M Milk Bath Maternity

Hey 2021, long time no blog!
That was lame, sorry, I rely on the fact that nobody ever reads these! So this blog was drafted in June, I haven’t blogged since Mayish of last year but I have about 30 blogs drafted so the next few weeks will be me attempting to write blogs. Fun stuff.
But at least there’s tons to say about this fun milk bath photoshoot I did with a then very pregnant Mama M!
Mama M special requested a milk bath for her rainbow baby and I’ll admit I didn’t realize just how challenging it would be.

All the maternity milk baths you see on Pinterest take place in an actual bathtub, but, I have to big as dramatic as possible and had to shoot it in an actual full length blow up pool! Now, it’s been so long ago but I’m pretty sure when we did this shoot it was about two months after that 15 day flatten the curve so all pools were either sold out or they were $80 on amazon, because everyone was stuck home with their kids and was just trying to find a way to keep them busy.
Thankfully one of my long time clients/buddies had a blow up pool available for us to use, but the only hold up was I had to drive 45m out to the country to get it, ducks had been using it so it was extra dirty, andddd there was a small hole in the side. I can’t complain at all though, I was super fortunate she was even allowing me to use it! (and she had cleaned it up quiet a bit before I picked it up so I’m really not complaining, just getting those 1000 words lol)
The pool was so big we also had to set it up outside, instead of in my home studio, and we had to keep filling it with water, because of the small leak, AND it was threatening to rain the whole time we were shooting, BUT it was well worth it though to bring our vision to life.

Mama M was and always is the most complying model and was absolutely amazing when the water started getting cold and her neck started hurting. I can’t thank her enough for going out of her comfort zone to bring both of our visions to life, and I’d say I can’t wait to meet her sweet baby girl but I’m planning her first birthday cake smash next month!

M Maternity

I’m really late to the game on the blogs because Mama M has already had her sweet Baby B and she’s a few months old now but this session is too good not to share! I was fortunate enough to do Maternity photos when Mama M was still pregnant with Baby (Now big Sister) S and we thought it would be really hard to top! We both racked our brains for a creative theme or unique location, what color dress to use, anything to make this time around more memorable than the first, and after Mama M looked through my galleries a few times and picked a session that was her most favorite and we went with that!
The downfall of the look we were going for… this time of year, Nashville weather is super unpredictable. I don’t think we’ve had a proper sunset in a long time because by the end of the day it’s always gloom and doom and no chance of catching golden hour. Plus, if we did somehow catch golden hour, that’s when all the instagramers are out cruising the streets and they will fight you for a spot for photos (it’s not that big of a deal guys, there’s plenty of room for all of us, and if not I’m definitely stronger than you). So, we had to plan on sunrise! Sunrise this time of year is about 6:40AM, and about 6:40AM in the morning it’s about 30 degrees. We were also in one of the most open patches of land in that area and it was extra windy. Needless to say, it was freezing cold. Mama M handled it like a champ though and, despite feeling out of the ‘modeling game’ and not much like herself she looked like a supermodel for her session and gave me some of my favorite maternity photos ever!
Sadly Papa D wasn’t able to make it to the session because he was working but Baby S was wide awake and Coco (never known as Grandmother) was a great cheerleader and kept Baby S happy! Also, despite looking just like Daddy, Baby S has her Mama’s modeling skills!

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A & Q Sunflower Maternity Session

This year I’ve gotten to knock lot off of bucket list, but by far this might be one of the things I’ve been waiting the longest to do! Nashville is known for its many beautiful parks but my God Sunflower Fields have been illusive to me. There are several farms that have them but generally, or to my understanding, a full fledge photoshoot there isn’t an option. When I actually found a promising one last year that grows sunflowers every year it turns out that the harvest hadn’t done good that year and they had nothing… SOOOO… after many years of waiting I was finally able to do a quick maternity photoshoot with the real life Prince Charming and Princess Cinderella! A & Q are a dream come true and I like to live vicariously through them and all their glory. Now that they’re expecting a baby girl, who has the best name, I feel like everything has come full circle! I can’t wait to meet sweet Baby A and can’t express how happy I am for both A & Q! Thank you guys for being such fantastic models and so willing to come out on such short notice!!!

