Photo shoots | M is for Mama

Do you remember about two and 1/2 years ago when I posted Shae’s and Hannah’s engagement pics? (That would be my bro and his wife, if you’re new-ish here).

Well, I must have done something right enough to earn a repeat (I strongly suspect the fact that I’m family and charge, well, nothing were the biggest factors, but I’ll happily delude myself that it was due to some merit) because I had the privilege of snapping some maternity shots for their super-cute family a couple of days ago.

And I say, “family,” because exactly 9 months to the day from their marriage date, Hannah gave birth to my cutie-pie niece, Halleli. #honeymoonbaby

And now, she’s expecting Halelli’s sure-to-be-equally-cute baby sister, Eliyana, any day. (Not that you’d be able to tell because she’s just the tiniest pregnant woman you ever did see).

Speaking of Halleli, I do believe that she has the baby smolder mastered.

She’s a thinker, this little girl, and it’s not that easy to wrangle a smile out of her (although Shaun has always been able to get one with almost zero effort; she has good taste), but when you look this good serious–really–what’s the point in wasting all of that effort smiling?

She’s awfully stinkin’ cute when she does smile, though (thank you, husband, for playing peekaboo like a fool behind me pretty much the whole time I snapped pictures).

Go ahead and feel disgusted that Hannah looks this good 39 weeks pregnant. I’m right there with you.

Oh, how I love tiny baby booties!

And sweet sisters.

If you’re not a professional photographer (raises hand high), I’ve got a tip for you: take your pictures in a peach orchard at sunset. Then, everybody will be too focused on all of the prettiness around to care whether the shot is perfectly clear. If the peach orchard belongs to your neighbor, and you can tramp over from your own property, all the better.

“Halleli, where is Eliyana?” Girlfriend knows what’s up. Or…down, in this case.

Happy girls are the prettiest!

I have to laugh at these pictures in our field, which looks a bit scrubby and unkempt until the evening sun is sparkling down on the each green blade of grass, and you plop a couple or three cute humans in the middle of it. Then, it’s all CHARMING! and PRETTY!

This one was a Pinterest recreation. I’m sure not going to show you the original for comparison, but I still think it turned out fun.

And this version was my idea. Because the husband kissing the belly is, like, the most original thing ev-ah, Abbie.

Either way, it’s pretty sweet in b+w too.

And this one, here, is pretty much modern day reality: daddy wrangling the toddler while mama looks up the pose she wants on Pinterest. How did we ever take family photos without it?

And just in case you’re sick of sun flare…

It was so much fun to take pictures of three of my favorite people in the world and made me even more excited to get to meet a fourth!

PLUS!

Hannah brought us dinner…because she’s super-thoughtful like that. And, since I had already decided before I started Whole30 that I would make exceptions for hospitality, I got to eat ravioli and cookies! Woo!

So, what do you think? Didn’t they they turn out cute? Sometimes, I start to get super-critical of my limited photog skills, but then, I remind myself that it’s not about the perfect bokeh or the just-right angle.

Hannah will always treasure these memories, captured when they were just three (on the outside anyway). And I will always treasure getting to be the one to capture them.

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Okay, so a thousand is probably a biiiiit of a stretch, but we are doing family pictures soon, and I’m thinking it could easily take a couple hundred to get something decent out of our crew. Every now and then, I realize that I am attempting to coordinate the smiles (or at least not outright scowls and/or slack-jawed drooling expressions and/or closed eyes) of EIGHT human beings, 7 of whom have absolutely no interest in doing family pictures, 5 of whom are susceptible to lollipop bribes but only for as long as their unreliable short-term memories remind them of what it was for, and 1 who tends to fixate somewhere in the region below my chin and above my waist. And I think, “I must be totally cray-cray to even try this.” (And my husband starts singing, “Aaaa-meeeeen, Praise the Loooooord!”).

But try it we are, and, since pictures in the buff is a non-option (and eeerrbody joins my husband in his song), I’ve coordinated some spring-y outfits for us all.

Here’s the idea:

These are the older kids’ exact outfits, and Theo has a cute, coordinating little blue/white plaid shirt + pink shorts (think I can convince Shaun that they’re red?). Shaun will probably be in a solid chambray shirt that coordinates with the older boys.

Which just leaves me.

I knew I wanted a dress. And I was pretty stuck on the idea of a maxi, since I wasn’t too keen on any wardrobe malfunctions (the twins have a tendency to “flip” Mama’s skirt, you know, just for fun. And what fun it is).

So, in typical me fashion, I’m showing you all three of the options so you can help me choose, if you’re feeling so inclined.

Let’s get to it, shall we?

First up:

Couple things: 1) Shaun and I snapped these pics quickly, and I didn’t realize that I needed to adjust the bodice of this dress lower, if you see what I mean. That’s easy to fix, though, because the straps are adjustable, and I’m wearing a cream-colored tube top under the dress that makes adjusting it lower fine without modesty being an issue. 2) I just threw on that belt with the dress because it felt like it needed something, but I also think a pink ribbon might be fun, since this dress already picks up on the purple and seafoam colors of two of the little tutu dresses the girls are wearing and might be fun with a pop of that bright pink in the first dress. Thoughts?

And next we have:

It’s hard to tell with this picture, but I’m wearing the same cream-colored tube top from the above pic with this dress. I’m thinking I may break down and rub on some sunless tanning lotion before the picture. I mean. That is a particularly pale shade of Caspar I’m working.

And speaking of “ghostly”…

This one is definitely going to take a bit (or a bucket) of self-tanner to pull off. I also think it could use a belt, but again, hastily snapped pictures do not equal perfectly accessorized dresses.

Oh, and sorry to be cryptic, but the girls and I will be sporting matching accessories that should provide a bit of wow to all of our looks, if I manage to pull them off (AKA: get them made in time). You’ll just have to wait until I show you the completed shots to find out what they are. 🙂

So, let’s do a side-by-side comparison really quick, shall we, and then let the voting begin!

So, what do you think? 1, 2, or 3?

I welcome any suggestions for accessories you might have as well.

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M is for Mama

Category Archives: Photo shoots

Hannah’s Maternity Shoot for Baby #2

A Dress Worth a Thousand Pictures (Wanna help me choose?)