I always love when I get to catch up with the Desko family. They are so fun to photograph and their son, Luca, is a total doll! He is such a kind, gentle boy who gives the absolute sweetest smiles! Mom wanted to schedule their family portrait session to celebrate Luca's 2nd birthday. We settled on using Hartwood Acres Mansion and decided on sunset for that gorgeous lighting. I love photographing sunset sessions at Hartwood Acres because the light always looks stunning through the trees and in the garden near the mansion grounds.

​We started our session in the courtyards around the mansion, which had large beautiful flowers and colorful bushes. There were bumblebees around the plants, which Luca found interesting as he went from bush to bush looking for the bees. It was the perfect opportunity for me to capture some cute images of a busy toddler! We walked around the grounds, letting Luca explore as we moved into the garden. He absolutely loved playing in the rocks and smelling the flowers throughout the garden! I then posed the family in the garden and just asked them to play around with Luca. With so many tickles, I loved capturing these amazing, natural interactions between Luca and his parents. My favorite photos from family sessions are the ones where I capture those tickles, big smiles, laughs and interactions that show the love and special connection among the family. It's such a sweet moment that the parents can look on for years to come!

Callie is a one year old!! It is so amazing how quickly that first year just flies by! I photographed Callie for her newborn photos and what I remember most about Callie's session is her huge, beautiful smile. She gave me one of the best smiles I have ever gotten from a newborn baby. So, when mom asked me to schedule Callie's first birthday session, I was excited to see if she still had that big beautiful smile. And she definitely did not disappoint! Callie was so smiley and happy, she made my job easy! 

I met the Licastro family at their home on a bright sunny morning to capture their family photos and Callie's first birthday, cake smash photos. We started with a few images with mom and dad but they primarily wanted to focus on Callie during the session. So I looked to photograph some casual, lifestyle images of this sweet family as they played and laughed with their daughter. I loved that they wanted to keep the focus on Callie in both her newborn and first birthday photos, so I was able to capture some true interactions during each session. Just two parents loving on their baby girl!

Once we finished up the family photos, I moved on to taking Callie's individual birthday photos. Callie was so playful and silly, but what really got her excited and smiling was listening to music. Especially the song, Baby Shark. So mom and I sang Baby Shark over and over to get those beautiful smiles and little hand gestures from Callie, which made for some pretty adorable photographs! I always try to find a favorite song or game that baby likes to play because it always brings out the best smiles and laughs! Towards the end of the session, mom and dad brought out Callie's smash cake. Callie was not as interested in her cake, which not all babies like to play around in a cake, but we were able to get a few photos of her with the cake. A perfect ending to her first birthday photo session!

When I first met the Bradley family, it was for little sister's newborn photo session. And when mom asked to book a family portrait session, I was excited to see how big the girls had grown over the past 18 months! We settled on an early morning session at Mellon Park - the Walled Garden is always a beautiful location for family portraits. Both girls were super adorable and big sister was very excited for her spot light in front of the camera! She helped me find the best flowers to pose in front of for her individual photos and was helpful in getting her younger sister to sit and walk with her for some sweet sister photos. There were so many beautiful flowers blooming throughout the garden, we had a great time finding the perfect spot for their family photos! And the morning light was bright and beautiful for an early morning portrait session!

I absolutely love when I get to photograph families over the years. It is so much fun for me to build a relationship with my clients and get to know their children through our photo sessions together. I am always so appreciative when families continue to ask me to capture their family photos each year. And it's such a great way for me to capture how much their family changes over time! With the Bradley family, I was able to photograph the girls as a teeny, tiny newborn and toddler to two growing girls! 

Meet baby Isaac! He is the third addition to the Wilson family and already so loved by his parents and big sister and brother! I met the Wilson family 5 years ago when mom, Debbie, contacted me for her first baby's newborn session. And now big sister Riley has two little brothers to love on! Riley was absolutely adorable during Isaac's session. She helped me decide on blankets, wraps and was always close by to help soothe him when he became fussy. She is such a great big sister and truly loving with her new baby brother! 

