When it comes to newborn photography, the most ideal time to photograph a newborn is between 1-3 weeks old. However, if you miss that window for whatever reason, don’t worry! We can always get beautiful images of your little one. I am up for the challenge!!

A few weeks ago, Rafael came into the studio for his “newborn” session. He was just shy of being 2 months old. He was a little bigger, so we couldn’t do every pose that we might be able to do with a 2 week old, he was less flexible, less curly, much more alert, yet, he still rocked his newborn photo session. 

Being almost 2 month old, he was in between a newborn and 3-month old as far as what we were able to expect from his photo session. And because of this we were able to get a mixture of both sleepy “newborn” photos as well as some awake “3 month old” photos with great eye contact! Something you rarely get with a 2 week old. Rafael gave us a hard time with his arms, wanting to fling them about and as his mama says, he has FOMO (fear of missing out), so he wanted to be awake and see what was happening. Which was fine as long as we tamed those wriggly arms.

Getting Rafael to sleep was a challenge at times. It always is with every newborn. We ask so much of these little humans. Stay asleep, look cute and pose for the camera. We put them in a strange environment and manipulate them while they sleep. It’s no wonder why these newborn sessions can take so long! I always tell parents to expect sessions to take between 4-5 hours for a full newborn shoot that includes the family. I want to make sure we don’t rush the baby and there’s lots of time for feedings, diaper changes and family snuggles. This new little being rules the session and we go on their speed. 

We definitely got a great mixture of both the sleepy newborn photos as well as the awake 3 month type photos. Luckily, Rafael would fall asleep and I would snap a few photos and then when I moved him, he would wake up to see what was going on around him and we'd get the awake shots.

Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time is a newborn as a panda. I was thrilled that Mama agreed to the panda set up. This was so fun for me! I made the outfit that Rafael wore and was thrilled with how it turned out. It was a bit snug on his since he was about 12.5 lbs when we did the shoot. How cute is this little panda!?!

Don’t ever worry if you think you’ve missed your chance for beautiful newborn portraits. Every session is different, every baby is different and at the end of the day, you’ll walk away with some beautiful memories of your gorgeous baby. 
 

A few weeks ago, my friend told me about her mom, a hobbyiest photographer, building a box... a huge box. She didn't understand what her mom was doing or what the whole thing was about. She showed me an example and I replied, "oh, I've been wanting to build a box for years!!" Once we saw what her mom did with the photos, she was excited about this "strange" box idea and I was inspired to finally get going on my own box! So, I thank my friend's mom for getting me in gear and inspiring me to build a box. I went to my mom and said "I want a box"! I showed my mom some photos of what I was wanting to add to my studio and the cool, modern images that were done in the box. The next day, she, being the project manager that she is, made a list of materials and sent my dad to Home Depot to gather supplies. I honestly was quite shocked that they took it upon themselves to make this box for me. It was definitely something I figured I would end up building myself. I am very lucky to have such supportive parents. 

With the materials bought, my dad had a plan. And step #1 in the plan to making my box was to paint the wood white. Now, for most people that would have be the last step, but for my dad, it was step #1. After a week of painting and re-coating and more coats, I kept reminding him, you know I need that box in 2 days, right? I have some models coming in for a practice session on Sunday. He kept saying, I know, I know, it just needs another coat of paint. All the while, the box hadn’t been built at all, only cut into pieces and painted white.. Many, many layers of white paint.

Before I knew it, it was Sunday. The day for the trial run of the box, and the box was still not complete. Early afternoon came around and literally as the 4 kiddo models show up to my house, my dad is moving the finished box into my studio. Phew, I have a box! It’s a beautiful, giant, white wooden box. And it’s so amazing, I’m in love!! Now what? 

So, what exactly is “in the box” photography? 

An “Inside the box” photo sessions is exactly what is sounds like. You get in a box, I take pictures!! Hehe... maybe there's a little more to it. I have 1 wooden box that is 4’x4’x2’ deep. The box sits on a white wooden stand that is approximately 30" off the ground. The box is strong and can hold as many people as we can possibly fit in there. A photo session can last up to an hour and we will play inside the single box that I have set up in my home studio. Here is where the real fun happens. We will be creative and pretend to interact with other boxes. The more interactions between boxes, the more time consuming the session and editing process as well as more attention to detail will be required, but also the more interesting the final image will become.

Once the session is over, the real magic in creating these final images begins when I take all the photos we’ve taken during the session and put them together in Photoshop. I will lay them out and rearrange them, to find the best interactions and expressions for the final collage image.

Limbs hanging over the edges of boxes, interacting with props from box to box, etc. All of this must be completed in Photoshop and takes time to get the image perfect. 
 

