One of my images was recently featured on the Huffington Post as a part of an article on the beauty of cesarean birth! Fourteen other incredible images from my birth photographer colleagues from around the globe are also featured. Click here to check it out!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/15-intimate-birth-photos-that-show-how-beautiful-c-sections-can-be_us_570bd2e1e4b01422324987b6
This is a love story, and it's one that spans decades.
Jane and Kathy were getting married after spending more than twenty years together, and they asked me to photograph their wedding. They explained that yes, they were thrilled to be able to be legally married. It meant a lot. More than could be said. But the wedding itself? The wedding, they said, was a party. A PARTY for all their friends and family, as a thank-you for supporting and loving them through all those years. During those two+ decades it *wasn't* possible to be legally married.
To be completely honest, throughout the day of the wedding, there weren't many moments in which this was forefront on my mind. The sweet love story and the sweet jitters of two sweethearts about to tie the knot were the dominant narrative. It was their wedding day, and politics generously stayed out of it, apart from the absolutely, wonderfully victorious cheer that broke out when the officiant held the signed marriage license high above her head and roared.
But there was a moment when it really hit me. After the ceremony, the brides had their first dance. Then as the music transitioned to the next song, they were slowly joined by couples, one by one, on the dance floor. All couples who, like them, had had to wait decades for this day. They slowly and silently glided in each others' embrace, and with goosebumps and tears in my eyes, I took a picture.
Such a celebration of love.
#lovewins
Catching up on blogging sometimes means wonky timing...if you scroll back a few posts, you'll see the story of Paxson's birth! In some ways, though, it's accurate - time fast-forwards and suddenly, the baby whose birth you witnessed YESTERDAY is turning one.
Happy birthday, Paxson. May the sun shine for you all year long.
To see the complete session, click here!
I gift all of my birth photography clients a maternity session - so we can get to know each other a little better before one of us is in labor (ha!). It's really become a favorite practice - I've so enjoyed getting to spend more time with my clients, to meet and get to know their partners and other children (and even pets), and to have some fun with the camera, to boot.
Instead of breaking up this family's sessions into two or three blog posts as usual - one maternity, one birth, one fresh 48 - I decided to keep them together so you can get an idea of what the whole shebang includes, so to speak. Below, you'll see the lovely Berriochoa family as they await their twins, at the boys' birth, and their Fresh 48 Session the day after they were born.
It was such a privilege to capture the marvelous story of Ernest and Vincent's arrival and to get to know their strong and determined mama. As her due date neared, one baby was lying breech, and the other transverse (!), so Emily knew a c-section was likely going to be the safest way to bring her babies earthside. We all convened at the hospital on the chosen date, and a quick ultrasound confirmed that the babies weren't interested in changing position. This was the first scheduled cesarean birth I had photographed, and I'm happy to say that it was just as beautiful an experience as I've ever seen. Emily's family was able to surround her before surgery and then stay close by as she was taken back - and then, of course, they were able to meet two very special young men. (Dan and Emily knew they were having boys, and had picked out wonderful names - but made everyone else wait until the birth before they'd tell!)
There was so much love in that room, it was almost surreal.
I simply can't do this story justice with words, so instead of trying I'm just going to let the images do the talking. Paxson Gabriel was born just as the sun was coming up, surrounded by a roomful of love.
Teresa and Chad, I can't thank you enough for inviting me to document Paxson's birth story.
This lifestyle session with the "Swayzbuks" family (a fond moniker that combines their two surnames) is a real favorite. I mean, you can't go wrong with baseball and brownies. It's just not possible. :)
To see the complete session, click here.
This one just filled my heart - right to the brim.
Welcome, sweet Miriam.
To see Miriam's complete session, you can click here!
As you may remember, I had the great privilege of being present to document Wyatt's birth. It was the sweetest of benchmarks to visit the family celebration for his first birthday one summer evening at the park.
I just love these images.
To see the complete session, you can click here!
A lifestyle family session for the books, this one.
To see the complete session in all of its unabridged glory, click here!
