I love photographing this family - they are so sweet and fun and I always have a really great time with them!! I first met them last year for baby sister's newborn session. They all had me cracking up and this year's family session was no different! Mom contacted me about a summer sunset session for their family, but also wanted to focus on some 5th birthday photos for big sister Annabelle. We settled on Beechwood Farms for our location because it offers a gorgeous backdrop for summer sunset photos. The sunlight shines through the trees and lights up the grassy trails so beautifully! Plus there are lots of beautiful flowers and wild grasses that really add to the natural backdrop!

We started with some family pictures and also captured some individual photos of baby Amelia, who was sitting by herself. After walking the trails, checking out the pond and all of the paths around Beechwood Farms, we finished up photos of the family as well as some special photos of Annabelle with her parents. One specific request was to take photos of Annabelle with her daddy having a tea party. This is something special that they do together at home and they wanted to include that in her 5th birthday session. I always love personalizing sessions to what makes each family special and unique. And to capture an activity that is special to this time in her life makes these photos that much more fun! Mom also brought a very special 'princess' dress for Annabelle to wear in her birthday photos. The dress was so adorable and photographed well as she twirled and spun around along the trails. I really love how her sassy personality came out as she posed with her hand on her hip or offered up a cheesy grin. 

I'm super excited to capture big brother Samual's birthday photos and Amelia's first birthday photos later this fall - I know I'll have a blast with this family and can't wait to see how much they have grown over the summer!

There has been such a baby boom this year and tons of amazing newborn sessions! What an exciting year!! When Mom and I were planning their family and newborn session for baby Lyra, I was really excited because of the theme and colors in her nursery. The room and design sounded amazing and I was not disappointed when I arrived at their home! A beautiful blue color on the walls with pink and white accents, butterflies and flowers...what a stunning and perfect design for a sweet little girl! And the family could not have been sweeter. Big brother Luke was really fun and active, but as soon as it was his turn to hold his baby sister, he was so gentle and kind - it totally made this mama's heart swell! Luke loved looking at his baby sister in her crib and when he held her in the rocking chair, he sang to her and drove his little car around her legs and arms while he told her a story. So stinkin' adorable!!

In planning the colors for Lyra's posed photos, we chose colors that would match the style in her room as well as their home. Soft pinks, cream and various shades of blue made a perfect combination for this family's style! This is always something I suggest to parents when planning out the colors and props we choose for their session because when client's print their photos and hang them on the walls, you want the images to match your family's home decor and personal style. Lyra slept really well so we were able to move through several posed set-ups. This gave us plenty of opportunity to capture different looks and poses. We finished up the session with some photos of mom and dad each with Lyra. And mom requested a shot of dad holding Lyra's feet as this is similar to an image from Luke's newborn session. I absolutely love photographing new babies in their daddy's hands...there's something really special about how tiny and fragile a young life is in their dad's strong hands. So I really love how this image came out as we can see each little wrinkle in Lyra's feet, held in her daddy's hands. What a great image to cherish forever!!

A few years ago I met the Ciloglu family for a summer session in the park. When I heard from mom about booking a session for their son's first birthday session, I was so excited to meet the newest member of their family!! We settled on shooting their session at Mellon Park Walled Garden, which an absolutely beautiful location, especially for sunset sessions. The family was fun and enjoyed playing around with each other, which gave me the perfect opportunity to capture those real, lovely moments between each of them! Plus, baby Kaya gave me the BIGGEST smiles! He was cracking us up with his expressions!

When it was time for cake, little Kaya was a little hesitant at first. He was definitely more interested in playing with the balloons. But big sister, Melda, was super excited about trying out the cake! She jumped right in and helped Kaya, which as soon as he tasted it, he went for it! While he had more fun playing with the cake and squishing it between his fingers instead of eating it, he did get a few bites. This made for awesome photos of his cake smash! Here are some of my favorite shots of the Ciloglu family's summer sunset session and Kaya's 1st birthday photos!

I absolutely LOVE when previous clients refer their friends to me and book a session. My clients are so amazing and I love meeting their awesome friends!! That is how I came to meet Lilah and her family. Another client referred them to me to take their family photos and Lilah's first birthday session. We met at a park in the Cranberry Township area, and it was a new location for me to photograph, but it turned out to be a beautiful spot for photos!

We started off with family photos as well as pictures of Lilah and her big brother, Cameron. Both kids warmed up almost immediately and Cameron was the best little helper. He offered to carry my little stool and blankets as we moved around the park and helped make his little sister laugh while they took photos together. They were just the cutest little family! So funny, sweet and loved all over each other! After finishing up their family photos, we moved onto Lilah's first birthday photos. Mom changed her into a super cute little gold and pink outfit and we used my little teal bucket for some photos of Lilah in the garden. Mom and Dad decided to not do a smash cake and instead save that special moment for her birthday party. But that just gave us extra time to capture lots of fun photos of Lilah playing around!

On a beautiful, warm, sunny evening back in May, I met with the Cassat family for their sunset maternity photo session. I first met Courtney, who is another local photographer, when we both had a booth at a new and expecting mom's community event. So, when she emailed me about photographing their maternity shoot, I was really excited and honored to photograph another photographer! They were expecting baby number two, another boy, and we settled on a gorgeous local park with tall grass and open fields. When we first got there, big brother Vinny was running around, picking up flowers and sticks and enjoying his time at the park. Being an almost four year old, we gave Vinny plenty of breaks to explore the park and play in between shots of him with his mama or family poses. I've learned in my many years of working with children, and especially as a photographer, it is important to be flexible with young children, giving them plenty of time to warm up and have fun in the process! And because we gave him these opportunities to explore, he would come back to his parents, happy and ready to take some photos! 