During my first “in the box” photo session, I was lucky enough to have these 4 vivacious kids over to my home studio to play in the box. When I showed the box to the 2 younger kids, they took one look at the box and said “nope”, and ran off to the playroom. Haha. They had no idea what they were going to be doing inside that box. This whole concept was so foreign to them and they didn’t understand what we were doing. 

So, I started with the older girls, the twins. They took to the box so fast and were a blast to have playing around in there. Can you believe these girls are identical twins!? They’re so vastly different and a simple box really highlighted their personalities. Saige was all in character and loved playing up being in the box, while Elsa perfected her modeling poses. She was a little supermodel inside that box. I was incredibly impressed with both of these girls and their session was so fast. 5 minutes later I was like, I guess we’re done!?  It was magical.

Next up, the younger kids. After watching their older siblings, and now understanding this box was to play in, they too took right to it. Savanah is a little goofball, and would make all sorts of faces. Mama said she’s always been that way since she was a baby, making faces and sticking out her tongue, so it’s her true personality. In true boy fashion, Elliot was all about dancing, and being a goof in the box. He would dab and floss every chance he got. But, in the end, he was great and took direction well. 

In the end we got lots of great shots with all sorts of combinations to put together some fun collages. Even Mama got in on the action. It was her dream to have a picture where she’s hugging all 4 of her kids at one time. And we got that with all 5 of them in the box! It was a tight squeeze getting her arms around 4 growing kids, but it was fun seeing them all hug together and how close this family is. 

There was a lot to learn from my first box session. I learned a few tricks for the next session, but overall it went great and I’m so excited to now be able to offer “in the box” sessions at Candie’s Camera.
 

Deciding on a location for a photo session can sometimes be a challenge. You want something that shows off the season, the local environment, something that fits the style and personality of the ones being photographed, and of course something beautiful. Having a setting where people feel comfortable in is key to getting natural reactions and beautiful results. When talking about locations with this new mama, she was excited Wild Hearts Farm in Tacoma, as it brought back memories from her childhood. Tacoma not being too far, we didn't really think about that in order to get the gorgeous light at sunset on a weekday in the middle of summer, we'd have to travel in rush hour traffic to get to the farm by 6:00 pm. 

If you ask this mama to be, absolutely it was worth the fighting rush hour traffic to drive from Redmond to Tacoma during rush hour for the beautiful sun and the gorgeous farm location. If you ask me if it was worth it, yes 100%. We had such rich colors peaking through the tops of the trees and were able to capture some creative and fun shots using the light to our advantage. Could we have found a closer location... absolutely, but this place is a photographer's haven and fun to explore.

Wild Hearts Farm is a location I've taken my child to several times for some fun photo sessions and I've been dying to get a client there to take advantage of the gorgeous location and all it has to offer. There are so many nooks and crannies that you could literally spend all day at the farm and still be finding new spots to get some fun shots in at. They offer both indoor and outdoor locations, so even if the weather is less than ideal, we can find a beautiful location. 

Recently added to the farm is their glass house. They had just opened it up to photographers about a week before we went down and tested it out, so we were one of the first to use the house and experiment with how it looks best in a photograph. Since it's a glass house it and brand new, it was tricky finding just the right angles to shoot and also not get my reflection in all those windows! Ultimately, I am happy with the results both inside and outside the house.  

As this mama-to-be said "You made me into a princess". That we did. She is gorgeous and glowing and was so much fun to work with on this session. And yes, that 3 hours drive down to Tacoma in rush hour traffic to get the sunset in mid July was absolutely worth it!!

Did someone say cake!?? NOMNOMNOM

Luckily, this mama had planned ahead and had a plan for her son's cake smash theme. She showed me her inspiration photo and went to work on painting the pumpkins. I added in some light blue pumpkins for a bit more color. I absolutely loved the dark blue color and the subtle touch of Fall with the traditional "boy" colors. 

Once we got him next to his cake, it didn't take long for him to go after it and start shoving the cake in his mouth. He was plenty fun to watch and he smiled and thoroughly enjoyed smashing his cake. He got his hands and his feet in that sucker and enjoyed the entire experience. 

I have many bath tubs in my collection and mama was happy when I choose the simple white round tub. I felt it looked classic with this set up. Add in a large rubber ducky, some bubbles and a happy 1 year old and we make magic. 

Here are some of my favorite photos from this guy's photo shoot. 

1-Year-Old Portraits

1 Year Photos 1 Year Photos 1 Year Photos

Cake Smash

1 Year Photos
1 Year Photos 1 Year Photos 1 Year Photos

1 Year Photos

Bubble Bath
1 Year Photos
1 Year Photos