Family portraits at Empire Plaza in Albany

When your baby turns one, it’s definitely time for updated family portraits - and that’s exactly what Luke’s family planned! Luke recently turned one and he and his parents celebrated with family portraits at the same spot his parents were married at a few years earlier: Empire Plaza in Albany, NY. It was a beautiful spot for their portraits! We had a gorgeous sunset the day of their session that worked in our favor. The sunset gave us beautiful light, and the light color of the building reflected so much of it back on these three. It made my job so easy!

Luke started walking just a few weeks before our session and he was so excited to be showing off all over the New York State museum grounds. I can’t believe how big he his now - I still picture him as that little baby in his newborn portraits a year ago!! He’s such a fun handful now and I know his parents are excited to be watching him grow and change.

I love that the Underwood family wanted their portraits at the place they were married - it’s such a special way to see how your family changes over time, and honor a place that means a lot to you. I’m always open to sentimental locations for your portraits, especially if they’re as beautiful as this spot in Albany!

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Welcome, Ivy Joy: Newborn Portraits at Four Weeks Old

Welcome to the world, Ivy Joy! It’s so special getting to meet babies after I’ve photographed their mom’s maternity portraits, like Ivy Joy. I photographed her mama’s maternity session this summer while they were anxiously waiting for her arrival. I loved getting to know Heather and Lee better during their maternity session, and I love that we pulled elements of the colors Heather wore into Ivy Joy’s newborn portraits, too. I’m all about creating cohesive images that will pair well together in your albums or on your walls!

For Ivy Joy’s session, she came to my Saratoga Springs studio. She was 4 weeks old, but so sweet and mellow. While she was awake, she had the best eye contact - and that’s one of my favorite things about older newborns. They’re always so sweet!! Ivy Joy was easy to pose and I loved capturing some of her new expressions. Photographing older newborns can come with it’s challenges, but I also love the ways you can capture their personality because they’re a bit bigger now.

Heather and Lee requested the sage green and mustard yellow in her setups - which was a great way to tie into Heather’s maternity portraits. I’m also obsessed with the dark navy setup with the stars. Ivy Joy looked so sweet on it! Come take a look at some of my favorite moments from their beautiful studio session.

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Personal branding portrait session with a color stylist

I am so excited to be sharing Amy’s branding session with you! Amy is a color consultant with House of Colour, and she wanted portraits showing off all of the incredible work she does. During her session, I was so impressed with how much I learned about colors and clothing choices. Beyond taking portraits, I was truly getting a chance to learn from an expert. Not to mention, Amy looked AMAZING on camera. She chose outfits and colors that really made her features pop. She and her home studio were so fun to photograph because of that!

I love working with female business owners, and we created such a fun gallery together. I'm already looking forward to seeing how Amy uses these images to elevate her business and marketing!​​​​​​​​ Amy, thank you for trusting me with your beautiful branding session. I hope you love looking back on them as much as I do!

Tell us more about your business! How did you get started, and why are you passionate about it.

House of Colour is a UK Based Company that has been providing color and style analysis for almost 40 years and recently expanded their operations into the United States.

I discovered House of Colour during a search for information on building a capsule wardrobe. I had recently transitioned from over a decade of working in a professional setting as a CPA to being a stay-at-home mom and was struggling to figure out how to dress for my new lifestyle and body. I was frustrated with all of the closet clutter, my spending habits, and feeling like I never had anything to wear! The idea of a capsule wardrobe was very appealing to me. I was immediately drawn to the practical and formulaic approach to shopping, but many of the capsule wardrobe guides I found online consisted of lots of boring neutrals (think white silk blouse with black pencil skirt styled 10 different ways) and did not fit my lifestyle at all! Once I found House of Colour, everything began to click! After discovering my best colors and styles, I was easily able to purge unflattering items from my closet and began to build a mix and match wardrobe of clothing that looked amazing and felt authentic to me.

During my color analysis, I was also shocked to learn that the color I had been dying my hair for years, along with all of my makeup was completely wrong for me! I changed my hair color and my makeup and started wearing my best colors and immediately began receiving compliments on my appearance for the first time in my life! When our family relocated to the area from Southern California last year, I knew I wanted to bring House of Colour to Saratoga Springs!

