My last two photo sessions have been newborn sessions.  My normal photography style is very simple, without a lot of posing, props or post processing, so newborn photography is very different from what I'm used to doing.  That's OK because I LOVE babies and really enjoy working with them.  However, up to this point I had avoided some of the less realistic poses.  If you spend any time looking at newborn photography (and why would you?), you know what I'm talking about...babies in what we'll call unusual situations, like sitting in a basket, holding up her own head, hanging in gauze from a tree branch, etc.  I don't expect I'll be doing a whole lot of these overly posed portraits in the future, but I do want to be able to offer them if a client asks, so I got a hold of a friend with a newborn and asked to borrow her baby.

The portrait below is the popular "head in hands" pose, and I'll let you in on a photographer's secret.  It's fake.  Babies cannot do this.  It is a composite shot, meaning it is put together from two different photos in Photoshop.  At no point in the photography session was this sweet baby holding her own head up.  I was skeptical...it's so against my style to pose something so far from real life, and I'm not a huge fan of a lot of post processing work, but I have to admit that I love it.  Plus, it was so funny to see her little face as we posed her, that my friend and I were both cracking up.  So, here she is....a sweet little baby in a basket.

And a slightly more realistic shot...well, as real as a baby in a basket can be.  This was one sound asleep baby.  Hmmm...maybe babies like to be in baskets.

Welcome to the world, baby "S"!  She's such a sweet little princess!  She had some pretty strong opinions about having her photo taken, but the end result was worth the effort.  She's an absolute doll!  

Three beautiful girls!

Happy Valentine's Day to my newest little client.  Enjoy your sneak peek!

My kids are subjected to lots of photo sessions.  Not only do I love to document their childhood, I just love taking pictures.  Fortunately they're good sports about it.  While backing up my 2012 photos, I came across another "lost" photo session from our summer vacation.  Last summer we vacationed in Northern Michigan, and as part of that trip we spent the day at Castle Farms in Charlevoix.  Believe it or not, these buildings were once barns for animals.  Crazy!  I decided to take advantage of the beautiful setting and get some summer photos of the girls since I never took their official "3" and "5" year portraits.  Monkey wasn't all that thrilled to pose for pictures, but as always, I love how her personality shines through in the photos I did get of her!

Stone plus brick plus my beautiful girls...love, love love!

This next one is one of my favorite pictures ever of Monkey.  It's in the children's garden. (Her real name starts with an "E".)

This place is totally worth the price of admission if you're ever in the area.  It's not a real castle, but the kids don't know that.  There's a scavenger hunt, a children's garden, model trains, giant chess sets, and gorgeous architecture (even if it is just a fancy barn).  

My sweet little nephew was such a trooper for his first portrait session.  He was a great little sleeper and didn't pee on me at all.  You can see more of his album on my facebook page.