Anna Kate | RUSTON LA NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER

Oh Anna Kate, how sweet it was to see her. It had been a long time since I got to pose little babies in little poses with headbands, and outfits, and in tiny beds. These sessions are hard work and I admit there are days I’m not as excited to jump into these. They give me backaches, they require tons of patience, I sweat buckets from the 80 degree heat of the room. But if you’re a determined person like me, they would be the most rewarding sessions you could ever shoot. Being a sentimental person I really connect with newborn sessions cause I realize how important this moment is to remember. I cherish my own daughter’s newborn pictures because she’s never going back to that stage, ever. I mean that was 7 years ago and she looks nothing like she looked in those pictures. I feel as though these posed sessions are a work of art. To capture the details of their facial features, birthmarks, what color their hair was at that time. I know this style of newborn photography hasn’t been around for very long, maybe a decade? I mean they tried to do something with newborns. I remember seeing my baby pictures in the typical J.C. Penny sets, I even think there was a crib background in one of those portraits. I’m not sure exactly how the now style started but I have to say I’m so glad it got here because it really captures baby so much better. I don’t even know if I could see the little details in my baby pictures and that’s something I’m glad to have in my daughter’s pictures now.

But styles come then go and same is true even for this kind of session. I think we as photographers change drastically in style in the very beginning because we’re still finding what we love, the styles that draw us and how to achieve that. And if you remember from Carrie’s maternity session blog then you know this family has been with me for a long time. Carrie and Derek now have 3 children and I’ve taken each of their newborn sessions so not only do I get to compare their baby pictures together but I also see how my own style has changed over the years. I have to say it’s very similar and really has changed subtly. And speaking of similar can you see how these 3 favor? You can definitely tell they are related! When Anna Kate came in I automatically said “dern they all look alike” and honestly that’s how I remembered it because they really seemed to all favor so seamlessly but when I made this comparison board, I was actually surprised to see how much they stand out from each other too. I still think they look alike but they have their own look too. Crazy how they can look so similar and different all at the same time.

But this is not her siblings spotlight, this is Anna Kate’s and she was such a sweetie for her session. She posed without complaint which was encouraging for my first day back at work. We had to push her session back one week due the closures, but we were blessed to only be a week behind normal shooting times since the phase one included us in the openings. Past 13 days old can sometimes be tricky, but thankfully Anna Kate did very well. And isn’t she just the cutest as a model!?

The only things we missed were the froggy pose or what you know as the “head on the hands” pose. If there is one pose a baby may refuse to do, it’s that one. I’ve been blessed to get most babies to do it but when babies are past 13 days old, it can be a hard one to execute. I mean could you imagine holding up 2 lbs of cheeks and being ok with it? There is seriously something adorable with a baby with chunky cheeks. Maybe it’s because my own daughter had those cheeks, but it’s the first thing I notice on any baby if they have it. And girl, weren’t they cute on her!

I know the whole family is enjoying their newest addition. Emmitt’s already enjoyed the big boy status but for Rosalie this was her first time to be promoted to big sister and Carrie had told me that there is definitely some jealous moments for her. I think a lot of parents attest to this phenomenon with new siblings. I wouldn’t know since I have an only child, but I hear it so much I can say it seems fairly normal. I also can say from hearing others that they more or less grow out of that. Maybe they just succumb to the inevitable that this kid isn’t going anywhere and just terrorize the living daylights out of them during their childhood years. Maybe that was just my own story of my own sisters doing that to me, who knows. I think they still do, I mean who wouldn’t be jealous knowing you’re the favorite kid right??

So sorry Rosalie for this difficult time of a big sister role, but I promise you’ll love her when she can play, she can be your scapegoat when you get in trouble and you may even call her everyday when you are grown and realize she’s the best friend you could ever have. Sisters are definitely something special and to have an older brother is just icing on the cake. That’s something I never had but boy cousins gave me a glimpse of how special that could be.

Welcome to the world Anna Kate!

If you’re interested in a studio newborn session for your own baby, you can contact me at lavenderharvestphoto@gmail.com or message me on Facebook, just click HERE to be redirected to our FB page. You can also check pricing for that session HERE. If you are interested in documenting multiple sessions, we have a great package that include sessions to document baby’s first year. You can check out details and pricing for our BUD TO BLOOM PKG HERE.