I offer two different types of appointments:

During a color analysis, I will use a series of precision dyed drapes to evaluate the way your complexion reacts to different colors. When you are wearing the right colors, your face will light up, your eyes will brighten, your skin will clear and you will have a natural glow. When you wear the wrong colors, your complexion can look dull, tired, washed out or even sick. Wearing the wrong colors can also bring discoloration in your skin such as hyperpigmentation, under eye circles, redness and fine lines. For makeup wearers, I custom match foundation, blush, mascara and three shades of lipstick to your natural coloring and completely take the guesswork out of buying makeup! No more swatching lipstick on your arm! Every color analysis appointment includes a beautiful color fan full of fabric swatches in your best colors and booklet with detailed information about building a wardrobe around your best colors. It is a very in-depth appointment that lasts about three hours for an individual. Appointments are available for individuals or for small groups. Color analysis is for women, men and children too!

During a style analysis, I will evaluate your body architecture and show you which shapes, silhouettes, hemlines, and style elements will look best on you. We will also take into account your personality, lifestyle and personal goals to guide you in building a wardrobe that reflects the very best version of your authentic self and makes a strong first impression.

What made you want to book a personal branding session?

As the first to bring this brand-new service to the area, I needed to market my business and educate potential clients on what color and style analysis is all about! I wanted live action shots to convey the entire service experience. I wanted the vibe to be colorful, fun and professional. Nicole really took time to understand my business so she could nail the shots and vibe I was looking for!

Was there anything you were nervous about before your session? How did I help make that experience easier for you?

I really wasn’t very nervous! I had worked with Nicole previously for my headshots which turned out amazing and was a really fun experience, so I knew I was in good hands! Nicole sent me a thoughtful questionnaire about my business and my goals which allowed me to gather my thoughts about my vision and intentions for the branding session. Nicole also met with me prior to the photoshoot to go over all the details including inspiration shots and the props we would use.

Plus, thanks to House of Colour, I know my best colors and styles and love all my clothes, so I was not stressed about what to wear! In the past, a photo shoot like this would have been extremely stressful and I would have agonized about how to do my makeup and what to wear and probably ran out and bought five new outfits. This time, I was able to easily pull different looks together right from my closet and do my regular makeup routine!

Now that you have all of your gorgeous portraits back, how are you using them?

I recently appeared in Saratoga Living Magazine and was happy to have some colorful, eye-catching “action shots” for the write-up. I have also used the photos for marketing materials and handouts at several local events. I am so grateful to Nicole for creating these beautiful images that highlight my services!

Where can we follow you?

Instagram: houseofcolour_saratogasprings

Book an appointment!

Amy.Latta@houseofcolour.com

Website

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Baby Girl Newborn Portraits with Pops of Color

I had the best time welcoming Baby Katelynn Carol to the studio for her newborn portraits! She brought along her parents and big brother, Cameron, to help welcome her to the world. Katelynn Carol was already 2 weeks old when she came to the studio - which is totally fine! I love photographing older newborns. There’s something special about their sweet little hands and feet, even as they start to fill up and curl up a little bit less.

Her big brother did such an amazing job in the studio and was so happy to be in front of the camera! He also loved playing with my toy wooden camera and pretending to take pictures of his family with it, and he had the biggest smile any time I turned my camera towards him to take his picture. I loved photographing him with Katelynn Carol, especially with one of my favorite props: the Moses basket!

We picked some beautiful pastel setups for this sweet girl to end the session. She looked so sweet in the different setups and some of my favorite headbands! I’m so thankful this wonderful family chose me to capture Katelynn Carol’s first days!

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Why you should add on a maternity session when scheduling newborn portraits

Most couples and families come to me with the plan to schedule newborn portraits to celebrate the arrival of their new baby. But, not many mamas think about a maternity session for themselves. Pregnancy is a journey - and one that should be documented and captured. While it’s fun and exciting to think about the day your little one arrives, there’s still so much that happens before they ever make their appearance earthside. That’s why I want to share why you should add on a maternity session when scheduling your newborn portraits!

