J Family Lifestyle Newborn Session

So, I talk all the time about how do my newborn sessions at my home studio or on location outdoors but did you know I’ll come to your house? Especially if your home is as cute as Mama A’s and Papa B’s! (or if you have animals as cute as theirs). If you read my last blog you'd know this, stay focused. I offer at home Newborn Family/Lifestyle Sessions and you have your choice of adding on a miniature ‘studio’ portion to that shoot and we went all out for sweet Baby M’s session!

If you didn’t know any better you would think this family was assembled by some modeling agencies for some magazine shoot to promote a product, but no. They’re just that perfect. Mama A is so exceptionally bubbly, energetic, kind, fit, and of course a knock out, which is hard to believe considering she had just given birth about 10 days before. Papa B is a funny, well rounded, very charming, handsome and talented musician from Memphis Tennessee and together, with their dogs skittles and the dogs name I can’t remember but it has something to do with Hawaii and starts with K, and their newborn daughter M, they make the most picture perfect family!

Now I’ll say this… generally Baby boys are much more relaxed throughout newborn sessions. Baby girls just have a lot more to say! However, Baby M literally didn’t make a peep our whole session and did every little pose I put her into! She spoiled me rotten. I really had to narrow down how many I was going to share because literally every image was just amazing! She also spent most of her time naked farting and stressing us all out, thinking that she was going to use the potty on Mama’s view or Papa’s guitar. Little lady held out for us though right until Papa B was trying to put her diaper back on her in the other room. Thanks Baby M, you’re a real trooper and I hope all my future little ladies are as wonderful as you were!

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T Milk and Cookies Cake Smash

Two Cake Smashes in a row? You’re welcome!
One of my last sessions of last year was one I was actually really sad to do! The, hopefully for their sake, last of the DW children just turned one and she’s just as wonderful as the rest of the family. Baby T has all the spunk and energy of all the DW children combined and it’s probably lucky she was the last one, otherwise I don’t know how they’d keep up! (Actually, her Big Sister R is probably the spunkiest, but she wasn’t here for this session so I can’t compare) Her Mama came up with the creative idea of doing a Milk and Cookies themed Cake Smash and we still tried to keep it as natural and dainty as possible to keep the attention on little lady. Her Mama made all the adorable glass jars and while we considered only doing a big plate of cookies I couldn’t help but still throw a cake into the mix for her. Spoiler alert, her and all of her siblings were only interested in the store bought cookies.
Don’t be fooled by her drinking really cute out of her glass jar too, we had a lot of faith in her for not spilling it and the very first thing she did after those first few photos was knock the glass jar over and get it everywhere.

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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Baby S Sunflower Milk Bath

Today is Mama J’s, otherwise known as Baby S, first Birthday and we’re all over here crying! I remember Mama M and I discussing her first birthday before she was born and sharing all the ideas we had for her first birthday photoshoot and Cake smash! One year later we definitely didn’t do any of them, however we’ve basically done everything else under the sun. I think she’s been on my blog, published and unpublished posts, more than anyone this year and next year we’ll be adding her baby sister B into the fix so you can expect to be heavily spammed by this family for many years to come!!!

After weeks of being torn between doing a fruit bath or a milk bath we compromised and are going to do both. Seeing as it’s August and basically Fall we decided to try and keep the florals away from the pastel realm and does it really matter what I type? Is anyone still reading? I care though, gotta hit those google keywords! Sunflowers! We decided on sunflowers and thankfully I have an abundance of fake ones and Mama M had some dollar store sunflowers she’s had for over 4 years to add to the mix! We went out to the same park we did her sisters gender reveal/pregnancy announcement and set up near the creek! J hates headbands so we were really worried about her keeping it on throughout her session but thankfully all the sunflowers and splashing around in the milk was enough to keep her distracted for about 5 minutes! Still haven’t gotten the smiling down, even after a year of modeling, but we have the smoldering down to a T! We’ll work on it next year, and hopefully next week we’ll be sharing her Cake Smash!

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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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B Mini Session

I started photography wanting to excessively working with professional models but I quickly dropped that narrow-mindedness and now 5 years later I work almost exclusively with children! It’s definitely been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made because working with kids is always a wild, unpredictable ride. The energy is definitely wasn’t on the youth, I feel like I always get a days worth of steps in working with kids and this little lady definitely gave me a run for my money! B and her Grandmother and Grandfather originally met me on a day a freak tsunami hit Nashville. The day started beautiful, got slightly overcast, and by the time we got to our session location it was pouring!!! It was also thundering very very loudly, enough to scare me, and even though we tried to wait it out, it just wasn’t going to happen. Despite all this madness going on little Miss B was amazingly friendly and open to meeting someone new and was so excited to take photos (though it didn’t happen that day). I actually kind of cheated by winning her over, it wasn’t my charming personality she like, but she loved looking at all my bows, trying on dresses, and singing Let it Go while spinning in said dresses. She was so very social and it was so sweet to see how crazy she was about her Grandparents, who were also the kindest most patient people. I kept telling them, this is Nashville weather, it’ll pass it 5 minutes… it didn’t pass. Though the made the long drive out to meet me they were super understanding and were completely understanding and willing to reschedule, despite them only being in town for a few days.

