The Beauty of In Home Newborn Photos | Orange County Family Photographer

I have no words for how much I absolutely love in home newborn photo sessions! There is just something so intimate and and beautiful about capturing those first memories right where they are happening. I mean, let’s be real, where do you spend 95% of those first few weeks at? And what day is it even? ;-)

When you look back at your photos five, ten, twenty years from now, what better way to bring back all those sweet memories than looking at those real moments captured? <3 And what better way to capture real memories than to let your baby simply be real? In home means 100% baby led. If she is awake, we capture her eyes, if she’s sleeping we allow her to do so comfortably.

And my gosh the interactions captured!! This little doll was only one week old and already making eye contact and even following my camera around! I’m just five weeks away now from my own due date of baby girl so this session was very extra special to me and turned my baby fever to a whole new high. :)

When the Earth Becomes Your Mural | Newport Beach Orange County Family Photographer

If there is one thing I have learned living here in Orange County, it is that Newport Beach never has two skies the same. One day will be cloudless while the next will have so many clouds we cannot even see the sun. I have also learned the weathermen are actually weather guessers 90% of the time. ;-) They will tell us overcast and gray and then I show up to a breathtaking sky. Or they will declare pure sun and last minute a marine layer will blow in and take over the sand. I have found that more often than not I should just go with it, as when I first started I rescheduled some epic skies thinking they were going to be pouring rain!

I have also learned to embrace whatever the weather gods choose to give me, as really how can you go too wrong at the beach, right? Cloudless days create bright, glowing happy moments. Overcast days make for some pretty soft blues as your backdrop. It’s all part of SoCal nature and I love embracing all the varieties of its beach life.

With all that said though, there do seem to be these rare days when the clouds honestly feel like they are singing down all their good luck and happy vibes on me, turning the entire landscape into a real life mural. Raw colors just waiting to be captured and painted on the canvas of my editing software. ;-)

And lastly, how could I leave this whole color painting photography rant without pointing out the importance of your own outift choices as well. The pinks and blues this family chose just pop off the pictures in such a beautiful way here, adding that touch more beauty that really goes such a long ways. We all of course have our own styles and there is no “wrong” piece. BUT, imagining the same backdrop with all black and browns just wouldn’t be the same for me. So when going through your own photo session wardrobe ideas, remember to think about those beach colors, and the ways you yourself can add those pops of color and vibrance to your family’s canvas!

Why I Love Awake Babies Too | Orange County Newborn Photographer

I’ll start by being totally transparent here and admitting that sleeping newborns are in fact much more easy to photograph than awake ones. When they sleep you simply place them as you want them and snap away. You can bunch up their arms and legs, reposition the angle of their head, and move about grabbing different angles from the same position. Awake babies are a much different story. They get much more irritated with us, they make faces, and often become crossed eyed. They often move their head in positions not facing the good light and get upset before you have a chance to grab more than a couple snaps in one place. BUT regardless of all that, I still love those wide eyes. Yes, it is more work. Yes, you have to overshoot each scene. But yes, that eye contact and little expressions are everything!

It’s one of the main things I love so much about lifestyle newborn photography. Because we don’t have to spend hours getting them to fall into a deep slumber. We just go with what they give us, and capture all those real life moments that can’t be replaced.

This doll rotated between awake and catnapping, and omgoodness she gave me all the baby fever too!

Newborn Photographer of the Year Award!!! | Orange County Family Photography

Omgeeee you guys!!!!! Out of only 29 images this one was included and put me in Looks Like Film’s best newborn photographers of 2018!!!!!!! I really have no words for how surreal this is! The insane talent in this photography group is top of the top. I scroll through it way too often and simply drool over all the beauty and creativity. And to somehow be a part of it... no words. 🤯 Big thanks to this baby boy for smiling on cue too-I think he knew how much it would mean to me. 😆🙌💃🏼😭

I’m often known as the beach photographer here in Orange County, and I have no complaints there either! But, I also LOVE photographing new babies and their families, both in the comforts of their home or right at the hospital too! Those first weeks with my own “babies",” now 6 and 7, will forever be etched into my soul as the most life changing moments I will ever know. Love that can never be put into words right there in front of you. And those photos that I have from that time, all the way from the big camera to iphone snaps, still bring tears to my eyes when I look at them today. I remember this every time someone invites me into their own new life together. I don’t take it lightly and I try with everything in me to capture those newborn memories I know they will never want to forget.

You can see the full link of newborn cuteness overload here too! https://www.lookslikefilm.com/2019/01/30/newborn-photos/