Pretty soon, everything will be about the baby.

It's important to celebrate this stage where it's just the two of you as a couple, too. It's the last time it'll ever be just the two of you again!

You will positively glow in front of the camera.

Pregnancy hormones may not always be fun to deal with, but your skin & hair has never looked more amazing. Why not take advantage of that extra glow with some portraits celebrating the journey you’re on?

Mamas, your body, your mind, and your heart have gone through so much to carry this baby.

Pregnancy is not easy, but it is beautiful. Honor this moment and capture portraits that you can look back on to remember just how incredibly strong your body is!

These moments are part of your family’s story and history.

If you're having a little girl, one day she may have children of her own and she will want to look back on these portraits of you carrying her in your belly. She's going to look at her beautiful mother and identify so much with the woman in the photographs. This is a gift you can give your baby 30 years from now.

Document all of life’s milestones.

Your walls tell your family's story, and framing your wedding, maternity, and newborn portraits is such a beautiful way to document all of life's most important milestones for you to look back on daily.

My own journey with pregnancy + maternity portraits…

I’m ending this blog post on a personal note… My #1 regret with my first pregnancy was not documenting it with anything more than cell phone selfies every couple of weeks. I had planned to take some portraits right at the end, but then we wound up delivering a few weeks early and I never got the chance to. Me, a photographer, barely had any photos of my first baby bump.

So when we were expecting our next and last little one, I made sure to capture photographs to remember this season of our lives. I am so glad that I slowed down and made it a priority to step in front of the camera this time around, and I know I will treasure those photographs (and my little girl will, too!) for the rest of my life.

Finally, did you know that adding a maternity session on to your newborn session is only $100? We usually schedule maternity portraits for 28-36 weeks.

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Sunlight Maternity Portraits in Downtown Saratoga Springs

Heather and Lee are expecting their first baby, a little girl, and I had the honor of photographing their Downtown Saratoga Springs maternity session! As with all of my outdoor sessions, we scheduled a rain date in the hopes that we wouldn’t need it. But, we wound up having to switch to that date after all! The night of our original session, we had torrential downpour. Instead, we truly lucked out with our second date. We even got the most beautiful gorgeous golden light peeking through the trees and buildings during their session.

One of the best parts of Heather and Lee’s session was getting to explore Downtown Saratoga Springs with them. I found a few new spots I loved along Broadway and North Broadway. They turned out to be gorgeous for these new parents! Heather chose three outfits for her maternity session. This is very common with my mothers! It’s nice to switch up the fancier and casual looks, especially when doing an on-location session like this one. Honestly, I love Heather’s yellow dress that we started with! It popped perfectly against the buildings downtown.

Congratulations, Heather and Lee! I’m so excited for you and your new little girl!

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Colorful & Vibrant Headshots for an Elementary School Teacher

September is always such a special month. Around here, it means the start of school! I’m so happy to be sharing this special headshot session with you now, because Natalya is an amazing elementary school teacher! She wanted to create really unique and fun headshots that showcase her friendly and outgoing personality. I’m so happy she decided to do this headshot session with me in Schenectady, because teachers deserve more than a standard (boring!) headshot on a blue background every year. I hope Natalya’s headshots really inspire you to think about how you share your personality in your work - whether you’re a teacher or not!

During Natalya’s vibrant headshot session, I got to learn more about what she does every day. She’s an elementary school special educator and is super passionate about public education, as well as helping students communicate. With her bright personality, she helps students open up and work towards their academic goals. I wish every student had a teacher like Natalya!

For her headshots, we knew that we wanted to focus on the vibrant colors and bold patterns she loves so much. We chose to meet at the Palette Community in Schenectady, and it turned out to be a perfect location for her. Natalya often wears bright and bold colors to school, so we made sure to incorporate those into her portraits. I especially loved the rainbow dress she brought! I think it really showed off her fun personality.

Natalya, thank you for all you do as an educator every single day. We’re all so grateful to you! I’m so happy you contacted me about these fun headshots! Have another wonderful year of teaching!!