If you’re here from Pinterest you’re going to be highly disappointed because the very last image is the only one of its kind, as the rest didn’t seem to look as good with the dramatic sky. Hopefully you still enjoy the rest of the images in this mini gallery though!

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S & T Maternity Session

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of marking something off my bucket list that I never thought I’d get the chance to because, one, horses and their giant people teeth freak me out, and two, no animal ever listens like you need it to for photos. When S told me her horses would do everything we needed them to and were very well behaved I didn’t believe her and just figured we’d wing it but boy was I wrong!!! This session exceeded every expectation I would have ever had and I am soooo thrilled and in love with every images!

Like seriously, this session is something out of a fairytale and everything just fell together so nicely I am still amazed that some of these images are even mine! Mama S and I had been discussing her session for weeks but her Sister in law, my friend B, had been planning her session for much longer and had contacted months before! I had met Mama S and her soon to be husband T at the beginning of her pregnancy and she was just as cute as could be and I knew from that first meeting I wanted to do her maternity photos (No one actually books me, I just go out scouting people and bully them into a session). Seven months later I was driving around the Harpeth trying to figure out where the hell she lived. We were already about 30 minutes behind seeing as I lost track of time at my previous session (which was easy to because they were so wonderful) and THANK GOD her ultra sound ran over, so it wasn’t totally fault. After calling her ten times in a panic, because I hate getting lost, I finally found her house and we immediately headed towards her grandmothers. I was at the tail end of the line of 3 cars we had created and fell behind. For some reason the undercover cop that I passed decided to flash me (though Papa T was going WAYYY faster than I was) and if he had actually turned around to come get me, I’ll never know, because right when I went into the turn I saw the back of B’s car going down a driveway and immediately sped in behind her.

S’s grandparents home was incredibly beautiful, there were wild flowers growing everywhere, tons of horses, dogs, and two cats so I was in animal heaven. Mama S has such natural beauty that B only had to spend about 10 minutes fixing her hair and Papa T was so handsome he didn’t even have to take off his hat and sunglasses…. but we made him anyways.

I had the exact opposite problem I thought I would have for this session, I thought we’d be having to chase the horses down to make them stand still for two seconds but I was literally having to make horses leave because they kept getting into everything! I turned around at one point and one of them was in my camera bag and took a few steps back throughout our session and bumped into a horse that was standing very close by. They were all so amazingly sweet and kept nuzzling up to Mama S the whole session. Their dogs were just as bad and were literally on our heels the whole shoot! They even chased us down to the creek whenever we got on the golf cart and were into everything. I kept thinking that I would just edit them out of a lot of the shots when I got home but them being in the photos is what makes a lot of the shots!

The big horse in the photos is her prize horse and the other horse is their daughter, who mind you, hasn’t even been born yet, pony!!! Growing up we all dream of having a pony, hell I still want one, but soon to be Baby R already has one!!!

For a couple that never has their photos made I barely had to direct the two, they made my job soooo incredibly easy and if it wasn’t getting dark I would have kept them out all night! S was just beautiful no mater what she did and all of her movements with T were so natural it made for some incredibly genuine photos, which are hard to fake. You always know how much a couple truly loves each other based on their interactions together and seeing S & T together will make any girl hate her boyfriend! T and S are going to make amazing parents and not only did Baby R win the genetic lottery but she’s lucky enough to have born into a family where she’ll grow up knowing her parents were truly made for one another! I so look forward to doing her newborn photos and seeing this family again!

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T, N, & R Announcement!

I’ve been having to keep lots of secrets for lots of people recently but I can FINALLY share the big news that the H family is growing by 1! Mama T is pregnant with Baby number 2 and told me when she was around 8 or so weeks I didn’t think I’d be able to keep it to myself… thankfully she also shared the big secret with some mutual friends so we could gossip about how excited we were about it!

It’s been forever since I’ve been able to do a gender reveal and somehow Mama T always manages to make things 10 times more glamourous. Between their incredibly coordinated outfits for Family photos and the amazing props she brought along with her I just basically had to show up and they did the rest of the work, I always feel very guilty working with them!

