In the previous post I mentioned how Fresh48 sessions are great for those who choose not to have their birth photographed. They are also wonderful for families whose birth I have captured.
Baby Ansel was born in the wee hours of the morning. Twelve hours after leaving the hospital I returned to capture Ansel’s big sisters meeting him for the first time and the first moments of this new, larger family. Like the previous post, you can see how these sessions are different than your typical newborn session. There isn’t a lot of posing, rather I am capturing the candid moments of an event that will never be repeated for this family.
Fresh48 sessions are a newer session offering for me. It is great for people who would prefer not to have a photographer at their birth but would like “fresh” pictures of their baby – fresher than newborn pictures. Unlike your traditional hospital pictures, Fresh48 sessions are completely relaxed and for the most part, un-posed. The aim is to capture & preserve memories of your family as they are, welcoming this new addition.
Fresh48 sessions take place wherever you give birth. In this case, Amaya was born at home. When I received the call that she arrived, I made plans to go to meet her the next morning. When I got to the house, I met dad and the energetic new big brother with the best hair. Yes – I had major hair envy when I saw him! You can see why:
Julianna’s mom wrote last week to schedule her daughter’s one year pictures. ONE YEAR?!?!? She’s one already???? How did that happen? Seeing as I hadn’t yet blogged her newborn session, I decided I had better get on that!
Her mom and I have talked about this – so I am not sharing anything she doesn’t know – but Julianna was one of my more challenging newborns of 2012. We sailed through the “lifestyle” photos in the beginning without issue. However once it was time for her to fall asleep and let me pose her, that’s when difficulty started.
It took a couple of hours and me coming back the next day for us to realize that I was only going to get one pose out of Julianna per nursing. So it went a little like this – mom nursed her to sleep, we would get her on the beanbag, bowl, etc in a pose, I would snap the picture, I would try to move her to the next pose, she would wake and cry. Repeat.
Despite the difficulties, the pictures from the session were beautiful. I couldn’t be happier to have worked with such a lovely family. And I am happy to say that mom reports that Julianna is a much happier babe.
Baby William’s mom was so sweet in writing me at 39 weeks wanting a maternity session. She joked it was a nesting thing! Sadly I was about to board a plane to go to a workshop to sharpen my skills in newborn posing/photography followed by a family vacation. By the time I got back, this little one was almost two weeks old, so I had the pleasure of taking his newborn photos.
I still remember the morning. It was cold and slick from a snowfall. I questioned why it was that I do on location newborn shoots as I lugged all my gear up the steps to their home. Being in the city, in St. Paul, the plows hadn’t quite been through to clear everything away.
However once inside I was reminded why I do what I do. Baby William was all snuggled up with his mom. It was nice and toasty in the house – perfect for a newborn shoot. Grandma was there too loving on her new grandson. Having just returned from my workshop, I got to use my new skills. I simply love the results!
In the wee hours of the night I received the call to come to the hospital. I was excited for several reasons. Mom was a nurse and knew the birthing process well. It was likely to be a water birth – my first captured in a hospital setting. The couple were very down to earth and kind. I was excited to be able to capture the birth of their third child and first son.
Side note – when the midwife walked in I swore I knew her from somewhere, but couldn’t instantly place her. When I was about to leave, it hit me. She had been the midwife at my second birth seven years earlier. Small world!
Thank you for all the wonderful memories of 2012! Looking forward to a wonderful 2013. . .
2012 was a great year for births at Megan Crown Photography! I was honored to be asked to capture fourteen births. Here is how it all broke down:
Singletons: 13
Twins: 1
Girls: 7
Boys: 8
Home births: 5
Planned hospital births: 7
Transfers to the hospital: 2
Planned midwife attended births: 13
Planned OB attended births: 1
Births attended by midwives: 10
Births attended by doctors: 4
Water Births: 6
Vaginal Births: 13
C-sections: 1
Inductions: 2
Non-medicated births: 9
Shortest time at a birth: 3 hours
Longest time at a birth: 35+ hours (I lost track after a while)
Some “firsts” for me in 2012 included the birth of twins, a breech birth and attending a hospital transfer. Thank you to all my birth clients who invited me to be present to capture such a special event. Thank you to all the midwives, doctors nurses, doulas who were supportive (or at least tolerant) of my presence. I can’t wait to see what 2013 brings – a birth center birth perhaps??? PRETTY PLEASE =)
A portion of 2012′s client purchases was given back to one of four organizations that has touched my heart in one way or another. Clients picked which one organization they wanted the donation to go to. I calculated the totals and yesterday was excited to make contributions to the following organizations:
The American Cancer Society, dedicated to helping persons who face cancer, received a $127 donation. I placed this in honor of my mother who lost her battle to cancer 4 years ago. www.cancer.org
I placed the largest donation, $321, to the non-profit organization called Food for Hungry Minds! This organization is run by my friend and former colleague Margie Koch. This non-profit creates schools for disadvantaged children in the poorest areas of the world. To find out more about its story, I encourage you to that a peek at their website: www.foodforhungryminds.org.
A donation of $58 went to the Autism Society of MN, which exists to enhance the lives of individuals with autism spectrum disorders. My husband and I have benefited from their resources upon learning our daughter was on the spectrum. It is great to be able to give back! www.ausm.org
The final donation of $76 went to Christ’s Children Ministries. This is an amazing ministry run by a friend of mine in the Phillips area of Minneapolis. It aims to build Christian community among unchurched families in south central Minneapolis through a ministry of outreach and discipleship to children and pastoral care and nurture for their families.
Thank you to all the amazing clients I had this year for making these donations possible! I look forward to supporting more local and international groups in the next year.
When I met this couple, they were expecting their fifth child. In talking with them it became clear that birth was a family event that was cherished and celebrated. Their other children would be there, each having a role at the birth of their brother. Mom wanted something she hadn’t been able to get at previous births – beautiful photographs of this special family event, tender moments laboring with the support of her husband, the joy & excitement on everyone’s face when meeting their new family member, each person’s participation . . . I left thinking how awesome it was that I might be able to not only witness such a lovely event, but that I could provide this family with something they could look back on for years and years.
Baby Ethan was welcomed by family, friends and the wonderful women of Trillium Midwifery Care. The birth day was FULL of amazing moments. I will try to touch of some of the most poignant. . .
Look how happy this mom is. . . this is what birth can be like! Love it!
Sibling getting a little special time with their new brother. . .
Each child had a “role” at the birth – videotaping, cutting the cord, giving brother his new little hat and weighing the baby!
In anticipation of the birth, mom baked two apple pies. Everyone got to sit in the bedroom and eat a piece!
One of the funnest moments was witnessing the youngest girls’ reaction to the midwife student describing the placenta. After watching her, they wanted to check it out for themselves – so they put on gloves and explored!
I leave off with this image. It shows exactly what I imagined this mom wanted to be able to look back and remember – her surrounded by her husband and all her children, marveling over the birth of the newest family member. Welcome baby Ethan!
I had the pleasure of working with Baby Galen and his parents a couple weeks ago. This session was special in that the parents wanted some skin to skin pictures with baby. Often, especially with birth photography, I am attempting to avoid showing nudity. However this session it could be embraced. I love the closeness and beauty of what we were able to capture.
