7 tips for capturing back to school photos this year!

I can’t believe it’s already time for back to school photos! As a mom and photographer, these back to school photos are important to me. I want to document my children’s growth and the stage they’re in each year when that school bus arrives. I am so excited to be sharing my top tips for back to school photos this year - plus it’s a great excuse to share Grayson’s photos from the last two years in preschool and kindergarten. I can’t believe he’ll be starting first grade next week (and I know I’m not the only mama who feels that way!). I hope that these tips help you create special back to school photos that you’ll treasure forever.

#1: Use natural light. 

Head outside and capture a few photos on your front porch or by the front door, or even waiting at the bus stop! If you’re taking your photos inside, choose a clean uncluttered background by a big window with lots of great light coming through. Make sure that any lights within the room are turned off or you’ll have competing sources.  The more natural light, the better! 

#2: Plan ahead. 

Sometimes it can feel chaotic getting ready in the morning on the first day of school after having a slower schedule all summer. You may want to take a few photos in their nice outfit the day before school starts to help hype your child up about school starting the next day, and do a practice run getting ready for the big day. If you plan to use any signs or print outs, get them ready the night before too! 

#3: Use a cute sign (or even a piece of paper!) with the year or grade level. 

If you’re going to be sharing the photos online, consider not including the name of their school or teacher on the sign for privacy reasons, or cover those elements up when you edit the photo before posting. It’s always fun to see how your children’s answers change over the years! 

#4: Capture candid moments, too. 

While everyone loves the traditional photos of your child smiling at the camera, don’t forget the candid ones! My personal favorites of my son on his first day of school are when he is laughing and being silly, and really letting his personality shine.

#5: Make sure you get their teeth in the photo! 

These little ones start losing teeth so quickly, and their smiles change month by month. Document it before it transforms! Plus, asking your kids to smile with their teeth is a fun prompt to get some laughs and real smiles! 

#6: Incorporate school elements to tell the full story. 

Show off their backpack that they picked out, their lunch box, them getting onto the bus. Show them by the sign or entrance to the school, or outside their classroom if you’re dropping them off. Again, if you’re sharing your photos online, consider keeping some private for their safety and including them just in your own personal photo album.

#7: Have fun! 

Your back to school photos shouldn’t be stressful (for you or your kids!). Keep it light and easy for your child, and don’t put any pressure on to get that perfect shot. Let them be kids, and capture them where they’re at! Trust me, you’ll treasure those photos way more in the years to come.

Enjoy this exciting time and good luck to all of the kids who are starting school this year!

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A personal post: Cape Cod portrait session at Corporation Beach with Grayson and Adelaide

I’m so lucky that my parents live in Dennisport year round, and it’s so special to get to visit for a few weeks every summer. The kids love visiting the different beaches, floating in Scargo Lake, crabbing, searching the tide pools at low tide, collecting shells, building sand castles and digging trenches in the sand. As any photographer who is also a mom will tell you, I always find it so hard to take photos of my own kids. But the night we captured these new Cape Cod portraits, they let their personalities shine and just loved on each other and we captured the most adorable sibling portraits. 

Both Grayson and Adelaide were 100% agreeable and excited about taking photos at the beach one evening at sunset, and knowing that they would be rewarded with a cookie afterwards certainly helped with the cooperation. ;o) We finally found a night with good weather at Corporation Beach in Dennis and I’m so happy that we were able to freeze time together.  

I’ve been doing beach portraits of Grayson since he was 1 year old, and it’s bittersweet watching him grow up a little more every summer. He looked at this portrait of him and he said, “That’s not me! That’s a 10-year-old!” because I had told him during our little session that that pose was for really big kids. And it’s true – he looks like he’s ready to grab the keys and go for a drive! It makes my mama heart stop for a beat just seeing how quickly it goes by. It’s one of the reasons that I love capturing these portraits in Cape Cod every summer. My babies won’t stop growing (though I so wish they would!). 

Fun little fact about our session on Corporation Beach – I ended up with a gallery of 34 favorite portraits, and we took them in less than 12 minutes. You don’t need a lot of time to capture great portraits of your kids – just someone who knows all the tricks to get them to hug & smile. ;o) After doing this for the last 10 years, I’ve got plenty of tricks that even work on my own kids! 

My goal was one good one to hang on the gallery wall in our dining room, but with so many that I love like this, I don’t know how I’m going to choose which one to print & frame! I hope you enjoy this little peek into our family’s summer tradition!

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My annual July 4 photos of Grayson and Adelaide

Every year, since the summer of 2018 when Grayson was born, I’ve pulled out this beautiful patriotic backdrop and captured my children’s 4th of July photos. It’s become our annual tradition since 2018, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon! This all began because I had a cake smash that summer for a little boy born on the fourth of July (hi, Oscar!). My son was a few months old at the time, and as a new mom, I was constantly bringing him into the studio for baby portraits. I remember taking photos of him on the handmade backdrop, and then I pulled it out again the next summer, and a tradition began! 

Now I am so lucky to have two little ones to join me in these cute Americana portraits, and I love our little summer tradition. We print them out in our annual photo album every year, and they love looking back through the albums and seeing how they’ve grown. I’m hopeful to get at least a few more years of this!

During these sessions, I love to capture each of my babies and their unique personalities - but as a mama, I also love documenting them together. They’re both so sweet and seeing them love each other in portraits like these is something I know I will treasure forever! 

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Motherhood in the Studio: Insights from a Business Owner Balancing Work and Family

My sweet daughter Adelaide will turn two this summer, and for much of her little life she has been following me into my photography studio while I set up for sessions, clean up after cake smashes, photograph products, package up client orders, and organize our props. Grayson was the same way, always coming into the studio with me at a young age and finding something to play with. I have always recognized what a gift this business is to our family. Beyond providing an option for me to be a small business owner, it’s shown my children what is possible for them, their lives, and their futures is only limited by their imaginations. 

Now that my children are growing up, looking back on each of the times they visited the studio is so meaningful to me. I remember Grayson always loved playing with my ONE letters and playing peek-a-boo in the curtains, and I have so many videos of him on my phone playing in our old studio and collecting all the sample baby photos so he could look at them. Of course, the studio’s snack cart has been a big hit with both of my kiddos, and they have both raided it more times than I can count!

