themed shoots
Ever since I’ve known Cobi, I’ve known that dance was pretty much her whole world! This girl is funny, sweet and talented all in one tiny package that packs a lot of punch when she jumps into the air:) It was so great to have her in the studio to do some dance portraits. She was up for anything and a total joy to capture for these dance portraits. I can’t wait to have her back - I’ll just have to grab her when she’s not traveling and competing all over the state of North Carolina haha!
One year ago in December our family was blessed with the arrival of what can only be described as one funny, hunky, adorable little boy with the most amazing blue eyes! Good fortune and a little planning have allowed me to be around to take his newborn, 6 month, and now his first birthday portraits as my sister and her family came to Charlotte for the holidays to visit.
As with most one year old babies, sitting still in studio isn't always easy but he certainly wasn't shy about that cake and once we put it down on his level decided the best way to eat it was to simply put his face in it. A cake smash session doesn't get any better than that!
Happy birthday sweet boy!
This little man came into my studio at 26 days earth side, which for photographing newborns can be a whole different set of challenging. Most babies I photograph are within the first two weeks of life simply because that's the easiest time to capture them when they are still very flexible and they spend a majority of their time sleeping. After a few weeks they become a bit more alert, touch sensitive and can be a bit harder to coax into cooperating.
This beautiful momma contacted me and I happened to have a last minute opening so we decided to give it a go even though her sweet boy was outside of that early window. And boy did he make me work and work hard for it! But after several long hours we managed to get an amazing session full of images that mom and dad were so excited about. We even managed a few prop setups to go in his travel themed nursery - since these two are world travelers it was perfect to get Logan all set up with his suitcases and ready to explore:)
Thanks so much for letting me tell your story!
What can I say about this amazing family - they were just about some of the most adorable and sweetest people I have ever met! That includes their newest addition - meet beautiful Taylor!
While little miss wanted things done on her own terms we worked hard to get some fantastic portraits of her in all her newborn glory - including a wreath shot I designed specifically for her shabby chic nursery!
It was such an honor to capture these moments for them as dad is currently serving in the military and will hopefully be home soon! Until then I hope that these images were a wonderful reminder of the precious girls that are waiting for him back home!
Here he is! This little guy made his way around the world (not quite the galaxy yet:) these last few weeks courtesy of Star Wars fans everywhere and Buzzfeed!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/melissaharrison/gloriously-geeky-newborns
Like you, I always see those Buzzfeed articles in my Facebook newsfeed; "23 Dog Best Friends Who Love Each Other A Lot", "25 Pictures That Will Make You Believe In True Love", "7 Things Only Sisters Will Understand." More often than not if it's applicable or catches my attention I'll click on it for a quick laugh or pick me up on a day and peruse the images and captions just for fun.
I'm not gonna lie - when I got an email from a Buzzfeed editor asking to use one of my images in an article I was a little bit flabbergasted - did I just age myself with that word? I'm totally not a hip twenty something - oh well.... "Where in the world had they found my images?" Let's face it, I'm pretty small time here in Harrisburg NC and while I have been photographing for the last 7 years I don't have a giant following and stay pretty low key. I'm thrilled when people outside of "the 'Burg" drive to me to do a newborn or baby session but most of the time I'm focused on networking in and around Harrisburg Concord and Charlotte just because it's convenient for people that I'm here in their area. So how in the world had Buzzfeed found my little Jedi baby?
Pinterest! I had done little Luke's session (yes, that's his real name and he was absolutely a perfect doll for his session:) in November of last year. Earlier this year I had gone through and created a few Pinterest boards for clients, what to wear, ideas for family, newborn, baby stuff, etc. and while I was doing that I thought, "Oh what the heck, I should do a few boards of my own work so people can see ideas for what they might want to do when they book." You can check out my newborn Pinterest Board HERE.
A few weeks went by and I noticed that this particular image was getting pinned and repinned. It should have occurred to me that on top of the fact that Star Wars is just as popular today as it was when I was a kid, that with the new movie coming out and the first trailer being released that there might be a bit of renewed interest and that includes people looking for ideas on how to incorporate it into their newborn sessions.
The Buzzfeed editor was perusing Pinterest for themed newborn shoots and that's how she found me. A few emails later her article was out, Luke was featured and then I started getting emails from other media outlets in Australia, London, Portugal, the Netherlands, etc. asking for permission to feature the image in their online articles as well.
So in just the span of a few weeks, millions of people saw this image and I continue to see it pop up in my newsfeed every now and then. Pretty cool stuff for little old me in Harrisburg NC:)
If you would like information on booking a newborn session and creating amazing artwork of your own, please visit me HERE and fill out your contact information. I can't wait to design a custom portrait experience just for you!
