Posts in Category: Babies
Sarah Grace – baby portraits of an adopted angel
If we ever needed good news, it’s now. ‘Tis the season to celebrate and yet the news everywhere is of fear. If we ever wanted to hear about the triumph of love, regardless of sacrifice, it would be in this time when we focus on gratitude, family and an amazing birth that took place beyond all odds. Now, more than ever, we need hope and grace.
Sarah Grace is just such a beam of light. Adopted by parents who, along with their families and church, prayed for her birth and for her arrival into their lives, she is a sign that there is still reason to rejoice. Their prayers, as so often happens, paid off and not only were Sarah Grace’s mom and dad able to complete her adoption successfully, but were present at the hospital for her birth.
Not long after Sarah Grace was brought to her forever home, her parents contacted us about a photo session and we could not have felt more honored to be a part of starting them off with her first portraits.
Most of the babies we photograph sleep through their session – which is charming in its own way. It allows us to fold all of their cuteness into blankets, buckets and baskets. This was not true of Sarah Grace. Oh, she’s cute alright, but she was wide awake, so present and engaged and it was evidence of her will and spirit. Even at 3 months, she’s already had to overcome a lot and her survival instincts were in keeping with the level of energy she showed with us.
Almost half of the babies we’ve photographed from their very first newborn session have either been adopted or conceived through IVF. It’s remarkable to consider! We truly feel that God has placed these children and their families in our lives for a purpose. We don’t know yet what that is, but are thrilled and honored about it.
Like with many others clients going through the adoption process, we’ve cried with/over them, prayed for them, and waited anxiously for those hours and days to tick by until it was official and these babies were permanently in their forever homes with no threat of being taken away.
Waiting for the good things… praying for them, dreaming about what it could be like… is not for the faint of heart. It takes patience of a Herculean magnitude, as well as an understanding that things may not work out as planned. For this new family, however, things took shape and were punctuated with a happy ending. Seeing that kind of want, love and prayer answered makes our job so incredibly wonderful. Their gratitude at having a deep desire granted fuels our joy at being even a small part of it.
We offer custom framing and free wall collection design and installation! Ryan is seen here installing Sarah Grace’s images in her nursery.
Creating their gallery was rewarding and fun. We love saying that helping families create heirlooms is one of the best parts of what we do and it really is.
one year in the life of a one year old girl – 1st birthday lemonade stand (and the vendor is a diva…)
It started here. She hit the planet in a cute bomb. We added the feathered head band and props, but she brought the pout, the languid body language, the laser-focused eyes and bored expression. Someone 20 times her age could never have pulled off that look without some coaching. Miss Ivy would have shaken it out of her sleeve – if only she’d had one.
And then THIS happened. 6 months passed and her cuteness turned to a pensive longing for a purpose in life. Just look at her expression. What on earth is she dreaming about? What is she plotting? Or is she remembering the good times …. all 6 months of them?
And this.
Then Ivy crept up on her first birthday and her parents, Kim & Justin Myers, had a plan. They designed a lemonade stand themed birthday party complete with stand, sign and big jar of lemons. When we heard their plan and saw cell phone photos, I insisted that we also use it in Ivy’s one year portrait session. We moved from our indoor portrait studio to our outdoor portrait garden in order to grab the best lighting and have fun with all the props. The kid is a natural.
Quick aside: Please know that we don’t mind if parents bring their own props. We want you to get as much use out of them as possible and coordinating is always fun. Ultimately, I bought the lemonade stand set up. It had to be done. It was just too cute and I know some of you parents out there can picture your babies and kids playing in it for their upcoming portrait sessions.
This kid is all about pink AND sugar AND dress up. The tutus have become sort of expected with little girls and with Ivy, the headbands. She also loves pop music, but don’t we all? The lemonade stand theme was perfect for her personality. You sort of want to dip a big ladle into a bowl and come up with this little creature floating in pink sugar and tart pulp.
Still Life with Ivy & Cake
Year one is in the books. Actually, it is. We created a custom photo book for the Myers to enjoy, share and show Ivy when she’s older. We had five (5) sessions with Ivy during her first year, and we are already planning and have scheduled year number 2.
son’s nautical 1st birthday portraits + all boy and all flirt
dreams of flight ….