After having to reschedule two more times we finally managed to shoot on Easter morning and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect! Surprisingly there were also 100 other people out enjoying the nice weather, which kind of blew my mind because ya know… it was Easter Sunday. B, who had now had to wait 3 separate times for us to actually shoot, was a ball of energy and optimism for our photoshoot! She ran through the flowers probably a dozen times, picked several for her Grandmother and me, and once again spent the whole session twirling! Energy is wasted on the youth… I wish I got that excited about anything and had that much energy for… anything. She was the most perfect model and it was definetly worth the wait! It’s always so nice seeing children who are so well behaved, kind, and just absolutely LOVE the outdoors! She probably feel 5 times running through the field but just got right back up and kept on trucking! Her grandmother has told me that they plan on bringing her back to me at some point so I’m already planning on what fun and excited adventure we can all do together next time!

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E First Birthday

I used to pride myself on being able to write super descriptive blogs where I spilled every detail of my shoot and how they came to be but I think with age I’ve lost that ability (6 months makes a big difference guys!!!!) So I’m going to attempt to bring blogs back, and bring them back with a vengeance! Don’t go back and READ prior blogs, you can look… that way I won’t be judged off previous work

ANYWAYS!!! This session was seriously one to write home about and as much as I would like to take credit I literally have to thank this beautiful little ladies Mama for making it all happen! Mama B and I became friends about the time she found out the gender of this sweet little lady. We did her gender reveal together, she dropped off some nude cupcakes for a stylized shoot I was doing, and the rest is history! I’ve had the privilege of getting to experience so many special moments in their lives with them and the chance to watch her two children grow!!! She’s a wonderful friend and a very very talented artist and baker (Two Peas and Sweets Bakery)

Okay, back to the blog, I’m getting ahead of myself. This little ladies first birthday session was planned before she was born. Mama is basically a gypsy and has lived everywhere but her roots are in Arizona (don’t kill me if I get your families history wrong B, I’m not a stalker) and her Grand….mother used to have an alpaca farm (that sounds right). Her uncle even makes cactus art!!! Definitely a desert rat. When E was born she even had an extra special Aplaca/cactus swaddle!

When it came time to planning her First Birthday photoshoot Mama B somehow found an Alpaca farm, which was only about twenty minutes from Blakes house, go figure, and the women that owned it was kind enough to let us shoot there! We ended up getting lost along the way and managed to do this shoot in a record twenty minutes, which was probably for the best otherwise we would have stayed there all day. Baby E literally had zero interest in the Alpacas though and was more concerned with what they were eating and picking up as much mud as she could between her toes. The Alpacas literally had zero interest in her either and were more concerned about why this small creature was trying to shove their pellets into her mouth.

Again, this shoot was definitely like a fairytale and over the years we’re somehow going to have to one up this session. We’re already trying to figure out how we’re going to get an elephant for her 16th birthday

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Baby F 6 Month Session

I’ve spoken before about all the beautiful mothers you see on Instagram that are just big faker dakers and make you feel terrible about yourself… I hate to break it to you but… they exist. Mama C is one of those well dressed, fit, and pretty Moms that make you question your choices in life and if she truly did give birth just seven or eight months ago (don’t hate me if that’s wrong C). Besides just being drop dead gorgeous, she’s also such a pleasure to be around! It’s a shame I didn’t know her when she lived in Nashville!

The beautiful Ms. F is such a ham and is ALWAYS so happy, even when we ran into nap time, and always manages to break out in a toothy grin (even though she’s only got two teeth)! She is a true Southern Baby with her huge bows and vivid floral patterns and gave me soooo many great images that have already made their way into my online galleries!

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Baby L Newborn

This little lady came a good few weeks early but I don’t think any of us were prepared for how advance and amazing she was going to be!!! Baby L was born just days after her Mama, Brother and I did her maternity session, they keep telling me it was the day after but that just doesn’t sound right, my concept of time isn’t that bad (says the girl who takes two months to publish a blog). Mama A got her out in what seemed like minutes, sideways at that, and when she came out she cried once, and went back to sleep on her Moms chest. NICU, who was only there because she wasn’t full term, told us they needed to hear her cry more to make sure she was okay but she was already rooting in her sleep. Not much seemed to change as we did our newborn session as Baby L slept literally the whole time! I don’t remember her waking or crying once, and had a full head of hair, but if you look at her Mama and Brother (or Daddy who wasn’t present) she hit the genetic lottery!

