Maternity Session at the Anchorage Municipal Greenhouse
The Mann Leiser Memorial Greenhouse is an Anchorage gem and an amazing photo location! Chances are if you follow any photographer in Anchorage (maybe even Alaska!?) you've seen this spot show up on your social media. It is stunning in it's own right, but it is also my favorite weather back-up plan for photos.
Anchorage Newborn & Bedtime Session
We put our kids to bed every night. The same routines become part of your family's story, some of the first memories for your kids. The books you read together, the silly songs you make up about jammies and tooth brushes, the bath toys. But how often do we think of photographing those things and honoring how truly important they really are? This family booked a bedtime routine photo session.
In-Home Maternity Session | Madison & Denali
Being in your own space is comfortable, cozy, and also such a huge part of your life story. I know Alaska is one of the most beautiful places in the world and it's hard to not take advantage of that when doing photos— but I always encourage people to not overlook the beauty in their own spaces too.
Anchorage Newborn Lifestyle: Madison
I photographed Baby Madison and her (adorable!) family at their home in Anchorage, Alaska on the most perfect spring day. In-home lifestyle sessions with newborns have quickly become my favorite thing to photograph because there is so much storytelling I get to capture. (Big sister sneaking peeks over the side of the bassinet, families snuggled up in bed reading, and all the sweet baby details.)
There is also so much emotion. Some of my favorite shots from this session were when Mom started tearing up by the crib. She apologized, and I emphatically told her I loved it when people cried in front of my camera! Don’t ever apologize for that! Documentary and lifestyle photographers live for that kind of stuff!
Portland In-Home Lifestyle: Emily + Brandon
I had no way of knowing during this session that this would be my last pre-pandemic session. Blogging this so much later definitely makes me see these photos through a different lens. I’d flown to Portland to help out my sister after welcoming baby number two, and had no idea it would be almost a year-and-a-half before seeing them again. It would be a year before I’d be back in people’s homes taking photos, and even longer before photographing births and Fresh 48s.
Looking at these photos though, I love how much of their home life and routine is captured here— especially because we were all about to spend so much time at home. Living far from family or not having others in your bubble during that time, meant that you really relied on your own little individual family unit— and I have to say, the pandemic really made me love/appreciate in-home photos even more than I had before.
Anchorage Backyard Session: Lindsay and Steve
I’ve always loved all of the epic locations I get to use in Alaska as a photographer, but recently my favorite locations have changed. Sure, mountains and glacier-fed lakes are amazing— but in my book, they’ve got nothing on your own backyard. I love photographing families on their own turf because in so many ways it already sets the tone; kids are relaxed and ready to play, and parents are calm because they haven’t had to deal with a screaming car ride and perfect outfits now covered in snacks and spit-up. They are in a familiar place, and the love and connection really gets to take center stage.
Keeping it close to home for Lindsay, Steve, and their boys felt especially perfect in a year when we are all spending more time at home. I know with my own kids, our backyard has been our saving grace during the pandemic— and though it isn’t the most gorgeous spot, it will always remind me of our days where we really relied on each other and learned to create magic out of nothing. And to me, this is also the essence of lifestyle photography. It’s the idea of letting you live your daily life the way you always do, and I come along to capture split-second moments in a way that allows you to see the magic that was always there.
Turnagain Arm Maternity: Meredith
How lucky am I to be a photographer in Alaska?! And how lucky am I to have the easiest access to the Turnagain Arm where there are so many wonderful places to take photos!? For Meredith’s maternity session we started out at McHugh Creek (which is always notoriously windy, though I love it!) and then moved on to Beluga Point just down the road.
I love getting to photograph maternity sessions because it is such a wild time for a woman and her partner. I love that the session feels like a fun date-night, but it is also such a great time to focus on baby and this journey you are on. I also love my clients, and the fact that I can say things like, “Now for this shot, I want you to look at the water and imagine your husband is at sea,” and no one will bat an eye. The best! <3
Jennifer: Winter Maternity
Maternity sessions in Alaska can be tricky sometimes because you don’t have all the time in the world to wait for Mother Nature to get her act together. Jennifer had such a perfect vision of snowy flocked trees in Girdwood for her maternity photos, and I was willing to try anything to get them for her. I location scouted so many different spots, but there just wasn’t enough snow— or when there was snow, it fell on dates when neither one of us was available.
Finally, we had to go for it at the beginning of December or run the risk of not getting them done before her baby boy arrived. We ditched the idea of Girdwood thanks to copious amounts of rain. (Are there really still people who don’t believe Climate Change is a thing?!) And then Flat Top turned out to be so windy and the snow was blowing so hard, that it really wasn’t safe. We took only a handful of photos before I turned to Jennifer and said, “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need you to trust me. There’s a place where I can get you flocked trees, gorgeous light if we leave now, and it will be out of the wind. The only problem is it is right on the side of a road and when you pull up you’re going to think I’m crazy.” But she was a trooper and trusted me, and I think these photos speak for themselves.
If you have a vision for what you want your photos to be, I’m always down to do whatever I can to make that a reality for you. <3
Siobhan + Dylan's Family: Alaskan Summer Mini-Session
This amazing family right here is why I will always have a vendor booth at the Alaska Birth Collective’s Baby Fair. Always. I met Siobhan and Dylan at the fair when they were expecting, and we immediately hit it off. Siobhan booked me for her Maternity photos, and now I’ve been lucky enough to take family photos for them three other times.
There is nothing cooler than getting to be a part of a family’s story in this way. We have inside jokes (like what kind of shoes is Siobhan going to be wearing at this session, and how long will it take her to kick them off! Ha!) and I get to see their son grow and change. (I hope too as he gets older, he will start to remember me and that will be even more fun!)
I was also so pleased that at this summer mini-session, Siobhan wanted nursing photos. She and I talked a lot about our nursing journeys, and I loved that we were able to capture the selfless, awesome, powerful feelings she had about breastfeeding in such an awesome setting. I squealed with delight the entire time I was editing this session, and it was the kind of session I just couldn’t wait to share with them.