Capturing R’s first year was so amazing, I still have some of his Newborn Cake Smash photos in my portfolio today, I’m so honored they’ve stuck with me over the years and hope Baby number 2 likes me as much as R does!!! (Sometimes) I also hope they know that I’m going to be bullying my way into every part of her pregnancy now… maybe even the delivery room for Birth Photos… get ready T

Ballon - Vroom Vroom Balloon

Cards- Blossom and Pear

Wooden Rattle - Bannor Toys

Can anyone guess what she’s having?… All of you already know, I’m weeks late! The H family is expecting another little boy!!!

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R Maternity Session

It looks like 2019 is going to be the year of the Babe (our favorite year) at the CMP studio!!!! Though we’ve started the year out by not blogging anything, we’re very excited to share our first (blogged) Baby bump and our first, but hopefully not last, snow day photo shoot!

You would never believe it by looking at it but these sessions were literally done only one day apart from one another! It started snowing about 5am and I was texting R repeatedly at about 6am, telling her to wake up and get ready! Our original session wasn’t until the following day but we had both talked about wanting some snow photos and in Nashville you have to take it when you can get it! I’m sure she hated me in that moment and for sure hated me even more when we went out into single digit weather but it was sooooo worth it! Despite being frozen the whole time Mama R somehow managed to look like a professional model our whole session and if it was slightly warmer or the wind wasn’t blowing so hard I probably would have tried to keep her out there much longer then I did!

Annnnnnnnnnd this is the day after, about 20 degrees warmer, same location! It was still pretty fridgid out, especially when the wind blew but we couldn’t complain because it no way did it compare to the day before! Thankfully Papa E managed a little free time off of work and was able to attend our ‘real’ session.

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A Maternity Session

M, D, & W Maternity Session

There have been an awful lot of babies born the last two months but I have to say I'm most excited for this little family to welcome their baby girl! Unlike most girls these guys know exactly when their little lady is coming so they've been counting down the days for months and it's the cutest thing!

N & D Maternity Session

I've yet to share my last two trips from NOLA however I somehow managed to get this session finished and blogged in just a few weeks!!! Maybe that's because a beach maternity session has been on my bucket list for some time now and I couldn't have asked for a better couple to check this off with!!! Those of you who follow me on any social media account have had to deal with me sharing N & D's couple/maternity photos off the last few weeks and you'll continue to see them... until I share them all.  

I could write paragraphs about these two and how much I loved this session BUT I can also write the same amount about how perfect these two are together, so much so it's almost sickening! They were also the kindest, most hospitable, most willing couple and I adored every second with them. I initially told them I'd stay far out of their way because I didn't want to interfere with their 'Baby moon' but I ended up spending every moment with them. I do believe these two were truly made for one another and I'm so thrilled that their little lady is going to be able to be a part of their wedding, which will be the following year!

I also gotta say I'm so amazed at how dedicated they were to their session! We woke up one morning before the sun came up in order to get our pastel beach photos, made a fool of ourselves in public, they acted out every scenario and pose I asked them, no matter how silly it seemed and I will forever be grateful! As I'm writing this we've got just a few more weeks till their little lady arrives and I look forward to being part of her birth and part of her and parents lives for years to come!!!

Besides the awesome time I had with these guys I had I also had an incredibly relaxing and completely undeserved trip. I was wide awake at 4am every morning and I would generally go right outside and sit on our designated beach (I'm surprised I wasn't murdered) chairs with my fleece blanket and just watch the sun come up and listen to the ocean... very 'tumblr' girl I know, but I can defiantly see why people retire to Florida!!! We had umbrellas too, which I've never had at the beach, I've always just hidden under my towels because I don't tan... I burn... I'd rather just be pasty white! When we weren't shooting or under the umbrellas the soon to be Papa A, who was such a hoot to be around, and I went snorkeling while Mom watched us on the beach and told us not to go out too far. I'm not accustom to not being the 'mother', it was actually pretty funny being watched over the whole time. I don't think I've ever had such a fun time at the beach and there was never a dull/awkward moment! We talked about everything and I truly look forward to spending more time with them in the future!!!

