Oh, the Abel family - how much I love to photograph this gorgeous family! Mom and Dad are so much fun and the girls make me a laugh throughout each session! I last saw the family for baby sister Maggie's newborn session so when Mom contacted me to photograph their family, I was excited to see them again now that Maggie was a young toddler! The family decided on Hartwood Acres Mansion for their photos and we ended up having a stunning sunset evening for their session. We started our session near the mansion, which always provides a gorgeous backdrop for photos. The mansion itself is beautiful, but I also love using the steps and walls around the grounds as they offer a different perspective of the mansion along with beautiful landscaping for interesting texture to the photos. With three young daughters, I encouraged the family to play and interact with the girls in order to get those true smiles, laughs and genuine connection within the family. But when photographing the girls or mom with her daughters, Dad was THE BEST at making silly noises or faces to get amazing reactions from each of his girls! We were able to capture the biggest and best smiles from the girls! After spending some time at the mansion, we went over to a large field nearby for some photos of the family sitting and snuggling together - which immediately resulted in a tickle party! You can almost hear the laughs when looking at their photos!

From here, we moved over into the garden when where I then took some individual photos of the girls among the beautiful flowers. I often encourage older children to participate in how they want their photos to look - by selecting a flower patch or spot they would like to use, how they would like to pose or getting them to interact with me by playing silly games. I find that children are often more engaged and invested in having their photos taken when they are given choices and a change to participate. And we often get some of the best photos during this part of the session! We ended up with one last family photo in the garden, at which point the girls were tired and super silly, but I love how silly and genuine each family looks in these photos. It truly captured each personality as well as their time together as a family!

Oh, sweet baby Violet - you are so incredibly loved!! I was contacted by mom, Kimber, who is a fellow photographer to capture newborn photos of her second daughter Violet. She also wanted to prioritize photos of her oldest daughter, Mila, and the girls together. Mila was a total ham during the session and gave the BEST facial expressions! She was so much fun and didn't stray too far too from her new baby sister so we were able to get some really adorable images of the two girls together. 

Violet was such a great little sleeper during her posed newborn images and we were able to move through a variety of poses and set ups. Mom mentioned that she would like to use neutral tones in the session with touches of teal and purple to go along with her name, Violet. Within my newborn questionnaire, I ask about the colors the family would like to use but also any colors they would like to avoid in the session. Kimber answered that they were not big fans of the color pink, so she knew she did not want to use any pink tones. It is super helpful when families complete this questionnaire and let me know exactly what colors they prefer and not like as well as any ideas they have for their session. Each newborn session is customized based on that individual family and their preferences, so the more information on what they like or do not like, is most helpful in selecting which newborn props I bring with me to the session. Once I arrived with all of my blankets, wraps, headbands and posing bowls, Mom and I worked together to decide which props would be used during the posed photos. Even Mila helped us choose headbands and wraps. This allowed the session to be completely customized for the Lee family! 

Welcome to the world, little Maddie!! She's joining big brother, Mason, to the super sweet Osborne family! I have gotten to know mama, Tess, through our local gym where she is an instructor and fitness trainer. Even throughout her pregnancy, she was running circles around us in her fitness classes, which did not surprise me at all!! I was really excited when she asked that I photograph their newborn session and knew that we would be able to capture some adorable photos of her growing family!

Once I arrived, big brother Mason was super playful and ready to snuggle with his parents. He was not so sure about snuggling with his baby sister just yet, so we focused on letting him play and giggle with his parents to photograph those true interactions as a family. Toddlers are predictably unpredictable, especially when it comes to taking photos, so I always follow their lead and not push too much in trying to get them to 'perform' for the camera. This often leads to more cooperative behavior and fun photos! We also gave him plenty of time to play and take a break, which is super important with young children!

After photographing some family photos and some lifestyle images of each family member with baby Maddie, we moved on to capturing her individual posed newborn photos. Mom had expressed interest in using pinks and neutral tones throughout the session as well as some floral details. We also selected some great texture pieces including lace, faux fur blankets and knit wraps. The color choices and textures we used provided a variety of posing options but a cohesive look to their final gallery. I love using different wraps, headbands and blankets in different ways in different poses because it really helps tie all of the photos together in the end!