family photos
Good lord this blog was drafted in September of last year, even worse, I think it was shot months before that!Any who, here’s a super handsome little man with the prettiest blue eyes!
Baby G & his parents came to me for his Wild Ones themed First birthday Cake Smash and he was just the sweetest baby with such a big personality! He laughed at all my jokes, tolerated all his outfit changes, and loveddddd his cake! His parents were okay too I guess :)
One of the biggest compliments you can ever get as a photographer is having clients that continue to come back to you and I was so happy when the beautiful Mama M contacted me about getting up to date family photos/Baby M’s 18month pictures! I had the pleasure of photographing Baby M (now big boy M) last year when he was 6 months old and he was nothing but rolls and a big ball of happiness. Not too much had changed since that time, except now that he’s mobile he’s lost some of those precious precious rolls but he was just as attentive and sweet as ever! I guess you’re extra smart too when your Mama is a teacher and has had extra time home with you…
Just like our prior session it was an insanely hot day in Nashville and of course our location required a bit of hiking to get to. I felt so bad for Papa M who had already been working outside all day but none of them complained once. I was sweating by the time we got to the lakeside but somehow Mama M & Papa M still looked perfect! I guess I’m just really out of shape. Baby M was so well behaved and was so attentive to everything we were doing, he was probably the easiest baby to get to look at the camera. He was in such a good mood for his photoshoot, he didn’t care who was holding him, which made family photos so easy, or what he was doing, he was just happy to be out on an adventure!
We thankfully avoided all the rain that had been looming all week, this was the first nice day in a while and we had already had to reschedule once or twice, and I couldn’t have picked a nicer family to work with. Baby M got to model one of the new outfits I have available for little boys and he was the perfect baby bear. He also loved the chair I had brought for him and kept sitting in it no matter where I moved it. He even tried to sit in it when I was trying to put it up, it was the cutest thing. My favorite part of the session though was when his parents had him identify all his body parts, which you can see in some of the photos below. He was starting to get tired so to keep his attention we asked him to find his belly, his nose, and his ears, and he got every single one!!! Oh, and his Chris Farley impression was pretty dang spot on
Things that happened just a month ago or so really seem like they happened a year ago at this point. Going through so many of my recent sessions I realize that even though everything still seems to be at a standstill, time has gone by insanely fast! Take this little handsome booger… after seeing some of his most recent photos his mama has shared, he doesn’t even look like the same baby anymore! This precious newborn boy now looks like a handsome full grown man and I’m so glad I was able to go over to his parents house for his newborn photos before he made the jump!
Sweet Baby J has some minor (what seems like minor now of course) hiccups when he was first born so we really hesitated on when we were going to do his newborn photos. We originally decided to wait a month to do his newborn photos but after seeing how much he changed in the first week Mama made the call to have his photos done early! I was fortunate enough that this amazing family allowed me into their home during such an insane time and despite what I can only imagine was sleep deprivation, both Mama and Papa both looked like super models and made everything so insanely easy! Baby J was such a great sleeper too, he was so well behaved through all his newborn photos and transitioned through sets with ease. We did a combination of jungle themed newborn photos and incorporated the fact that his father is a professional football player into his photoshoot but my favorite photos are definitely the family photos!
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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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.
Over the last few months I’ve been expected to keep lots of big secrets but this one might have been one of the hardest!!! It took about 15 weeks for Mama M & Papa D to spill the beans that they were expecting again but dang was the payoff worth it!!!!! Mama M & I struggled for a little while trying to pick the perfect theme for their gender reveal and after going weeks of thinking Baby #2 was going to be a boy Mama and having that planned in our minds, she finally got the great news that it was another girl and we just had to bust out the pink frill!
With her first pregnancy she took away the joy of me being able to share in all the splendor (just kidding guys) so throughout this pregnancy we’ve made the plans to go all out!
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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No matter how many times I shoot with the G family it’s ALWAYS new and exciting! I always aim to make each session their most favorite of all the ones we’ve done and I always go into a session feeling slightly nervous on how I’m going to make this shoot different… Now… I feel like I’m always going to have to live up to this session!!!!
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Baby T just turned 3 months the other day so I guess it’s time to share her Newborn Photos!!! All of the DW children are literally a carbon copy of each other, I feel like every blog I’ve ever written about them I keep telling them to have more children because they’re all so beautiful and well behaved but I think they’re finally stopping at this beautiful little lady! Sweet little Baby T was also the only child of theirs born in the fall so we made sure to incorporate some fall aspect into her session and I am utterly amazed at how hard she slept in the pumpkin!
