Baby James | Pittsburgh Newborn Photographer

Read more about the article Baby James | Pittsburgh Newborn Photographer

This was a very special shoot with baby James Michael, who was born in the winter of 2020. Mom and dad, Kate and Joe, were as hesitant as I was about shooting an in-home newborn session due to the rising COVID numbers in our area. We decided together that the best course of action was to essentially shoot two newborn sessions - one mini shoot outdoors in December and then a more comprehensive newborn shoot a few months later when we all were vaccinated, which ended up being April. This first set of images were shot in December: For the outdoor newborn photos, I used my Canon RF 70-200 2.8 lens, so I was able to maintain some distance from the family but also get those beautiful details on baby James. We lucked out with a somewhat warm December day. I was so happy we got those first days because look how much he changed from December to April! Can you believe that adorable face? This little guy was so engaged and happy! Our shoot went very smoothly, and I was amazed at how much he had changed. Below you will find Kate's birth story and some details about life with a newborn. Baby’s Place of Birth: Magee Women's Hospital Describe your birth experience. I think my birth experience was as positive as it could get. I went into labor on my own the day before my induction day at 40 weeks,5 days. It went from 0 to 60 very quickly...meaning I went from thinking I might be having contractions to timing them two minutes apart within 30 minutes. I was fortunate that my favorite doctor delivered James (Dr. Anne Shaheen is incredible!). She was so supportive and reassuring throughout my entire labor and delivery. I felt like I was in the best care throughout the process and I have happy memories from it. The moment that James was born was an incredible sensation! I felt him leaving my body and becoming his own person in that moment. Describe life with a newborn. How has your life changed since giving birth? Is it like you expected or totally different? Life with a newborn was difficult! At first, it was difficult getting to know James and getting to know ourselves as parents. I felt like we had to start from square one and rebuild our lives. However, since we have settled into this process I think our lives are better than ever before. James helps complete our family! Does baby have siblings or pets? Siblings' ages? How did they react to baby coming home? We are very close to my parents' 12-year-old German Shepherd mix named Jack. Before we had James, he spent about 50% of his time at our house. Unfortunately, he was originally afraid of James and uncomfortable with the new situation within the "pack." Now that James is a bit older, he is very interested in Jack. He pets Jack and constantly is checking him out. Jack is starting to…

New Blog Series: Our Most Loyal Families

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I am working on a new series dedicated to my most loyal repeat clients! I have quite a few families that have done portraits with me 4, 5, 6, even 7 years! When I moved here in 2012, Mimi was born just three months later, so my first PA families were in 2013. I started my business as Powder Blue Photography in 2010 in Portland, OR, and we have now celebrated 10 years in business! 🎉 I am overjoyed when a familiar client (friend!) gets in touch to schedule a shoot. I am even more excited when someone texts me with baby news! These are families whose kids I've known since they were teeny tiny, some of them newborns, and their moms and dads are devoted to documenting their childhoods through newborn, family, and senior portraits. Many of the moms and dads have done their headshots with me as well, some of them multiple times throughout the years. These are also clients that are responsible for many of my referrals, so I owe them a huge debt of gratitude. There is nothing I enjoy more about my job than forming relationships with the kids and babies I photograph. I was able to form meaningful relationships when I was a public high school teacher (art, photography, AP Art) on the West Coast from 2000-2012, and my favorite part of teaching was my relationship with the kids as well. I didn't realize when I opened my photography studio in 2010 that I would enjoy this benefit as a photographer as well. Some of the kids I photograph have said "I love you Missy!" and their parents have told me that they look forward to seeing me, or they talk about me often... the kiddos consider me a friend, and that means the world to me! Many of these clients have walls of portraits in their homes and shelves full of albums that I have crafted for them. I work with them every year to update their gallery walls or add a new grouping. I have lately been making suggestions on how to handle it when you have run out of wall space! (Move oldest portraits to the family room or an upstairs hallway, or create a grouping for each kiddo in their room using their individual portraits from every year.) These wall displays tell their kids, "You are loved and valued in this home, and family is important!" So my goal this winter is to honor each of the families that have worked with me for multiple years with downloadable slideshows of their children and families as they have grown each year. I am honored by their love and trust! I never delete photos that have been purchased by my clients. I delete the RAW files, plus any images that have not been selected for purchase, pretty much right after the ordering appointment since they take up a LOT of drive space. I don't guarantee image archival after very much time has…

Pittsburgh Newborn Photographer | Family of 6 Lifestyle Session | Baby Romy

Read more about the article Pittsburgh Newborn Photographer | Family of 6 Lifestyle Session | Baby Romy
© 2017 Powder Blue Photography. www.powderbluephoto.com

I was thrilled when my friend Tess called me up to schedule a newborn session.  First of all, she (at the time) was mom of three of the most adorable kids you can imagine, plus she is an artist and has a great sense of style.  She clearly had a vision for her shoot (lifestyle but not too candid, posed but not stiff or fake), which was right in line with the types of images I love shooting, so everything went great.  I'm including some of her words below describing this session as well as life as the mom of four kiddos. Baby Romy was born on December 2 at Magee in Pittsburgh, so we got to use moms cool/retro holiday decorations as a backdrop for some of these! Mom Q&A Describe your birth experience. Induced Dec 2nd at 39 weeks (the day after my birthday!) Easy & quick- 5.5 hrs start to finish which is about how long all 4 were. Describe life with a newborn. How has your life changed since giving birth? Is it like you expected or totally different? Still full of chaos and very loud.... but even more love and snuggling! Adding #4 hasn't been too hard at all. Transition to #3 was hardest for us. Helps that we have relatively good sleepers all around.  Does baby have siblings or pets? Siblings' ages? How did they react to baby coming home? Pippa (6), Rex (4), Casper (2) - everyone is in love with her! Even Casper who regularly asks to "hold baby?" -we were really worried with how he'd do since he's still quite a momma's boy and baby himself. Pippa is a huge helper! When did you book your newborn session? Why did you pick me? Summer- because of how much I love all of your work! Last baby- important to commemorate "completing" our family even though we never really did newborn sessions for other kids.  How did you prepare for your newborn session? Any tips for new moms regarding newborn photography? Kept an eye out for outfits as soon as we booked the session- coordinating 6 people is hard! Go with the flow! Do you have a favorite image(s) from this session? Describe the image and why you love it. Several! LOVED the pom bonnet images- fun and silly- full of personality! Loved the one of me with baby by the window in b&w- didn't expect to since my goal was more of the whole family or the kids together. Mom also said... "Loved doing some of them in the kids' room because of the quilt on the wall as background. It looks fantastic in the photos, but it is very sentimental! Was a wedding gift from my grandfather, made by my grandmother who was exceptionally talented but passed away when I was only 1. Love how well you nailed blending a 'lifestyle' feel with capturing group 'posed' images. Exactly what I was hoping for! It was super helpful how much you helped with the pinterest board and helping…