I first met Saidie when I photographed her maternity session for her second daughter and newborn session following delivery! You can see their maternity session by clicking here, and Lucia’s newborn session by clicking here.
Saidie highly values photography and makes it a priority to schedule sessions with me to capture the important moments of her family’s life as they grow. She emailed to ask me if she could schedule a “quick 15 minute session” for some Christmas decor photos. I emailed her back to tell her that we don’t offer that in our studio. The only abbreviated sessions we offer each year are our Santa and Motherhood events. Please note that these events are only open to our previous full session clients, and are not open to the public. So if you have not worked with us before for a full session, you will not be able to book one of those as it’s a special perk for our LSP community! Once you become a client and complete a session with us, you’ll be added to the private client only Facebook group. For those inwardly groaning at “another mom group” - no worries, because It’s not a social group, and it’s only used for posting booking information for those two annual events each year!
I explained to Saidie that with what she was hoping for, 15 minutes would not be enough time to allot for a session with the ages of her children. I also know her older daughter pretty well at this point, and she takes time to warm up - at least 15 minutes (usually longer). I told her that a full session (1 hour) was what I could offer, and that I would be happy to collaborate with her on the Christmas decor theme that she wanted to incorporate. I also suggested that we include images of the girls together and separately for portraits within the session in non-themed clothing. She emailed back thanking me for my insights and agreeing that a full session would be perfect, so we scheduled a date!
What you won’t see in this blog post are the Christmas images as I’ve chosen not to include these. Saidie brought along a cute little setup and Christmas PJ’s because she wanted to have that be one of their outfits. While she was dressing the girls in their PJ’s, I went through what she had brought with her (miniature Christmas trees and metal ornaments) and set it all up on a white faux fur rug that I had in the studio.
I don’t do themed decor for sessions, nor do I offer mini holiday themed sessions with an elaborate set. Even our Santa event set is very simple and focused on the natural interaction between children and Santa rather than perfect portraits with an elaborate Christmas background. Sometimes parents will bring along special decorations for a First Birthday session that we can incorporate in, but the focus will alway be on my subjects.
My priorities are for every session are (in this order): light, my subject(s), and emotional connection. Everything else is just background. Sessions with me are about who I am photographing - not about the props, however cute they may be.
We started the session with the Christmas setup images, and when we finished, Saidie remarked that she completely understood why I didn’t offer themed setups! Between the two girls knocking over the Christmas trees, flinging ornaments every which way, and Lucia chewing on whatever she could get into her mouth…it was definitely a bit chaotic. Lucia also decided she was hungry when we finished with that portion and spent about 15 minutes nursing. No matter - because we had allotted an hour of time, we still had PLENTY of time remaining.
Saidie had brought along two of the sweetest little Zara dresses for her daughters, and we changed the girls into those for the next part of our time together. I simply set up the sisters in a natural way on the studio bed to interact - and what you can’t see is their parents hovering just out of the camera frame ready to swoop in if needed. Lucia was a pretty solid sitter, but the risk of toppling over is always there. Since this session, we have upgraded our studio bed setup to a real one - we now have a full queen sized bed on casters, so there’s a lot more room for toppling over than there was with our previous bed setup, which is what you see here!
Lucia absolutely adores her big sister, and the feeling is (mostly) mutual. As a mom with two daughters that are 22.5 months apart, photographing these two took me back to when my own daughters were at these stages. I remember how my oldest would do anything to make her little sister laugh, and once the two of them got going with the giggles, it was the sweetest sound. Today, my girls are 8 and 6, but they are still close and they still try to make each other laugh and do special things for the other. The sister bond is such an incredible thing, and I’m so thankful that my girls are close and enjoy each others’ company. I hope it always continues!
Lucia was OVER it by the time we were done photographing just her and wanted to nurse and take a nap, but Zoe was just getting warmed up! So, we ended our time together with solo portraits of just Zoe. To give you some background: when Zoe first walked in the door that day, she wouldn’t make eye contact with me. It took her about 30ish minutes to be comfortable enough with me to look at me and give me high fives and engage with my camera. This is why allowing for a full session is so important - it allows me time to get to know your children and get them comfortable with me if they’re going to be photographed for solo portraits. Children are little wild cards - and we always plan for the unexpected.
Enjoy a few images of these sweet sisters!
If you're expecting a baby or already a parent and looking for a newborn, maternity, or family photographer, I would love to work with you to create images that you will love for a lifetime. Watch this video to hear about my philosophy and see how I work in the studio so you can determine if I'm the right fit for you. I can't wait to meet you!
Lily Sophia Photography specializes in newborn, baby, maternity, and family photography in Atlanta, Georgia and surrounding areas.
