The First 48

Dad and I (Elise) have been discussing different product lines that we would like to add to our portait collections, and some are portrait product lines that are new experiences all in themselves.

I greatly enjoy photographing our maternity sessions. We don't do very many, and I've found that it's mostly because we cater towards Wall Portraits. The majority of our clients invest in a wall portrait for their home, and most pregnant women don't want a larger image of their belly displayed in their home. My initial idea was to offer a coffee table book or small album of the maternity session, but then I thought how excitingly special it would be to have an album for our clients that tells the story of New Family. It could start with the maternity portraits- maybe just one session, but hopefully a few sessions that tell the story of a mother's pregnant journey; followed by a portrait session with the parents and their new child.

In the summer and fall of 2007 I had the honor of photographing several families with their new babies on the day after the mother delivered. I was so blessed to get to be a part of that. An infant is usually more awake in the first 48 hours of his/her life, than it is in the next few weeks. I greatly enjoyed watching the new parents revel in the wonderment of their new baby.

How precious and cherished would an album with all 3 of these sessions be? A mother's pregnant journey, The first 48 hours, and then a relationship style session of Mommy and Daddy loving on their new addition. And how do you start a new series of portraits and let your clients know what you offer without samples?

I met Devon late last spring. She was the bridesmaid of one one of our summer brides, and 4 months pregnant. Her husband was serving our country overseas, and wasn't scheduled to return until November/December, but none-the-less, I knew she would be a perfect model for the album I was wanting to create. We created her maternity portraits at the end of July when she was 7 1/2 months along. I then had the honor again of meeting little Presley Grace when she arrived in late September. Ideally we would have photographed Jason with Devon at all 3 sessions; the 3rd taking place within the next 3 weeks after Presley's arrival. But how many times do we actually have an "ideal" situation anyways? And I knew from the start that Devon and her new little family would be perfect for my project. We're scheduled to create the final family portraits next week, after which I'll add some additional images from that session here too.

I am so excited about this new experience we're offering our clients! Our goal as a business has always been to offer our clients portraits that will be cherished for generations, to capture the Love that is Family, and offer unique and professional services.

That's why we say, "It's all about life, it's all about family, it's all about the Love".