I of course found a stray beach cat but he looked like he was being taken care of... his ear was tipped and he wasn't too nervous about being around people! He had two to three cans of wet food every day though!

G Maternity Session

Now that Mr. S is a month old I GUESS I can finally share photos from his Mamas Maternity Session...

I can no longer just call the G family children 'some of my favorite girls' because they now have a little brother! Sadly, Papa R is still greatly outnumbered... This awesome family has basically become family over the last few years and my portfolio can't contain enough photos of them! Mama J handles pregnancy along with raising three other children so gracefully, I'm in their house and just get tired watching her & Papa R wrangle everything and everyone! We picked one of the unfortunate days of being out in the cold, where the wind was blowing like crazy, but these ladies & Papa toughed it out, as always!

C Family Maternity Session

The best thing about starting your day early is you get to call dibs, which includes waterfalls! We didn't start our day too early, we got to our location at 9, but we still had dibs!!!!After trying to plan a snow maternity session out of state for weeks we had a random heat wave, in-between the days were it was 20 degrees out, and the location we were looking at was a no go. Fearing we were running out of time we found the best alternative! 

B picked out one of our 'Glamour Packages' at CMP which gave us aaaaaaaall day to play! After deciding last second we were going to shoot we picked out a new location literally 10 hours before our shoot and headed out early the next morning! Neither of us had obviously ever been to this location and the last time I visited a location without exploring it first did not go well... so I didn't have high hopes with my very pregnant lady friend and her very small child (Dad came along later at another location!) however this might have been the easiest fall that I have ever accessed! Literally had a paved trail to it and a nice little bench for G to sit on while I photographed his Mama, that is when he wasn't throwing rocks in the water (he's got a good arm on him too, he made lots of rocks skip!)

Mama B knew exactly what she wanted from her session and did everything she could to help make it everything she had envisioned!  She also went way out of her way to do everything I asked and somehow made it ten times better! She knelt in mud and pricklies, changed 80 times, laughed at all my bad jokes, but most importantly, she did not slip and fall... Working with her & Papa K was like working with very old friends, the hour car ride was spent telling stories and discussing the best horror movies, poking fun at each other in ways I wouldn't dare do to friends that I've known for years, there was never a silent or awkward moment between us! We text each other basically every day now, she's even on my meme list! I could sit here and gush over how great they are and how badly I want to steal their son but I'll save that for their newborn blog! 

N Maternity Session

Despite us having snow yesterday everything is in full bloom and beautiful in Nashville! The sad part is, stuff only stays in bloom for about a week, but the allergies stay ALL.SUMMER.LONG!!!!! Due to this I bribed Ms. N with the promise of pretty flowers, which didn't take too much convincing, to do part of her maternity session a little bit early! (I'm still super dooper excited to do her full maternity session in Florida!)

I already shared a few of her photos on some of my other social media account and I spoke about how jealous I am that all these pregnant women have themselves together more than I do, which I am, but who wouldn't be jealous of this gorgeous lady! She is one of the kindest most graceful (not like, won't trip over her own feet graceful, like elegant)  women I have ever met and truly has the pregnancy 'glow'. Like seriously, her hair, skin tone, everything just radiated! I don't know if I can attribute that all to her pregnancy but I can sure as heck blame it to make me feel a little more adequate!!! 

She also picked up the cutest maternity dress last second at Target, which I am considering going to get for everyday use! The material was so soft and it was so flow and elegant, I couldn't have asked for a better outfit or model!!! I am so grateful this beautiful lady came out with me last second on one of the prettiest days we've had in Nashville for some time and so happy that we were in-between our rainy and snowy days! All the trees we stopped by for our shoots have already lost their bloom and we did this shoot less than a week ago!!! 

Her dress - https://www.target.com/p/maternity-knit-kimono-sleeve-dress-isabel-maternity-by-ingrid-isabel-153/-/A-53217490#lnk=sametab

J Maternity Session

Working with other photographers is always so nerve wrecking, especially when they're as talented as Ms. Jessica Elvir! Her and her amazing family have always been so wonderful to work with and I looooove her boys so much! She's blessed me the opportunity to work with her and her growing family so many times and I feel like both of us have grown together so much over the last few years! Her Hubby to be is always such a hoot to be around too, he always laughs at all my jokes, is such a good dad to his boys, and is always such an awesome sport, even though I know he probably hates being photographed!

