BOSTON CHILDREN'S PHOTOGRAPHER, BOSTON FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHER, BOSTON NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

Let’s back it up about 5.5 years. I am not yet a Mom [well, like 8 weeks pregnant with Christofer], but I have a “really nice camera” and a brand spankin’ new copy of Photoshop Elements. I tell people that I am a photographer and that I love taking pictures. It’s almost painful for me to go on with the story, but I am not shy about my beginnings. I volunteer to take maternity pictures for my friend Jen and her friend Ravi [I should really use my laptop camera to photograph the pained expression that is on my face as I type these words]. Let me be totally clear when I say my subjects were beautiful and so it’s not about that. It was about me setting up some sort of rigged getup with curtains, a lamp (for backlighting) and an on-camera pop up flash and shooting on auto mode. Then it was about me jacking it up in Elements. Not because I had to “fix” my work, because I knew so little that I thought wonking the daylights out of everything actually made it look cool. It’s a memory I suppressed. Completely.

Flash forward to about 12-18 months ago. Beautiful Ravi and her lovely family move right down the street from me. Still, the memory was too deep to recall. One evening I am teaching a workshop and looking around at my past clients (including Ravi) and a wave of embarrassment hits as I realize that the EXACT people I am poking fun of (people that go into business too soon or shoot sessions before they know what the fork they are doing)… well that “people” was me and like a movie, a movie of all my early sessions (oh, there were a few, you know who you are) start flashing before my eyes. I am sure I was inexplicably bright red. I also know that I am not alone, and that every photographer has a session or two hidden in their closet or under their bed that they thought was THE bomb and now realize it was A bomb.

Flash forward again to about 2 weeks ago. Ravi brought her gorgeous kiddos (and lovely mom) to the studio for a quick little newborn mini session [newborn sessions typically aren't mini sessions, but I'll shoot them that way if you are looking for sibling shots and a few quickies for a birth announcement rather than a full newborn setup]. I really feel like it was my time to redeem myself and make good on all those earlier images.

I really love Ravi. She might be one of the nicest people I know. I am not kidding. She is just genuinely REALLY REALLY nice. Her children are gorgeous and I am so happy she’s a member of our community and it’s so nice to see her face around town. I haven’t seen her husband since they moved here, but he’s good with me because he is of my people [this is where I start to channel my mom and talk about the villages even though I have never been to the villages and cannot speak a word of Greek. Unless I've had a lot of Ouzo. And I am in Santorini trying to communicate with a waiter.].

And so here they are! Ravi, we can set up a time for you to come by and see them all!

I was referred to Baby Jamie’s grandmother (she really looks way to young to be called grandmother) by one of my favorite new clients (and yes, you are all my favorites).  His mom and I emailed back and forth and I just knew I’d like her, she shares my affinity for Starbucks (although I have mostly quit coffee… can you believe it?) and she lives in one of my most favorite neighborhoods near one of my most favorite Mexican joints.  And when we met, we just clicked.  They live in a beautiful old home with lots of light and gorgeous plank floors and so much character.

But back to Baby Jamie.  He was just a love.  A good feeding and he sacked right out for his photos.  We tried to mix in a few with Oz, but it’s always a little precarious mixing a dog and a newborn, so we played it safe.

Anyway, I can’t wait to meet up with them again, maybe in the summer, so I can meet Jamie’s dad as well and do a little family session with everyone!  But for now, check out this newborn goodness!

I shot one final session in 2010, on the very last day of the year. I was so excited for this session… the parents were perfect “newborn client” parents. They booked me in advance with the tentative due date, kept me posted on their progress, alerted me with potential early labor news, and then when the big day did arrive, I think I was on the “top 10 people we have to call” list! Their little baby girl is divine. And they are really wonderful parents. I love meeting clients with whom I click, who share similar parenting styles, and our session feels like it’s coffee with friends.

They are super close to me, so I hope that means I will occasionally bump into them and see how this beauty grows up into a infant, toddler and baby girl!

This entire gallery was supposed to go out yesterday, my apologies.  With sick kids, and then snow days, and then losing power and then kids home again, it’s pretty clear it’s one of those weeks where nothing is getting done.  So thank you for your patience!

I love that she is smiling by the Christmas tree.  Like the BEST gift EVER.

Rockabye Sweet Baby James. And Rockabye we did. To little avail. Prior to my Monday sessions, the other times I’d actually seen James, he’d been out like a light. But not for our session. And do you know what? I am TOTALLY great with that. There is this photographer myth that newborns have to be asleep to get awesome images. And yes, it’s much easier to curl them up and pose them when they are. But seeing as that I emit caffeine from my pores, and seemingly wake up every newborn I spend time with, I’ve adjusted my style to really embrace lifestyle moments. And I LOVE it. I might actually chuck the bean bag and the backdrop all together. Really.

There are a few other reasons I am simply in love with this session. I got to spend time chilling with Steph. And then little Gracie (my son’s future prom date) curled up next to me and proceeded to put on every newborn item I had in my bag. And Colin came home to be the amazing older brother. And it was rainy and grey and I shot the 2nd part of the session at f/2.8 ISO 5000. And I knew it would be B&W grainy. And I loved that too.

We have some future plans for Sweet Baby James involving some super cute new things I want to try out. We’ll feature those in the next installment of the Sweet Baby James Show! Stay tuned!

Yes, I realize this is a monster of a sneak peak. And I know I should be doing my taxes. But Steph deserves this!

I blogged just one image of this delicious little boy while I was on vacation and I just had to come back and add some more. He was so little, and so awake! Usually awake newborns are a challenge to work with, but honestly, he was a very content little boy and just sat there looking at the world, and was so happy to by hung over his dad’s arm! I really liked his parents and they live in a town that is so near and dear to my heart, where I spent so much time growing up and so I was just happy to be hanging out there on a beautiful day.

When I look at these, it makes me realize that I need to stop stressing about getting the perfect sleeping baby pose and embrace just how lovely it is to see a baby being held and loved by his parents. The more I go back and look, the happier these images make me. I hope you feel the same!