full, and I will handle the rest.
Well this week I had been hit with a stomach bug that pretty much knocked me out for a few days. I was feeling a bit better yesterday when my friend from up the street walked by with her son and their new litter of puppies, so of course I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera and getting a few shots. Aren’t they sweet? Don’t you want one for Valentine’s Day?? Guess what…there are 5 of them and they are available! They are pure breed shih tzus and will be ready to place in homes pretty soon! If you are interested, or know of someone who might be, just send me an email and I will get the contact info over to you. And for any of you not in the SF Bay Area who are viewing this, yes, the weather has been that nice around here that the neighborhood boys can walk around shirtless! We are having a VERY mild winter so far!
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With the holidays, I got a little behind on my blogging! This newborn session took place in the middle of my hectic busy season, so little miss Lucy is a bit bigger than this now, but just as cute!She was such a doll for her session. After a snack, her momma handed her over and I was able to get her nice and sleepy fairly quickly. Once she was fast alseep, she let us accessorize her with lots of pretty handbands and hats and we were able to squeeze in a lot of variety before she woke up. Lucy is a lucky little girl, she has entered into a wonderful family and is very loved! We are already planning her next session with the entire family later in the year and I can’t wait to see how she has changed by then! They really do grow way too fast!
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A few weeks ago Buck and I drove up to the Wine Country (rough job, I know) to photograph another session for one of our favorite families! I love this time of year because this is when a lot of my past clients call up to schedule their fall portrait sessions in time for the holidays. I always enjoy working with the same families again and again because it’s nice to see how the kids have grown and their families have changed. As I’ve said before, one of the best things about my job is that we are fortunate enough to be welcomed into the lives of some very wonderful people. This career has brought me so many new friends over the years and it truly makes “going to work” a lot of fun and special for me.
For this session, we were able to coordinate for the kids’ paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother to join in (not always an easy task when there are so many schedules to work with!) The weather was perfect and we ended up with a ton of great portraits and lots of combinations. Here’s a small peek of some shots that caught my eye while editing… 
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I just wanted to share a few images from a fun portrait session I had with Missy and Jason and their beautiful daughters the other evening. The light towards the end of our session was just divine and I love the yummy, soft haze it creates around the girls. It helps to add a nostalgic feeling to the portraits. Aren’t these girls just adorable? During the design consultation, Missy decided she would like me to choose a location that captured the feeling of rustic country as their home is casual and that style would work nicely with her décor. The location I chose not only had the quality of light I like for country images, but also provided us with a ton of tree stumps to help with posing. I think we were able to squeeze in about 5 different family poses in different areas as well as a variety of spots for images of just the girls.
Since the holiday season is right around the corner, and everyone has holiday portraits on their minds, I thought these images would be great examples of how to dress for a timeless portrait session. I’m a big fan of simplicity in portraits. In the absence of clutter, the subject and emotion become the focus. Notice how your eye is drawn into the faces, the interaction, the body language, not the clothing. Keeping the palette simple and natural allows the viewer to concentrate on what is important! It also helps create a timeless feel and insures that the portraits will stay looking current for years to come. Could you imagine if you walked into someone’s house and saw a portrait hanging over their mantel that showcased everyone wearing neon spandex, leg warmers, and off the shoulder shirts? I think we would all be able to tell what decade that portrait was taken in! Of course, there is always a time and place for imagery that shows off current fashion trends, high school senior portraits are a great example of that. But if your goal is to walk away with a wall portrait that will be displayed prominently in your home as a focal point, chances are you will not want to replace it as trends change. If you choose classic outfits for your portrait session, it creates an image that you will never grow tired of looking at. As you gaze upon it in years to come, it will take you back to the time it was taken, while your children were young, but it won’t feel “out of date”.
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