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Baby Milestone Portraits with a Family Heirloom Dress

It was so good to see Baby Briar in the studio again! I met Baby Briar when she was a newborn – and I captured her mother’s maternity portraits, too. It’s always so special to then see those babies grow every few months when they come back to the studio for milestone portraits. For Briar’s six-month milestone portraits, we planned a classic and simple studio session. 

Briar’s mom chose a few outfits for the portraits – including a sweet pink romper I adore from the studio’s baby wardrobe. It was the perfect pop of color in Briar’s newborn portraits! And she looked so sweet. They also brought a family heirloom: a cream crocheted dress for Briar to wear. The dress was her grandmother’s, who wore it as a baby, and has now passed it between new babies in the family! It was so sweet – and it looked amazing with my Moses basket. 

Six-month milestone sessions are always a great time. Babies are learning to sit up, they’re laughing and have the sweetest smiles. I love watching them show off their new skills and explore the studio. I’m so happy to share these sweet milestone portraits with you today for Briar!! 

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Classic Studio Newborn Portraits for Baby Ea

Say hello to Baby Ea! Ea’s portrait session was my last newborn session before going on maternity leave to welcome my own baby girl! Ea was the sweetest girl, wide awake for our entire session… but perfectly calm. With that attitude, every single portrait was just adorable and I’m so happy she was so relaxed in the studio. 

For her session, Ea’s parents didn’t have too many requests. We wanted to keep the timeless and classic feeling for each of her setups. One of my favorites was the teddy bear setup because I caught the cutest little smile! Baby Ea is definitely already stealing hearts!! She’s seriously so sweet. Her parents did want to include fresh flowers in her setups, and I personally loved how the purple setup came out with them. 

After their session, we had their ordering session! All of these gorgeous portraits were turned into an heirloom album and circular wooden wall art. I hope that one day Baby Ea flips through her own album of portraits, like my son does, and that they can all look back on these early days of her life with fondness and happiness! 

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5 Props I Use in Every Newborn Session

As a studio newborn photographer, my style is all about minimalistic setups and focusing on your baby! Your baby is perfect just as they are, and I don't want to distract from that in your portraits.  I use neutral colors and natural textures to create a clean, timeless, organic look in your baby's first portraits. To create these natrual setups, I do use a few props. Today, I’m sharing 5 props I use in (almost) every newborn session. Many of these props blend right in and you don't notice them at first glance (like the wooden crate and the bowl) because your eye is drawn right to the newborn baby.

Swaddle.  

This is a must-have for every newborn photographer, and the first thing you learn when posing newborns is how to wrap the baby snugly so that their arms and legs don't wiggle out of the wrap.  The swaddle keeps them calm and happy, and it helps them feel secure.  This plus heat and white noise or a shusher app all come together to lull the baby to sleep and make it easy to pose the little one.  I like to use what I call "baby spanx" underneath the swaddle to keep baby extra snug, plus it makes it easy for me to change out the top layer for a new look while baby stays calm and happy while all tucked in.

White crate.

I start all my individual portraits with this one prop!  I like to layer it with whites and creams for neutral portraits, and then as the session goes on, I will add in colors through additional wraps, bump blankets, and layers.  I typically begin with the baby fully swaddled, and then I bring out their arms and flip them to their bellies once they're settled into a deep sleep.

Wooden bowl.

From there we move to the wooden bowl!  I love the round shape of it for overhead shots, and these always look so beautiful printed on our round wooden wall art pieces.  I also like surrounding the bowl with greenery or florals to accentuate the shape, plus it works well for posing babies on their bellies and capturing the head-on-hands pose.  

Bed or cradle.

I love these wooden props for sleepy poses!  We make sure to capture a few overhead shots, full body, and close-up.  Plus, I always enjoy backlit a profile view of the baby, too!

White or cream blanket.

I have so many different white blankets with different textures, and I love using them in a variety of ways in my portraits.   Sometimes I use it on the posing bed for traditional posing.  Sometimes I layer it spilling out of the wooden crate.  Other times I will use it as a soft texture underneath the bowl or bed to add a little more dimension to photographs.    

I’m always of the mindset that less is more when it comes to newborn portraits. I hope that these five props show you that you can truly create beautiful (and long-lasting) portraits for your baby without a lot of involved setups.

