If you’re thinking about hiring a birth photographer, you might be worried that the photos of one of your most intimate and vulnerable moments will suddenly become public. I can’t speak for all birth photographers (though I’d really hope that most would agree), but I’m here to tell you that, as a professional birth photographer, I never share a single photo without consent.
When I get invited into a family’s home to document their life with a new baby, it’s nothing short of an honor. But when that same family asks me to come back to capture their family growing again, I feel humbled by the trust they’ve placed in me for a second time.
My goal for each time I photograph a newborn baby and their family at home is to document not just the tiny details that make up this big moment of life, but to really capture how it feels to be living it. I strive to create artful photos that transport parents from their future lives right back to the fleeting days when they first met their baby and could stare at him for hours on end, learning every detail and taking in the newness and profoundness of it all.
Maybe my favorite days, though, are ones like the day shown below — when I was welcomed into a beautiful bungalow in South St. Louis County for an in-home newborn session with Finnegan and his wonderful parents. The living room was bright enough, with several windows, but not so much direct light that rays of sunshine created overly bright spots. There were beautiful neutral tones in the furniture and decorations, accented by warm wood floors and accents. It was a really nice place to start photographing this sweet new family of three.
On my drive from my first newborn session over to this family’s home, the sleet and snow started falling. By the time I arrived, there was a dusting of white on the grass outside. But despite the cold and overcast day outside, the photos we made together inside this lovely family’s home were rich with warmth and color and love. Check out this beautiful family (doggo included) and the magic we made together.
The classic maternity portrait is a beautiful tribute to the growing, stretching body, ripe with the promise of new life. But it forgets about the story that gets us there. I love maternity sessions that honor the life before baby arrives. The preparation, the anticipation, and the last weeks of life before a new chapter begins. So my documentary maternity sessions focus on telling that story.
I remember being pregnant with my second baby while parenting a two-year old. It felt impossible to imagine our little family with a whole other person in it. Our little three-some was so sweet and the parent to kid ratio was pretty great. I mean, we could devote so much of our time and attention to our girl. Even when parenting was hard, it felt manageable with one little person. I’m not going to lie; I was scared of what life would be like with two.
When I met this sweet family-of-three-with-one-on-the-way at Missouri Botanical Gardens for their maternity photos, they reminded me so much of that time in my own life. Their daughter, E, was exactly the age my older daughter was when I was pregnant with my second. They were such loving and fun parents to their girl, and really seemed to be soaking up that moment in time. It was like they knew in their bones that life was about to change in this big and irreversible way.
It’s an amazing thing to add another person to your family. To give your child a sibling. To expand the love in your heart in ways you didn’t know you could. You wouldn’t ever really want to go back to the time before those incredible changes. But it’s sure sweet to be able to look back on those moments before you really knew what life would be like as a parent of two. To see the way you were able to focus your love and attention so fully on the child that made you a mom or a dad.
I’m so happy that this family chose to document this part of their journey. Life is different for them now, with a baby brother for E. You can check out what their Fresh 48 session looked like here, and see that their love surely grew. But before you go, take a look at all the fun they had in the precious and fleeting moments they had on that summer day as a family of three with all attention on E.
Interested in booking your own documentary family session? Get in touch now!
