This was my first year offering summer sunset mini sessions and I am so excited to share some of my favorite images from the sessions! We had two absolutely gorgeous evenings and beautiful sunset lighting for these mini sessions. On our first night, we met at Adams Township Community Park - one of my favorite local spots for portrait sessions. We started with Amelia who loved to twirl and spin and hunt for flowers among the tall weeds. Then came the Ramirez boys...who absolutely loved to run, play and make silly faces! It was so much fun chasing these kiddos around the field!

The next night of summer mini sessions were held at Pine Community park. There's a great field with tall grass and wildflowers that photographs beautifully at sunset, so it was the perfect spot for our sunset minis! I started with Brooklyn, a really sweet 2 year old who has the most infectious smile! Next, I photographed the Krenz kids - a brother and sister who were super playful and so much fun! I especially love the snuggly photos of them together!

I want to say thank you to all of the families who participated in this year's summer minis - it was so much fun photographing all of these sweet, fun kids!

​All images by Becca Baker Photography
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania newborn, maternity, child & family photographer
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*Becca Baker Photography specializes in newborn, infant/child, maternity and family photography in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas.*
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Meet the Wasynczuk Family - a super sweet family who booked their first session with me to celebrate their youngest daughter's first birthday! I actually met mom almost 2 years ago at a local playground. Our girls were playing together so we began chatting about our kids and lives (as most moms do on a playground!) She took my information and then followed me on social media. After having their second daughter, mom contacted me to book a portrait session for their family and some first birthday photos for Olivia. Mom knew she wanted to use a more natural location, possibly with a field of tall grass and wildflowers, so I started to come up with a list of recommended spots. I was driving through a local park and saw an open field with beautiful white wildflowers and it happened to be the same park I met her in two years ago! I was so excited when she agreed on this location! 

They brought their adorable dog with them and we made sure to capture some family photos with her included. We took a range of photos on a secluded road and empty hillside and then drove over to the grassy field with wildflowers. The sun was starting to set over the back of the hill and field, so by the time we got to the cake smash photos with Olivia, we had a gorgeous golden glow over the tall grass! Olivia had no problems jumping in and eating her cake. Some babies just know to go for it and others need a little convincing....but she needed no help at all! And big sister Emily was standing by waiting for the go-ahead from mom and dad to jump in and help Olivia with her cake! I love the images of the two sisters sitting in the tall grass with a gorgeous sunset behind them, eating cake together...and Olivia's reactions are just priceless! 

It was so much fun catching up with the Wasynczuk family and capturing these fun memories for them!

For the past few years, I've been able to photograph the Bombick kids to celebrate their birthdays. The summer session is a chance to capture photos of each of the kids separately and together, but also focusing on middle sister Annabelle who is celebrating her 6th birthday! We met at the Walled Garden in Mellon Park, which is always a beautiful location to photograph portrait sessions. The garden in the courtyard was blooming with a variety of beautifully colored flowers and bushes, which made for a gorgeous backdrop for the children's photos!

All three kids have such fun personalities, but are all so different. Sam is a bit more quiet and reserved during our sessions but his sisters are much more vocal and active. Annabelle loves being the star and always has a fun, sassy pose she wants to show off in her portraits. Baby sister Amelia is a total ham who shows off lots of different facial expressions and is starting to push herself to the front during photos. After we finished up photos of Sam and Amelia, it was time to capture some special birthday photos of Annabelle. She walked around the property with me and pointed out some spots she wanted to use as backdrops for her photos. The sun was starting to set but it was also a little overcast, so we had beautiful, soft light by the time we started Annabelle's individual photos. We were able to capture such fun elements of her personality - a snapshot of Annabelle at age six. The missing front teeth, sassy poses, big smiles, twirling, jumping and silly sense of humor! 

Little Lyra is a one year old!! I met the Tuttle family last year for Lyra's newborn session. The family was absolutely the sweetest and I remember how adorable big brother Luke was during the newborn session - he loved looking into the crib at his new baby sister and while holding her in the rocking chair, he sang songs and showed her his favorite little Hot Wheels car. Now that Lyra is a one year old, Luke is still a sweet big brother who also loves to hug and wrestle with his little sister!

For their family portrait session, we decided on an early morning session at Beechwood Farms. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning, with the morning sunlight coming through the trees, offering that stunning, dreamy light! Lyra was so smiley and happy for her photos, especially when she was able to move around and play. I was totally obsessed with her beautiful curly hair, especially with how the sunlight shone through her hair, offering gorgeous golden highlights! 

I really love photographing sessions at Beechwood Farms, and for several reasons. The light, for either sunrise or sunset, is always beautiful! The tall trees and grassy fields offer a perfect filter for the sunlight, which give a dreamy, golden glow for portraits. But I also love the variety of 'looks' you can get just by walking around the grounds. Beechwood has flowers, grassy fields, tall trees, wooden fences, a pond, trails and even a little barn. It is a beautiful, versatile location that works well for a portrait sessions. And it was the perfect choice for the Tuttle's!

​All images by Becca Baker Photography
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania newborn, maternity, child & family photographer
​
*Becca Baker Photography specializes in newborn, infant/child, maternity and family photography in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the surrounding areas.*
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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!