You'll never walk Alone

I finally have felt comfortable with actually paying full attention to my subject at this last photo shoot. Mr. M was the most perfect baby to takes pictures of. He slept 90% of the time and was only bothered one moment when his diaper was off and …well…..you can guess what happened. I felt as if I could position his small body in a number of different ways to create peace and happiness within his little heart! During the shoot I felt more comfortable with my camera; my adjustments came more natural and less of a distraction to the flow of the shoot. I did however decide to peek at my ISO settings at the end (ps…not a good time to check that), and to my shock it was set on auto!!! To even my feeble mind that means that light adjustments were in the control of the camera and not me. This is not a good thing. As Alton Brown would describe bad gravy…not Good Eats. I had a small panic attack because even though the images recorded on the display appeared to be acceptable, downloading them and seeing them on the computer always is the real moment you see what was captured. Sometimes my camera is very reliable, it knows when adjust and when not too. However a lot of times it is better for me to control all settings for the best shot. Thankfully the camera, Larry, I think I will name him (from previous blog posts you will remember) did a great job and only a few black out shots were incorrectly exposed.

I came out of this newborn session very confident and full of fresh new ideas to put into place for the next one. I want each newborn to be different but there are some poses that I just can’t resist putting each one into. I am still amazed that the first time mothers are so poised. My client’s mother tagged along and was a great inspiration in some of the reflection poses for mom and baby. I could tell though that Nana B was more worried about the baby’s comfort and wellbeing than mom was. This is not to say that Nana was a worrier or that mom was not. It is just a compliment to address the finesse that I saw in this first time mom’s actions.  Lest we forget that she had a C-section 7 short days ago!

Baby M’s father is a Liverpool Soccer fan. The theme song before each game is presented to the crowd and everyone joins in the anthem of “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. How fitting for a newborn session. Our children will make mistakes through life and will grow. I think we can safely say that hopefully they will not make as many as we did. In any moment we find ourselves wishing that parenting was easier we pride ourselves in standing firm on one piece of information…..They will never walk alone. We will always be there, sometimes ahead, sometimes behind…..but together.

New Photos for Baby S

                                                I swear he looks like the Gerber baby!

                           I picture him being delivered by the stork in this picture.

                    His mom wanted to celebrate her husband's heritage

                                 Couldn't pass up the opportunity to give him a little Mohawk.

New pictures of Past Sessions

               Already an App Fan!

                                          This was a difficult set up but turned out beautifully, I knew
                                     it was worth it when I showed her mom the image on the camera and she
                                         said, "I'm gonna cry".

                                              Angelic moments are preserved for her
                                                                  to look back on later.

                      A very special family, I am so                        
                     pleased to know!

A new born adventure

I have to admit it is easier to take a picture of a newborn and expect that someone will love it. However…….. it is not easy to take a picture of a newborn! There is so much to think about. The most difficult challenge is getting them and keeping them asleep. There is a point after a child is born that my mother used to say, “They wake up”. It usually happens around the 5-7 day old range. They notice that things are going on around them and they want to know more about it. Mr. S was just like this. He knew that he was not at home; he knew that it was windy outside and things were blowing around, he knew that he was not supposed to go to sleep in a galvanized tub. The sleeping poses are my favorite and really portray the peace and trust that they bestow in the moment. So far my newborn sessions have been gone smoothly because of three very important pieces of equipment: a heater, a sound machine, and a 50 prime lens. The babies love the heat and sounds of water moving or a heart beating in the background. The 50 lens allows me to blur out everything but the subject. Your eye takes you directly to the baby and nothing else seems to matter. My most recent shoot with Mr. S was extremely peaceful. I believe it was because his mother was a veteran of motherhood. This was her third child and by now she looked like she could do this in her sleep. She was completely at ease and was willing to try whatever pose I wanted to put him in. We quickly found his favorite position and enjoyed watching him sleep soundly. He was even gracious enough not to have an “accident” on any of my props. I can see my sessions progressing as I trouble shoot different ideas and scenarios in my head throughout the shoot.

As a mother of three, I literally can make myself feel guilty because I cannot remember all of those first few weeks of my babies (now 16, 14, and 8). I would have loved for someone to be able to photograph all the little things my mind has seemed to have forgotten.

You don’t just take a photograph, you ask quietly, to borrow it~ Author Unknown

Thanks again for letting me borrow those moments!

 Will post more pictures when they are finished in the editing process.