This was so much fun to put together. I hope you enjoy this beautiful family’s story as much as I enjoyed creating the images that tell it:)

I love maternity sessions. The promise and hope and anticipation that a couple feels at this time is tremendous and I FEEL it coming off of them in a maternity session. And this makes me so happy. Watching their sweet interactions and the tenderness between them and knowing of how happy they are to bring a new life into the world….it is truly a beautiful thing. I feel moved every time I have this opportunity. And grateful.

So, this is the first part in a 3 post series. This couple hired me for their newborn photography session and decided to also have me capture them pre-baby during a maternity session. And we also decided to feature their beautiful nursery in a Newborn Nestorations post. So check back next week for parts 2 and 3. You will love them!

Now on the the maternity images! Enjoy!

Before I get started with this post, I want to let everyone know that my session offerings for mid-late August – mid-late September will be very limited. As I have already booked newborn sessions for this time period, if you are expecting during this time and want me to photograph your growing family, please make your appointments now. This is why my sessions will be limited……..my sister is having a baby!

I’m posting images of someone I love today. These images are from a small maternity photography session held just a few weeks ago on Folly Beach, SC. Our whole family is overjoyed that my sister, Amy, is expecting. And as happy as I was at the idea of photographing her, I was equally nervous about the results. That may seem silly, since I specialize in newborn and maternity photography. But there is something very different about photographing someone you know so well. And a photograph tells a story of not only the person in front of the camera, but the person behind the camera as well. When you know the person you are photographing, all that history is with you when you take in the scene, when you are composing your images, and when you give direction. The apprehension I had reminded me of how I felt when I photographed her wedding 2 years ago, even though I had a better reason to be nervous back then, because……I am not a wedding photographer! But I would never allow this fear of mine to get in the way of taking the opportunity to give her something beautiful…….her own reflection at this amazing time in her life.

Me and my sister have so many things in common and yet we are very different people. We were playmates very often when we were young and we both had big imaginations! We came from a family where the arts were extremely important. We both loved to dance, we were both pretty gifted vocally/musically, and we both loved art. As you can imagine, we LOVED to put on a show!

We would announce to our parents that they were invited to the big performance, which of course meant they must stop whatever it was they were doing, bring a chair into the den, and watch us with awe and rapt attention and we sashayed, sang, and carried out dialogue thrown together in the 3 minutes of planning just prior to this production. My little sister, ever the clown, was just happy to have an audience and didn’t much care about sticking to any kind of plan. She would twirl around with her long red locks flying everywhere and it seemed she always “accidentally” ended up sprawled out in the middle of “the stage” for some reason or another. As long as she was getting a few laughs, everything was golden. I, on the other hand, with my detail-oriented, perfection-seeking, a-type personality, was always dismayed at my sister’s refusal to follow “the plan”. I was happy to have a creative partner but for heavens sake, could she please not make everything into a farce?!

And my parents encouraged both the beginning and the ENDING of each performance with their enthusiastic applause and cheers of BRAVO, as well as carrying their chairs away when our antics ran a little long, as they often did.

I haven’t always been close with my sister. Not nearly as close as I wish now. But I love her more than I could ever express. I wanted to tell this story because as I was editing these images, I was struck by how much some things change and how much still remains the same. Here is my beautiful baby sister, about to become a mother. She is a gifted singer/songwriter who still loves to put on a show and still has a whacky sense of humor. Even during our very moving maternity shoot (both of us were quite emotional), she still pulled out the vavavoom poses and fierce faces to keep it from getting too serious.

And then there is me. I chose the camera as my means to express myself artistically. And I still approached this shoot from my perfection-seeking personality. But instead of feeling dismayed and wondering how I am related to this strange red-headed creature who wanted to goof during her maternity shoot, I just laughed and thanked heaven for her. I marveled at her joie de vivre and I admired her grace. And I tried like hell to find a way to capture that with my camera.

And my parents are still yelling Bravo…..for both of us.

Today I am overwhelmed with the beauty of motherhood! This last week my sister visited from NYC and stayed at my mother’s home in Folly Beach, SC. I was so excited to see her. Here she was, my beautiful baby sister, blossoming into a gorgeous mother! At just under 7 months she is one of the most beautiful pregnant women I have ever seen…….all the more glorious for the struggle she endured to become pregnant. For those who know and love my sister, we celebrate and are even more thankful for her pregnancy because it was so difficult to achieve. My sister and I have both battled with our own fertility demons for years. And my own family may be much smaller than I planned and wished for, but I will continue to be grateful and say prayers of thanks for my beautiful daughter. I am so happy that my sister will be able to experience the absolute privilege and honor of becoming a mother.

I was also struck by the beauty of other mothers I have spent time with recently and just wanted to share these images with you. I am not ready to blog these sessions yet but just felt the desire to share these images with you now. The first image(s) is my sister, of course……in all her radiant glory. Be sure to keep checking the blog and my facebook page for more of her maternity session on the beach in Charleston SC at Folly Beach.

The second image is a mom I have had the great pleasure of working with 4 times now. I first photographed her when her daughter made her debut in this world and visited her family again for more sessions at 6 months and 1 year. And now here she is with baby number 2, her handsome son! She and her husband are such lovely people and I just am so happy to know them. They are so at ease and trusting in our sessions together. I love when clients can relax and enjoy the process and experience of the shoot so much because it lets me see the story and beauty and takes the images to a new level where the intimacy and emotions can be read in the portraits.

And finally the third image is a new mom I met for the first time recently……a mom who has been doubly-blessed! With TWINS. A boy and a girl! And I was so taken by her lovely spirit. Although the demands of twins were obviously not an easy thing to meet and she and her husband were tired and still a bit overwhelmed, I believe, they were patient and kind and trusting and happy and it was such an honor to be there capturing their growing family and all the love they have for these two precious little beings. And mom was just glorious and I was so happy to capture this portrait of her. Someday she may barely remember the details of these first few weeks and all that she was feeling….the elation, the joy, the fatigue and the love……but she will have these portraits to help her relive and celebrate this time.

Mommies…….no matter how your blessings come to you……motherhood is beautiful on you!