As nerve wrecking as it is, photographers are probably the easiest to work with, they know how to pose themselves and the ones they're being photographed with... She made me feel like I wasn't doing my job at all! She made pregnancy with two (Three if you include John) rowdy boys look like it was nothing, but we all know better! This is this families last child and they're getting a girl out of it this round! All the boys are already smitten and Ms. M isn't even here yet. If she's as pretty as her Mama they all better watch out!

Despite shooting outdoors on ANOTHER chilly day this whole family did so well enduring the cold and the hike to our location. This is a location another one of my most favorite ladies introduced me to and I'm glad I was able to break it in with Jessica and her Wolf Pack! 

O & K Maternity Session

My longest days working, besides weddings, are when we do 'destination locations' but they are by far the best! I'm down for driving two hours every day for the perfect spot, trying to run around said park to find service because GPS takes you to the wrong place, panicking when you can't find each other, seeing your phone is about to die and you have no idea where you are, and seeing that bear in the woods eyeballing you because you look like a tasty snack... all of these things happened on my maternity shoot with Mrs. O & Mrs. K, except the bear thing. Bears know I probably just taste like Cauliflower and coffee, not a great combo to start your day as a bear. 

Mrs. O & K have gone through in vitro fertilization and were at the time expecting a little boy in the following month (Baby O has since been born and looks just like Elvis!) so we were all a little worried about making her endure the hike to our location! She was a trooper though and both K & I couldn't say a thing about being exhausted from the rock climbing and hiking because O was doing it at 8 months pregnant! We were all kind of hoping it would send her into labor so we could all head right to the hospital and we could photograph him making his big debut! Plus this shoot was mid December so we were thinking that they had already hit their deductible for the year so...! O handled the cold so well and still somehow looked so elegant and beautiful during the whole session, I always get so jealous of women who look 10 times better than I do on a normal day 8 months pregnant. K was so helpful helping me get those super flowy dress shots and despite not wanting to be photographed she was also such a great model, and almost sickeningly sweet and caring to her wife! K & O were both so excited about their pregnancy and have worked so hard and done so much to get to where they are! They're already preplanning their next child and I am dying to snuggle their handsome little guy! 

Mini Snow Maternity Session

Happy 2018 y'all! Yes, I know it's almost February...  I've been waiting to post blogs till I completely updated the website and now that that is done I've got a lot of catching up to do! Thankfully we've all been snowed in the last few days which has given me nothing but time to work on business, so I feel like it's appropriate to share one of my first snow shoots of the year! As much as I hate being cold I absolutely adore winter, but you can't truly enjoy winter unless you have snow, which we have gotten plenty of the last week! Most of my clientele includes young children so this normally limits what I can do outside however when adults can tough it out I jump at the opportunity! I haven't been able to leave my house for about a week because I live up a very steep driveway, that leads to a steep hill, and then you to have to climb another hill to leave the neighborhood. However Ms. J has a very dedicated man who was willing to come pick me up and drive all of us to a location some miles away to get some killer photos! J is also a very talented photographer so it's always a pleasure getting to work with her and as a fellow photographer she knows all her best angles so it makes my job so much easier! When we got to the location she had a thick jacket on so I was very surprised when she removed it and saw her almost sheer dress and lack of sleeves! It sure did look good though...

This beautiful woman toughed it out though and I'm so thrilled that J & J both convinced me to come out with them! We probably only spent 20 minutes out but I am in love with all the photos and can't wait for little Ms. M to be born! 

Thank you J, J, & D for another awesome play date together!

P & A Maternity Session

I made a statement the other day on FB about how my ladies need to go ahead and have their babies anddddd I guess I'm getting what I wished for! Within two days of posting one of my pretty Mama's went into labor and just a few days later my beautiful cousin looked like she was about to have a baby fall out of her during her shower! Sadly Papa A had to go to work before the Baby Shower ended and before Mama P could escape I made her come out back and let me get a few photos of her! Thankfully she was model ready and so very happy to accept!!!

