A Little Loves portrait session to celebrate turning 5 | Saratoga Springs Child and Family Photographer

There is nothing better than watching kids grow in through the lens of my camera, in my studio. I’ve been photographing Elliana multiple times a year since she was a newborn, and recently, her mom brought her in for a Little Loves session to celebrate her turning 5. This session felt extra special because five is such a huge milestone. It bridges that gap between little kid and big kid. Five is often the age you start school, lose your first tooth, start to read, and learn so many amazing new skills. I loved celebrating this milestone with her!

Elli was SO cute in my studio this year. She was all giggles and big smiles, showing off her sweet personality. Mom chose the sweetest light blue and white dress - paired with the cutest white bow - for her photos. Sometimes, with Little Loves sessions, the final images are presented in black and white - but I think the color option was perfect to celebrate Elli and her bright personality. She is so sweet! We captured so many fun little moments, which is even easier since I’ve been part of her life for the last five years. We eased right into our shoot and were able to celebrate this milestone together. 

I also loved sitting with her parents, going through the gallery together after their session, too. We’ve sat at their kitchen counter so many times over the past five years going through their galleries and choosing their favorite portraits of their two children, and this time we kept reminiscing – “Doesn’t it feel like we were just in the studio doing her newborn session?” “Remember when we did her milestone portraits with the flowers?” “How sweet was she last fall in the field with her brother?!” And now this. Five.

It is always an honor when families trust me to capture their children’s milestones year after year. I love that so many families come to me for their newborn session, fall in love with the experience, and return to me year after year with their little ones. I never take this job for granted, and I am so lucky to work with the most amazing families year after year.

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Take the photo: why right now is the perfect time for a portrait session

If you’ve been around the blog, you know that I LOVE my Little Loves portrait sessions. These classic and simple portraits are a wonderful way to document your little ones - as they are, right now, forever. I truly believe that there is never a bad time to take photos, and as your kids grow there is never going to be a time when you wish you hadn’t taken more photos. My Little Loves sessions are all about freezing this moment in time for your family to cherish forever. 

Do they still have softly curved baby cheeks? Take the photo.

Do they have their baby teeth? Take the photo.

Have they lost a tooth? Take the photo.

Have they grown three inches this year? Take the photo.

Do they still like to snuggle you and hold your hand? Take the photo.

Are they almost taller than you? Take the photo.

New braces? Take the photo.

No matter what changes they are going through, it is such a gift to slow down time and document this stage they are in right this very moment. That’s one of the things that I absolutely love about our Little Loves sessions.

I’ve been photographing this family ever since Kayden’s first birthday, and now he is so grown! We had so much fun capturing these personality portraits during their Little Loves session. Both Kayden and Karina brought their A-game, and I love how their unique personalities shine: silly, serious, sweet, playful, strong. Because there’s nothing but your baby and a simple studio setup, we really have a chance to photograph what makes this stage so unique and meaningful for you all. 

I repeat: there’s never a bad time to photograph your child. Capturing milestones and memorizing all of the little details that will change as their children grow, and imprinting this on your hearts truly matters to me.

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From Click to Delivery and Everything in Between - A Look into our Portrait Process

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work with a full-service photographer? Or what in the world that term even means? Today we’re delving deep into the portrait experience to give you the inside scoop about what you can expect when you hire Nicole Starr Photography for your next portrait session. From the very first click of a button all the way through product delivery, let’s dig in!

For most of my clients and potential clients, their very first impression of my business is right here through my website. And here you are — so, welcome! This is where the majority of my clients find me, and also the first place that they head after a friend shares my name with them. And like every small business owner, I love it and sooooo appreciate it when families refer their friends and can’t stop gushing about their amazing portrait experience! If you’re not sure where to get started on the website, check out our different session types on the tab at the top of this page. Look through some BLOGS for inspiration, and take a peek at the gorgeous ARTWORK options here as well. Then head over to the INVESTMENT PAGE and finally click on CONTACT and let’s chat!

After I receive your contact email, we set up a time for a quick phone call. I love this part! This is when we get to know each other a little more, and you tell me all about your baby, your family, and what you’re looking for in your portrait session. I fill you in on the portrait experience (much like we’re doing in this blog post today) and then we set up a time for a planning call.

Our planning call is a pre-consultation done over Zoom. This is when we talk in more detail about colors, theme, location, outfits, must-have shots, etc. I show you examples of all of the beautiful artwork so that you can start picturing them in your home, and we go over any and all questions before booking the session.

From there we set a date for your portrait session. If it’s a newborn session, we mark a flexible date on the calendar surrounding your due date and finalize the date once the baby arrives. If it’s an outdoor session, we plan TWO dates — a session date and a rain date so that we have both blocked off in case in it rains on the first day. 

Then the countdown begins and we excitedly await the day of your family’s portrait session!

All of our sessions are relaxed and we’re flexible with timing so that we can work around your baby or child’s mood to keep them comfortable and happy. We capture a variety of portraits and looks/setups, and we have a blast while doing so!



After that you’ll enjoy a sneak peek on social media within a week of your session, and then we’ll set a time for your ordering appointment. This is another part of the portrait experience that I love sooooo much. I come to your home, or we can do the appointment over Zoom, too. We spend about an hour together going through your gallery and choosing your favorite portraits that you want to enjoy at home.



