Photographers always say photographing their own families is much more difficult than photographing anyone else. I agree. But our saga goes deeper than the usual I-don't-want-to-do-what-Mom-tells-me-to-do situation; we have a long and storied history of pernicious wildlife encounters during our holiday card sessions.
In 2012, I set my sweet 2-year-old and 6-month-old in a pile of leaves in a beautiful park in Hillsborough. Then a frog started to hop all over baby Nora. Except it turned out not to be a frog; it was a spider the size of a frog. (Around that moment, a hurricane also decided to blow in from sea.) In 2015, we took a delightful stroll in and along the Haw River—delightful until Jeff stepped on a copperhead. Luckily and surprisingly, it dashed away without biting, but it left us a bit shaken. This year, I wanted to keep things simple. I had noticed throughout the fall that when the late afternoon sun filtered through the smoke from a fire in our backyard fire pit, it created a stunning effect. I thought it would make an interesting backdrop for our session, and I knew Jeff wouldn't complain as much as usual about helping with the photos if his job were to build a fire. I was right on both counts. But what I didn't calculate for was the fact that Piper would not be interested in snuggling with her sisters like she always is, because she was coming down with her first bad cold and cough. (It appeared in full a few hours later.) I also didn't calculate for a special visitor I found crawling on her tiny pants while I was adjusting the girls on the bench: a spider that looked suspiciously like a black widow. I screamed and flung it off her leg...right onto Cricket's boot. Jeff ran over and smashed it before we could get a positive identification. I insist it was a black widow. Jeff thinks its legs may have been a little short for a black widow. I insist leg length is variable in every species. Regardless, the session ended abruptly, and I went inside to call my doctor sister to obsess over what black widow bite symptoms I should be watching for. Thankfully, Piper was just fine. Oh, the perils of outdoor living. I can only imagine what creature will grace us with its presence during next year's session. Cheers to you and your loved ones this holiday season!
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A few years ago, a friend asked if I would take newborn portraits of her third baby. She didn't even know back then whether a third baby was in the cards, but she reserved me just in case. Well sweet Maddie arrived in September, and I gladly obliged. I encourage clients to choose wraps or backdrops for newborn photos that hold some sort of significance. Before Maddie arrived, her mama posted a photo of a nursery wall hanging she had created using handkerchiefs from the soon-to-be-baby's great-grandparents and dear family friends. I texted her right away to ask if we could use it as a backdrop for the in-home lifestyle session we had planned. She loved the idea. I hope these portraits will remind Maddie's family not only of the preciously fleeting first days of Maddie's life, but also of the special people represented in the squares surrounding her. For more newborn portraits, visit my portfolio here.
Silly me. I thought I'd have more time for writing and photography this fall with the older girls in preschool and kindergarten. But, surprise! I barely get a chance to crack open my computer.
My schedule looks like this: Drive girl to school (or feed baby while husband drives this leg). Feed baby. Drive girl to school. Feed baby. Pick girl up from school. Feed baby. Pick girl up from school (which involves an hour-long carpool situation). Feed baby. Bathe children. Feed children. Put older girls to bed. Feed baby. Attempt to put baby to bed. Feed baby. Pass out for a few hours. Feed baby. Repeat. Sound familiar? I know I'm not alone in the driving-and-feeding-are-my-life-right-now scenario. But I've been at this parenting thing for six years; I know from experience that some phases of family life will be consumed almost entirely by the logistics of keeping everyone alive and where they need to be, and other phases will allow for more flexibility, productivity and creativity. That knowledge makes me less frustrated this time around when I'm treading in a logistics-heavy phase. I'm trying to calm my type-A self and roll with it. So what if I have 76 unanswered emails in my inbox? (Cringe. That is the actual figure, folks.) So what if I've only had time to take on a few photography clients since Piper arrived? I don't want to waste time feeling behind on everything, even if that's the case. I just want to use the little moments between must-do items to love the heck out of this chubby baby and her sisters. All that leads me to these photos. Piper is almost 7 months, but these images from when she was 5 months. If you want to capture baby rolls in their full glory, I recommend doing so around 4-5 months. After that time, babies are on the go, burning calories and beginning to stretch. I'm sad to say that while I wouldn't call Piper anywhere close to svelte, I don't think her rolls are quite as voluptuous as they were just a couple months ago. What was she doing at 5 months? I have no clue. I promised myself I would remember her babyhood and enjoy every minute of it. Well, of course, it's all a blur. But I can honestly say I have enjoyed every minute of her existence. Photographic evidence tells me she was sitting and scooting around at 5 months. She was super smiley and scrumptious, giving sloppy kisses and engaging with her sisters. We are all in awe of her and wonder aloud on a daily basis: "How did we get so lucky to be her family?" I'm planning a black-and-white gallery wall for our upstairs hallway. You can be sure some of these photos will be prominently displayed. They'll go nicely with an image from one of my favorite (and most-pinned) of Nora's sessions: splashing in the sink at 7 months. We're already a month and a half past these 4-month portraits of Piper, and time feels like the enemy right now. Here is what I want to remember: the constant full-body wiggles, the hands and feet blurred from movement, the giggles, the drool, the rolling and scooting and beginnings of crawling. And the chins. (Too many to count.) Oh, and I have to remember the big, slobbery, open-mouthed kisses she started to give when she was just over 3 months. And how her face lights up when her sisters appear. I just can't get enough of her.
