BABY CHARLOTTE | RALEIGH WAKE FOREST NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

Wow, what a hot start to the summer we’re having here in Raleigh! I hope everyone is staying cool indoors as much as possible!

I’ve been shooting a LOT this month (which is my excuse for my blog being quiet the past couple of weeks). Most of you know I had a baby last July, and I scaled back my shooting for a while so I could spend more time being present with him and with my older two boys. Now that his first year is coming to an end (still slightly in denial though, really!), I’ve been taking on more sessions and things have been really busy around here. If you want to stay up to date with all of my “sneak peeks” of my newborn sessions, be sure to follow me on Facebook! But here on my blog is where I post more in-depth looks at all of my sessions. And while I do fall behind, I make it a point to get every session blogged eventually so you can see more of what a newborn session is like with me!

The session I want to share with you today is baby Charlotte’s newborn session. She came to see me in my Wake Forest studio back in April at three weeks old. Her nursery at home was decorated in purple and yellow — her mommy wanted to do something a little different than pink. So that’s where the color inspiration came from for this session. And I love the purple and yellow together – so girly and pretty! Here’s baby Charlotte, so beautiful and perfect!

If you want photos like this of your baby, please contact me! I’m taking bookings for maternity, newborn and Baby’s First Year sessions in the Raleigh Durham Cary Wake Forest, North Carolina area. Be sure to contact me early to reserve your space! I’m currently booking for September 2015 and later.

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Baby Gavin | RALEIGH WAKE FOREST NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

Just a quick scheduling note — my summer is all booked up and I’m currently taking sessions for September and later. If you want to get on my fall calendar, please contact me soon!

I have such a sweet baby boy that I get to share with you all today! Little Gavin came to see me for his newborn session in my Wake Forest, NC studio at a tiny 12 days old. He was just so handsome and sleepy and perfect! Snuggling him was so much fun. I swear I have the best job! I love the colors we used with Gavin — the dark blues and the creams and browns looked so good on him. And the close-up (macro) photo of the tiny bubbles on his lips — aaaaah! To die for! My other favorite is the one of him in the little blue pants. Loved him!!

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Baby Teagan | RALEIGH WAKE FOREST NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

I have such a little sweetheart to share with you all today! Baby Teagan was born back in February to a wonderful family. I met them just about three years ago when I did Taylor’s (their first child’s), newborn portraits. Now Taylor has changed so much and has become such a sweet big brother to Teagan. We got some really adorable shots of the two of them together that I just love! Sibling shots are always some of my favorites. Little Teagan was 11 days old for her newborn photography session and was such a great baby! She is so adorable with a beautiful head of hair and sweet, delicate features. Towards the end of the session she became pretty wide awake while I was doing a prop shot of her, and she stuck her little tongue out at me. I think she was trying to tell me what she thought of me! I swear it was one of THE CUTEST pictures I’ve ever taken. I can’t help but smile every time I see it. She’s got such a great little personality! Here is a peek at her newborn photo session!

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Baby Violet’s Peek | RALEIGH WAKE FOREST NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

Well, since Facebook’s reach has declined so much lately, I figured I needed to get back to posting sneak peeks on my blog. The pictures look so much better here anyway, since Facebook compresses them and makes them look so funky. Last week I had the pleasure of having baby girl Violet in my studio, and we got soooo many adorable shots. Here’s a little peek at her newborn session. Lots more to be shared later!

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Baby Emily | RALEIGH WAKE FOREST BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

I tell ya, I’m having quite the string of baby girls in the studio in 2015 and I’m really excited about it. Last year was definitely the year of the boys! It’s been so nice to change up the colors and props I’ve been using. Only another newborn photographer can understand the feeling of having a cute new girl hat, headband or various other prop that arrives in the mail and then just sits there unused for several sessions. It’s excruciating! 🙂 So with all these girls I’m finally getting to use lots of cute new props. So satisfying!

