Party of Five: Newborn Studio Session with Two Adoring Siblings

Baby Lillianna has joined the party! I had the absolute privilege of welcoming Lillianna, her big sister Annabella and big brother Antonio (and their parents, of course!) to my Saratoga Springs studio recently for her newborn portraits. Lillianna’s newborn portraits are a beautiful combination of special family portraits, incredibly sweet sibling moments, and special family heirlooms. It was perfect! 

I started Lillianna’s session with her family’s new portraits first. Her brother and sister were so sweet - they just wanted to keep snuggling up with her! In fact, Antonio was not about putting his new sister down! When I asked him if he wanted to get up so Mommy could have a turn holding Lillianna, he said he wasn’t done and wanted to keep holding her. So he did! It was so special and it’s clear he’s fascinated by his newest little sister. Don’t worry - we did eventually get a portrait of mama with her new baby girl too! 

Bethany, Lillianna’s mom, mentioned that she’d been working on a handmade blanket and asked if we could incorporate it into Lillianna’s portraits. I was thrilled to use this sweet pink and white blanket as part of her setups, and it inspired the rest of her session too! We leaned into the soft pinks, sage green, and white accents for her setups and everyone’s outfits. It created a soft and feminine vibe for this precious little girl! 

Welcome to the world, Lillianna! I’m so happy to have met you and captured these first portraits for you in the studio. You have the sweetest family and I know you are so very loved!!

---

Save this post for later:

Newborn Portraits with Hot Air Balloons

We are in the middle of a baby boom here at the studio, and I am loving all of these cuddly little newborns coming in for their first portrait session! Sweet little Luke’s family welcomed him over the summer and we captured the most adorable newborn portraits in my Saratoga Springs portrait studio. The local hot air balloon festival has always been significant for this family, so we made sure to incorporate hot air balloons into one of his setups and these are just the most adorable photos!

Every newborn portrait session starts with family photos. I love capturing the first family portrait with the new baby, and these are such special memories to look back on as your little one grows. Are you going to remember how tiny they were, and how their head fit perfectly in the crook of your arm? Or how their five little fingers wrapped perfectly around one of yours? That’s what we do in these family portraits. Slow down time to preserve the memories that. you never want to forget.

Goshhhh, this backlit parent pose is one of my new favorite images to capture during all of our sessions lately!

---

Newborn Portraits with an Elephant Theme

If you’ve worked with me, you know that I am passionate about printing your photos and enjoying them in your home. That is why every family I work with enjoys a design appointment in their home where we go through your gallery, choose your favorites to print, and look at your walls to see how you would like to showcase your portraits and what the perfect size will be!

This family knew they wanted to create a gallery wall of wooden wall art pieces in their living room, combining portraits from both the maternity & newborn sessions. Look how beautifully it all came together with their baby boy as the focal point!

Curious about our artwork options? Learn more here!

Close-up shots like this one that showcase your newborn baby’s perfect little features are always some of my favorites to capture during a studio newborn session! I just love the way you can see Julian’s fluffy hair and how it forms a tiny little mohawk on the top!

This gorgeous white dress from our studio’s Mama Wardrobe has been very popular lately! Lots of mamas have chosen to wear this in their family portraits, and I don’t think I’ll ever grow tired of the beautiful details on this dress. From the trim on the neckline to the lace and ruffle on the sleeves, it’s perfect for family portraits!

Julian’s nursery theme is elephants, and his parents brought a few little items to incorporate into his session. Someone crocheted this adorable elephant lovie for him, and the swaddle with little elephants marching across was the perfect layering blanket for portraits, too!

---

Save it for later:

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!!