Macro images are close-ups of small objects, usually taken at close distance from the subject and with a special Macro lens that can focus on very tiny details. In the case of newborns, Macro lenses allow photographers to get close and personal with: puckered lips, tiny nails, cheek dimples, skin flecks, sweet eyelashes, hairlines or swirls, nose bumps, profiles, body rolls, finger knuckles, digital prints, and those adorable tiny toes.

I am thrilled to introduce my boy B who joined our family in early May. He has already transformed our lives in the best possible way and we could not be more in love. He is perfect in every way, and as a mom photographer I am obsessively recording the first days of his life with my camera.

Newborn Photography Sessions can have some challenges: babies can be fuzzy, parents can be exhausted, house pets may be running around, diaper changes, feedings, and so on. One other thing that may impact an indoor photoshoot, even though you probably wouldn’t think about it, is the weather.

Here are some photos of precious Vivian’s session for her first birthday. Her mom and I collaborated to find a location that had beautiful flowers, and to plan for the use of props like the cute party hat and vintage chair.

Lifestyle photography sessions are a great way to showcase life as it is – imperfect, but beautiful – and to document the little moments in an authentic way. When I talk about lifestyle sessions, I always try to emphasize that they cannot be prescriptive. This means every session that I do is envisioned and executed differently to reflect the family that I am with. Ultimately, it is about their personalities and this particular time in their lives. Here’s how I plan and conduct a lifestyle photography session at home.

Meeting and taking lifestyle photographs of Molly and her parents, at their home in Lincoln park, was a joy. She was asleep for most of the session but gave us a few little smiles and cute yawns - see if you can find them.

Every time I walk into a client’s home to meet their newborn I think about what an honor it is to witness the first few days of a baby’s life. Here’s a preview of this week’s session with sweet baby Molly. Can’t wait to share more.

I met this amazing woman earlier this year during my time in Austin. Not only does she work full time, and take care of a toddler and twin babies, but she is also starting a business as a certified lactation consultant and advisor to new moms with twins.

No one prepared me for how fast my daughter’s first year would go! In the blink of an eye, Liliana’s first birthday came, and I obviously wanted to take some photos to document this giant milestone. For the Smash the Cake session, let’s say the cake wasn’t entirely a success and there wasn’t much of a smash...

A magical way to end my year: spending an afternoon with these lovely parents and their three-month old cutie. Parents often worry about their babies reacting during a session, and I always tell them not to stress about it. The baby will always dictate my pace, and my job is to follow their lead.