Adelaide isn’t into playing with the ONE letters like her big brother was, but instead, every time she hears me say I’m going to go downstairs to the studio she has to grab one or two of her dolls and bring them down to the studio. She picks out little bed props and blankets, grabs a toy camera, poses her dolls, and says “cheese! cheese!” when pressing the button and pretending to take pictures of the babies. She is absolutely obsessed with babies, both real and pretend, and she loves greeting my clients at the door and peeking into their car seats to see their little ones. She knows the word “client,” and she understands that I take pictures of clients' babies and that I go to their houses to see their babies. It’s just… an incredible experience watching the two of them as an important part of my business. 

I love that my job allows me the flexibility to work from home while raising our children, and that my kids will both grow up seeing their mama build a thriving business. They get to see me follow my passion, be creative, share art with others, and work hard. I think that this might be my favorite part. They’re both going to see that women and mothers can do anything they want. It’s a lesson I hope they both carry forever, especially Adelaide. I want them to both feel empowered, strong, and creative in their own lives. I hope that they will remember these days in the studio while Mommy worked - chasing her dream - knowing that they can do the same, with whatever they choose to do in life. 

Beyond the work I do, both of my little ones truly appreciate the power of printed photographs, and they love seeing our family portraits up around our home. They both spend hours looking through our family photo albums. Grayson actually has a few digital kid cameras, and he can often be heard saying, “Wait! I want to take a picture of this so I remember it!” I just love that. 

The photos in this blog were all completely unprompted and taken in the studio. Adelaide was posing her little dolls while I was cleaning up after a session, and I turned around and saw this adorableness happening behind me. Another day she was in the studio and she wanted to try on all of the pretty dresses in the Baby Wardrobe. After she put the first one on, she insisted: “Cheese! Cheese! Picture!” And she ran over to the couch setup in my studio and sat herself there and smiled. When I went to take a picture with my phone, she yelled “No!”, hopped down, and pointed to my real camera. She asked me to put the monkey on it (a fun little attachment to help kids know where to look), and then she got back onto the couch and waited for me to take her picture. All unprompted. I couldn’t stop smiling.

I hope that my children will grow up knowing that they can do anything, be anything. I hope Adelaide will  be inspired by her mama to appreciate the power of printed memories, and to savor the little details in life. I hope the same for Grayson, and I hope that he’ll always remember those early days together spent growing this business alongside him. I’m forever grateful for these incredible moments with my babies in my little studio! 

Photographer's Child Syndrome: Holiday Bloopers with my own kids!

One of the things that photographers who are also parents hear all the time from others is, “Oh, you must have so many amazing photos of your own kids!”  And while I’m lucky that I have been able to capture a lot of great portraits of my little ones over the past 5.5 years, there are also a lot of…. shall we say… bloopers.  

My little angry elf! ;o)

In the photography world, we have a phrase that is shared often among photographers when talking about taking photos of their own children.  We call it “Photographer’s Child Syndrome.”  Let me explain.

It’s a different ballgame when it’s mom behind the camera.  And when your toddler only wants to be held by mom, that means mom can’t get a picture of the toddler because they will just cry until mom picks them up.  Or when your older child enjoys practicing all sorts of silly smiles and knows all of your tricks already that would get a natural smile or laugh, then you’ll only capture weird expressions on his face.  

I wanted to share this blog post today to show the funny (though sometimes exasperating!) side of being a mom & a photographer.  These are my holiday portraits of Grayson and Adelaide.  And while yes, I do have a lot of great pictures of my little ones, I also have these funny moments to look back on. Grayson tried sooooo hard to be patient with his little sister, and the last photo in the collage below makes me laugh every time where he’s like, “Enough already!” and gets up and runs off!

P.S.  You can bet that the crying Santa picture and the crying sibling one made it on our holiday cards this year!

P.P.S.  My sweet girl was literally THE ONLY CHILD ALL DAY to cry at our Santa sessions in the studio.  All because she wanted to be held by me, the photographer.  Not a single other baby or toddler cried.  So, I guess we’re just lucky like that that it was our own little girl!

These next few I actually love, and they made it onto our holiday card this year!

The day Santa came to the studio was a whole fiasco in itself. My kids had their turn with Santa in between our other clients, and after a whole morning of happy little ones (though occasionally nervous, but never fussy!), this was what we got. The chaos of the sibling portion I can only laugh at. But the PURE MAGIC that unfolded between my son and Santa Claus made every single part of the planning and executing of these sessions worth it, times 1000.

Waiting for Santa…

Adelaide spotted him sneaking over, but Grayson still had no idea.

Such a funny moment. Both completely unaware that Santa was standing right behind them.

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When Grayson received his letter from Santa a few days before he came to the studio, the first thing Grayson told me was that we needed to bake cookies for him so that we could give him some cookies when he came to visit. My little baker LOVES helping in the kitchen, and he was thrilled to bake chocolate chip cookies for his favorite jolly fellow.

Adelaide kept her distance the rest of the time we were with Santa. She was mildly curious about painting the nutcrackers with the “magic paint,” but even that couldn’t convince her to step back onto the backdrop where Santa was sitting with her big brother. Grayson, on the other hand, had the time of his life and wore the biggest smile through every second of it!

We did take exactly one photo of Adelaide with Santa at the very end, and it lasted maybe 2 seconds.

Would you believe that ever since Santa visited us, Adelaide shouts “Studio! Studio! Ho ho ho!” every single day, running excitedly over to the studio door and asking to go downstairs to see Santa. Yep, I can’t believe it either! She’s been doing this for about 5 or 6 weeks now, and I don’t see her stopping any time soon.

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I know this blog post is different from our regular posts, and I hope you enjoyed the humor in this little series of outtakes from my sessions with my own children. Click on the heart button or leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

Our Annual 4th of July Flag Portraits | Saratoga Springs Child Photographer

I first began doing this annual portrait series in 2018 when my son was just a few months old. Every summer since, we have pulled out this American flag-inspired backdrop for some simple summertime portraits with that red-white-and-blue Americana feel.

Last summer little Adelaide was barely two weeks old when we did her portraits, and now this summer she is full of so much personality! I love that we have continued this little tradition, and it is so much fun to see how Grayson and Adelaide have grown.