Mom decided she wanted to use neutral colors and shades of blue and green for Isaac's posed newborn photos. Isaac was more comfortable being wrapped and snuggled, so I kept him posed in a wrap for each of his set ups. Mom had two special knit blankets that she wanted to incorporate, each made by members of their family. Grandma has made a special blanket for each of her grandchildren, so mom wanted to be sure and use this gorgeous, cream colored knit blanket in one of the set ups. And the blanket was the perfect accent to the neutral fur blanket that he was sleeping on in our first pose. 

After we finished all of Isaac's posed newborn photos, we were able to go outside into their backyard and garden to take the family photos. Now a family of five, we made to sure to snuggle them all together, cuddling with their new baby brother. I also captured some sweet images of Riley and Chester loving on baby Isaac, playing with his toes, and holding him for a photo together!

I have truly loved getting to know the Wilson family as they have grown over the past five years. It is so much fun to photograph families over time and observe babies get older and become the big sister and brother. And I'm excited to see Isaac and his family again for his sitter session and first birthday photos next year!

The Saka family contacted me to schedule a family session to celebrate their sweet daughter's first birthday. This would be their first family portrait session since Selen was born and it would be a special time to photograph their family! Mom was referred to me by another client and was really excited to have her family portrait session. She knew she wanted to use a natural location with tall grass, trees and some wildflowers. This type of location is always a dream but can sometimes be hard to find. She decided she wanted to meet at North Park so I took my family out to scout some locations around the park. I found a gorgeous little field tucked out of the way which seemed to hit all the checkboxes on her list. And it was absolutely stunning at sunset, which was a huge bonus! I was so excited to find such an amazing new location for client sessions! 

Right off the bat, baby Selen was super smiley and giggly with her parents, which made for such fun photos of the family together! I brought along a beautiful vintage quilt I found from Stitched and Found that coordinated  perfectly with their summer outfits and the natural location within the park. Selen was so happy to play around with her parents, which gave the most natural expressions. I absolutely love when families engage with each other during sessions because it allows me to focus on the interactions and connections among each other. So, I usually ask the parents to talk or sing to their children, find a little tickle spot on their baby, play around with something they find in nature like a flower or even just give their child a little snuggle! These little connections and interactions are so beautiful and I find it that it's so much more important to capture these moments as you look back on your photos over time.

Welcome to the world, sweet baby Isla!! The Lampl family was absolutely stunning and baby Isla was a total dream during her newborn session! Mom and Dad, Bethany and Chase, were both so welcoming and big brother Liam, was so much fun to watch run around and play while we photographed his baby sister. At only a year and a half, Liam preferred to play but we were able to capture a few quick moments of him snuggling his sister, which was super sweet!

Isla's nursery was so beautiful and had absolutely gorgeous natural light, perfect for her newborn session. I loved all of the floral details and the design was absolutely perfect for this adorable baby girl. In discussing the family's color preferences and design ideas for Isla's posed newborn photos, Bethany knew that she wanted to use lots of neutral props with feminine details such as lace, bows and flowers. We also decided on using pale pink and teal accents which coordinated with her nursery decor. 

Isla was such a great little sleeper, which allowed me to safely pose her and capture those sweet little details that we all love about newborns. I loved having the opportunity to photograph the Lampl family as they grow from three to four!

Meet baby Cayden and his sweet parents, Tayler and Dan. Tayler had contacted me a few months ago to book her son's newborn session so when Cayden finally arrived - I was so excited to finally meet him and his parents! Tayler and I discussed the various styles and colors she wanted to incorporate in her session to coordinate with his nursery. They decorated his nursery in different shades of blue, gray white so she wanted to include those colors in his posed newborn photos. But after Cayden was born, she let me know that he had a full head of beautiful brown hair and wanted me to bring props and colors that would show off his gorgeous hair. 

