Valerie and Josh are Expecting a Fall Baby!

Valerie and Josh are so excited about their first baby to arrive in November and it completely shows as they shine in front of the camera. Mama Valerie absolutely glowing with joy for this little one growing inside her. Their love for each other and their baby made for a natural, flowing creative portrait session. I'm so glad that I get to be their and their baby's photographer!

Pregnancy Documentation

Are you expecting? Have you thought about ways to document your pregnancy? This is such a great time of expectation, joy, overwhelming feelings, and it is absolutely a time to remember. Here are just a few ideas to get you started on documenting your pregnancy.

1) Ultrasound Pics
Of course, this is a pretty typical keepsake, but it is so amazing to see baby for the first time up on that black and white screen and really baby's first picture! It's definitely something to treasure. It can also be hung up for you to look at on a daily basis and think of the little babe growing inside you.

2) Keep a Diary
Start putting it all into writing! Find yourself a special diary or notebook and pour out your feelings and your thoughts. Also, think about writing to your little one. Let them know how excited you are for their arrival. Want to make it public? Create a blog to share with family and friends.

3) Bump Photos
These can be done by taking selfies each week in the same place to show the growth of your bump!

4) Professional Maternity Images
We recommend booking early in your second trimester to ensure availability for you and your baby! Maternity sessions are creative and fun. You can decide to include your hubby, your kids, or just make it a special session for you to remember.

5) Belly Casting
Belly casting has became quite popular and is a way to create a replica of your pregnant belly.

6) Make a Video
It doesn't have to be fancy, you could even use your phone. It's a nice way to record your voice and daddy's voice and will be a memorable keepsake for baby as they get older.

Josephine, 6 days new

Josephine was an absolute angel for her newborn session. Love mama's preferred color palette of mostly neutrals with a touch of pink. Josie, you are just so sweet and perfect! Awe, and those lips - the most perfect little baby girl lips!

Expecting in 2016?

What can I do with my portrait?

Photographs are an art form, the creation of which involves vision, skill, artistry, and effort. As such, photographs (both digital and printed) are protected by United States Copyright law. Unauthorized copying, printing, or duplication of photographs is in violation of the law and affects a photographers livelihood, reputation and ability to continue to produce high quality artwork.

Copyright of all images by your photographer remains with your photographer and they may not be reproduced in any form without their express written permission. This includes printing them from home printers or from photo labs, photocopying, scanning, or otherwise copying digital or printed photographs, emailing or including digital photographs within other digital files and otherwise sharing and distributing digital or printed images in any unauthorized manner.

Yep. That is the legal mumbo jumbo! This is your photographer's artwork and every reproduction of it affects the photographer. How, you ask? When you scan or take a photo of the artwork, the quality degrades. Then when you print it from the scan, it degrades again. So we know you want to show if off and share your portraits, but we can't have you sharing the degraded copies of our work. If you choose to purchase digital files, you will receive a limited release with reproduction rights. This means that you can print the file as many times as you want up to whatever size is stated on the release. You can not sell or profit from the files. The photographer still owns the copyright to the image, they are just granting you the right to print it.

Next week: Custom Photography Advantages

How do you back up and preserve your digital files?

Once your photographer hands you a disc or emails a copy of your portrait to you, you have the responsibility to back it up and preserve it. We suggest to immediately make a copy of it to another external drive as well as storing it online. We do not know how long CD's and DVD's will be available and they can scratch easily. Technology changes so rapidly, that we can't honestly predict a grand place to store your portraits. When looking for a place to store it online, look for something easy that has a name that has been around for a long time.

The next step is to print a physical copy of the portrait and store it in an archival place. It's important to know that prints are archival, digital files are not. They sell many different boxes that will keep your portrait for a very long time. Make sure you have it dated and easily organized. You might also make another copy to store off site.

When you decide to invest in digital files with us, we provide you with an online pro-level lab for printing. We do NOT suggest any local chain stores to print your portraits. You can print the same portrait with chain stores 20 times and get 20 different color outputs even within the same run.

Next week: What can I do with my portrait?

Pure Sweetness Maternity Session

The white dress reminds me of pure sweetness. Very fitting for this all natural mama who plans to have a home water birth. At 30 weeks pregnant, my assistant and I went out and captured the love and excitement that my family and I feel for this little guy.

Thank you Renee for helping us capture the love we feel for this little one!

Florals provided by Spring Creek Designs

Alligator Leather Covered Mini Books

These little 3x3 mini books are a great treat to give as gifts. They come in a set of three, so you can keep one for yourself and have two to give. Small enough to keep in your purse or for Grandma to brag about and show off her grandchildren.

This particular mini book was designed with the black alligator leather for the cover.

How do you take care of your portraits?

So now that you have these wonderful keepsake portraits, you must take care of them. This doesn't entail a lot and will ensure the prints last a lifetime. You should handle your prints with care to avoid bending, denting and scratching. When possible avoid exposing your portraits to uv light, direct sunlight, high temperatures and high humidity. You can protect your prints by putting them behind glass with spacers. Do not stick the prints directly behind glass because they will eventually stick to the glass. Avoid contact with liquids and cleaners even if your print is sprayed or protected. Avoid touching prints with your fingers.

We do display many prints in our studio and on location displays with out glass. The prints we sell are mounted and sprayed for protection. This means it shouldn't bubble over time and is protected just like glass, but you still can't get it wet and it will scratch. We suggest you frame your portraits behind a non-glare glass for longevity. We also sell many gallery wrap canvases which are also protected and not suitable for protecting behind glass. These will also need to stay dry and can scratch.

Next week: How do you back up and preserve your digital files?

Ember and Erick's Wyoming Wedding

Ember and Erick were just as sweet as can be and sweet on each other too! Smooches, hugs, and looks of love came easy during their portrait time. My assistant and I found the perfect spot to photograph these two lovebirds with their navy blue, burgundy, and sunflower themed wedding. The time we had alone with these two was the best. We began right on time with a first look and then was able to use the remaining time to capture amazing images of these two! Thank you Ember and Erick for sharing your day with us!