This cute gingham dress that she is wearing is actually THE EXACT SAME DRESS (and size!) that she wore last July in these photos. She was swimming in it last summer with her tiny newborn frame, and it fits more like a top now, but I was so glad to be able to pull it on over her head for a couple more portraits.

I love that we captured Adelaide standing like this. She is right on the verge of taking her first steps, and we know it’ll happen any day now!

And Grayson’s sweet personality! Looking back through the past six summers of July 4th portraits is melting this mama’s heart at just how quickly they change.

Five years of memories - looking back at some of my favorite portraits from Grayson’s first five years

When you become a parent, time moves at warp speed and the years really do seem to fly by. I don’t know how in the world it happened, but our little baby Grayson is now FIVE years old. It doesn’t feel all that long ago that he was this tiny 5 pound, 15 ounce baby curled up in our arms. Now when he sits on my lap, his head is level with mine and he wraps his arms around me in the tightest “knock you over hug” that he can muster.

Five feels like such a huge milestone. As he says, “it’s a whole hand!” This year he will start kindergarten. He’ll ride the school bus next fall (he’s been waiting years for this moment!). He’ll take the training wheels off his bike. He’ll learn to tie his shoes. We’re reading his first chapter book together, and he loves cuddling up on the couch and listening to the story. He marches into preschool without looking back, his bright yellow backpack bobbing along the sidewalk as he walks in with his friends. He’s turning into this smart, funny, independent little guy. It’s so cool to see, but it’s also bittersweet knowing that we blinked and he went from this little baby to this cool and confident kid.

As any photographer would, I’m going back through my archives of family photos and sharing all of my favorites from Grayson’s first five years. Enjoy a peek into this wild ride of ours!

Fresh 48 photo on the left (above) by Lauren Kirkham Photography. I’ll always treasure the portraits from our hospital session with Lauren from when Grayson was only one day new!

This peek-a-boo photo above is my absolute FAVORITE portrait from Grayson’s infancy. I’ve had it hanging in our dining room for years, and I don’t see myself taking it down any time soon!

Summertime family portraits on the beach with Sarah Zollo Portraits. It was such a windy evening, but I love the movement that it lent to our images. Grayson was still a few weeks away from walking when we did this session, and we got the cutest images of him standing up and falling onto his bottom on the beach in this session!

More mommy & baby portraits from Sarah Zollo, right after Grayson turned one!

Our first birthday cake smash with Grayson & his birthday buddies! We got the Birthday Crew together again to recreate this session for their fifth birthday. Scroll to the end to see how they’ve grown!

Continuing with our gingerbread tradition, we did gingerbread house portraits each Christmas, and now we make our gingerbread houses together every year! It’s one of Grayson’s favorite holiday traditions. In 2022, we went a little crazy and made FOUR different gingerbread houses for the holidays.

Lots of silly stay-at-home moments during 2020!

Look at his wild & crazy hair! He’s on the front porch of our new house in 2020! Grayson started calling it “the pretty house” before we moved in, and he still calls it that! We are so grateful that we found this house and this incredible neighborhood, and we’ll never stop appreciating how wonderful this move was for our family.

Halloween costumes! Choo choo train (2020), unicorn (2021), astronaut (2022).

He took these photos with me in the studio on my birthday in 2021. I love his cute snuggles and that adorable smile! (Also, that was some crazy long pandemic hair!)

My beach-loving boy loves our summer trips to the Cape! Last year he lingered behind me when we were leaving the beach, and I turned around to see where he went only to find him laying down in the sand making “sand angels” (like snow angels). He can’t get enough of the beach, truly!

I love the many sides of him! Grayson was obsessed with learning about outer space for about a year, and because of that we all learned more than we had ever known about the planets and different parts of our galaxy. He loves everything pink, and will randomly put on his pink butterfly wings and head to the store or the playground while wearing them. He knows every type of truck imaginable, has spent thousands of hours playing with his train tracks, and is really into Hot Wheels at the moment. He has an engineer’s brain and loves to build complex train track layouts with multiple levels, and now intricate marble runs, too. He’s always been into music ever since he was a few weeks old and would calm down immediately with the first notes of Justin Timberlake’s song, “Say Something,” and now he is starting to play little bits of songs by ear on Adelaide’s toy piano. He is incredible.

First time riding a big kid bike on his fourth birthday!

He really has turned into the best big brother. Adelaide is obsessed with Grayson, and everything he does puts a smile on her face.

We traveled to Connecticut for newborn portraits with Saren Cassotto Photography, and she captured the sweetest sibling portraits of our two babies. We had so many good ones to choose from, and I have a bunch of favorite sibling portraits in different spots all around the house, and in Adelaide’s newborn album. This kid really brought the smiles that day!

I hope the next five years don’t go nearly as fast as these five did, but I know that they will. For now, I’ll try and slow down to savor it all, and celebrate this little boy!

Happy FIFTH birthday, Grayson!

Adelaide's Nursery

It’s a funny thing, welcoming a second baby into your family. With the first, you’re only going from a couple to a family, and while that is a huge change in itself, it’s a wildly different change when you’re going from a parent of one to a parent of two. Our daughter is now 8 months old, and the thing that I have said again and again to my clients who are in the same stage as we are with their second (or third!) babies is: “When you add a baby, 1 plus 1 isn’t equal to 2 anymore. It’s more like 1 plus 1 equals 7!”

Case in point? Our sweet girl’s nursery. With our first baby Grayson, I had everything in his nursery ready before we ever went to the hospital. My husband still jokes about how I made him hang up with wooden G on the wall as one of the top priorities in the days before our surprise induction. I remember taking, editing, and sharing photos of his nursery before heading to the hospital, and everything was perfectly in place waiting for our little boy to come home.

But with Baby #2, Adelaide was 5 months old before I finished hanging wall art in her bedroom, and 8 months old before I finally took photos of her nursery. Time moves at warp speed once the second baby enters the family, and priorities shift. But it was still important to me to document her nursery so that we could put it into our yearly photo album, and even though I’m taking these photos in 2023, they’ll go into our 2022 album because that is when we welcomed our girl home.

