O H A N A | Fort Wayne Summer Newborn Session

Ohana’s newborn session was extra special for me, because I was her parent’s wedding photographer, AND their wedding was my first as ‘the‘ photographer!!!  The Berrys have such a sweet family dynamic and besides being an adorable baby, Ohana seems to be the perfect little puzzle piece addition to it.

Although the sky was looking a little iffy the day of our shoot, we held this session in the Berry’s backyard and planned to move inside to their living room when it started raining, but the weather cooperated the whole time and almost as soon as I got into my car to leave at the end, it started pouring!  I was so thankful for the perfect timing.

I like to hold newborn photo sessions at the family’s home for two reasons: 1. usually the baby is very young (under 2 weeks old) and I want to make it a little easier on the parents not to have to pack up and bring their whole family to a different location (not to mention if we need anything extra because a prop was forgotten or baby has an accident while we were shooting without a diaper on) and 2. holding the session at their home makes the photos all the more meaningful with the house and yard being the very first home of the newborn and the place where the family will make some of their first memories together.  The Berrys have a cute little home with a nice, green, backyard which worked really well for taking photos!  Here are some of my favorites from our session. Enjoy!

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This sash draped on Ohana’s head and body as well as the dress she’s laying on were both worn by her mom, Olivia on her wedding day!  I absolutely love meaningful props like this!

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I experimented with making a little lace crown for the shoot and it turned out alright! I’m excited to try making different colored ones because they can be so cute!

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Ohana’s big brother, Malachi, was fairly co-operative for the full family picture! Especially when I promised to show him the photos afterword (the words “Jolly” and “Rancher” might have been thrown around too but he was pretty excited to see his photo)! This tends to be a trend with young kids I’ve gotten photos of!  If you’ve got shy or rambunctious kids who don’t want to pose for a picture, snap a photo of them real quick, bring it over for them to see, and tell them that if they smile nicely, you’ll let them see the photo again!  Also, tell them (over and over again) how pretty/handsome they are! 9/10 times, they LOVE it.  And if not, then there’s always Jolly Ranchers 😉

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Berrys, thanks for giving me the honor of getting Ohana’s newborn photos and capturing pictures of your little tribe!  I’m excited for all the things to come for the four of you!

love,

anna

LYDIA | Fort Wayne Newborn Photography

The Rivera family were nothing short of a joy to work with.  From our very first Instagram messages to when I left the photo shoot which we held at their beautiful home, I was thankful to be able to photograph their sweet daughter, Lydia.  In these photos, Lydia was only 3 1/2 days old, with a full head of hair, and already a natural model.  She slept (or at least stayed very calm) throughout almost the whole session, but there’s one photo of her crying that I couldn’t resist to put into the collection because even that was cute.

Some of my favorite photos from this session include Lydia holding her mom’s fingers, her brother leaning down to kiss her, and the family photos where you can clearly see that everyone is already smitten with the newest addition to their family.  Lydia’s grandmother was there for our shoot as well, and we got a 3 generation shot of her grandmother and mother adoring her.

One thing I always try to do in my photography is focus on the details, because details inherently tell great stories in the most genuine way. I love that with photos, I can capture an image of the details of a certain moment in time, and preserve not only those details, but the emotion and the feeling of those moments for years and years to come as well.  In newborn sessions, I try to focus on two kinds of details: 1. the details that make them who they are and that will probably last their whole life (profile, eyes, little mannerisms or faces they make that they will continue to do as they get older) and 2. the details that will be gone very soon since babies change and grow so quickly (the smallness of their hands and feet, chubby cheeks, their feet crossed around each other).  I tried to capture the sweet, comfortable mood of our photo shoot through these details in Lydia’s newborn photos below.  Enjoy!

C A M D E N | May 2016 Portraits

I was so thrilled when Rachel messaged me, asking if I would be able to do a portrait session with her son, Camden!  This sweet little guy’s uncle was actually in Jake and my wedding and the whole family means a lot to us, so it was special to me to be able to take photos of Camden!  When Rachel messaged me and said “Camden is growing so fast, and I have yet to get photos done of him!”, as simple as it was, it reminded me of why I love being a photographer.  Although we all know that time passes quickly, babies seem to remind us of that with how fast they grow and change.  It’s just a little harder to remember that time is moving by all of us at the same rate, even though we aren’t all still growing quite so quickly. 😉

Camden was born early and spent the first weeks of his life in the NICU.  As I’ve watched his family go through the journey that has been Camden’s life since he was born, I’m grateful to celebrate someone so small that has already had such an impact on the people around him.

As you probably know, I really enjoy being able to take photos that highlight the little things.  One reason why I enjoy doing newborn and baby photos every now and then is that I get to capture those details that seem to change so quickly so that they will last- even after those tiny fingers and toes aren’t so tiny anymore.  All of this to say, I’m glad I get to do what I do.  To capture moments, details, and the little things that won’t last forever is a privilege and an adventure that I’m glad to be a part of.

Here are my favorites from my session with Camden and some of his family.  Enjoy!