Studio maternity sessions can sometimes be my favorite thing to shoot! My studio in Ashland can be so versatile when it comes to shooting these sessions. This small living space comes with a bed, loveseat, greenery, white walls, tall windows and more. 

This mama is wearing a gorgeous body suit from my personal client closet and TOOOOOTALLY rocked it!!!

To put into simple terms, its a copy & paste effect. In reality its far more complicated than that!
For example, when someone is standing on the street, what makes them appear "grounded" if you will to that spot?
Shadows
Its all about lighting. When I create a composite or put someone into a background I need to make it look real, which means creating shadows and highlights to ground the subject into that setting. Not only do I need to create shadows in the background, but often times I need to create shadows on the subject. Here are some before & after examples to give you a better idea of how I create composites!

Well 2018 was a whirlwind of exciting things! New Studio, New Baby, and New Goals!! Many of you  know I had a baby in October, but one of my goals this year is to blog more, so....Here are some photos of our latest Semonite addition, Baby Lucia!

I get a little obsessed with Game of Thrones if you can't tell!!

Team Gryffindor!

Had to get some VT action in here!

All my babies

I have been lucky enough to photograph Abel since he was in his mama's belly. He has always been the sweetest little guy and it has been such a joy seeing him grow over the past year. 
Milestone sessions are the perfect way to capture your child's growth for the first year or more! Typically combined with a short family session, I tailor each session towards the milestone of your choosing. But these sessions can start early, say for instance, in womb! haha! Milestone sessions include, maternity, newborn, head's up, sitter, standing, and walking/1 year. I love to tell parents when booking sessions that its about "STAGES NOT AGES". My personal favorite milestone sessions are maternity, newborn, sitter and  1 year. 

What can I say about Camille and Chuck, other than the fact that they are super fun, amazing people and going to be awesome parents! I don't think I stopped smiling throughout their entire maternity session because it was such a blast to photograph. 

Someone was tired....of all my posing :-) 

Wouldn't be a newborn session without an outtake photo :-)

So if you know me, you know I am way too much of a planner to not know the gender of my babies as soon as possible haha!  However, there has to be such calm and serenity in the unknown of it all. To be caught up in colors or themes I can see why Kim and Tony decided it is sweeter to wait until their little one is born. Just the glow of anticipation from these two was amazing to witness between them during their session and I can't wait to hear what they end up having! My guess, girl ;-)

Pretty sure I'm obsessed with how effortless this mama to be makes pregnancy look!

So the standard newborn posing stand is square or rectangular which allows for a square, rectangular or even circular beanbag to fit within its boarders. Blankets and posing fabric is then laid over the beanbag, stretched tight to the sides and top of the backdrop stand before baby is placed on it and posed. 

I've seen some round backdrop stands and figured since I've made a hula hoop before, why don't I just make a round stand for my round travel size beanbag!
So I set off to my local Home Depot!

Once there I found all the elements I needed to complete my project. The biggest thing that I had at home that not everyone does is a way to cut the PVC pipe. I used my husband's miter saw, but they do sell PVC cutters at the store.

I am totally and "eyeball it" kinda crafter FYI, but this is what I purchased:
6 x 5ft. 3/4 inch diameter PEX pipe
(bendable enough but also sturdy)
3 bags "T" shape connectors (1 bag has 5 pieces) specifically for the pipe

Total cost: Roughly $25

They also sell rolls of pipe instead of the 5 or 10ft pieces.

Next was cutting the pieces and putting the elements together. I basically just cut 4 of the 5ft PVC pipes in half (4 pieces per hoop) as well as 2x 30in and 2x 22in pieces to act as the uprights. This was my desired height for the uprights due to the amount of blankets I usually put on my beanbag before the posing fabric and baby.
The trick to connect the "hoop" is to bend the plastic first before piecing it all together. Make sure to point the "T" down or up depending on which hoop you are working with. I will say that the connectors aren't 100%, meaning sometimes with enough pressure they pop out of the PVC, but for the most part they stay in just fine. You could glue them in if you want it to be permanent. Connect your two hoops together using the upright pieces - two taller in the back and two shorter in the front.