Some of my favorite things about Adelaide’s nursery are:
• the sibling portrait from our newborn session with Saren Cassotto Photography
• the gorgeous wool rug that I pined after when I saw it online last year, and then happened to find for 80% off at Homegoods on my birthday last year (which was also 2/22/22, when I was 22 weeks pregnant!)
• the needlepoint that my mom made when we were kids and that hung in our hallway growing up for years
• the crib & rocker that both of our babies have used
• the stuffed animal basket that looks like a rainbow for our rainbow baby
• the natural light that comes streaming through the windows in the morning, illuminating the bedroom in soft, white light

You know another one of the great things about taking these (much delayed) photos of the nursery? This room has a history now. It’s not just waiting in anticipation. We’ve rocked and changed our baby here, paced the squeaky floors, sung her to sleep, rolled across the rug and watched Grayson proudly hold her in the rocking chair. We’ve read books, put on lotion after bath, and FaceTimed Grandma after nap. I’ve added to the space slowly over the past year, and it now has personal touches like Adelaide’s birth announcement in a frame, her footprints on a duckling sketch, stuffed animals that have become her favorite ones of the bunch, and her photos in the frames. This room holds so much LIFE now, and I’m so happy to have documented it for us to always look back on.

Personal Post: Christmas Portraits of My Two Little Loves!

This year the holiday season feels extra special because we have a baby in the house again! Every year since my son was born has been more and more magical and I truly love watching the holiday season unfold through his eyes, and now we get to do all of those fun holiday traditions with Grayson AND his baby sister, Adelaide.

I was a little late in getting my own children’s holiday photos done (what’s that they say about the cobbler’s children having no shoes? Yeah, same thing for the photographer’s children!) but we finally made it happen and they were so smiley and cheerful. I may have forgotten to plan shoes for my son, and we might have improvised with a super simple wreath for the backdrop, but everything about these portraits leans into my minimalist style of photography and I love the moments we captured of these two for their very first Christmas together.

As I have always believed, this proves that you don’t need much for a great portrait besides beautiful light and connection between the subjects, and not too many props or colors to clutter the background and distract from the people you care about in the photo!

These are some of my favorite sibling portraits of my two little loves this year, and I’m excited to share them on our holiday cards, as prints for the grandparents, and with you on the blog!

We also did a VERY FUN photo series with headshots and holiday ornaments for each child. I absolutely loved this setup, and it was so much fun to create and pull off. Grayson really enjoyed setting it up with me (I love how excited he gets about the photography studio!) and he was eager to see how his portraits turned out. Isn’t this so cute?!

And then Adelaide’s had gold, rose gold, and sparkly pink ornaments. These looked so beautiful with her creamy skin and bright blue eyes, and I loved using a dress and headband from the studio wardrobe!

We’re off to continue celebrating the holiday season and filling each day with a little bit of holiday magic. Thank you for following along on our journey this year and for supporting this small business, and I hope that your family enjoys this beautiful holiday season!

From my family to yours, happy holidays!

Our favorite holiday tradition: our felt stocking Christmas calendar

Today, I want to share something our family does every year during the holidays: a felt stocking Christmas calendar. This was all inspired by a photo a few years ago in Real Simple magazine, created by A Beautiful Mess. Now it’s one of our favorite traditions! 

I made our felt stocking calendar in 2020.  That was the year that everything shut down and we all readjusted our priorities and dug deep into new & old hobbies.  I sewed each stocking and embroidered little details onto them to make each one unique.  I felt like I was tapping into my childhood years of sewing projects for this one, and I spent many November nights at the dining room table working on these little stockings so that we would have them ready in time for December that year.  Making these was very fulfilling and I loved knowing that this was going to become a core childhood memory and a magical holiday tradition for our family.

Starting on December 1, each stocking holds a little treat, trinket, or note with an activity on it.  We do one stocking each day from December 1 through December 24.  I don’t fill them all up at once because I have a four year old who would peek ahead and spoil the surprise, but I do keep a list of what I want to put in them so that I know and can do it quickly without too much effort.  Most of what we do are little holiday activities that do not take much prep or time, and every now and then I will include a treat or a toy.  Tossing in a chocolate or two is a super easy one if I do not have time for an activity that day!  If the items do not fit inside the stockings, I use a clothespin to pin them to the back side of the stocking.

I do this instead of Elf on the Shelf because I wanted to start a tradition that was extra special to our family, and one that would let me make lots of fun holiday memories with our little ones.  Also because the idea of moving an elf into different spots and creating scenes for him every single night for 10-15 years is completely overwhelming to me, but sprinkling fun and traditional holiday activities and joy throughout the month of December is much more fulfilling to me.

Because of this, my four-year old LOVES “Christmastime” and he understands that there is a difference between Christmas Day and Christmastime.  He spends all year looking back through our photo albums and flipping through the pages filled with activities from previous Decembers, and as winter approaches he asks me what I think we’ll find in the stockings this year.  He knows that “Mama does the little stockings but Santa does the big stockings”, and I love that I am able to pass my love of the holiday season on to him – and eventually on to our daughter when she is old enough to understand, too!

‌Here are some of my favorite items and activities that we’ve included in stockings for our countdown to Christmas.

‌Trinkets/Treats:

●      Wooden Christmas cars

●      New hat & mittens

●      Silly holiday glasses from the dollar store

●      Candy cane

●      Hershey kisses

●      Andes mints

●      Tiny snow globe

●      Decorated holiday cookie

Activities:

●      Visit the Christmas tree farm

●      Go watch the holiday trains at Sunnyside Gardens

●      Go to the Victoria Streetwalk

●      Bake Christmas cookies

●      Bring Christmas cookies to a neighbor/friend

●      Make a gingerbread house

●      Go see Christmas lights

●      Have a picnic in front of the Christmas tree

●      Drink hot cocoa in front of the fireplace

●      Hang twinkle lights in their bedroom

●      Make Christmas pancakes

●      Wrap presents

●      Pick out a gift for someone special

●      Visit the library to pick out holiday books

●      Do a Christmas craft/painting

●      Mail holiday cards

●      Have a holiday music dance party

●      Walk through the Christmas aisles at Target

●      Write/Mail a letter to Santa

●      Visit with Santa

●      Paint a holiday project at the ceramics shop in town

●      FaceTime a friend and sing Christmas carols together

●      Make a Christmas ornament and hang it on the tree

●      Watch a Christmas movie together‌

I hope that no matter what your traditions are that you have a beautiful holiday season with your loved ones!! 

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Nicole's Maternity Leave

Can you believe it's June already?!?!

