Another photographer once asked me a question that has stuck with me through the years. It’s this: Say your house is burning down and you only have 10 seconds to grab something, what would you make sure to get above everything else? People’s first instinct is to get something invaluable, an item that they can’t buy or get back with home insurance money, and that’s their family pictures. I think that answer is extremely telling, because although the pictures aren’t the most expensive item in the home, they hold the most value to people and symbolize a special moment in time that you can’t get back.
With Facebook, printed pictures aren’t as crucial as they once were, but it’s like reading a paper book versus. a Kindle. There is something different about having a hard copy photo and being able to frame it in your home. The same can be said about how everything’s different when you work with a photographer who understands how to capture these moments in time that you can look back on forever.
When I embark on a new photography session with a client, my goal isn’t to just capture this one moment of your life and wish you the best. I love to create lasting relationships with my clients and “go through life” together capturing all of life’s biggest moments.
Engagement Portraits
Where many families start their journey in the pursuit of marriage and being together the rest of their lives, an engagement photoshoot is one of my favorite moments to capture. Whether it is in the literal moment of the engagement happening live, or if it is an after the fact photoshoot, it is an honor for me to see the excitement and sparks between these two people madly in love.
With the rest of their lives ahead of them and the dreams and passions the couple’s start to pursue together there is nothing more memorable to capture! Although most couples have been dating for a considerable time before getting engaged, the engagement is truly the beginning of forever together.
Engagement photo shoots are some of the most interesting and playful photoshoots I get to take a part of. I love getting to hear the story behind how the couple met and even sometimes including those special places in the photoshoot. For example, if there is a favorite coffee shop between the couple, or maybe they met at the college they went to, being able to include those special memories and moments in the pictures makes all the difference.
I hope that these photos help capture all of the emotions, feelings, and memories associated with this special moment in time. After the engagement, comes to the wedding and then for some people, the beginning of a family.
Maternity Portraits
Maternity Portraits are another special moment in time, that are always worth capturing. Pregnancy is the beginning of your bond and forever relationship with your child. The importance of maternity photography is to capture the excitement and anticipation of the entrance of a new family member.
From gender reveals to capturing different growth stages through trimesters, these nine months are nothing short of an extremely exciting time, especially if it’s your first child.
Just like newborn photoshoots, there is a lot of growth going on within the womb during pregnancy and for mother’s, a maternity photoshoot is a fun way to capture those stages of change. Different woman respond different to pregnancy and therefor it makes it a very unique experience and truly a one of a kind moment for you and your family.
In the past, I feel like women tried to avoid cameras and documentation due to the fact that they had gained weight, and were no longer confident in their bodies. You can notice a change in the way maternity clothes have shifted as well.
A decade or so, maternity clothing was typically big and baggy, you were almost trying to cover up your belly. In terms of swimwear, pregnant women always opted to wear a one piece swimsuit or a tankini if they even have the nerve to wear a swimsuit, and now woman are choosing to rock bikinis despite how pregnant they are (I love it!). In addition to bikinis, woman are confidently rocking body-con dresses, and really anything that shows off that gorgeous baby bump.
I absolutely love that our culture has decided to take a brand new approach on pregnancy. Pregnancy is now considered a beautiful stage of life, no matter how many extra pounds you have packed on during the process. The reason it’s beautiful is because it’s natural.
The natural aspect is definitely a goal of mine when capturing maternity photography! You don’t want anything too staged or “photoshoot like” however, the goal is to capture you in your natural element. Maternity portraits don’t all have to be just about you as the mother as well. This is another great time to bond with your partner and be excited about this life stage together.
Naturally, after the maternity portraits, I would love to schedule your next newborn photoshoot within two weeks of the delivery date or birth of your child, and this is why.
The natural aspect is definitely a goal of mine when capturing maternity photography! You don’t want anything too staged or “photoshoot like” however, the goal is to capture you in your natural element. Maternity portraits don’t all have to be just about you as the mother as well. This is another great time to bond with your partner and be excited about this life stage together.
Naturally, after the maternity portraits, I would love to schedule your next newborn photoshoot within two weeks of the delivery date or birth of your child, and this is why.
Newborn Portraits
One of the reasons baby photography is so important, is because their bodies are rapidly changing and growing during the first few years of their life. We can all agree on that!
According to the Mayo Clinic, this is how much your baby can grow just in their first year of life:
From birth to age 6 months, a baby might grow 1/2 to 1 inch a month and gain 5 to 7 ounces a week. Expect your baby to double his or her birth weight by about age 5 months.
From ages 6 to 12 months, a baby might grow 3/8 inch a month and gain 3 to 5 ounces a week. Expect your baby to triple his or her birth weight by about age 1 year.
So just in one year, your baby has tripled their weight and grown a few inches (that’s crazy!). This is why getting your newborn portraits (and scheduling them ahead of time) is crucial to capturing these important stages of growth.
I recommend getting your newborn portraits taken within the first two weeks of birth. This ensures that the newborns still curl up in that womb-like position, don’t mind be unclothed, and stay asleep and restful longer to ensure the best photos!
Children Portraits
Newborn and infant photography is for those “cute” moments. You’ll never get those tiny fingers and toes back, and that soft baby skin, but the great thing about children photography, is that it begins to really capture the personality of your child, which makes it so much fun!
When I work with children during photoshoots, I don’t want this to be a dreadful moment for them where I am forcing them to “say cheese” behind a camera because their parents paid me too. I really want this to be a fun experience for the children, where they can be goofy and show their personality through the images.
No matter the age of the child, I think every stage in life is worth capturing. Whether it’s their first day of first grade, or their high school graduation pictures, all moments are big moments and you never want to regret not taking the time to document those achievements or celebratory moments.
Family Portraits
My true passion and heart strings are pulled during baby portrait sessions. It also gets good when the entire family gets their picture taken at the same time and you see different personalities come together.
You may think as an adult or as a teenager, you just kinda look the same! Unless you get a dramatic haircut, or have some weight change, there is no big dramatic image change. Everyone seems to think that about themselves, however looking back at old photos will prove you otherwise (assuming you take pictures).
I think it’s so important to not only get pictures of your newborns, but have pictures to look back as a family in general. And trust me, when that child grows up they’re going to appreciate the fact that they can look back on those infant pictures of them as a child, and they are going to appreciate being able to see what the rest of the family looked like back then as well.
“Did Dad have a beard?”, “Did Mom have bangs?”, “Did my brother Michael lose his front teeth yet?” I know for me, that is one of my favorite parts of looking back at old pictures, just noticing different style changes and appearances. Not only looking at how you looked as a child, but the rest of the family, helps you recap certain memories in your mind and paint a better picture of your childhood.
Final Words
Hopefully this post has helped you get a sense of my photography and the value I hold on creating relationships with my clients. Especially when it comes to family portraits, if the children have worked with me before they tend to be comfortable and confident in front of the camera.
Life is not just about the “big” moments of engagements, and pregnancy and high school graduation, but life is just as much about capturing all of the “small” moments in between. So whether you have something worth celebrating and capturing or you just want to get your family dressed up to take some cute and cozy fall attire shots, then that’s great too!
I try to consistently convince people that you don’t need an excuse to capture life. I think everyone should do it regularly because the only regret that comes is having too little of photos, not too many.