***THIS IS A TRAVEL SIZE BEANBAG***
This means if you use a full size beanbag you will need more PVC and the upright pieces will probably be a different height as well. I would imagine instead of 4 pieces to each hoop, 5 would be more appropriate, as well as 5 uprights not 4. With 5 upright pieces I would make one piece about 5-7 inches taller than the two tallest uprights, and the shorter uprights about 10-12 inches shorter than the two taller ones. If that makes sense :-) For example: 1x 38 in., 2 x 33 in., and 2 x 22 in.

I will also add that I use a Paul C. Buff Einstein E640 flash unit (strobe) and a 50x50 Westcott softbox.

This is the year folks! With one nephew born this past February, a niece, Miss Penelope (Penny) Rae will join our crew this June!!!

As showers go, pink is pretty standard for a girl, but apparently not copper and pink! It took quite a lot of phone calls and trips to the home goods stores to find all the pieces for the occasion. And as we all found out the hard way, Pinterest just didn't have what we were looking for *Pause for shock*. So without further adieu, I give you the Penny themed shower! Which I will pin to pinterest later ;-)

I made these two penny pieces for my sister in law and kept a space for one penny to be glued in at a later date since apparently the 2017 penny hasn't made it into circulation yet! haha

The Spread

Come on in and grab a name tag!

I love a good shower game, but these are always unique at this house! One game involved the guests sending a baby photo to the host which were then printed and given a numbered tag. The guests received a sheet with the people who participated labeled with a letter. Let me tell you, this was HARD! But soooo fun!

Some other fun shower games

Baby shower complete with Bubbly Bar

A Penny shower isn't complete without guessing how many pennies are in the baby bottle!

Complete with Thank you gifts

We can't wait to meet you Baby Penny!

Sign the chalk board before you leave!

When my brother and sister in law first told us they were going to have a baby....well I immediately went into planning mode haha. These two amazing people I have come to know over the years were going to become parents for the first time!

From the day they announced they were having a baby boy Jenna and I started putting ideas together as to what she wanted for her maternity and newborn sessions. We planned the maternity session during the holidays when she and Will were visiting family in Virginia, and my trip down to Georgia once he was born. As time went on Will and Jenna started discovering the theme for the baby room and I wanted to tie the newborn photos in as much as I could.
First on the list was a deer outfit :-)

This theme quickly evolved into a woodsy, wonderland, lumberjack direction after I build a tent, a starry night backdrop, and purchased a little felt outdoor fire :-)

These two kept my nephew's name hidden until the very end and I couldn't be more happy with the name. The newest baby Semonite boy, Weston!

This was the most wonderful opportunity for me as I traveled down to Georgia with my mother and father in law to visit nearly 1 week old Weston. The following day was picture day and I got all my gear out! My sister and mother in law helped me with each set up and saw how my normal newborn session runs. Its not as easy as it looks ;-) haha. Lots of patience, a ton of heat, and well....a cute baby!

I could not be more happy for these two and wish them all the happiness in the world as they enter this new chapter in their lives as parents!

And again, what would a session be without a few outtakes!

 Over the years since we have been back in Virginia many of our Army friends we knew back at Fort Riley have migrated to the Virginia area. They say its a small world when it comes to the Army and that eventually you see each other again, so when Kristen and Jacob asked for me to come take photos of their newest addition I was elated! When we left Kansas we had one kiddo and Kristen had her daughter and son. Now they have four beautiful healthy children and I am taking notes y'all!!
Meet baby Reggie!!

These kids are absolutely AMAZING! Right when I arrived they were super curious about what I brought and quite the little helpers :-) We started with sibling photos so I could capture as many of those kisses and snuggles as possible.

For the rest of the session these kiddos made sure their baby brother was happy and comfortable. Between Stella bringing me wraps, Hank playing a super hero, and Ramona making a story to go with each set up, I think Reggie will grown up with the best big brother and sisters.

What would a newborn session be without a couple little outtakes :-)