This also gave mama Courtney and I a chance to sneak off and take some of her maternity photos. She knew she wanted to use an open field with tall golden grass and luckily there's a location that meets this requirement not too far from each of us! The sun was setting just over the trees and we had absolutely gorgeous sunlight coming through the trees and over the top of the grass. Courtney was so natural in front of the camera, that I did not need to give much direction and we captured some beautiful images of her and her growing baby belly! 

It was such a pleasure to work with this family and congratulations on the birth of their new baby boy, Dominic!!

I am super excited to start offering a new type of lifestyle photography session.... Fresh 48 hospital sessions! I had done a few for friends after the birth of their babies and just fell in love with these photos! When Baby Frankie's mom contacted me, they decided to book a newborn package that included a complimentary Fresh 48 session. This was their third baby (3 under 3 years!) and their first boy. So what a special opportunity to capture these images for their growing family! I met them in their hospital room which had big beautiful windows, letting in the gorgeous morning light. And the hospital bassinets are perfect because they have wheels that allow me to move them around the room to find the best light. Mom and Dad actually chose to wait to have Baby Frankie's big sisters meet him when they were discharged home, so this gave me a chance to focus on Frankie and his parents. We captured lots of snuggly photos of Mom and Dad with the baby and saved the photos with his big sisters for when we did his posed newborn session at their home the next week.

For the newborn session, we captured fun shots of the family and big sisters. We even included their family dog in some of the family portraits! The girls were so sweet with Frankie and absolutely loved to kiss him and softly touch him. Plus, they got to show off their twirling skills in their adorable little dresses! Mom chose to use various shades of blue in each of Frankie's set ups. And in the bucket photos, Mom wanted to use a white knit blanket that belonged to Dad when he was a baby. Such a sweet, sentimental piece to be included in their photos! I am so happy that I had the opportunity to photograph this kind and fun family. Baby Frankie is already so loved by his parents and big sisters...he's one lucky little guy!

First time parents are so fun to photograph! When mom booked their Belly to Baby photography package, I loved the opportunity to capture a time in the couple's life when they are just a couple on the cusp of a life-changing event to just after baby has arrived and their adjustment to parenthood. It's such a significant transition and I feel to honored to photograph this important moment in a family's life!

For their maternity session, we actually met earlier in the month for an outdoor maternity session, but it was one of those rare super sunny winter days and we were just too early for a sunset session. So, we decided to find an indoor location and casually photograph the couple's maternity session at the beautiful conservatory. They were so much fun to work with and we laughed and joked the entire time. It was such a gorgeous location and perfect for their maternity session!

Once baby Sadie arrived, we set up the date for her newborn session. Mom and Dad had several personal pieces that they wanted to incorporate in the posed newborn photos, including a rosary and bracelets that were given to her from grandparents and family. Mom even had some beautiful flowers left from the decorations at her baby shower that we were able to place around a bucket and create a floral wreath for Sadie's bucket prop photo. It's so sweet when parents want to use personal, sentimental items in their photos. I believe it makes their photos that much more special and unique to their family! 

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of photographing many milestones and important moments for the Day family and I have loved every one of them! For this session, we were celebrating the twin's 1st birthday. Wow, I can't believe they're already a year old! When mom booked the boy's birthday session, she knew she wanted to do a Mickey Mouse theme with their outfits. They had just gone on vacation to Disney World and she found the cutest ears and Mickey suits for the kids. So when I got there, we went straight up to the playroom where she had set up some of the boy's favorite toys as well as some pieces from their family's vintage toy collection. It was so much fun to capture the boys playing and enjoying their playroom. It was the perfect way to photograph active twin boys! 

We next moved on to some lifestyle photos of the family together reading a Mickey Mouse book. It was so cute watching the babies and big sister interact with each other, and they really loved reading their book! After we finished up some family photos, it was time for the cake! Mom and Dad quickly changed the boys and got the cake ready. They boys had already had their birthday party by the time we did their session, so they had become familiar with eating a smash cake. They dove right in and loved their delicious cake!! We let the boys enjoy their cake for a few minutes and we couldn't hold big sister Roma off anymore...she was ready to eat some cake too! So she joined in and then Mom and Dad grabbed a fork for a few bites of celebratory birthday cake! I always feel that celebrating a first birthday isn't just for the baby but for the entire family....it's time to celebrate your first year together as a family, as a big sister and the accomplishment that you made it through the first year! Happy Birthday boys!

This couple was so amazing to work with...I think we laughed throughout the entire maternity and newborn sessions! Mom contacted me about photographing her maternity and newborn sessions, wanting to book the Belly to Baby photography package. This was their first baby and they wanted to capture this special time in their growing family's life! The couple moved here to Pittsburgh from out of state a few years ago and wanted to celebrate their time in the 'City of Bridges' with a maternity session downtown. So we met on the North Shore, walked through the Cultural District and back across the Roberto Clemente bridge for sunset photos with the downtown Pittsburgh skyline! It was one of those warm April evenings and perfect weather for a sunset maternity session! I loved that we were able to showcase the beauty of Pittsburgh for their session - a moment they would be able to cherish for years to come, whether they are still in Pittsburgh or if they move to another area of the country!

​When it was time for Baby K's newborn photos, Mom and Dad decided on a rich, deep color palette for his photos and props. So, I brought a variety of props that they were able to choose from that coordinated well with this nursery, their decor and his skin tone. Baby K was definitely more comfortable being wrapped and snuggled up tight, so I made sure to keep him wrapped and cozy for each setup. I really loved the dark, beautiful colors that we used for his photos, especially the gorgeous green, gray and blue vintage quilt for his bucket shot! 

I absolutely love working with families and repeat clients. I feel so honored to have had the chance to photograph their family for such important milestones. And I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Baby K and his family!