Our sweet little baby girl is almost here, and Jeff, Grayson, and I are so excited to meet our newest family member that we’ve been dreaming about and planning for during these past nearly-40 weeks!  The nursery is just about ready, our hospital bags are packed, and we are counting down the days and just waiting to welcome our new baby into the world in the next few weeks.

Of course, I’ve been busy behind the scenes to start preparing for maternity leave!  For a business owner, taking a break is a pretty big deal.  Luckily I learned a lot before & during my 2018 maternity leave when Grayson was born, and getting ready for time away from the business for baby #2 is a whole lot easier.

So, let’s get into the details!

When is it happening?  

It’s been a busy spring as I’ve been fitting everything in before the baby arrives. I have finished my last sessions, and I’m currently wrapping up client appointments and orders now so that everything is all set before our baby arrives. With Grayson, I was induced 3 weeks early and it was quite a surprise as first-time parents, so this time I’m making sure to leave even more time as a buffer before our little one’s due date just in case an early delivery happens again.

I will be on maternity leave for June, July, and August. My email auto-responder will be on for the whole summer as we spend time bonding as a family of four.

How do I reach you?

Email is best!  I imagine that the first few weeks I won’t be logging in much, but eventually I will be checking in every couple of days to stay on top of my inbox and get back to any urgent messages and new inquiries for fall portrait sessions.  

When you send me an email, you’ll receive an auto reply with more information about timelines and maternity leave, and I want you to know that I truly appreciate your patience as we spend time putting our family first. I will definitely get back to your message to help you plan your session, just know that it will take a little longer than usual while I’m juggling a baby and a preschooler at home.
 

When are you taking sessions again?

The fall calendar is filling up!  I am currently booking sessions for September 2022 through next winter. If you’re hoping for outdoor family portraits this fall, be sure to reach out early to get that on the calendar because dates are extremely limited. I also have studio availability this fall, so plan ahead for your cake smash, newborn portraits, maternity, or milestone session.

Wait a minute… why do I see new posts on social media? 

There are so many amazing tools out there for business owners to plan ahead and automate their businesses, so although I might be rocking our baby to sleep, my blog & social media accounts will still be churning out new content! 

With the help of my incredible virtual assistant, I’ve been prepping plenty of sessions, new blog posts, educational posts, and so much more to stay fresh online even while I’m on maternity leave. 

The best part?  I imagine I’ll be taking LOTS of photos of our two little ones, and I can’t wait to start sharing those with you, too!  Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on all of the baby cuteness!

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So, that's the plan!  I can't wait to get back into our sessions this fall and to celebrate all of your babies' milestones with your family.  I am so excited for September already -- we have a bunch of birthday babies on the calendar for their cake smashes, and it's going to be such a fun month with all of those birthday sessions to look forward to!

Plus, it’ll be November before we know it, and that means holiday portraits are right around the corner! Be on the lookout for our holiday event announcement coming this summer!

My Top 3 Baby Items on Amazon

To celebrate Amazon Prime Day, I’m excited to share my AMAZON LIST OF OUR FAVORITE ITEMS FOR BABY’S FIRST YEAR.

It doesn’t feel like it was that long ago that our sweet little guy was a tiny baby keeping us up all night, and I remember countless nights spent scrolling posts in mom groups and jumping on Amazon for one thing after another. From sleep to feeding to books to play time, we tried sooooooo many things that year and the Amazon truck was a regular visitor in our driveway. ;o)

I’ve compiled a bunch of our favorite baby items on this list on Amazon. And check out my other Amazon lists for more favorites (like for the toddler years, baby gifts, photo gear, and what to wear to your next portrait session!)

** All links are affiliate links and I do receive a small portion of sales made by clicking on the links. However, all of these are products we have used and loved and I would not recommend a product if it wasn’t one that we bought and used ourselves! **

1. Ergo 360 Baby Carrier

This baby carrier got the most use that first year! It’s lightweight and easy to roll up and pack, and it makes doing things hands-free a breeze. Plus it grows with your baby and can be worn many different ways for both you and the baby.

When going to the grocery store and walking around town or to the beach, the mesh lining helped keep both me and the baby cool. I also used this a ton around the house because my little guy just loved being held, and it was so easy to pop him into this carrier while I was cooking, doing laundry, working while standing at my computer, and cleaning up the house. He also rode in this carrier many times to stay calm while I was trying to eat dinner, and I mayyyyyy have draped a napkin over his head a few times to avoid any crumbs spilling on him, haha.

Another perk? This carrier makes it easy to nurse while on the go, and there’s a newborn insert (like a little pillow) you can add when the baby is still really small to boost them up higher in the carrier.

2. The Skip Hop Baby Activity Center

We loved this table, and we still use it three years later! I debated buying this for awhile, but after seeing it recommended again and again by friends, I knew it would be worth the investment. The seat spins to reach the different toys positioned around the table, and they are all easy to remove so that you can clean in the crevices (essential when your baby is a spitter-upper!). The whole thing comes apart very easily to clean.

This table also grows with your baby, so you can remove the base and let your taller baby stand in the middle. The leg height is adjustable, and later you can pop the base into the middle like a cover and it becomes a toddler table! Perfect for snacks and mealtime!

3. Sandra Boynton board books.

You’re going to amass quite the collection of baby books, and the books by Sandra Boynton are some of our favorites!

The Going to Bed Book is one that we have read hundreds of times, and both my husband and I now have it completely memorized. And so does our toddler!

These books are sturdy and easy to wipe clean. They are colorful and the pictures are engaging, and the rhymes have a nice cadence that will make you reach for them again and again. I know that I will keep this book long after my son has grown to flip through when I’m missing those baby and toddler years, and it’s one that I’ll want to share with his kids one day when he is grown.

Love these recommendations? These are just a few of MANY!
Check out the full list here on Amazon!

A Peek at Our Family's Annual Photo Albums

Our annual family photo albums are definitely top on the list of “things I would save in a fire.”

Grayson pulls them off the shelf multiple times a week to flip through the pages, talk about the photos, and relive the memories and adventures we had. He loves sitting on my lap and reading them, and cozying up with Grandma or Dada to look through the pages.

I finally started creating annual photo albums last year during quarantine. I had printed a few albums of Grayson’s first year, but nothing that held all of our cell phone photos and images captured on my nice camera from our daily lives. When the world slowed down last spring, it was the perfect time to me to get caught up, organize my photos, design a few albums, and get them printed.