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A tugboat themed cake smash for Baby Walter

Happy first birthday, Walter! We celebrated Walter turning one with a sweet tugboat themed cake smash in the studio. When we began discussing possible setups for his birthday portraits, Walter’s mom told me that his dad works on tugboats and she had a sweet tugboat romper that she wanted to pick up for him. Originally, we were just going to do a nautical theme for the smash – but once I saw that romper, I knew that we had to focus on the tugboats! Everything came together perfectly after that and I’m so happy with how these portraits turned out. 

During the smash, Walter was seriously one of the happiest cake smashers I’ve ever had in the studio. He was all smiles and very interested in his cake. At one point, his big brother Caleb jumped in for a few bites. It was hilarious seeing how quickly he was able to demolish the cake after his baby brother had been delicately picking at it for awhile before that.

Before the smash, we also captured updated family portraits in Congress Park! This is one of my favorite spots for portraits in Saratoga Springs. It’s important to me to always document the entire family – and a few non-cake smash portraits of the birthday boy or girl – at the start of each cake smash. Cake smashes are so much fun, but it’s nice to have a sweet and simple portrait of your little one, too! 

Enjoy a look into Walter’s tugboat cake smash today! 

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Baby Starr | Classic Black & White Newborn Portraits of Adelaide Olivia

I'm savoring this stage that we're in with our baby girl. I want to remember the newborn squeaks and grunts. How she stretches her little body, arches her back, and curls her hands up by her face. The way that her tiny fingers grasp my pinky and hold on tight. How her legs fit together perfectly like two puzzle pieces when she tucks them up together and fold them across her tummy. I find myself pulling out my phone more and more often to capture videos of this newborn goodness, the precious little mannerisms and reflexes that I know she'll soon outgrow but that I don't want to forget anytime soon. And of course I can't help but document it all on my camera as well, beautiful portraits that I know I'll look back on years from now and feel a yearning to go back to those sleep-deprived newborn weeks when she snuggled up so peacefully on my chest and her breathing synced with mine.

When capturing Adelaide's newborn portraits, I wanted to document a few that were raw and natural. Perfectly unposed. The black & white images and the clean white background keep the focus on the baby, and all of the sweet little details are front and center.

Some photographers like to refer to this as "baby led posing," and that's exactly what happens to capture images like this. You let the baby run the show, and you let them curl up, stretch, sigh, and settle into the comfy positions that they naturally find comforting because it's how they were curled up in the womb. As the photographer, you can guide them a little bit by wrapping a swaddle around them or gently bringing their arm in when it floats out to the side, but you capture all of that newborn goodness and the natural movements and expressions that they make.

These are a few of my favorite sleepy, unposed newborn portraits from Adelaide's first few weeks, and just looking at them now already has me missing those early days when she was so light and tiny in my arms. It really is true that it goes by so quickly, and it's hard to believe it until you're experiencing it that you can miss something already even as it's happening right before your very eyes.

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10 Tips to Prepare for Maternity Leave as a Business Owner

As a business owner, there’s nothing scarier than the idea of taking an extended time away from your business. Trust me: I get it! I’ve taken maternity leave TWICE now as a newborn and family photographer. After the first time when Grayson was born, I realized that it absolutely was possible for me to and I worked hard to prepare for Adelaide’s maternity leave this summer. While I know the idea of stepping away from your business for maternity leave (or other extended leave) can be frightening, I want you to know that it is possible… and not only that, but you SHOULD also take time off! Today, I wanted to share 10 tips to prepare for maternity leave so that you can prepare ahead and enjoy your time off with that new baby!! 

Plan ahead for your finances! 

Start setting aside money in savings at the beginning of your pregnancy (or before!) to cover expenses during your time off.  As a business owner, your expenses will not change just because you're not working, so plan ahead and start saving early to ensure that you have a steady stream of "income" from your maternity leave savings that you've built up over these past 40+ weeks.  

Set the dates early for when you want to be off! 