Our friend, Alice, always sends the best French clothes for the girls. I wonder if she knew how well this little dress would match the sofa? Friends, if you've stopped by the Calm Cradle Photo & Design website this summer, you may have noticed some changes. Big ones. New look, new logo, new content. I've been working on rebranding as a lifestyle photography business, and I'm bouncing off the walls with excitement as the new site officially launches today. Please take a look around!
Lifestyle photography Let's talk about lifestyle photography. What is it? Well it's what I've been offering clients all along, but I'm finally confident enough to declare it as my own. Lifestyle photography is about storytelling. It combines fine arts and documentary styles to capture authentic moments, relationships and sense of place. You can read more about my definition here. My goal is to offer clients a meaningful collection of high-quality images that reflects who they are—not just 15 minutes of awkward posing in an insignificant location. I want clients to look back at their photos years later and feel that the images still ring true, that they still have the power to bring back memories of the crazy anticipation of that first baby, their newborn curled up sleeping in his nursery or their daughter's determination to climb that wall 10 times per visit to the playground. These sessions don't have to be complicated to plan or intense to undertake. I'll help you select a location or activity that means something to your family and also works photographically. Bookings Sound like something you're interested in? Contact me to book your customized lifestyle session. I'll be scheduling a very limited number of sessions this fall, so grab a spot on my calendar as soon as possible. Book before Sept. 15, 2016, to receive 10% off your session fee. Since lifestyle photography doesn't lend well to mini sessions, I won't be offering them this year. They're often a portrait photographer's bread and butter, but I'm going to try to focus on high-quality, personalized sessions over quantity right now. We'll see where it takes me. What's new on the site I'd love to draw your attention to some of the updated pages, including: Expanded portfolios: Newborn & maternity, Baby & child, and Family & engagement What is lifestyle photography Session info Investment About Nature & landscape work When I started this business in 2012, I offered a mix of nature & landscape photography, as well as children's photography. While nature and landscape are my first loves, I've realized over the years that it's too time consuming to constantly post updated work. Most of my sales in this area actually come from people seeing my photography on this blog or my Instagram feed and emailing me to place custom orders. I'll continue to offer this type of photography for purchase, but I've removed the pages from the site to focus the Calm Cradle Photo & Design brand on lifestyle photography. Just shoot me an email any time you'd like to purchase my landscape & nature work. Blog This blog will remain largely the same. While it's not the most focused blog, it's a place for me to document my own story in a variety of ways. One change has already taken root, however. This summer I launched a new series: Pittsboro-Chapel Hill Outdoors. Now that we're settled into a home we hope to live in indefinitely, we feel invested in this town and would like to find more ways to connect and create community. My goal for this series is to offer something our community currently lacks: an online resource for family-friendly outdoor activities. I hope it's something you'll find useful as a neighbor or visitor to this wonderful place. If you've made it this far: THANK YOU! I'm thrilled to refresh and refocus Calm Cradle Photo & Design and appreciate your support and readership. Enjoy these last precious days of summer. (Just don't ask me about kindergarten. I can't even.) Hope to see you this fall! Something I love about lifestyle photography is exploring the locations clients choose for their sessions. Recently I was lucky enough to work with this family for the third time in the last few years. (You can find their previous sessions here and here.) They selected the Coker Arboretum on UNC-Chapel Hill's campus, which sat, unbeknownst to me, right under my nose when I was a grad student. This was my first session since Piper was born, and it felt like a vacation to wander