Baby Emily was my New Year’s baby and was the first newborn I photographed this year. She has got to be one of the most beautiful baby girls ever. Her hair is just to die for – a newborn photographer’s dream! And she had the perfect amount of squishiness. She was perfect and sleepy at 12 days new.

I get asked a TON what the perfect age is to photograph a newborn. Often my clients think they should get in for their session during baby’s first week. But actually I find them to be sleepier and more peaceful during their second week of life. If you pay attention to baby’s ages on my blog here, you’ll see I photograph most of them somewhere between 10 and 14 days old. There are several reasons for this, but the biggest one is that by this age, babies have had a chance to get into a good feeding routine (they’ve learned to take the bottle, and/or Mom’s milk has come in by then), so they’re typically less fussy and more sleepy. After having photographed newborns regularly for the past five years, plus having had three of my own, I can say this with confidence! My sessions go smoothly 100% of the time, and my galleries are filled with 100+ photos in a wide variety of poses for Mom and Dad to enjoy.

Enough jibber jabber. Here’s a peek at baby Emily’s session!! 🙂

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Baby Lliam | RALEIGH WAKE FOREST NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

Another sweet baby boy to share today! Newborn Lliam was born back in November, and he came into my studio in Wake Forest at an itty bitty ten days old. As you’ll see, he has a gorgeous older sister who is so good with him. I really enjoyed having this family come see me for their baby portraits. And I love the photos we got of sweet Lliam!

If you want photos like this of your baby, please contact me! I’ve opened up bookings again for Baby’s First Year packages, and also still offer both maternity and newborn sessions in the Raleigh Durham Cary Wake Forest, North Carolina area. Be sure to contact me early to reserve your space!

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Baby Boy Fletcher | RALEIGH NC NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

I’m excited to share this sweet little guy with you today. After a really nice maternity break for me, I went back to work in September and baby Fletcher was my first session back. I actually returned from leave just a tad bit early to do his session because his Mommy really wanted me to do it. I did newborn photos for their first child a few years ago, so I always love getting repeat clients and seeing these sweet families again! Fletcher was such a cutie too, I was glad I got to take his session and snuggle with him! Here’s a few of my favorites from his newborn session.

Melissa is currently booking for Raleigh Durham maternity photography sessions and Raleigh newborn photography sessions in the Raleigh Durham Cary Wake Forest, North Carolina area. Be sure to contact me early to reserve your space!

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Baby Rory | RALEIGH NC NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

This little fella was my last newborn session before I went on my maternity leave in July. He left us all in suspense by being born eleven days late. I was starting to get a little worried that *I* was going to go into labor before I could do his session! Thankfully the timing all worked out great, phew! We held his session when I was 39 weeks pregnant… let’s just say I was doing some waddling, and was probably a tad slow. 🙂 Baby Rory was the biggest baby I’ve ever photographed at 11 pounds, 1 ounce. I loved it! He was so squishy and sleepy, and just flat out adorable and perfect. And that reddish hair is just to die for too. Here he is, sweet little Rory!

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Baby Sam | RALEIGH NC NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

I hope you’re all surviving the cold temps we’re having here in Raleigh this week. It seems as though winter has finally decided to arrive! It almost makes me wish I were working today so I could have the heat in the studio blasting!

I’m still working to catch up on blogging all of these sweet newborns I photographed before my maternity leave started back in July. This next one is baby Sam, who I met at just 7 days old. I just love the set-ups we did with him. And here are several of my favorites from his session!

Oh that little smile!! 🙂

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Baby Konrad | RALEIGH NC NEWBORN BABY PHOTOGRAPHER

Sweet little newborn boy Konrad was in my Wake Forest studio for his newborn session way back in June (yes, still getting caught up on posting all these cute baby’s pictures!). He was 13 days old on the day of his session. His adorable parents are Marissa and Brendan, whose maternity photos were so fun, and a few can be found here. Baby Konrad, whose name I just love, was such a great little model and he was just as cute as can be! Here are some of my favorite photos from his newborn photo session!