Make sure you know ahead of time when you plan to be out of the office. It’s also smart to plan to take more time than you think you'll need.  With my first baby, I took 2 months off, and I was planning to work right up until 37 1/2 weeks, but then I was induced early and I had to reschedule a portrait session, which I did when he was only a few weeks old.  It was stressful and exhausting, and I learned my lesson.  Never again.  

With my second baby, I planned to stop working at 36 weeks to give myself some time to wrap up client tasks, nest, and enjoy those last days with just my son at home, and I planned a full 3 months away from my business this time around.  You have to do what feels right for you but set those dates and stick to them.  At first it was hard turning away sooooo many new inquiries for the dates that I would be away, especially when they wanted something that was technically before my due date.  As business owners, so many of us have trained ourselves to the "feast or famine" mentality and it's hard to turn away work.  But trust me, saying "no" to clients and new inquiries will get easier the more you practice it, and if you stick to your policy and your dates you will be happier in the long run.

Prepare content ahead of time!

When you’re thinking about what to prep before you leave, don’t forget content! Plan for the months you'll be away, but also for the first month back, so you have it ready to go when you're getting back into the swing of things with work. Content includes your blogs, social media, and newsletters – so make sure to think ahead. 

Bonus Tip: Outsource tasks when you can! I have loved the freedom that comes with having a virtual assistant handling certain tasks for me, and it's nice to have them prep as much as they can for you while you're prepping for your leave and delegating tasks as needed.  Get this set up well before your leave so that everything runs seamlessly by the time you are out of the office.

Schedule your clients in advance! 

Reach out early to clients to get everything scheduled with them in advance so that you can fit them in around your time off.  You don't want your planned time off to catch them by surprise, so prep them months in advance that this is happening. 

Let your clients know what to expect! 

Take the time to let your clients know what to expect while you are on your maternity leave -- how much time you're taking off, how long it may take you to reply to emails, your plans for after maternity leave.  If you're using an assistant or if you've hired someone to take over your inbox while you're away, introduce them to your clients ahead of time (a newsletter or a personalized email will do!) so that they know who to contact should they need anything.

Limit how clients can communicate with you! 

I prefer email only, so I have turned off Instagram DMs and Facebook messenger on my business page. While you're busy at home with the baby, you don't want to have to keep track of a million messages coming in from all different channels. Your focus should be on your family during this time off – not answering all your messages! 

Set an auto responder on your email! 

Prep your email auto responder so that it's ready to go live when you are ready to step away from the office!  The last thing you want is to be figuring out the perfect wording while in labor at the hospital, or while juggling a newborn.

Consider scaling back your content during your time off.  

You are on leave and enjoying time at home with your baby, so your business can be a little more relaxed if you want it to!  I plan to publish fewer blog posts each month, and fewer newsletters.  If you don't want to be marketing your business a ton while you're stepping away for a few weeks or months, then don't.  Make it work for you.

Give yourself the freedom (and the flexibility!) to work or not to work during your leave.  

See how you feel, and if you find that you want to get a little bit of work done, go for it!  Have a list of "if I'm up for it" tasks that prepped ahead of time so that you can get right down to business during baby's naptime one day.  For me, these are all non-client related tasks and more focused on the back end of my business because I don't want to have any client responsibilities or client deadlines looming over me when I am trying to adjust to life at home with a newborn.

Plan for what your work schedule will look like when you do go back to work after your maternity leave.  

You may want to give yourself a few weeks to ease into it with a transition period rather than jump in full speed ahead, so plan to take on fewer clients during that time and still delegate certain tasks, in addition to having marketing tasks automated ahead of time for that period and ready to go live without much (or any) effort from you.  Allow yourself plenty of flexibility and grace and know that you're doing your best and that that is good enough.

As you can see, prepping for maternity leave is mostly about planning ahead, clear communication, and expectations for yourself and your clients. Stepping away from your business may seem scary, but I promise you: you’re going to want that time off to adjust to life with a newborn and to help your family through this new transition. You’ve got this!!

All of my maternity photos were taken by my dear friend Lauren Kirkham Photography.

Pastel Newborn Portraits for Baby Lakin with Big Sister

Welcome to the world, Baby Lakin! I first met Lakin’s family when they welcomed their first daughter, Quinn, 3.5 years ago. Now they've added another little girl to their family and they came back to my studio again for another set of newborn portraits. I’m SO happy I got to meet their new addition before my maternity leave. 

