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pregnancy photos

it is all about people…

I may photograph food, products, events, and flowers… but for me, it is all about the people. So I get excited when family portrait season comes around and families invite me in to their homes for an hour, or even better, for an afternoon, and I get to play…

I enjoy it so much that every time I am at a family photo shoot I usually have to remind myself that it is time to put down the camera and go home. And when I do eventually leave, I feel honored to have been invited in to the homes of these families and to document what their lives are like at this moment… and I can’t believe that I am lucky enough to call this my job.

A Chicken Named Paige…

Ok, I am getting a little repetitive here… more photos of my beautiful pregnant best friend, Nici.

But I can’t help it. I caught a spark while I was visiting Nici in Montana and I couldn’t stop taking photos. Maybe it was that their house is full of amazing inspiring art, maybe it was that they are both amazing and inspiring artists, maybe Montana is an amazing and inspiring state… or maybe I was just in love with it all and wanted to absorb every inspiring moment. Whatever the reason, my Rolleiflex just knew it was an important trip for me and therefore it was on its best behavior.

And I love almost every photo my Rollei took… but I especially love Nici with her chickens. And I especially especially love Nici with her chicken named Paige (I tried to catch Lindsay, but she was not having any of it, so we used her stunt double.)

America’s Next Top Pregnant Model (Part 2: Film)…

I have been so busy over the last month that I haven’t had time to scan my Rolleiflex negatives from the last several photo shoots… and it had been so long that I almost started to think that maybe digital was good enough. Maybe I wouldn’t do film so much anymore, because digital is so much easier and cheaper… but then I scanned these. And I am in love again!

To see the digital photos from the same photo shoot click here.

And once again, here is the first baby of the family, who is not so excited about the new baby soon to come.


America’s Next Top Pregnant Model…

Beth is another beautiful pregnant very-soon-to-be-mom and she wanted some photos of her baby belly. She had done her homework and watched America’s Next Top Model… so she knew all the right looks and poses so we did the usual pretty photos by the window…

But then we went to the beautiful rocky coastline near their home in Santa Cruz. And for those of you who are not in California and think of California as Sunny California… that is not often the case in Northern California. Just ask Beth… she did her best to hold her poses but it was hard when her teeth were chattering and her lips were turning blue but it was not easy. Rollei photos to come.

Word of Mouth…

I was so happy to receive an email from JoAnn this summer. JoAnn is expecting her second child and she wanted pregnancy photos as well as photos of her cute family. JoAnn got my name from Maria, the mother of the 2-year old who’s birthday party I photographed in the spring, and Maria found me on the internet.

I love that I have been in business for 3 years and I have yet to make business cards… word of mouth is way better than business cards– and it saves trees too! (Although, I know I will receive grumpy comments from my loved ones who wish I had business cards so they can pass them out…. so it is only a matter of time until I give in to the little white rectangles.)

Anyway, here are my favorites so far. I took a few rolls of film too, so as usual, there will be more to come. It was such a fun photo shoot… gorgeous couple with a super happy 2 year old and big beautiful windows. It was a great way to spend a Sunday.

 

Expecting….

I wasn’t able to make it to my friend Tauni’s baby shower a couple of months ago, but earlier she had mentioned she wanted some pregnancy photos, so as a present, I promised we would make it happen. And tonight, three weeks away from her due date, we had our pregnancy photo session with her beautiful belly and her husband Dan.

We spent the first hour playing in their home, and we took some really intimately beautiful photos. But on my way to their house, I thought about my favorite field, as Arann calls it “Paige’s studio,” and I suggested that I would love to go up there later in the evening when the light was better. They were psyched about that idea, despite the rapidly approaching cold Pacific fog.

So I have just returned home and after quickly looking over my photos of the night, these are my immediate favorites. I just adore their expressions of complete happiness and love with each other and with the new human they are creating. What a lucky kid to have such a wonderful environment to come in to.

And a fun fact I learned tonight: Tauni and Dan don’t know if they are having a boy or a girl. Yet, Tauni says the most popular interactions she has had while being pregnant are with complete strangers who confidently predict the sex of her child based on the way her belly looks. She had a guy in Home Depot come up to her and say, “You’re having a boy. My daughter looked like you every time she was pregnant and she had all boys.”

Well, three weeks to go, and we’ll see if he was right.

Oh, and a sad fact, the developers have started to move their bulldozing equipment into my field, so “Paige’s studio” will soon be 6 new houses. Aren’t we in the middle of a recession? Why are they still building new houses when so many are being foreclosed and abandoned? Well, if I go missing for awhile, you may be able to find me in my field and tied to a tree in silent peaceful protest.

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