Here’s why I do this in your homes. Think back to your wedding photos. If you’re like 90% of the moms that I talk to on the phone, you got your photos back from your wedding photographer and never did anything with them, right? Maybe you hung one or two. Mayyyyyybe you had an album included with your package. But most of the families I talk to tell me regretfully that they haven’t been able to enjoy their wedding photos because they haven’t had the time to go through them yet. 

That is exactly why we set aside an hour to go through the portraits from your session together. We look at your walls and figure out the best locations and sizes for your portraits. We talk about albums and collection boxes to see which feels like the best fit for your home. We figure out gifts for family members and we design holiday cards and birth announcements, checking so many to-dos off of your list for you. And it only takes an hour. All of the printing and design is done for you, making it so easy and stress-free for you to enjoy gorgeous heirloom artwork in your home that is going to put a smile on your face every single day!



After that, I go through and finish editing your images. I send all of your images off to my professional labs and they return as beautifully printed and handcrafted artwork. We set up a time for me to deliver everything to you, and then it’s time to enjoy your portraits at home!

It’s that easy. Pretty sweet, right?

So if you’re ready to take all of the stress out of your next portrait session, what are you waiting for? Let’s chat today and get started!

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Older Newborn Portraits with Twins Lillian and Liam

What do you get when nearly 3 month old twins come to the studio for their newborn session? SMILES LIKE THIS!!!

I am absolutely obsessed with older newborn sessions now that we have had so many post-quarantine. I love that we’re still able to capture beautiful portraits of these babies while they are still tiny and new, even if they are a little older than the traditional 2-week old newborn session.

Lillian and Liam were such a joy in the studio, and I loved seeing these twins interact with each other (and with the camera!) during their older newborn session. You just don’t get expressions and eye contact like this with a baby who is only a few days old!

These babies spent the entire session switching off between who was awake and who was asleep. It made for some very engaging portraits! I especially loved these ones of them cuddled up in their parents arms. Plus, aren’t the parents’ outfits perfect? So beautiful and classic.

This mama is Super Mama! Her heart has grown to fit these two babies, and the love just shines in her expression!

Their nursery has a star and moon theme, and you know I love anything with gold stars in it! I really enjoyed creating this magical “twinkle twinkle little star” setup for the twins. And my new star headband from Polka Dot Poppy was perfect for Lillian!

The twins’ mama really wanted a blush & blue setup, so we made a sweet little heart for her babies. This was one of the family’s favorite portraits at their ordering appointment!

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Inspired by this twins’ newborn session? Pin this image or any from the post above for inspiration!

Grayson's Two Year Studio Portraits | Saratoga Springs Child Photographer

How did my sweet little boy turn TWO already?!?! The past two years have absolutely flown by, and while I thought Year 1 was fast, Year 2 sped by at warp speed!!

I remember that I captured so many studio portraits of Grayson during his first year. We did portraits every month, sometimes two or three times! But now in the second year it was such a challenge to find the time to bring this active toddler into the studio for portraits. I’m so glad that I captured these classic portraits just days before his second birthday. They showcase his sweet and curious personality, his wispy blonde hair, and those cute little toddler toes on feet that have become so strong from all of the walking and running he has learned to do this year!

A few things I always want to remember about my sweet boy at two years old.

• Grayson is obsessed with trucks and cars. He can identify every type of construction truck, mail truck, ambulance, police car, firetruck, school bus, city bus, and more. He could spend all day playing with his little trucks, driving them over roads we’ve made from cardboard, digging around in sand with his excavators, and pushing choo-choo trains on imaginary railroad tracks.

• He is OBSESSED with buses, especially school buses, and he points them out every time we’re in the car.

• He loves hugs and cuddles, especially “mama huds” (and yes, he says HUG as HUD, and it’s so cute!).

• He thinks that all eggs have baby dinosaurs inside. On Easter, he exclaimed “What’s hatching?? Baby dinosaur!” for every easter egg that he opened up. Sadly, there were no dinosaurs inside! Even when we’re baking, he’ll get so excited to crack an egg in the bowl, shout “Baby dinosaurrrr!!!!,” and then look in the bowl and see it’s just an egg and say, “Oh, no dinosaur. Just water.” And he’s always so disappointed!

• He gets so excited to FaceTime family and friends, and he always wants to hold the phone or put the phone in his fire truck to take it for a ride around the house.

• Somehow he learned all of his letters already, and he talks about “ABCs” all day long!

• He is currently obsessed with eating Cheerios with almond milk, and he’ll have multiple bowls for breakfast, and then try to have the same for lunch, too!

• He loves it when Grandma comes over to play with him, and he does a happy dance at the top of the stairs every time she walks in the door.

• He loves going for walks when he can just ride along in the stroller. He settles in, looks around, and gets into his happy place. He gets really quiet and relaxed, and every time I bend down to check on him he says “Grayson happy.”

• And my favorite thing? Whenever I say “I love you,” he always responds with “So much” and it just melts my heart!

I love you. So much.

You know, I started doing children’s portraits many years before I had a child of my own. I knew that one day I wanted to have beautiful portraits of my own little one, and I am so grateful that I’ll have these timeless photos of our sweet little toddler forever. Now it’s time to figure out which ones to print and hang in our home, and which ones to go into his yearly album!