One of the best parts of working with a family more than once is getting to see how their kids grow up – and adjust to being big siblings. Quinn is an amazing big sister! She was super helpful during the session and wanted to take pictures with my wooden camera prop. It was so sweet. She even told her parents to move closer together and say cheese. At one point, she even posed her baby doll in the wooden bed I used for Lakin. It was adorable!!! I might have to hire her for my studio one day! 

Baby Lakin was sleepy the entire time, and I only saw her beautiful bright eyes as they were putting her in the car seat to go at the end of the session! She was still in that tired stage in the first few weeks of life – but that’s okay. Lakin looked adorable in each setup we chose. Personally, I loved the green wrap we used in the last few images. She looked precious snuggled up under the blanket!!

Thank you to this beautiful family for trusting me not once – but twice – with their girls’ newborn portraits. I’m so honored that I had the chance to work with you twice and celebrate your growing family!! 

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Baby Starr | Adelaide's Newborn Portraits

Adelaide Olivia

June 17, 2022

We welcomed our daughter in the middle of June, and somehow an entire month has already gone by! I don't remember time going this quickly when our son was born, but the weeks have all blended into one another and time is disappearing faster than we can keep track of it. I swear I barely blink and another week has passed in a blur of feedings, naps, and doctors appointments!

Sweet little Adelaide Olivia was born on June 17, 2022. She is our rainbow baby, and we waited a very long time for this beautiful baby to join our family. She's finally her, and we are over the moon.

Adelaide is perfect in every way, and we are so in love already. Grayson is the proudest big brother, and he lights up every time he's in the room with her and wants to be involved in everything that has to do with his sister. His grandma keeps saying that "he was born to be a big brother," and it's true that he is really doing an amazing job in his new role already. We love watching him in this transition, and it's so sweet to see how he interacts with his baby sister.

She spent the first couple of weeks sound asleep, and we couldn't wake her up for anything! She was literally the sleepiest baby I had ever encountered in my 10 years of posing newborns. But that meant that I got to enjoy multiple mini portrait sessions in the studio to capture a few setups each day. This was such a stark contrast to Grayson's newborn portraits, where he wouldn't settle into a deep sleep because he knew mama was close by, and every click of the shutter startled him wide awake. Baby girl knew what to do, and she snoozed and posed and smiled! I had so much fun capturing these first portraits of her, and now I'm excited to choose which ones to print and frame in our home, and many more to put into an album for our growing album collection!

For Adelaide's session I enjoyed lots of neutrals, and you all know I'm a fan of classic baby portraits on white backdrops and layers. I pulled out all of my favorite headbands and floral crowns from Polka Dot Poppy, and I added a few new ones with baby's breath as a nod to the baby's breath I wore in my hair at our wedding, and that my mother wore in her hair at her wedding in the 80s!

And of course, I couldn't resist using the same tiny camera prop that I used 4 years ago in Grayson's newborn portraits. Every photographer has got to capture her baby's portrait holding a newborn sized camera, right?!

I have so much more inspiration for Adelaide's portraits this year, and I'm excited to share more with you as she grows!

Thanks for celebrating our sweet girl's arrival with us!

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Studio Newborn Portraits for Baby Mihira

Meet Baby Mihira! This sweet little girl and her family came to my studio recently for her newborn session. Mihira was 3.5 weeks when she came for her portraits, so she was more awake than many of my newborns. Because of that, we got some truly gorgeous eye contact that comes from her being a little bit older – it was perfect!! 

When we began planning Mihira’s portraits, we discussed a simple color palette that focused on neutrals and a lot of ivory. This meant that we could bring in pops of colors through our props, like peach peonies and a beautiful purple wrap. I love being able to take a simple setup and add a bit of variety with simple wraps, props, or other pops of color because we kept everything else straightforward. Mihira looked so sweet in each setup, too! 