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Have you ever seen those moms on Instagram or Pinterest that just look like they stuck two model children in there with her to sell a product? Like that woman couldn’t have kids because she looks so good and well rested and those kids have matching outfits and perfect hair and so does she? Well… I hate to tell you guys, they actually exist…
Mama K is the epitome of the mother we would all like to be and Baby H & Big Sister C are the type of kids you want to have! These two beautiful sisters get along SOOOO well it’s unreal, I see adult siblings that aren’t as caring to one another as these two girls are. Baby H was a little camera shy when we first started and cried for a second but all she really wanted was sister C to take some photos with her! Than Big Sister C was a little upset when they first did photos together that their outfits didn’t match (their second outfits matched but she wasn’t suppose to be in the first set!) It only took 5 seconds for both these little ladies to warm up to the camera and they were what I always hope to get out of a session! Engaging, sweet, full of smiles, and you can tell that they have their photos taken all the time! Big sister C was also an amazing photographer and took my camera a few times to take pictures of her surroundings and family, and they were good!!!! If nap time wasn’t creeping around I would have kept these ladies with me all morning but in the short time we spent together I got some of the sweetest images of these 3!
I can’t wait to get my hands on these beautiful ladies again and I’m so happy to have meet these 3!
I know some pretty Kool cats but these guys are ranked up near the tiptop!!! Baby E is now about a month and a half old (see how behind I am in blogs) and is sleeping 5 hours at a time for her Mama, and just like Big Brother G, is full of smiles!!! I could shoot this family ten thousand times and never get enough photos, nor do I think I could truly capture Big Brother G's obsession with his baby sister E! Here's to many many more shoots together and lots of adorable photos of Baby E & Big Brother G! Its going to be crazy looking back in a year and seeing these photos
White Headband - IvyandNellBaby
Fox Headband - Pixie Blossoms
White Feather Headband - Pixie Blossoms
Pink Headband - IvyandNellBaby
Gender Reveal - http://www.chelseameadowsphotography.com/blog/2017/10/26/g-family-ge
Maternity Session - http://www.chelseameadowsphotography.com/blog/2018/3/9/c-family-maternity-session
I'd like to welcome back some serious CMP veterans, the N Family! Mama C and I have known one another since high school days, which I don't care to say how long ago that was, but the fact that her oldest child is almost in the double digits is a super unfriendly reminder! As I always complain, it was freezing cold this morning, even though the day before was about 20 degrees warmer, yet the kids somehow managed to do SO good. I had two jackets on because the smallest breeze might kill me so I had no clue how they were doing it! For the most part we just allowed them to run wild, the only rule was not to fall into the water, which W didn't really follow too well!
All of these guys get along AMAZINGLY and spent the whole session giving each other a hand up whenever they tripped, or attempted to climb something, it was the best! I did realize though I have no clue what to talk to kids that are between the ages of 7-10, especially these guys because they all acted way older than they actually were!
I might regret saying this in 10 years, when I have a little girl reading over all my old blog post, but I've always wanted a boy! Just because I would literally probably go bankrupt buying floral everything and I feel like you have less to worry about with boys. The only good thing about me having a little girl, when the time comes, is that she might have a chance with Mr. G, even though I'm sure his Mama has promised him to a dozen girls already!!! This little fella is notes incredibly smart and is great at acting out the words he hasn't learned yet, like vey detailed acting out, he's an amazing listener, no matter how badly he might not want to listen at the moment, plus I absolutely love his Mama & Papa and could totally deal with them as in-laws!!!! Plus he's just so stinkin handsome!!! This little buckaroo was the first child to break 'Woody' in and I've been dyyyyying to use it in a shoot! I can't wait to see this little guy again when his little sister gets here know he'll be just as enthused with her as he was his rocking horse!!!
Anyone that follows me on ANY of my social media accounts, if you don't I'll be posting that at the bottom of this blog, has seen THIS MOST HANDSOME LITTLE GUYS FACE!!! When I first started my photography journey my lovely friend Lindsey Huff and I knew we were both going to become famous from our shoots together. We kind of did, we've got posts on Tumblr with 100k notes but NOBODY knows it's us so... Today, I think If I'm ever going to get found online it's going to be from this.guy.here.
It's been a good minute since I've had the privilege to do a Cake Smash (what's up with all you people being health freaks huh!?!?!) and when Mama T brought her handsome little booger to our wedding pre consultation I jumped at the idea! Thankfully Mama T is just as dedicated to her session as I am, she had custom made M an outfit to go with the theme of his session and it absolutely made the session! She is ridiculously talented and creative, her abilities put me to shame!!! Baby M definitely was a 'Wild One', exploring everything around him, crawling through the mud and leaves, climbing whatever he could! Once he starts walking both his parents are going to have a hard time keeping up with him, I did and he was just crawling!!!
Both Mama T & Papa A need to continue to have babies, even if they just have another one and give it to me, because they made the most adorable and well behaved child! Mama T & Papa A were so incredibly amazing too, M is not only lucky enough to have some knockouts as parents but both of them were so incredibly kind and patient throughout our session! I can't wait for their wedding to truly focus on both of them in all their glory!