around the arboretum with them. It's a special place they frequent, so they showed me their favorite spots to run around and investigate while I photographed them in action. Clearly they felt at home here. I hope years down the line, this collection of images will spark many happy memories of time well spent together in the dappled light streaming through the trellis and trees. I'm now accepting a limited number of bookings for fall lifestyle photography sessions. Please contact me as soon as possible to schedule your customized session. You'll receive 10% off sessions booked by Sept. 15, 2016. Interested in seeing more portraiture? You can check out my portfolios here:
Newborn & maternity Baby & child Family & engagement Everything and nothing feels different the third time around. Eat, play, sleep. Eat, play, sleep. Cry. Blow out of diaper. Eat, play, sleep. Developmental milestones, like smiling and rolling over (she's so close to rolling over!), are just as exciting to witness; they're just less surprising than they were the first time around when you can't imagine your tiny newborn will ever be able to do or say anything.
At 3 months, Piper continues to be relaxed and happy. Nothing thrills her more than playing with her big sisters or catching a glimpse of the beautiful and hilarious mystery baby in the mirror. Who is that girl anyway? She's also Miss Grabby Hands. Don't think you can get near her and then retreat with your hair intact. Everyone takes one look at her now and simply says, "Jeff." This month I thought I'd capture some of those lovely rolls before she gets mobile and they melt into muscle. And I couldn't forget the balding pattern in the back. It's too much. Too much! My talented friend, Kelly, made the gorgeous quilt Piper is lying on six years ago in preparation for Cricket's arrival. The pink tutu was a gift for Piper from Cricket's beloved preschool teacher, Ms. Hailey. I had a moment of crazy while working on this post of Piper at 2 months old. As I was reviewing the final selection, I got to thinking I was looking at photos of her big sister, Cricket. Then I scrolled down to the image of Cricket, my photo assistant/laugh producer, with Piper and remembered these were Piper pictures. Oh my word. It's a little scary how strong Jeff's genes are, especially around the eyes. (I'll admit the chubbiness is all my family.) The last photo probably most resembles Cricket; I swear I have the exact one of her at this age.
But back to Piper. She continues to be an angel baby. This time around, however, we are experienced parents of the 5-and-under set, so we know she must have tricks up her sleeve, hidden beneath the silly smiles and her recent discovery that she controls her voice and can make us laugh by joyfully shrieking like a maniac. Piper is 2 months old, so I suppose I should get around to posting her 1-month shots. Life has been a blur, but a joyful one. Actually it feels like I took these photos yesterday. Please don't ask what we've been up to in the last month; I have no idea! I do think Piper wins "Chillest Newborn Award" in our family though, or maybe she ties with Cricket. Like I said, it's all a blur. Don't you just love newborn wiggles, yawns and grunts? More of Piper's portraits: arrival and formal birth announcement.
I love how Nora's 4-year-old photos turned out. They represent a true lifestyle session: a location we love and visit regularly, a favorite and often-worn outfit and genuine activities and expressions (both smiles and stubbornness, both of which Nora gives us a healthy dose of every day). This is Nora.
Making the session happen was a challenge. I was holding my camera and a screaming infant, while pushing her loaded-down stroller and trying to convince Cricket to be helpful but stay out of the frame. But you know what? I remembered that I've captured most of my favorite photos ever with a baby in one arm. I even bought my current camera partially based on its weight, so I could hold it in one hand if needed. I'm just a little out of practice. Hard-earned images are the most memorable though. |
My new book is out! Click to learn more about it.Hello thereI'm Julia Soplop, writer and photographer. I believe there is something profound in bearing witness to moments of joy and pain in others’ lives. My husband, three girls and I live outside of Chapel Hill, NC. You can read more about me here.
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