It's been a while since I blogged, and I apologize. I've been busy behind the scenes with new and exciting things, working on ways to provide a better experience for my clients and creating ways to offer more with greater service, more options, and getting. photos. printed.
I have also been busy snuggling all the spring babies who have arrived and have come to my studio for their time in the spotlight as there families proudly reveal them to the world. I absolutely love my "job" so much - my husband recently expressed that he was slightly jealous about how much I loved my job. I genuinely do; I look forward to it always, and it makes putting the hours and hours of work it requires to run a business from home easier. It's not hard to "work" when your work is play, and while I feel sympathy towards my husband (I, too, once worked a job that I was not very passionate about and I know the feeling), but at the same time I feel like it's important to do the best you can, regardless, and that life is what you make of it. You can choose to be miserable, or you can choose to tackle each task with a skip in your step and a smile on your lips. Only you can control your level of happy. :)
First on the blog for Spring babies is sweet baby Naell (pronounced "Nile" - LOVE!) He was a teeny, tiny little baby boy who decided to arrive a smidge early. It seems a lot of babies lately have been anxious to arrive, as the weather has turned from winter to spring, and their timing couldn't be any better as the grass starts to turn green, and the buds on the trees become to form.
Accompanied by his older brother and parents, we played about in the studio and marvelled over Naell's amazing eyelashes, and convinced big brother to settle for a few pictures with his newest compadre (which mom filled her gallery of nearly every shot, and I can't blame her. They were just too cute together!)
Nearly every time we transition to a new portion of the session, I always say "Oh, this is my favourite part." And I'm sure this leaves clients feeling a little confused, but I genuinely can't pick an actual "favourite" part of a session. I love every single moment and portion of each session.
The sibling shots, always a bit of an adventure into the unknown and taking our time to convince an older sibling to cooperate for a couple of shots. Some cooperate just fine; others (usually around the age of 2 years old) need to sing a few songs of Baby Shark and recite all the catchphrases of PawPatrol before we can break the ice and get some smiles going.
Parents shots are full of gentle moments and misty-eyed interactions. I love watching Mamas nuzzle into their babies as they take in the sweet scent of their newborn's hair. I love the closeness of new parents as they marvel over the tiny human they created together. And, of course, the adorable comparison of baby in daddy's hands - for now, so tiny and a perfect fit in the palms of dad's hands (which always gets the "aww's" going from Mom).
And then, of course, the solo shots of baby in the spotlight, capturing all of those tiny details and scrumptious baby-squish as we gently coax and pose baby into different props, positions, and poses.
I absolutely love the wrapped poses; turning baby into a round little bundle of cute always gets the heart fluttering and the giggles going. I like to start my sessions out this way. The babies love it, and often it convinces them to drift off into a deep sleep, giving me the opportunity to get a variety of different shots and set-ups. They are wrapped gently, with limbs placed carefully to make sure their little baby limbs get the circulation they need, and their little baby lungs can breathe unrestricted. There is great care taken in all of the steps during a newborn session to make sure these little humans go home unharmed and to keep them comfortable for as long as possible.
While baby wrapping can seem like a simple task, it honestly is a task that, I feel, looks easier than it really is. And if you've ever tried to swaddle a baby up snug to keep those flailing little arms in place, you know exactly what I'm talking about. And there are so many different kinds of wraps in the newborn photographer lingo, including but not limited to: potato, toes peeking, egg wrap, waterfall, base wrap, knot wrap, pretzel wrap, womb wrap, etc. Lost? We haven't even gotten into the poses yet.
For little Naell, we did the Toes Peeking Wrap and Potato Wrap (with a "twist"; curly fries, anyone? :D )
Naell woke up for a small portion of his session, so I took the opportunity to grab some awake-shots while his beautiful little eyes curiously looked about my studio, trying to figure out what was going on and why this strange lady was sticking him in baskets and buckets and whatnot. But, after a couple of feeds and some snuggles, he drifted off to sleep and, despite the odd squawk as I adjusted his fingers and perfecting a pose, he let me grab a few poses and then let me know he was done by crying out for mom and letting us all know that he was done.
I never force a baby to continue on for longer than they are willing to cooperate for. If a baby has been stimulated enough and is becoming irritated by my gentle pokes and tweaking during posing, I respect these little humans and we draw the session to a close. I've never had to reschedule or reshoot a session, which is something that I'm quite proud of (and knock on wood to keep going...) and I feel that success is mainly due to knowing the baby's body language, understanding how the baby is comfortable and what poses they are capable of achieving, as well as maintaining a calm and relaxed atmosphere within in the studio. Never any rushing, no other commitments in the day. Just these moments before us.
I feel like it's important to not sweat the small stuff. Let baby set the pace and follow the baby's lead, make them comfortable first and respect the limitations set by the baby. There are countless ways to be creative and put together gorgeous photographs with whatever baby gives you. Letting their personalities steer the course of the session also creates a genuine nature of a photograph and captures the essence of that particular baby, and while some may be "cranky" in the midst of a growth spurt, I've also learned that patience is key despite having some frustrations here and there, I'll admit, it always ends up working out and parents are always thrilled with the images that result from their sessions.
So, with Naell giving me the cues that he had enough and with me being satisfied with the images we were able to capture, we tidied up, tucked Naell away comfortably in his car seat, and a beautiful session drew to a close.
(Check out the stunning eyelashes on this little dude - oh man! I am STILL swooning!)
Mom was absolutely thrilled with the photographs she received from her session, and getting her excited emails exclaiming her joy over their newborn session made my heart happy and affirmed, again, that I am doing exactly what I want to do and continually strive to deliver an experience and images that my clients are head-over-heels for. It brings me a purpose to be able to do what I do; I enjoy it through and through, every single moment down to the second. It brings me so much joy and humbles me to know that my clients enjoy and appreciate it just as much.
Thank you so much to Naell's parents for trusting me with their boys during their session, and for allowing me to capture these precious memories for them. It was a true joy and pleasure meeting and working with them, and I thank you again for joining the Hocus Focus Photography family. <3
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