Mama T & I have had the pleasure of working together a lot the past year and we were both thrilled at the idea of being able to shoot in the snow! I mean, how often do we actually get a good snow in Nash? The last one I really remember happened when I was in middle school, where we all got to school and were dismissed 5 minutes into the day but were still stuck there for 7 hours!!! We spent the morning texting trying to figure out if the roads were safe for travel and we finally decided it was worth risking all of our lives. I ended up having my friend/neighbor take me to the location who owns a big ol truck and it looked like Mama T did the same!!! (Thank God for men with trucks who can drive in bad weather)
Even in the dead of winter and dressed in all those layers Mr. R and Mama T were still so incredibly fashionable and looked like professional models ready for the runway! R loved it, he immediately started picking up large chunks of snow and started throwing them at everyone. There was even a brief time my lens got super foggy because there was so much snow on it that I could hardly get a clear photo. (Note to self, bring lens cleaning cloth to every shoot!) R was all about throwing snow on everyone else but wasn't too crazy about having the same done to him, which you can see from the last 3 photos. Thirty minutes was definitely enough time to enjoy the snow and then be done with it. I was so excited to finish these photos I literally spent the whole night working on them (& finished them) only to have my internet go out before I was able to send them out...
G Family Session Part Deux, this family deserves a trilogy but for now will due with a sequel blog!!! I adore going to their property and shooting, every time I visit I find something different and always gives me such a great variety in photos in such a small location!!! We even did their family photos in the pond across the road where just a few days later Papa R found a poisonous snake... thankfully we managed to make it through this session without getting poison ivy or eaten!!!
No matter how often you work with a family or how well you think you know them they always seem to have a way of surprising you! That was very much so the case for Ms. R, even though I was literally there when she was born and have worked with her multiple times since then I was taken back how much of a little fireball she was on our private session together! Without her big brother or father around I got to focus exclusively on this little lady for her Pageant photos and she was such an incredible delight. Her personality is much too old for her age, she is so incredibly well behaved, exceptionally smart, and is just all around funny. The hour we spent playing peekaboo to get these beautiful cheeky smiles was by far the best hour of that day! If this little lady gives the judges in Texas just an ounce of the personality she gave me she's going to knock it out of the park!!!
Little Ms. R's floral headband by the super awesome 100AcreBoutique
The first BLOGGED session of 2017 is well deserved to be shown first for the excessive cuteness!
It's crazy how fast 6 months goes by when it's not your child! Somehow it's already been 6 months & little Baby P was extra sweet & cuddly for her 6 month session. She was much happier to see me this time around & had thankfully forgotten how much I disturbed her while she slept during her newborn session! After planning for many weeks trying to work around this sweet princess being sick & Nashville's inconsistent weather we finally caught a lovely day in between the rain & wind to shoot on this awesome families beautiful property! We spent the first part of the morning going through the older girls (who are the best mini mommies) closet & my goodness I've never seen such a wardrobe with such exquisite taste! It was easy to see why mama J had such a hard time deciding between outfits. I can't decide what the best part of this family is. How sweet Ms. P is, how social and easy Mama J & Papa R are to get along with, or just how incredibly awesome the R & G are! The older girls, G & R, always acted like they were so happy to see me & have always so social & well behaved anytime I have met them, in ever setting! I always try & squeeze extra time in between photo taking to frolic with them & catch up on the latest gossip ;)
Little Miss G & R were also kind enough to watch their baby sister while I snapped a few photos of Mama J & Papa R together! The two newlyweds looked so great together & photographed so well I could have spent another hour with them just taking couple photos, but we just so happened to shoot on super bowl Sunday & that takes precedence over most things!
Believe it or not the hardest part of this session was getting Ms. P to look at me! There was lots of tasty grass all around to be eaten & having photos taken on game day wasn't exactly what this cutie had in mind! She fell asleep for a portion of the shoot & things became so much easier! You could also tell just how adorable & squishy her cheeks were when they were smushed up against her Mama!
Though Ms. P is halfway through graduating the baby plan I'm always going to be looking for an excuse to work with these little girls & their awesome mama & papa! I've already recruited the little ladies to model some of my handmade dresses for me soon! I'm starting to try & slow down finishing these photos because I don't know what I'm going to do with myself when I finish!!!
Deer headband - Dearest Dreams
Red Headband - Pixie Blossoms
Another Baby R graduated from the Baby Plan this month! This pouty lip baby just gets more handsome & is probably the #1 reason I'm so dead set on having a boy when the time comes! (Come on now Blake) I can't think of a better way to start fall than with a session with the most handsome little one year old boy, the most stylish mama, & the most handsome papa! We've had this location planned for more than 6 months & thankfully they had a lovely display out that made an amazing backdrop for our session.
Cake Smashes are probably my most favorite part of the Baby Plan, but they're also the worst because it means I won't get to see my little ones as frequently! Baby R's Beautiful Mama (who I always gloat about how I want to be like whenever I have children) had R's theme picked out early & made the set planning so easy! She knew exactly what she wanted & also made the two blue banners you see in the set, which really made it 10 times better! Looking back now it would have been so boring without them! I normally only share a few photos from the cake smashes but R was just too precious & I couldn't help but showing a ton of them! Baby R was a little grumpy at the last part of the family session & we were thinking for a moment that we were going to have to postpone his cake smash, however, as soon as we brought it out he had a complete attitude change & was willing to tolerate me for the rest of his session! As Papa N cheered him on (in the best 'Dad voice') Baby R kept saying 'Mhhhm' so it must have been a pretty decent cake!
