Golden, hazy sunrise.

Bubbling creek, 

Giggles and shrieks.

Bears, blankets, wagons, and sparkles.

Sunday morning church bells.

Tears of trepidation,

Of happiness.

Adopted.

Loved.

So very loved.

A most memorable session yesterday where I felt like I was literally witnessing a family become a family.

Ever notice how some things can fall off of your radar for a while and then all of a sudden, it's everywhere you go...like when you start loving chevron print and can't find it anywhere and then one day, Pinterest and Target are exploding with it ;-). That's how I'm feeling about birth photography lately. 

I haven't photographed any births in the past few months because of workshops and my travel schedule, but all of a sudden, BAM! I'm all things birth photography. I'm currently on call for a new baby to be born any minute now (I'm sure his mom wishes it was any minute now ;-). I also had an interesting phone call with a lady up north today about the rise of birth photography in the US (more on that in another post;-). During that chat, I talked about one of my most memorable birth sessions...who happens to be the older brother of a birth from earlier this year that I had not yet blogged. Thought I'd take advantage of this time to go ahead and check that off my ever expanding "to be blogged" list.

Let's start at the beginning for this little guy. This was to be a scheduled c-section and mom said she was determined to show up in heels for his arrival (go mom!). But, a few days before the anticipated date, I got a phone call at 2 a.m., "My water just broke!" She was so incredibly calm, "Yes, I think I'll take a shower and then we'll head over to the hospital in a little while." I was bouncing up and down with excitement and here she was talking like she was heading to the grocery store. She was just like this when her first child was born...she cracks me up--nerves of steel. So, taking a cue from her, I calmed myself down, took my time, and moseyed on down to the hospital some time later.

When I got there, however, everything was moving at warp speed. That had her all checked in and prepped for the OR. Turns out her labor had kicked it into high gear and they were ready to roll. On go the bunny suits and away we go!

It startles me just a bit how quickly c-sections go--fascinating process! Usually, it's only just a few minutes from the time mom is taken into the OR to when we get to hear the sweet cries of a brand new baby...

While mommy was in recovery, I tagged along with dad to capture the first few moments of their new baby boy.

A few hours later, it was finally time for this new family of four to be united. Big brother's reaction to his new little brother was enough to make your heart melt!

What a fun day that 2 a.m. phone call turned out to bring! And, I just got word that I'm going to be seeing this little guy again really soon for his 4 month pictures. I cannot wait to see how he's changed!

When I showed up at their home for baby brother's newborn photo session, his parents rushed me over to their Pinkle Toes photo wall (I love getting to see that in my clients' homes ;-) to show me just how much he looked like his big brother at his newborn session. Oh my word! They were absolutely right! It was unreal!!! We even repeated one of my favorite shots from back then--did you see THIS post?

But then, the more I worked with the little guy, the more I got to see just how different they were, too. Baby brother was much tinier, much sleepier, and was making very different expressions than his big brother did back then. It's going to be really neat to see how these likenesses and differences manifest themselves as the brothers grow up.

P.S Watching the mowers cut down some lovely wildflowers today (boooo!) reminded me of their maternity session. The sunrise that morning and the light fog was just amazing out here:

I think we all know I'm a big fan of color in photographs, but I always provide a black and white version of each image to my clients on their image CD just in case. When I processed the black and whites from this wonderful newborn session, I really loved the feel of them. The candid, real-life moments captured seemed to shine through even more when the color was removed. So, I thought I do something I've never done before in all my six years as a photographer: blog a session in black and white only.

Ooops. Wait. Scratch that. Just found a set of images that *has* to be color:

Oh well. Maybe someday I'll try that again.

This little cutie pie was so petite, so striking that I swear she didn't even look real sometimes. She has such a powerful little personality in that tiny body and she will melt your heart when she waves to you. Mom and dad, I'm seriously concerned for you all in about 15 years ;-).