I am so proud of these albums, and I love seeing how much joy they bring to our lives. I made 2018 and 2019’s albums last year, and it motivated me to continue capturing photographs throughout 2020 (even when we were just staying home and not doing anything that exciting!). By documenting our everyday lives and the little things that make up the year, I love how it all comes together to tell the story of our family and our year. So 2020’s album, while it may not be filled with trips and friends and visits with family, is still chock-full of memories, so many silver linings, lots of laughs, and plenty of love.

I was hugely inspired by Kate L. Photography’s blog post about her annual yearbooks, and I decided to use the same printer (Blurb Books) and album size that she uses. I loved her colorful covers so much that I wanted those bringing cheer to our bookshelves, too, and I am so glad I did! The covers are one of my favorite parts of these albums! A huge thank you to Kate for the inspiration that I needed to finally tackle this project!

I can’t even begin to count how many dozens of times I have walked down the stairs to find Grayson sitting on the couch, carefully turning the pages of an album and talking about the pictures. It melts my heart!

Overwhelmed with how to begin organizing your own photos? Another helpful blog post is coming later this week filled with tips to get you started!

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Save it for later!

10 Things You Didn't Know About Me | Saratoga Springs Baby Photographer

Today’s my birthday!  I don’t even know how another year has passed, but 2020 was such a time warp, wasn’t it?!  I’m grateful for another trip around the sun, and this year more than ever I am grateful for my health.  I’ll be celebrating with my little family today, and I’m already looking forward to a toddler rendition of “Happy Birthday”, some FaceTime calls with friends & family, and of course, birthday cake!

 To celebrate I’m sharing a special little blog post with a peek into my life.  Here is a list of 10 things you probably didn’t know about me!

1. My favorite job as a teenager was at an ice cream shop on Cape Cod!

2. I have an identical twin sister. Yes, we look alike. Yes, people confuse us all the time. No, we never switched places growing up. ;o)

3. My perfect vacation is in a tiny little beach house just a stone’s throw away from the shoreline.

4. My first DSLR camera was a Nikon D3200 with a kit lens (the one it comes with when you buy it on sale on Black Friday). I’ve obviously upgraded multiple times over the years, and my latest upgrade is the new mirrorless Nikon Zii!

5. I speak Spanish fluently. In fact, I have my master’s degree in Spanish literature and I used to teach first grade at a bilingual elementary school where the curriculum was taught entirely in Spanish.

6. When I was a teacher, I spent almost every summer traveling in Europe. It was HOT, but those summers were so much fun!

7. Visiting the Christmas markets in Scandinavia has been on my travel bucket list for years. I’ll get there one day!

8. Technically, I met my husband through Craigslist. But actually, I met his sister through Craigslist when I was looking for a roommate in Boston 12 years ago, and after she and I lived together for 3 years I started dating her brother!

9. I’ve never broken a bone.

10. I met my best friend while studying abroad in Argentina in college. Today is her birthday, too! That’s why we call each other “Gemela,” which is Spanish for “twin.”

Tell me something about YOU! Do we have anything in common?

A Note from the Heart: Being a Mom and a Business Owner

I’ve been a business owner for more than 8 years, but I’ve been juggling the role of business owner and mom for less than three years. And you know what? It’s really hard! For example, as I was writing this blog post I got pulled away no less than 3 times to try and settle Grayson down for his nap! The days of having 8 uninterrupted hours to get things done are long gone. Some days are far from perfect, and there’s always that guilt of “Am I doing enough?”

Enough as a mom.
Enough as a business owner.
Enough for my clients.
Enough education and growth.
Enough for my website.
Enough posts on social media.
Enough creativity.
Enough time for myself.
Enough of everythinggggggg.

And most days it feels like some areas take priority over others, but I’ve learned to accept that that is okay. I’ve learned to accept that I just want to do enough as a mom first, and then the rest will always be there.

Because THIS is what matters:

So I carve out pockets of time to work on my business and to serve my clients. I take my son into the studio when I’m setting up for sessions, testing out new lighting, or organizing props. He comes with me when I do client deliveries, and he helps put every package in the mailbox when we’re mailing something out. He even joins in for the occasional cake smash if the baby needs a friendly little face to help them feel comfortable!

Grayson watches everything I do. He welcomes every client that comes in the door of our home studio, and he befriends the little ones close to his age. He chooses which of his toys we can put in the studio’s play corner, and he has all of his favorite spots to visit and things to play with when he goes downstairs (the snack cart ranks as #1 for him!).

I’ve watched him take the little lovies and snuggle them up under my posing blankets and in the little beds and cradle props. I’ve watched him pick up his wooden toy camera and exclaim “Say cheese!” more times than I can count. I’ve watched him turn every rectangular thing he can find into a camera, looking through the “lens” and pretending to take pictures. He has a little keyboard that he pulls up next to me when I’m working on my laptop so that he can “work,” too. It’s so cute!

I love that he’s imitating everything I do. I love that he gets to grow up watching me go to work, watching me AT work, and understanding what it is I do.

He knows I take pictures of babies, and he knows that we turn them into prints and albums. He loves the photos hanging on our walls, and as any client of mine has heard me tell them, he is obsessed with our family’s photo albums.

It is so powerful for him to be able to see his mom as a business owner. To learn that women can run businesses AND be a mom. To understand that sometimes I have to go to work and that I will be with other babies and children, and doing something to make that family happy. Don’t get me wrong. I love staying home with my son and being a mom, and it’s a role I’ve dreamed of for more than thirty years! It’s wildly satisfying, but I also love going to work and growing this business, creating art and heirlooms that make others happy. It’s a balance, and I’m finally getting the hang of it!

For now, I’m soaking up moments like these ones when I’m setting up the studio for a newborn session and I turn around to find my son posing the little teddy bears in a bowl with a blanket and telling them to “Say cheese!” My mama-business-owner heart is so full!!

Grayson's Summer on Cape Cod

Another summer come & gone. How is that even possible?!?! We only get 18 childhood summers with our kids, and the years are just going by so fast.

This was Grayson’s third summer on Cape Cod. My parents live in Dennisport and we love spending a few weeks with them in June, July, and August. We’re so lucky to get to enjoy so much time in the sunshine & salt air, and it was just what we needed after months at home! Every September is so bittersweet to see another beachy summer come to an end, even more so this year.