Our family is so incredibly happy for her and her awesome guy, they're going to be fabulous parents when we allow them to have their little guy! Thankfully he's being born into two big loving and very family oriented families.

DW Maternity Session

Baby DW number 3 is almost here!!! This means at any given moment I can be driving up to KY to witness this little monster to make her/his big debut! Lets hope unlike his/her sister, they decide to arrive at a hard noon! Hopefully this isn't the last of the DW children, I know if Mama can help it she'll get two more out of Papa K, because they make the most adorable kids! Check out this beauty rockin one of my maternity dresses & her adorable munchkins (& handsome hubby) giving her some serious love!

E Family Maternity Session

Maternity Sessions might be my favorite... I think I say all sessions might be my favorite, BUT, that's because they are all awesome! Maternity sessions though mean that I will have a little one to snuggle and photograph soon!!! Judging by this handsome Dad and Mom though my next baby is going to be a doll!

Though we had only briefly spoken through sporadic text messages (on my behalf!) it was like meeting old friends and we spent the whole evening telling jokes and me keeping them much longer then necessary! If darkness wasn't creeping up on us these two might have been stuck there an hour or so longer! Mama E made being 8 months pregnant look so easy. She somehow managed to hike trails that I got winded on (but I also get winded rolling out of bed), scale rock walls, and looked like a super model all while doing it! If you were to see her from behind you would never have known she was pregnant, she was all perfectly round belly! 

I don't know if I've ever met anyone as organized as I like to think I am. Mama E knew everything she looking for from her session, how to pose, the best spots to shoot, and was willing to wear just about anything I brought! She, much like myself, has a flair for the dramatic! Though I'm always overly excited about any session I have she had me ready to bring half my closet for her to try on before it was over! Surprisingly we ended up being able to narrow it down... Thankfully her husband was just as stylish and photogenic as she was. Unlike his brother who I don't think owns more then 3 shirts, Papa J had a large selection to choose from and made narrowing down outfits that much harder! He looked so good I even made him step aside and let me get a few shots of him by himself! They looked so good I even cut the belly out of a few of the shots and focused exclusively on them! 

I already consider these guys more friends then clients and I'm so thankful this awesome couple was able to get to me before Mama C has her little lady. I'm more excited for this session newborn session then I have been in a while because of the AWESOME concept and color scheme these guys have picked out! 

E Family Maternity Session

Talk about a family that's hit the genetic lottery! Some 7 months ago Mrs. E announced she was expecting her second child and I was ecstatic! I knew I just had to buy my time and hopefully I'd be able to see them and though it took till Mama Brittany's 37th week it was well worth the wait! (It also means less time for me to wait till I get to meet Baby S!) Papa Mitchell had contacted me some weeks before our session and we attempted to plan a session for his adorable family in secrecy but it wasn't until Mama B got involved that the whole thing really came together! 

The hardest part of this session was not only trying to decide which of my maternity dresses Mama B would wear (the answer was all of them!) but letting this adorable family leave! Big Sister H was such a cute little ham and you can tell she's used to having her photos taken on a regular basis! Even when the chilly wind would blow H would just throw on the biggest smile as soon as I lifted my camera. She's super excited to meet her little sister and is going to be such a great little helper to her parents! 

Lady N Maternity Session

I think it's still pretty bad that I'm catching up on blogs from last year, but that's okay (is what I keep telling myself!) at least everyone has their photos! 

I had a brief visit from my very lovely friend Ms. N late last year & though she was only 4 or so months along in her pregnancy we faked it by eating lots of burritos and double stuffed Oreos before our session. I didn't need to, but I wanted to be there for support. 

The beautiful N modeling one of my favorite maternity dresses! Hopefully I get to meet her little lady at some point this year, even if it means I have to go to California!!! 

This is the second time I've gotten to shoot N & her little stinker J, who is always so well behaved & so very photogenic! As soon as he saw his mama in her form fitting dress he laughed at her with a huge grin on his face & said 'Your belly is so much bigger!' He was happy to show off his muscles & hold the pumpkin but he was definitely struggling! It was the cutest thing ever! J is going to be an awesome big brother & I'm so happy I got to work with these (3) the short time they were visiting Nashville!