milk time :: amber + violet

Occasionally an at-home Milk Time session is necessary. In this case, Amber was hit with a suddenly-weaning 2 year-old and she knew she wanted to capture some nursing memories on film before it was too late. So, I made a trip out to their homestead to do a little Milk Time mini session. Violet didn't actually latch on for very long, but the few minutes that she did were sweet and cozy. I love how she squinted her eyes as if to pretend that she was sleeping. Such peace. 

Because we knew Violet wouldn't nurse long, we used the remainder of the session to capture some sweet cuddles between Amber and both her littlest girls. I really love these photos of them. And thanks to you, Amber, for being a perfect re-entry into shooting after my maternity leave. :)

For those interested in having your own Milk Time session, there are two upcoming dates in the works, which I'll be announcing very soon. But have a new twist on them! How's that for a teaser?! ;)

Hold your babies close today, friends. 

milk time (vol V) & light+life workshop

The last two weekends in a row I've hosted events at our home. I like this act of inviting people into my personal space to be photographed or to learn, because I like to be human, and I like to keep things feeling personal and cozy, not stiff or formal. The downside: all the cleaning and preparation that needs doing the night before (yes, last minute, because we all know that cleaning the house sooner than that would be absolutely pointless, as the children would knock it all out of order again in about 1 hour). But I'm SO blessed to have a husband who is on my team, and who also happens to be amazing at accomplishing whirl-wind de-cluttering and cleaning feats. I couldn't do it without him. 

On the 15th, we had Milk Time at our house for those who had to miss the original date due to the crazy snow storm. Six women and their babes popped over for the event. Here's a little gallery of images from that sweet time. 

On the 21st, I had my 4th Light + Life workshop. All 5 spots were filled, and we had a lovely time cozied up all warm in the living room learning how to master our DSLRs and sharing life stories and perspectives while the temperatures outside remained frigid. Here are a few images of these lovely ladies at work shooting our "live models!" They did an amazing job. Don't they look empowered? They are telling their cameras who is boss! :)

These were some of my final acts as a professional photographer before beginning my maternity leave (except I still have one birth to attend!), and what a great way to wrap up an amazing year. I'm ready to rest, to take a little break from making photographs for other people, and instead to point my camera at my sweet baby boy, whose little face i cannot wait to see. I'll try to pop in here and blog a few images of him after he's here, and maybe even share photographs from his birth!

milk time :: breastfeeding portraits (vol IV)

Michigan weather nearly foiled our plans for this milk time event. In the end, I created a second date for those who didn't feel it was wise to journey through all the thick snow and quickly-forming ice to get here, but 8 of the mamas were present for the original date. 

It was a cozy day for sitting inside and nursing little ones. Everyone was a great sport. This time around we had in our ranks a nursing mama who is also very pregnant, a set of 5 month-old twins, and "last baby", a miracle baby, a very new baby, a nursing toddler, and two little girls who brought their own babies to nurse. 

This time around we also had several moms who work outside their homes full time and have to do the whole pumping routine, sometimes in less-than-ideal set-ups. They persevere because they know it's worth it, and I hope these photos will be something concrete that they can keep in their pump bags as a very present reminder of WHY they keep at it. 

I love the variety, and I especially love hearing little bits of each mama's story. The mother-baby nursing relationship has so many variations of normal, and each one is beautiful, wrapped up in a thick blanket of incredible love, which I hope you can see as you look through this slide show!

For the mamas and babies who weren't able to get there on this date, we're having another event date on February 15, so soon I'll be back here to show you some MORE beautiful nursing portraits. Can't wait!

milk time :: breastfeeding portraits (vol III)

Once again, Milk Time was amazing. It's like an IV drip of warm fuzzies to be around all these beautifully bonded mamas and babies all afternoon. I just LOVE it. 

I'm so grateful for and inspired by these mamas. And a special thanks to Cedar Tree Birth and Wellness for allowing us to use their space for this event. It was the absolutely perfect venue.

Here are a few previews from the sessions. We had 10 mamas, but only 8 are pictured here. 

Interested in being part of something like this in the future? We'll be doing it again, hopefully before I give birth at the end of March. Stay tuned!

PS: you can see shots from the previous two Milk Time events here, too.

milk time :: breastfeeding portraits (part II)

Back in march, i stepped out and offered a specialized form of mini-session portraits that i had never done before : portraits of mamas with their nurslings. knowing how special and how fleeting a breastfeeding relationship is, i figured maybe other mamas would want it documented the way that i do! so, i partnered with midwife Sara at Cedar Tree Birth and Wellness, and we hosted this lovely event for 14 pairs of mamas and babies. it was so special. 

so we did it again, of course! this time around, a couple things were different. like, the room we used last time, which previously had a couch in it, was now filled with a gorgeous, inviting bed, giving the mamas the opportunity to recline or side-lie while nursing, or to sit in a rocking chair in that same private room. meanwhile, in the main rooms, women lingered, nursing their babies and chatting about motherhood and birth. there was so much lingering this time! all these women, who had never met before, all hit it off. for me, that was really rewarding to see, as i had hopes that this photo event would also invite a sense of community and support. 

so, without further ado, here's an image from each nursing pair who came out this past weekend. beauty upon beauty. 

thank you so much to every one of these mamas for letting me photograph you and your babies. it was a real joy. 

milk time :: breastfeeding portraits

I've been lucky. Both of my babies took to nursing easily and stuck with it for over a year (Gus is still nursing). Though it had certain challenges (e.g., the sheer duration of Hazel's nursing sessions nearly killed me... 45 minuts plus?!?!), it has for the most part been an easy and incredibly special relationship with both of them. 

I know that many women have to fight very hard to keep up a breastfeeding relationship with their babies. Some overcome incredible obstacles, and others have to stop sooner than they'd prefer, or never even get to start at all. So this can be an emotional subject for many mamas. 

Yet for those who have been given the gift of a breastfeeding season with their little ones, I wanted to create an opportunity to capture this one-of-a-kind, fleeting-but-incredible relationship. I've noticed how many mamas take cell phone selfies of themselves nursing their babies, which tells me that there's something in us that recognizes that this stage of the motherhood journey is worth documenting, worth telling. So these mini-sessions were created with that truth in mind. 

Over the course of about three hours, Sara and I welcomed 14 mamas and their nurslings, ranging in age from 2 months to 28 months, into Cedar Tree Birth & Wellness to eat some nourishing foods, talk with one another about breastfeeding and motherhood, and watch their babies play together. Meanwhile, each nursing duo (or triad!) came into a separate room, one at a time, to be photographed together. 

I can't begin to tell you how special this was, how absolutely heart-melting and sacred. As a breastfeeding mama myself, I could deeply feel the connection and love and vitality of each of these pairs. I noticed that there is something so wonderfully common and universal about breastfeeding. It's as old as time, and babies are babies and mamas are mamas, which means that this really transcends any individual or culture. And yet each relationship was as unique as the two (or three) people that it is composed of, each session had it's own feel to it, it's own quirks. It's deeply personal. 

But I'll stop gushing now and allow you to see a quick sampling of these images (every mama signed off on a model release! i love how we're getting less embarrassed about breastfeeding!) It was SOOOOO hard to choose just one image from each session to share here, but I did my best. :)