This year was especially fun because Grayson was so excited to go to “the beach house”, as he calls it. He lovesssssss the beach, so every time we started talking about going to the Cape he would throw all of his favorite things in a bag and tell me he was ready to go right now — even if it was days before we were actually going to make the trip! We visited our favorite beaches at least twice every day and he was obsessed with chasing the seagulls and plovers, throwing seashells into the waves, and filling up his dump truck with sand. At the end of each visit he never wanted to leave, and I have the feeling he’s really going to miss these laid back beach days!

I brought Grayson to one of my favorite little spots in downtown Dennisport where there is a giant DENNISPORT mural painted across an entire building. I have a photo from his first summer on the Cape when he was 3 months old all snuggled up in my arms in front of this same mural. Now this summer he was so happy and fun and he loved exploring this little pocket garden and checking out all of the details in the paintings! I can’t wait to add these to our annual family photo album!

We also managed to sneak in some sunset portraits at the beach on our very last night on the Cape. You know how the cobbler’s kid never has any shoes? Well, the beach photographer’s kid never has any beach photos! All of my nights were booked with family sessions and rain dates were filled up, so we snuck his photos in after I finished my very last session of the summer at one of my favorite spots in Harwich.

I promised Grayson we’d bring this sailboat prop that I have used with other families for years. I was so happy to use this with my own little boy, and I never want to forget his windblown blonde hair and those sturdy toddler legs running through the sand!

Plus a few cell phone photos of our summer fun! Seriously, this kid LOVES the beach! In July he insisted on walking to the beach with a pool noodle under each arm every. single. time.

Such an awesome summer!

Baby Starr | Grayson's First Month

Sweet little Grayson is one month old!

How did that happen so quickly?!?!  If you missed his newborn portraits, check them out here.  And you can enjoy a peek into his nursery here on the blog, too!

This adorable little guy has truly brought so much joy to our lives over the past month, and I can't even begin to imagine how amazing the next year (and all of those after that!) are going to be.  Jeff and I keep saying over and over again how lucky we are to have such a perfect, happy, healthy, and mellow little baby. 

He  truly has a very chill personality, and we adore his alert time because it really showcases his relaxed mood.  It happens 2-3 times a day right now, and he spends it looking around, taking everything in with those great big eyes of his.  He's very quiet when he's studying everything around him, and he lights up with the sweetest smiles and these really cute "o" faces when he purses his lips.  

Of course, like all babies, Grayson can get a little fussy at times.  We've discovered that he calms right down with music, and we're always saying, "Alexa, play Top Pop radio."  (Which, by the way, we bought an Alexa right before he was born and it's been so amazing to have something hands-free when our hands are filled with a baby!)  Ten seconds in to a song with a good beat, he is as happy as can be!  I'm attributing that to the countless hours I spent in the car with the radio on driving back and forth between Boston & Saratoga during the pregnancy -- we have a music lover on our hands!

These photos below were taken at 10 days old, and Grayson looked so tiny in his "coming home outfit" on our bed.  It's hard to believe that just a few weeks later, he's now outgrown that adorable sweater and I'll be packing it up in a box along with his hospital bracelet and footprints!  

This month was filled with firsts for Grayson! 

His first photoshoot was a Fresh 48 session in the hospital with Lauren Kirkham Photography.  He rocked it, and we've already shown his album off to all of our family members and found a special place for it on the shelf with our other albums.  I can't stop looking at it though!

With the weather warming up, he enjoyed his first visit to an ice cream shop.  We took him to Martha's Dandee Creme in Queensbury, our favorite! 

He finally discovered that he LOVES bathtime.  We put on some lullabies and he just zones out while laying in the water.

His first trip to Target was for more diapers.  Of course. 

He slept through his first walk through Spa State Park with a new baby friend. 

To celebrate Daddy going back to work at the end of the month, G-man slept 6 hours at night for the very first time!  We're hoping that continues and becomes a nightly tradition... eventually!

And he spent lots of time with the grandparents, and his aunt and little cousin who also came over to visit! 
 

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Because our phones are now filled with baby photos, and because the very best camera you can have is whichever one is in your hand right this moment, here are a few favorite cell phone shots from Grayson's first month!  We're pretty much obsessed with his smiles, his cuddles, and all of his funny little expressions that melt our hearts when he's awake!

Baby Starr's Nursery

After months of planning, painting, and decorating, Baby Starr's nursery is finally finished!  It's a calm and serene space with blues and grays, and a hint of a "twinkle twinkle little star" theme -- because honestly, with our last name that was just a given!

This is officially my new favorite room in the house, and it was definitely a labor of love pulling it all together in the months leading up to Grayson's arrival.  The morning that we were sent to the hospital to be induced (which was a surprise 3 weeks early!), I spent an hour photographing the nursery and editing the images.  It was the calmest part of a very chaotic week, and I loved it!  For some reason, that little bit of nesting was something that ***just had to be done*** and hanging up the wooden G on the wall even made it onto Jeff's to-do list in those final hours before heading off to the hospital.

Most of the items in the nursery were either handmade (the curtains), refinished vintage (the bureau was originally green!), scored during a Black Friday sale (the crib and glider chair), found during date night trips to HomeGoods (the rug, baskets, and footstool), or some of my Ikea favorites that have found their way into many rooms of our home for the past 5 years (those shelves!).

Plus there are a handful of personal touches like a watercolor painting of a photograph from a beach during the vacation where we got engaged, a Buffalo Bills hat to match daddy's for this future fan, a stuffed animal we picked out during our babymoon, and one of his first ultrasound pictures to remind us how tiny he started out!   A gallery wall will be coming soon with some of Grayson's newborn and baby photos, too!

When a Photographer Forgets to Print Her Own Photos.... Or, happy second anniversary!

I debated for awhile on the title of this post.  I wasn't sure if I should make it more about celebrating our second wedding anniversary, or keep it photography-related and tell you how it took me almost TWO YEARS to design & print our wedding album.

So I chose to do both.

You see, I'm just like you and every other person who has countless files of digital images from their own lives.  Tiny JPEGs sitting in a folder on their hard drive, rarely seen and never enjoyed.  And just like you, I had no time to print them.  

