the photokatie photojournal

Newborn session: a long-awaited arrival

This newborn portrait session post comes with big, fat congratulations to one of my very best friends-- little Nate here has been loved and hoped for and wanted for a very long time before he finally came, and we are very, very excited that he's here.  And though you can't tell from the photos, he was intent on waking up during his photo session, (not wanting to miss a thing, I imagine) but we were finally able to get him to at least snooze on his momma long enough to get that super-sweet sleeping-baby face and some awesome photographs…

Best Babies Photo Slideshow

Check out all my favorite babies from last year!  A little slideshow I put together for the baby expo--just like the photo slideshow included with every Maya K. Photography lifestyle family photo session! 

Check it out: Maya K. Photography Best Babies

Jude's 3 month baby photo session

Welcome to part 2 of the ongoing series, Jude's First-Year-Photos!  These days, Jude's favorite things to do are smiling and laughing, kicking his feet, and getting dried off after a nice bath.  When he's not busy chewing on his fingers, he also enjoys grunting and hanging out with his mom and dad.  He's growing so fast!  Can't wait to see how much he changes by the end of the year!

 

As soon as you pull out the camera, he's all business…

"Seriously Mom & Dad -- is that supposed to be funny?"  ;-)

Baby "before" pictures - maternity portrait session!

I realize I'm a little late in wishing you all a lovely new year, but my best intentions of using this blog to brag shamelessly about my beautiful Christmas cookies and general holiday festiveness seem to have gone by the way…hmm…   However, after a quiet January, I have a very cute photo session from last weekend that I'd love to share with you!  I haven't had many opportunities to create maternity portraits, so it was a lot of fun to see the pre-baby excitement, and to focus totally on the mom and dad (to-be) before the sleep-deprivation sets in ;-)  Seriously, though, this is exactly why I became a photographer!  I'm so grateful to get to see the connection and relationship between people at these crazy-exciting times when it's all happening.  My thanks to Angie and Jeff, and all the best wishes possible for your new little one!

(big brother, Desmond :-)

Newborn portrait session - meet baby Archer!

Greetings from somewhere south of 0 degrees :-)  Finally, some real snow to make it feel like Christmas time!  From my house encased in ice, today I'm bringing you the first installment of baby Archer's First-Year-Photos, a few favorites from his newborn portrait session.  He was one month old to the day when we took these photos last weekend (and I think a little disgruntled with me for interrupting his cozy life :-)  Their classy south-Minneapolis house lends itself to some great black and white photos!  And we persuaded big brother Kingston to get in on the action a little bit, too…

First Photos with baby Jude

Hello, I hope you had a warm and wonderful Thanksgiving!  Back to the pictures this week, I've met several new cute kids I'd like to introduce you to, starting with baby Jude.  This cuddly guy was absolutely determined to stay awake so long as there was anything goin' on!  He held off sleep til the bitter end, but at least we got lots of eye contact and even a few smiles, which is usually a real challenge for baby's first photo shoot.  I'm excited to see how much he grows in the next year--Jude is the lucky recipient of a First-Year-Photos Baby Plan, so I'll get to photograph each step along the way! 

(Check out my website for more information on this awesome deal!)

Kids portraits: two-year-old energy vs. newborn sleepiness

Okay, so it is October, right?  The leaves are still on the trees, but there was that dusting of snow Saturday morning and now there's a winter weather advisory out, and sure enough, there is a thick layer of snow building up on my porch!  I stepped outside to check it out, and I can see it sticking to the trees already--I can't say I'm thrilled about the idea of winter starting already, but the morning is going to be beautiful! (And I give three cheers for working from home ;-) 

I have some kids portraits for you today from a whirlwind photo shoot I did the other day with a pair of adorable boys with big, twinkling eyes--one brand new, and one on the go.  It went by quick, but I seem to remember lots of dancing… ;-)   And man, if it's that much of a challenge for me as the photographer to balance the specific challenges of both a newborn and a two-year-old, I can only imagine what it's like for their mom and dad!  Hopefully these photos can help them remember some of the fun and precious little things later on…

Kids' photo session with a new baby sister

Greetings from Iowa!  I have had a very busy visit, and am way behind on posting photos, (and apologize to all the moms from this week's sessions that are here looking for your sneak peek--your photos will be here very soon, I promise)  but I can't wait to share all the little faces I have met while I've been here!

Today I have photos of Ellie and her new baby sister, Kylie.  I first took pictures of Ellie in the spring of 2008, when she was a very serious one-year-old with great big eyes and tiny pigtails, and it was all we could do to get her to crack a smile when the camera was around.  Now she just turned three, and is talking up a storm, posing like a pro, and laughing the whole time!  Who would've thought ;-)  And baby Kylie was a breeze as well, hardly fussing at all, though I got a good laugh from some of the goofy faces she made!

Family portraits with a new baby brother

Keeping with the redhead theme from my last post, portraits today are from my session Wednesday morning with Danny and his new baby brother, Nathan, (and their mom and dad were there, too ;-) at their very charming apartment in the heart of St Paul.  (Hence the cathedral down the street--it's kind of hard to miss!)  Danny's mom and I went to high school together back in Iowa, and both happened to end up in the Twin Cities, so it was a lot of fun to meet her family and catch up on how much life has changed.  I also witnessed such amazing two-year-old boy accomplishments as turning anything and everything into either a car or a train, recognizing "two" (of anything :-), and being sent to get his sandals from his room, disappearing, and coming back with… (drumroll please)… his sandals!  I'm telling you, this kid is going places!  :-)

(I wanted to take this little guy home with me, he was so cuddly!)

Newborn portraits - le petit Milo

Maya K. Photography newborn portraits today courtesy of four-week-old Milo, the hungriest baby I have ever photographed ;-)   (We had to stop four times in three hours cuz he was still hungry!  Growing boy!)   But it all worked out for the best, because I had plenty of chances to capture photos of the precious time he and his mommy spend together every day, and once he had his fill, he was out like a light, and a perfect angel to photograph.  Fun fact: Milo's mom and dad are from France, and in fact he will be taking his first international flight tomorrow!  I wish them all a safe flight and a wonderful trip!