For his first birthday, the theme was nautical. Blues and oranges, whales and anchors. And that little jumper with the anchor on it? Good Lord. It’s a classic. Mothers everywhere would swoon over such a throwback.
Holden is a big flirt. According to his Mom, he turns on the charm in front of ladies and knows how to draw in a crowd at church. People love to spoil him rotten. He was a smiling new baby, just days old in front of our lens (see photo above), a grinning 6 month old and he continues to up the ante at 1. It’s always been easy to get a grin out of him. So, child photographer’s dream?? Definitely.
Like most boys, Holden enjoyed smashing his cake more than tasting it. He was messy and mobile, cracking up and clambering around every set up.
Here’s to many, many more, Little Man!
8 month old’s studio baby portraits + a little “dress up”
We photographed Madelyn’s (well, Maddie’s) newborn portraits earlier this year and somehow she’s managed to get cuter, her expressions more animated, her eyes more blue and her parents, Valerie and Jason, more delighted. In fact, they should probably just keep us on retainer.
Her newborn session was a complete joy, because she’s just so perfect. I say that knowing the bias is evident, so full disclosure: this little lamb is my second cousin.
Her mouth is almost always open, either in the biggest smile or because she’s chattering away. I foresee a lucrative contract in her future …. and most likely with an opera company or any advertiser looking for a child who expresses a constant, persistent joy.
Her eyes are unbelievable and we’ve dubbed them the McGuire eyes. Those big blues are hereditary. Her dad and granddad, my own dad and I ALL have them. Suffice it to say that photographing her is an exercise in seeing how many photos are NOT close ups. And those cheeks! Those cheeks power that smiling and laughing mouth.
Of course, we get tapped to photograph our own friends and family, but we would consider it a pleasure to photograph yours. For those of you new to our blog, please know that we love to photograph newborn babies, infants, toddlers, teens, families, seasonal portraits, newly engaged couples, weddings, bridals – you get the idea. We have an indoor portrait studio, an outdoor portrait garden and a variety of places, props and ideas to share. Please see our work and give us a call. We would love to create heirlooms for your family.
baby’s one year portrait ……. AND CAKE SMASH!!
The Prevettes are lifers with us… at least so far and we hope for the next 30 years. We photographed Lindsay and Seth Prevette’s wedding in 2008 and later their first born, daughter Macanna, as well as son Walker as a new born. This session, however, is in celebration of Walker’s first birthday, so we invited them to the Pixels’ studio and outdoor portrait garden in August of this year.
Remember when you were so small that your parents could fit your bum into a baseball glove? He won’t either, but he’s so stinking cute and now there’s proof of it. Walker’s newborn portraits were delicious because he was and at 1 year, he still is. The love of baseball was a major theme in both sessions.
I look at the newborn photo below and those fingers especially and wonder if he’s dreaming about music and thinking, “I’m playing guitar. I’m the band’s Front Man…. making brilliant chord changes that no one saw coming.”
BUT. Walker may be scratching his chest and trying to decide between throwing a slider, a cutter or a change-up and hoping to impress some cute girl sitting in the stands just behind home plate.
Walker’s mom, Lindsey is very laid back. She makes appointments for portraits and always says “just do what you do best and I know I’ll love it.” That kind of confidence and faith is humbling, so we pull out the stops. Lindsay mentioned that she loved the red wagon because it reminded her of her own childhood, and we definitely love props with kids; they help distract and promote creativity at the same time.
Unfortunately, nostalgia about wagons and creative props do not stave off fussiness with toddlers and after Walker got tired of posing for photos, he decided to give us the “You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me” speech in his own made up language that consisted of pulling faces, tears, and some squawking.
And then [harp music] the clouds parted.
And there was cake.
CAKE!
Beautiful, perfect, resplendent, decadent cake.
SWEET SUSTAINER OF LIFE!!!!!
After that I think we could have left him alone with it and he would not have missed us.
There were claw marks in the cake for sure, but Walker managed to limit the smearing to his cheeks, mouth, nose, chest, hands, knees, legs and feet. Success.