We started with the family photos - with mom and dad snuggling on a bed with their new son. I love how cuddling and comfortable they both were with their baby boy! And Cayden was so warm and cozy, snuggled up in a soft, white wrap. We also captured a few images of the family together in Cayden's nursery, which had little Disney themed accessories. I found out that Tayler and Dan were big Disney fans and as a fellow huge Disney fan - I loved the sweet and simple Disney designs! 

We then moved on to set up for Cayden's posed newborn photos. This is the point in the newborn session where I take over handling baby for wrapping and posing. During this time, I always encourage the parents to take a break - get something to eat, lie down on the couch or even watch TV for a bit. It's a great time for mom and dad to just relax for a few hours! I set up for Cayden's photos and incorporated various shades of blue into each set. He was such a great little sleeper that I was able to work through several poses, while also focusing on the adorable little details that I love about newborns. Tiny fingernails, the little fuzzy hair covering their body, the wrinkles in their feet and of course Cayden's full head of beautiful hair!

Nothing makes me happier then to capture sweet celebrations for my friends...and I was lucky enough to photograph my friend's family photos and her daughter's 1st birthday photos! We met at Avonworth Community Park, which was a new shooting location for me so I made sure to get there a bit early to scout some spots within the park that would work for their session. The park had an adorable little creek, bridge and flowers and trees which all made a great backdrop for a variety of their photos!

Along with finding a great spot to set up for their photos: a spot with color, texture and great lighting, I also wanted to find a location that would allow me to focus on the interactions among the family. I love capturing those silly moments between siblings, snuggles and hugs with each parent, even the looks that mom and dad share between each other. It's the interactions, feelings and emotions, at this point in time, that I really want to capture in a family session. I also want to photograph those special details and quirks about the child at this moment in their life. Olivia gives tons of serious, curious looks along with a smile that shows off her fresh baby teeth and I was able to grab a few photos of her and all of those little details. With big brother, Evan, he's super silly and gives the biggest, best smile. So, I was able to be silly with him and photograph that big beautiful smile!

After photographing the family and some individual photos of both Evan and Olivia, I moved on to the birthday photos for Olivia. It always surprises me just how quickly the first year goes by - I feel like it was just yesterday that Olivia was born and my daughter was able to hold her for the first time. Now she's a fun, silly girl who chases after her big brother and loves to read books! Mom brought an adorable little cupcake for Olivia, but she was not as interested in eating or playing in the cake. So after grabbing a few quick shots of her with her cupcake, in her first birthday outfit, Jenna changed her and we went to play in the creek and on the playground! What a fun way to end our photo session together!

Introducing baby Aiden James!! The first baby for the Smith family

Please meet sweet baby Evangeline!! First of all, I am absolutely obsessed with her name and as equally obsessed with this sweet girl! She was absolutely precious, snuggling and so very cuddly during our session - it was so hard to stop taking photographs of this gorgeous baby! In planning out the details for their session, Mom, Krista, knew she wanted to incorporate purples and lavender as this is the color they chose for her nursery. So while I was making the choices of what to bring for her set ups, I selected several options that worked well with lavender, neutrals and feminine details. With a name like Evangeline, I had to go with beautifully feminine details! 

When I arrived, Mom and Dad were still getting ready and settled into the morning, so I went ahead and started with Evie's posed newborn photos. She was such a great little sleeper that we were able to get through several poses, both wrapped and unwrapped. Mom requested a rainbow set up so I found a local vendor with a gorgeous mohair rainbow headband I was able to purchase as well as another local photographer who had the matching rainbow basket stuffer that I could borrow. It was the perfect set for baby Evie's rainbow photos! 

After Evie's posed newborn photos, we moved on to the family portraits. They have an adorable pup that they wanted to include, if possible. I absolutely love including family pets in the portraits and he was such a little ham and so easy to photograph! He was naturally curious about his new baby sister so it was easy to capture some images of him up close next to Evie. What sweet images for the family to look back on, with their fur baby and brand new baby girl snuggle together in their now expanded family!