One of the most special parts about Mihira’s portraits is that her extended family came for portraits, too. I was able to capture her with her parents, cousin, and grandparents. I absolutely love when families come for newborn portraits – what a great reason to get the family together and update your portraits all at once! Enjoy a peek into sweet Mihira’s newborn portraits – she’s seriously perfect!! 

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4th of July Portraits Over the Years with Red, White, & Blue Backdrop

In 2018, I created this backdrop for a cake smash session. Since then, it’s become a family tradition to pull it back out and capture 4th of July portraits of my son, Grayson. Now that we have another new member of the family, it will be fun to see how they both grow each year!

Since 2018, I loved watching Grayson grow and seeing his personality evolve over the years – especially through these images. As a mom and photographer, it’s been fun to work on this series over the last 4 summers. I’m so happy that now we get to include our daughter, Adelaide, in this tradition, too. 

Since Grayson has been with me for the last few years as I’ve grown the studio, any time I get to document him is incredibly special to me. This fun summertime tradition is something we both look forward to all year long! Summer is already a great time full of family moments and traditions – so these red, white, and blue portraits are one more thing to enjoy about these hot summer months! Enjoy a peek into our family’s summertime tradition! 

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Welcoming Jordan Elliot - Newborn portraits for this family's third baby boy

Welcome to the world, Jordan Elliot! I’m so happy to have welcomed the Popper family back to my studio for their third baby boy’s newborn portraits. This sweet family has three boys: Jonas, Jacob, and Jordan - all 22 months apart and I’ve had the honor of capturing all of their newborn portraits. It’s truly an honor to be invited back into their life to document their milestones and new additions as they grow.

When we began to plan Jordan’s newborn portraits, Natalia and I knew that we wanted to create portraits that would coordinate with his older brother’s newborn portraits, too. That would ensure that all three boys’ portraits could easily be displayed together and enjoyed cohesively. Because of that, we stuck with blues and greys to match the other two boys!

It was so fun too see everyone in the studio together while we photographed Jordan. Jacob and Jonas were thrilled to introduce their new brother to me and showing him off! Capturing their interactions might have been one of my favorite parts of this sweet session. Enjoy a look into Jordan’s newborn portraits today!

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A succulent themed cake smash for baby boy

Happy first birthday, Colton! This little guy is a Baby Plan graduate. I’ve had the pleasure of documenting all of his milestones this year… from his newborn portraits, tummy time milestone, sitter milestone, holiday portraits, and even an extended family portrait session. Now, it’s time to celebrate with his very own case smash session. I’ve known this family since Colton’s big sister, Elliana, was little too. It’s been such a joy to watch them both grow.

When we began to plan Colton’s cake smash, we looked to his sister’s cake smash for inspiration. Elliana’s cake smash was also succulent themed. We wanted to change things up and make sure the entire session felt a little more “masculine” for Colton. WIth that in mind, we stuck to natural textures with gold accents. It was just perfect for this little guy!!

As with all my cake smashes, we also took the time for some updated family portraits in the Hall of Springs in Saratoga Spa State Park. I’m so happy I got to see everyone again and I can’t wait until their next family photos!

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Celebrating Baby #2 - Maternity Portraits in Congress Park with Saratoga Springs Family Photographer

How beautiful is Katie?! This is my second time capturing a maternity session for her and Zach, and I’m so thrilled I was able to document another milestone for their family! Katie and Zach are one of the sweetest couples I know and their older son, Carter, is always a joy to see, too! I’ve been working with them since Katie was pregnant with Carter - for her maternity session and milestone sessions for him, too!

Now they’re expecting another little boy and Katie reached out to me about her maternity portraits. I couldn’t wait to get them on the schedule! We decided to split her session between Congress Park and the studio. It allowed us to capture a few different looks for her - and I think it worked out perfectly!! She used some of my gowns from the Mama wardrobe for the studio, which I loved. That green and white lace dress is one of my favorites and Katie looked amazing in it. Carter was all about being a brother already - hugging his mom’s belly and smiling nice and big for us.

I can’t wait to meet their newest addition. Katie and I are actually due the same week - so I’ll be thinking of her as we welcome Baby #2, too! Congratulations again, Katie, Zach, and Carter! I’m so excited for your new baby boy to enter the world!!! He is already so loved.

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