Mama A and Papa J were high school sweet hearts and are the couple that you always hoped you’d end up being. These two have been together almost 10 years now (if not more!!!), are happily married, have a dog (most important thing), their own home, and two beautiful children… kind of makes you hate your life a little bit but they’re also a HUGE inspiration for what is possible! Big Brother L is also the most handsome guy and it’s dangerous because he knows it! He was so well behaved despite having such a big change happening so recently in his life and was such a pro at holding Baby L!

Mama A is also a friend from High School, one of the few I still associate with, and no matter how much time has passed we haven’t spoken or haven’t seen one another we’re always able to pick back up like no time has passed at all! I can’t wait to watch this perfect family grow together and I will forever envy their sweetness and beautiful children from afar!

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E Fruit Bath

Did you guys know I have a child? Two at that!!! They just so happened to been birthed by another woman and are being raised by said women… Anyways, I love me some Baby E & her big brother G! It’s always such a treat getting to spend time with this adorable family and I try to exploit our time as much as possible!

I’ve been dying for months to do a fruit bath shoot and seeing as we’re creeping into fall I feel like that time was slipping away! Thankfully I had me one of the most precious chunky babies to love on and photography and she loved chewing on her lemons! Her big brother G loved the strawberries and kept picking them out of the water as we were shooting!

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I Back to School Photos

The fact that one of the little ladies, who’s mother I knew before she was pregnant, who’s pregnancy photos I did, who’s 6 month photos I shot, is now in school makes me feel incredibly old. If you ever want to feel your age have or be around children and every time they hit milestones it’s just another gray head on the head!

It is amazing though to see the personality this little lady has developed over the years and how quirky she is! She is so bubbly and menacing at the same time, it’s hilarious to hear her talk through scenarios that she’s dealt with or those that she makes up in her head. If she’s this imaginative and smart she is now I can only imagine how she’s going to be in the next 10 years!!!

Also, did I mention she’s a model prodigy? I won’t even consider her as a ‘child model’, she’s far surpassed that title and is ready for the runway! Her one downfall is that she KNOWS she’s an awesome model and requires bribery for her skills, last time she got some bows, this time, ice cream was her preferred payment method!

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C 6 Month Session

So now that I'm not complaining about the cold, or the rain, I can complain about the heat... I can't actually complain about the heat cause Baby C's Papa works in the blazing heat all day, but I'm still going to gripe. I always love seeing my babies grow and Ms. C and her big sisters were AWESOME, as expected. I can't imagine the grief Papa E & Mama S are going to go through when these girls get older because they've got 3 very different and lively girls all of are exceptionally gorgeous in their own ways! 

S Cake Smash

M Newborn Session

Over the last few months I've gotten over my weird phobia of photographing people in public (it's mostly I hate people watching me work) which was awesome because otherwise we wouldn't have been able to take these outdoor newborn photos at one of Nashvilles biggest tourist hot spots! We at CMP had the privilege of documenting our friend & fellow photographer Jessica Elvir's gender reveal, pregnancy, birth, and of course newborn photos over the last several months and though Ms. M is almost two months old now it feels good to finally be able to share some of them! Despite the wind Baby M did awesome for her outdoor newborn session, her photos also have the same color scheme and style I'd want with my daughter if I ever had one! Yellow and red are my two favorite colors, I love florals and bright vivid colors, ANDDDD, we were able to reflect her Mamas love for photography in some of her photos with one of my vintage cameras (my spy camera as I call it). Baby M's Papa was also a firefighter and the only piece of his uniform that Mama J had was his firefighter helmet so I was more than happy to include that! 

I Cake Smash

This new generation of kids is a handful already, they're all already 10 times prettier than any of us have ever been too, I feel bad for all you Mamas and Papas out there! Little Ms. I turned one a few weeks back but you wouldn't believe it if she was standing right next to you! This little lady is so tall and so far beyond her years already, if she had a little more hair on her pretty little head you'd think she was pushing (1)3! This girl was wonderful for her six month session so I was extra excited for her follow up, and of course so honored that Mama L came back to me to document such an important part in her life! 

After a beautiful drive out to a private lot we were able to shoot in a beautiful field of wild flowers in 70 degree weather! We had to be extra careful tiptoeing around though because we weren't allow to pick or step on the flowers and little Miss I was so well behaved and resisted the temptation! Mama L gave me creative freedom for her Cake Smash which always creates some pressure but I'm pretty pleased with our woodland themed session! 

