{Changes} Chicago Metro Maternity Photographer

Lately I've been busy (you might have noticed the lack of blog posts as of late). But, I'm not nearly as busy as this beautiful lady. This mother of two teenagers and one toddler is expecting her fourth child this week. On Christmas, no less... on top of all that, the family is in the midst of a cross-country move! After weeks of our schedules not matching up, I finally got the opportunity to document some of the final moments of this pregnancy. As usual, the M Family was a pleasure to work with. Best of luck to you all, and I can't wait to meet the little one!!!

 

{Millie Moo} 2 Months - ELGIN IL newborn photographer

One of the many things I've been working on is setting up my desktop computer for photo work - whereas in the past I've done everything on my laptop. So, needless to say, I'm a bit behind in my editing and blogging - among other things. I did Millie's 2 month pictures a week or so ago and this was an instant fave...


More to come soon!

A Beautiful Family...

More often than not in the hospital, moms don't want to be photographed... if I think they are really up to it, I might give them a little push ("Let me take the photos, and if you don't like them, we delete them!"). Sometimes, I just drop it. Luckily, this dad told his wife, "You look cute" and so she decided to take pictures with her baby. Face it, moms... although we are the ones who spend most of the time with the baby, no one is going to be following you with a professional photographer to take pictures of your moments with baby. So, let me take the pictures now. You may regret it later, when you have no pictures of you with your newborn.

Anyway, I love the photos I got of this little family. So, I thought I'd share!!!

{Sisters}

You might think this is yet another post full of bug & lou pictures, but its not! Today, I got to photograph an adorable set of twin girls, and also a baby girl with her big sister! So, I wanted to share... Enjoy!

More of the {M Kids}

A big thank you to the M kids, who cooperated yet again for me. After their family shoot in early January, we decided to get together again so I could take some more pictures of the kids and the family dog, Hannah. We got some cute shots, but I may be re-taking a couple that didn't live up to my expectations! But, here are my favorites...

Some Baby Love...

In light of my recent computer problems, I haven't had the opportunity to share any of my work in a while...but yesterday I took some photos just just beg to be shared...

Look at this adorable little guy with his full head of hair, chubby arms & squishy lips. He slept through the whole photo shoot...even when I turned him this way and that and posed him!

{Say Cheese}

So, do you think this little man is happy to be heading home with mom & dad?! I'd say YES!!!! And after he flashed me that smile, he stretched out his tiny arms and legs...as if to say, "Ahhhhh...let's get OUTTA here!"

Little ladies...

Today I had the opportunity to photograph three beautiful little ladies... and in one case, the little lady & her daddy. As well as a little lady with her gorgeous big sister! I couldn't help but share...

{Miss N & big sis E}

{Miss G with daddy}

{Baby Girl} (mom is working on a name!!!)

The {B Family} ... A sneak peek

Thank you to my good friend Vicky for allowing me to photograph her family. Here's a sneak peek of my first foray into "in home" family photographs!

Sharing the {love}

Today, I asked the dad of this baby to "cup baby's feet" so I could photograph the soles...and this is what he did. Love it, love it, LOVE it.

My niece {Miss K} at 6 months

Today I took pictures of my niece for her 6 month pictures, and for her mom to make holiday cards. Just look at these big blue eyes, infectious smile, and long, long eyelashes. Beautiful!!!

Double the fun!

I had my 3rd opportunity - in as many weeks! - to photograph newborn twins. These two - {Mr D} and {Miss N} were just a day and a half old! Hopefully, I will be assisting on a family sitting for this family in the near future - Mom, Dad, the twins and their 4 year old brother.

Are you jealous of my job yet?!

Hands-on dads...

Although my main priority at Bella Baby Photography is to photograph the baby, I try to take it above and beyond that if 1) the baby cooperates 2) mom & dad are interested and 3) the situation to take some beautiful pictures presents itself. Not all parents are interested in participating, while some come with ideas of their own.

Like {C} and her dad... Mom wanted this shot, and I think it turned out pretty darn well...

However, with {R}, mom & dad knew they wanted to be in the pictures, but I chose the "posing" and I personally love this. I hope mom does too!!! And I know that some day, when {R} is a little lady, she'll be so thrilled that I captured this moment for her.

While I'm waiting - {M} & {S}

Today is a better day. The baby gods are smiling down on me. So far, two happy and gorgeous little ones. One more to go (he's lunching now, hence the wait). So, I thought I'd share a couple more...

I actually set out to photograph {Miss S} yesterday, but she was NOT having it. So, I told mom & dad I'd return today and suggested wrapping her in a blanket from home and keeping her tee-shirt on. SCORE!

Once {Mr M} let out a baby belch, we were all systems go. He did wonderful, even catching my eye in a couple of the shots.

A teaser: Heidi & Matt

The real reason for going downtown yesterday: to shoot Matt & Heidi, who have been married a year and a half now and never had engagement pictures done. They don't even have wedding photos that they feel inclined to display!!! How sad... My mission, to give them one or two (or ten) photos worthy of adorning the walls of their new apartment!

Hope you enjoy these few...trust me - there are MANY more. And for my fellow photographers and photoshoppers, please feel free to CC. I could use it, as these are still early attempts at professional processing, as well as on-location shooting!

Who needs Photoshop?!

So, like any photographer I know, I've always put Adobe Photoshop on a pedestal. It is the be-all, end-all of photographic retouching and editing. You can do anything with Photoshop. I mean, its a verb! "Can you PHOTOSHOP me out of this picture?" Well, I don't think I can Picasa you out of a picture, but when it comes to my everyday retouching, Picasa is the way. Today, I'm gonna share some of my edits...

I've been suffering a LOT of self-doubt. I peruse photo blogs, websites and Flickr on a regular basis and to be honest... I'm not half as good as some of the other photogs out there. I'm not even talking about the masters... I'm talking about my friend Krysten, who picked up the *hobby* around the same time as me. She's amazing now! I'm talking about the dozen or so photogs who joined me at my recent NILMDTS training session. They all had their own websites... I have a blog. I checked out a couple websites. Boy, I hope one of them will take me under their wing and guide me...

I AM a pro photographer, but I don't feel like it! It pains me that I can't share my everyday images. The little itsy babes who keep me going. The little guy I did this week who was so special, so adorable. His parents had tears in their eyes when they thanked me for putting so much time, care, and attention to their son's pictures. The little lady who was small in comparison to the gerbera daisy her mom had me place in the picture. The chubba baby who I placed in my basket to photograph, much to the consternation of her great-aunt (who also shook her head in disbelief at my suggestion of undressing baby for a diaper-only photograph).

But, anyway, today I took some pictures of the park where we played. My husband and I have wanted photographs for our bedroom... something simple; an understated image of a single tree in a field... or something like that. We've seen some stuff we liked, but never wanted to pay the price that was asked. But, today, Russ finally found some images that were worthy of putting on our wall...and the best part? They were MY images from the park. So, I'm sharing them below. Let me know which you like best!!! (Oh, and you knew I'd include bug & lou, right?!)