While I do enjoy doing some classically posed newborn photography, my heart feels fullest during a lifestyle newborn session. The term “lifestyle” refers to a type of photography that focuses on the interactions between people in everyday situations. There are no artificial lights, no forced poses, and the goal is to document life as it happens in an artistic way.
This session was filled with exactly that. What you see is what you get! Big sis genuinely adored her little brother, and the whole family enjoyed simply being together. We read books, jumped on the bed, snuggled….all things that characterize this amazing family’s life together.
Christmas is a big deal in our house. The holiday season is filled with baking, decorating, evening drives to check out lights, hot chocolate, Christmas movies, advent calendars, secret santas, The Polar Express, and, of course, 24/7 Christmas music. It’s been this way for as long as I can remember, but having young children makes everything even more exciting and magical.
Choosing a Christmas tree was always something the boys looked forward to, but this year we decided to make it a true adventure. Instead of hitting up one of the roadside stands that we usually go to, we decided to head to SMOLAK FARMS in North Andover, MA for a cut-your-own tree expedition. I knew the kids would enjoy it….but it turned out to be even more wonderful than we had imagined! Not only did they love the challenge of scouring the fields for the perfect tree, but CUTTING IT DOWN? With a SAW?? Yup, they were in heaven. Once the tree was safely secured on the car, we headed to the farm stand for more holiday fun! The kids were invited to decorate cookies, do some crafts, and even write a letter to Santa! They enjoyed their treats, while my husband and I relaxed with some hard earned coffee and donuts. We haven’t even decorated the tree yet, and the boys are already talking about doing it again next year!
Of course, I HAD to grab a few photos before we headed off to the field 😉 Thanks to my mother for helping me get a few shots with our whole family together!
Check out even more pics from our adventure are in the slideshow below 🙂
Most newborn photo sessions take place when the new baby is just a week or two old. We capture sweet, scrunchy, sleepy newness, and I’m usually able to get images of the baby all snuggled up asleep in at least a few different setups. So when this family scheduled their baby’s first photos to take place about 6 weeks after the birth, I didn’t know what to expect! Well, that’s not entirely true, since I did photograph their FIRSTBORN during the same time frame… But still – there are a lot of unknowns. Would the baby sleep at all? Would she be colicky and cry a lot? Would big brother still be interested in hanging out with her?
Well, just like our last session – all the stars aligned, and we captured some beautiful moments. In fact, there are quite a few things about waiting a few weeks to do a newborn session that made the whole thing much more relaxed and enjoyable:
Mom had some time to heal after the birth.
Some of the chaos that goes along with bringing a new baby home had subsided.
Everyone was able to focus completely on enjoying the session instead of trying to get to know the newest family member.
And we even lucked out and got baby girl to sleep for long enough to snap some shots out in her Grandfather’s garden! I’d say it was a success.
I’m already looking forward to seeing these kiddos again for their HOLIDAY CARD MINI SESSION next month, and then again next summer!
You may remember this gorgeous family, who has been featured on my blog every fall for FOUR years now! They’ve always been easygoing and fun to photograph, but this was the first year that I think even the youngest member was out of the “run away from the photographer” phase – making for a sincerely relaxing, loving session filled with smiles and snuggles. I can’t wait to fill their yearly album with these images. They are starting to amass quite an impressive collection!
One of my favorite things about the fall is catching up with awesome families during their annual photo sessions. I’ve been working with these handsome guys since little brother was born, and they’ve only gotten cuter and funnier every year!
Of course, they’ve also gotten faster…and this session was certainly my workout for the day 😉
I know that there will come a day when my sweet, adorable little kids won’t want to wear sweet, adorable little costumes – so I’m enjoying it while I can! These three made it all the way around our neighborhood last night, and came home with way more candy than they’ll be allowed to eat 😉
