I dream of Boho

Have you ever just had an idea in mind so clearly, you started planning a session setup in your mind? Thats what happened to me with this boho setup, and its all because of this super sweet ivory bamboo footie pajama! I had an idea in mind of what I wanted, and after asking the internet for models, I was able to turn those dreams into reality! I got 8 babies, whose mama’s had no idea what the setup would look like, only what their little one would be wearing, and over the course of 1 week, I captured the amazingness you see here. I had so much fun playing with these little ones, some were smiley, some serious, and some wanted nothing to do with me but in the end I was able to get amazing pictures and had a blast doing it! So without further ado, here are the babies!

My first little one into the studio is the son of a friend and fellow photographer, Leslie Whitaker, who I used to share a studio with and who has the cutest little redhead baby ever! Killian was SUCH a ham and just the best little model! He happily cheesed for the camera as you can see, more than willing to give me all the poses.
You can check out her most recent blog post here: https://www.shreveportmaternityphotographer.com/blog/2022/1/31/b9iuvay5enq1yjqviugse9p0v2m131

She is wonderful at what she does ❤️❤️

Next I had Jaxon, and let me tell you this boy had SO MUCH PERSONALITY! He gave me all the faces and had me and mom cracking up! He knew exactly what I wanted and let me tell you, he delivered. I mean just check out how stinking cute he is!

Sutton was next, my third boy into the studio for this setup, and I’m gonna be honest, I was shocked how much he had grown! I feel like I did his newborn images just a few weeks ago. Mama was nervous about his sitting up, but he rocked that as well as rocking the session giving me ALL the smiles and sweet faces!

I finally got my first girl in the studio, and oh man, when I tell you my heart MELTED. Krislynn has the most amazing hair and such big bright brown eyes! She wasnt sure of everything at first, but man oh man when she opened up, her sweet smiles lit up the place. Also, the bow in the top 2 images were made by a local mom owned business, Messy Bow Mob! I’ll link her website at the end of the post, I used it with all the girls, and it was seriously so perfect and cute!

Hailey came into the studio, and UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT. This girl cheesed, and mom and I melted. She made the sweetest little faces, and I got more pictures than any of the other babies! She had a blast, I had a blast, I was an incredibly fun session for all!

Melanie came into the studio next, and she wasn’t sure about me, but that didn’t stop us from getting amazing pictures!! This girl knew what she wanted, and what she wanted was snacks (My photoshop skills are the only reason you don’t see a veggie straw in that bottom picture!). I pulled out all the stops, making funny faces, and noises, and in the end, I got the best little faces! She was so stinking cute and I just wanted to give her all the snuggles!

Now Mila with my last girl and she was not having this smiling business. This sweet girl was giving me all the serious vibes, but that just made it EXTRA special when I finally did get a little grin! She made me work for it, but those smiles make me feel like a million bucks.

My last baby was Cohen and he was SO FREAKING CUTE. Seriously I just wanted to take him home! His mama has known me my whole life, our families so interconnected, and I have photographed his cousin! I was so excited to capture these sweet baby portraits! He finished off the sessions with a bang giving me all the sweet smiles.

At the end of the week, once I got a chance to see what I had captured, I was so incredibly happy, It was everything I dreamed of and more! It was so much fun getting to design a setup and capture all these babies, I cant wait to do it again!

Also, I mentioned Messy Bow Mob in one of the captions, and if you look, all of the girls wore that same bow in their portraits! It went so perfectly with this theme, I can’t wait to get more bows for future sessions! You can find more information about her business here:

https://messybowmob.com/

As well as on her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MessyBowMob/

Mary, the owner is amazing at making the cutest bows, and her twin girls are the cutest little models!

Newborn Safety

Newborns are fragile little beings and my number 1 priority in all newborn sessions is SAFETY! When posing baby, I am always checking hands and feet to be sure nothing is cutting off circulation. I NEVER leave a baby unattended in a prop or on my posing table, and will often have mom or dad come lay a hand on baby if I need to step away for any reason. Some poses I do are actually composite images manipulated in photoshop! One such pose is the very popular Froggy pose. This pose features baby with their head resting in their hands while their little toes peep out on either side. I so love this pose as it displays toes, fingers, eyes and nose so perfectly all in one pose, however this is a pose where baby is always supported by my assistant or mom/dad. Below are the unedited images where you can see mom holding baby’s head, supporting the weight, and then the second image, mom is holding underneath the wrists, supporting the chin! I then take both of those images and merge them in photoshop to create the final image!

I usually attempt this pose at every newborn session, however it is a more advanced pose, so if baby is not feeling it, I don’t push it! I am a very baby led photographer and do what I can to follow baby’s lead on if they are comfortable. If they are just not loving a pose I move on to a different pose! the comfort and safety of your baby is always my first priority!

I hope you enjoyed learning more about my process. Enjoy a few other Froggy transformations below!

If you ever have any questions for me, please feel free to reach out to me either through my contact for here, or on my facebook page!

Special items in newborn sessions

Before all my newborn sessions, I send out a questionnaire to get ideas on how to style your newborn sessions. I ask about nursery colors or themes, parents favorite colors or animals, and at the end I ask if they have any special items they would like included in their session. Now I have all the props you could ever think of (seriously, its a prop addiction) but when my clients want a special item included in their session, I make sure to find a way to include it and make it special! Some parents want to include their job in some way, here are a few examples of those:

Sometimes parents want to include a family heirloom, like a crocheted baby dress, Belt buckle prizes, or a special stuffed animal that was snuggled by both mama and now baby, or even mom’s wedding dress, which I was able to drape in the background so baby was laying in a nest of beautiful lace:

And then other times families just want to include things that belong to their little one, like a personalized bracelet, or the sweetest little toy planes and name blocks!

No matter what it is, or why you want to include your special item, just know that I am honored to capture these memories for you and I will do my very best to incorporate your items in the most beautiful way!

My relationship with photography

Growing up, I have always been creative. I liked to make things, and draw and color, I loved the artistic side of the world, photography included! However I was told that those things were hobbies; That a career in photography was the easiest way to not succeed in life. I would pick up my camera and take pictures of my family and friends, but as I was snapping away, I would hear myself say 'Oh I'm not a professional photographer or anything'. I would pour hundreds and thousands of dollars into my photography 'hobby' while also trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life. I went to college on and off for 5 years, switching my major 3 times, going into debt from student loans, and still not satisfied with the direction my life was going. When my best friend announced she was expecting, I was ecstatic for her! I told her I would research and learn how to do newborn photography, so I could take pictures of her daughter for her, and so I did. I watched hours of videos, read countless articles and joined a bunch of different Facebook groups to learn how to safely pose and photograph baby Rowan. While researching, I fell in love. I saw people with dream jobs where they get to play with babies all day, and I gotta say, I thought it was the best, most fun and easiest job ever. The reality is a little different, this job is HARD, but it is the most rewarding and amazing job ever. Rowan arrived a little earlier than expected, and we did her newborn session when she was 5 weeks and 5 pounds. She cried and peed on me, and would only let me pose her while wrapped, but I was already in love. I knew then, THIS is what I wanted to do the rest of my life. With confidence, I told my friends and family and while they were doubtful, I didn't let that get me down. I just knew I could be successful. I knew it would be an uphill battle, but I loved what I was doing, so I would power through. I have improved tremendously since that first session, and though i was told all my life it was impossible, I can see success as a photographer in my future.