Ms. A Three Month Session

So this blog might contain more images that I've ever shared in a blog but God Dangit I could NOT narrow my favorites down for the life of me! Little Ms. A, who was just 2 1/2 months old at the time of our session, was SOOOO good at tummy time and was basically sitting up all on her own! Before each session I generally spend a few good hours planning in my mind the sequence in which I'm going to do things, what I need to get through first, I layer my blankets, the works! I had everything planned to a T for our session and then the moment when I got my hands on little Ms. A that all went out the window! None of my wraps fit her, she didn't fit in any  bowls or anything so I we had to improvise and treat the session like I would any 6 month old! She was such a happy baby though and was so enthralled with everything going on around her. The ceiling fan was interested, the tall grass was interesting, the big snake that went by us when we were leaving our outdoor session was interesting... I might have screamed when this happen, nobody knows except those of us present at the time. 

Mama C & I went to Middle & High School together and though we weren't ever part of the same cliche she was already so incredibly kind and social! She was always so incredibly positive and was enviously stylish (& pretty but that goes without saying)! When we met for our session we spoke as if we were close friends and I was surprised that we seemed to share so many similar interest, the same humor, and a deep love for the Grinch & Joe Dirt. She and her family have relocated out of state so I was so honored that she spent some of her incredibly limited time in town with me and I was even more happy to meet her beautiful little lady! A let me go through about 4 different sets with her without fuss and fell asleep for the last part of our shoot, allowing me to get some shots of those KILLER lashes! She's going to be a knockout just like her Mama & I wish her and her husband the best of luck with this little heart breaker!  

G Family Gender Reveal

I always feel super special when someone does a gender reveal with me because normally I am Just one of three people who knows what they're having and I LOVE THE POWERRRR. But seriously, gender reveals are the best, especially when the mother is super creative and plans out the most awesome session you could ask for! It was so wonderful getting to meet the beautiful Mama B after talking for so long! It was like seeing someone I had known forever and though her husband couldn't make it to the session he was there in spirit! Mr. G was such a good sport and was all about sharing  all of his sweets with me and everyone there! He's going to be an awesome big brother to his little sister! 

Ms. I Six Month Session

Little Miss I was so incredibly animated her whole session, she made me fall in love with shooting babies all over again! I think I've decided that 6 month olds are my favorite age to shoot because they have enough of a personality  to have great interactions with, they're growing into their unique facial features, AND they can't run away from you (which is half the battle most the time!!!) This little lady came for a mini session and was SO good I made her and her Mama stay much longer. She did all the things you hope your babies would do while having their photos taken and her outfits were just to die for! Her Mama was stressing a little bit on what to wear but Auntie came in and saved the day and provided us with some of the cutest dresses ever!!! Do they make these in Adult Size? Doesn't it seem like kids have the cutest clothes? Step your game up old navy!!!

J Gender Reveal

This pretty Mama just COULDN'T keep the fact that she was pregnant a secret, she did however manage to keep it private just what she was having and I was lucky enough to be the lady to help her share that info!!! After two handsome boys this Lady is FINALLY getting a girl!!!! We couldn't settle on how we'd exactly be revealing that info so we ended up doing about 3 different things, even though we had more planned! 

Baby DW III Newborn Session

The Saga of the DW family continues with their most recent installment Baby M, who is also my God Son!!! Just going into his birth knowing that made the moment so much more special when I was able to witness his birth and be one of the first few people to hold him! I'm hoping these guys will make another dozen babies because gosh dang they are awfully cute! Big Brother M & Big Sister R wanted so badly to hold M and to help with him however they could it was so cute! Mama & Papa have said that Big Sister R has repeatedly taken M out of his rocker and brought him to one of the, crying, sleeping, whatever! They both want so badly to hold their new baby it makes me hopeful that since I'm waiting so long to have kids if I have them close together they'll be this loving!!!

I so wish I could share some of photos from M's birth. We had waited and waited for what seemed like weeks for M to make his big debut, I had made sure to keep my schedule relatively open so I could leave at a moments notice but of course as soon as I started a newborn session (which typically last 4 hours) I got a call from Mama T that she was in labor... SOMEHOW, I still managed to do the newborn session and drive the hour and a half up to Kentucky to see this little guy come into the world! I even got to cut the cord which was one of the most special moments I've ever gotten to share with a family, or just in general!!! M was also kind enough to be born around 3pm instead of 3am like his big sister! 

Even though he looks like he was awake in a few of the photos I posted he slept like a rock. I don't think I can express enough how hard he slept no matter how much I loved him or changed him or wrapped him he just slept and gave me some of the best faces! I can only imagine what he was dreaming about, it was probably me... or the booby.