But wait, you're a photographer!  Your job is to print photos!

That's true.  I spend my weeks designing albums for other families, ordering boxes & boxes of prints from my photo lab, wrapping up custom birth announcements, and receiving more photo shipments in the mail than I can possibly count.  The UPS guy knows me by name, and I recognize the sound of the delivery truck pulling into my driveway like a dog recognizes their owner's car coming down the street.  

Yet it took me more than a year and a half to finally sit down and design our wedding album after our perfect wedding day in 2015.  Why?  Time.  Indecision.  Distractions.  Procrastination.  Not wanting to begin the task of narrowing down the hundreds and hundreds of photos in our gallery to choose a few favorites to feature in our album.  You know, all the same reasons it takes you forever to print your own photos, right?  

But I finally did it.  And now we have a leather-bound keepsake of our beautiful day surrounded by our closest family & friends on a brick patio with twinkly lights and rustling leaves overhead.  It is so perfect, and as Jeff & I celebrate our second wedding anniversary today, you can bet we'll be flipping through the pages of our wedding album to relive the day we said "I do."  

A huge thank you to Hope Taylor Photography for capturing our day so beautifully.  P.S.  I know you didn't offer albums to your clients two years ago, but I'm so happy that you do now because this is definitely a task that all newlyweds should leave to their photographer so that they can enjoy their heirloom albums right away!  

Print your photos, friends!  #printsnotpixels

We're Moving!

You already know how much I love stories… hearing stories, celebrating stories, capturing stories in photograph form.  Well, let me tell you a story…

My husband, Jeff, lived in Saratoga Springs, NY when we first started dating.  I lived in Boston, and we spent a full year crossing state lines and putting thousands of miles on each of our cars while driving back and forth on the weekends.  We spent countless hours walking the streets of Saratoga Springs and enjoying their small-town festivals and incredible restaurants.  It’s the town where we fell in love, but it’s also the town that stole our hearts.  We were completely head-over-heels in love with Saratoga Springs.

When we were looking for a place to get married last spring, we knew that we wanted to bring our family & friends to Saratoga to share this amazing little piece of heaven with them.  We decided to get married on the little garden patio at one of our favorite restaurants where we had been on a million dates.  With green leaves rustling overhead and twinkling lights filling the treetops, it was the perfect spot for our intimate celebration.  We said our vows underneath an old oak tree on the patio, and month later we returned on a warm summer night for a casual date night.  How cool that, for the rest of our lives, we can return to the exact spot where we said “I do” for a date!  (Wedding photos by Hope Taylor Photography)

We’ve been casually house-hunting for almost two years, and we were always trying to find a town “just like Saratoga” here in Massachusetts.  There are so many amazing and quaint little New England towns, but nothing was calling out to us as home.  Finally, as we were wandering through an adorable neighborhood in Saratoga last fall, it hit us that this town would be home to the next part of our story together.

I am excited to finally announce that Jeff and I are buying our first home in Saratoga Springs.  We are thrilled to begin this next adventure, and we can’t wait to see what stories will unfold in the walls of our new home.

My clients are, always have been, and always will be my top priority when it comes to running my photography business.  I am so lucky to work with such amazing, loyal, sincere, and fun-loving families, and it is because of people like you that I adore my job.  

You’ve invited me into your lives to cuddle your new babies and play games with your older children to get a bright smile out of them.  You’ve welcomed me into your homes to share laughter and memories as you fell in love with the images from our sessions together.  You’ve shared the most heartfelt thank you’s that truly mean the world to me.  

It is because of amazing families like yours that I will continue to work with families in Massachusetts and throughout New England even after we move to New York.  Nicole Starr Photography will officially start offering bilocational services.

NEWBORNS: Starting in May, our Boston-area newborn clients will have the option of either a Fresh 48 hospital session or an in-home lifestyle session as we close our studio to get ready for the move. 

BABIES: We will continue to offer Petite Milestone sessions to document your baby’s first year.  These will be in your home or on location outdoors, either lifestyle with your home as the backdrop, or with a simple studio backdrop and minimal props brought to your home.  As always, I adore a simple set up that keeps the focus on your baby.

FAMILIES: We will also continue to offer our popular Family Sessions at a location of your choice.  During the warmer months, I have many stunning locations that I love to share with families for their sessions.  From parks to beaches to farms to fields, there is something that fits every style while allowing your children room to run and explore.  

GALLERY PREMIERE: The reveal appointment where you view your images for the first time is one of my favorite parts of the portrait experience.  I love watching families fall in love with their images and helping them discover the perfect keepsakes and artwork to enjoy in their homes.  Lucky for you, we will continue providing this amazing service to our clients, either meeting in person when I am back in Massachusetts, or via Skype with online screen sharing capabilities.

With the weather warming up and signs of spring starting to blossom outside of our windows, we will continue scheduling Boston-area sessions as normal through the month of May.  Let’s get out there, shake off the winter blues, and capture some beautiful new memories of your family so that you can enjoy fresh artwork on your walls this spring!  

After May, I will be available for select dates in the Boston area, as well as with additional dates upon request.  Here are a few dates to start planning your summer sessions! 

June 23-26(Boston area)

July 28-August 2 (Boston area & Cape Cod)

More dates available upon request.

A huge thank you to all of the amazing families that we've worked with in the Boston area, and I can't wait to continue capturing your beautiful stories for you!  It means so much to me when you invite me back into your lives year after year to create new memories with your family, and we're certainly not going to let a little three-hour drive stop us from doing that!

Our calendar will be filling up quickly, and I would love to chat with you to book your family's session this spring and summer.  You can get in touch by clicking on the "CONTACT" tab up above, or emailing hello@nicolestarrphotography (dot) com.  

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Are you in the New York area?  Drop me a line to say hello!  I'd love to meet you, chat over a cup of coffee (chai for me!), and learn more about your family!  

We'll be opening our Saratoga Springs studio early this summer.  The studio is perfect for newborns, babies, and your little ones.  We will be accepting on-location family and maternity sessions in the capital region starting in May, and I am already looking forward to discovering many new location gems for our sessions in this beautiful region of NY.  

Come visit us at the Babies R Us Baby Fair in Latham next Saturday, April 2, to learn more about our three unique types of newborn sessions and to participate in our massive giveaway.  I can't wait to meet your family and capture these stories for you!