Lifestyle portraits: Newborn session + birth announcement design (Minneapolis, MN)

This spring I embarked on "Newborn Tour 2017." The tour involved crisscrossing the country—Minneapolis to New York to Berkeley—to meet and photo three babies—two nieces and my best friend's son—in a span of three weeks. Yes, it was exhausting, but it was the good kind of tired. I'll always remember those three weeks, because it was such an honor to be a part of some of the early moments of these three lives.

I spent April into May editing hundreds of photos and designing two birth announcements. And then, you know, life happened, and I'm just getting around to blogging some of my favorite images. I'm posting in the order of the trips and am excited to share the photos and birth announcement of my niece, Gwen, with you today.
(You might remember the session and birth announcement I did for her big brother, Theo, two years ago.)

If you follow my work, you know I feel strongly about creating portraits with meaningful context. Well, this time and place is one my sister and her family will never forget; I knew I had to capture it in these photos. Last winter, they were smack in the middle of a cross-country move. They had landed at my parents' house and, after a few houses they were pursuing fell through (we know all about that...), they were still staying at my parents' when Gwen made her debut. It certainly wasn't the plan, but it was kind of funny. And, of course, it was very comfortable and they were able to get plenty of help with the kids when the time came to move a few weeks later.

Often lifestyle portraits are taken in the parents' bedroom. But in this case, they were taken in the grandparents'! Their bedroom feels like it's in a treehouse, with a large bank of windows and window seat. As soon as I realized we'd be taking the photos at my parents' place, I knew those windows and window seat had to be involved. (You can see them on the front and back of the birth announcement.)

Above/below: Front/back of birth announcement

Below are a few images I loved but didn't make it onto the the birth announcement.

If you've ever participated in a newborn session with a 2-year-old sibling, you know the outtakes are pure gold. Let's be clear: my nephew is ridiculous. And I mean that in the best way ever.

Let's end with the moment when I asked him if I could take some photos of his gorgeous blue eyes. He happily agreed, scrambled up on the bed and did this:

For more lifestyle newborn and maternity portraits, visit my portfolio here. Visit my lifestyle portrait blog posts here.