Hazel b Photography

My dear friend was recently visiting her sister here in AZ, and I got to hang out with her a couple of times during her visit!  She just happens to be pregnant with her first baby, so I just happened to bring my camera when we met at the Children’s Museum to play one day.  She’s too beautiful (inside and out) to not photograph!!!  

I have been offering photo sessions for over sixth months now, and have met and photographed so many wonderful young families during this time.  It’s really a great feeling to be able to help people to see their blessings in a concrete way- and to know that they’ll always have this physical memory to look back on.  The simple, natural way that families snuggle in or hold each other is one of my favorite things to photograph.  My husband thinks I’m a time-is-going-too-quickly freak, but in my defense, IT IS!!! And since it is, it is so important to take pictures to remind us of all the little things we don’t want to forget.  Please don’t misinterpret my message- I’m not suggesting to just look at old photos all day long and live in the past.  I’m saying when we take photos more often, we are able to stop for a second and see and appreciate what we have RIGHT NOW.

Right now, this family has two adorable little blondies that love their mommy and daddy and each other.  The big sister was protective of her brother, and also was still wanting to get her turn on daddy’s lap for some of the photos.  Little brother was a tiny bit shy, but perked up when he was near his big sis or in parent’s arms.  It was a joy to see them interact and I know they will be happy to have these (and more) pictures to remind them just how blessed they are!

One week old.  Ohhh, so new and fresh and sweet… little Delaney.  I got to spend a wonderful morning hanging out with her and her mama- such a great family! I loved holding her, taking pictures of her sweetly posed little self, and enjoying the beauty of creation.  So lovely!

If you are expecting, or know someone who is, please email me at hazelbphoto@gmail.com for session information.  I would love to photograph your little one. ;o)

I have had two children of my own, but knowing each birth story is different, I was not sure what to expect on my first birth photo shoot.  If there was ever a ‘perfect’ first delivery shoot to do, this was it.  I arrived at the hospital around 6:30 pm, to find the mother working through her tough contractions with such grace that it made the work look pleasant— which we all know it’s not! Her husband was by her side, holding her hand, checking in on her- a great teammate in the delivery.  Two (of three) of her sisters and an aunt were there for support and celebration, too.

Less than two hours after I arrived, a little girl was born.  Lovely little Delaney Reign was 6 pounds, 10 ounces, healthy and seriously beautiful.  

It was an absolute honor and joy to be there with this awesome family, sharing in one of the best ever gifts from God- birth!  Welcome to the world, sweet Delaney!

This happy little girl was not camera shy at all!  Probably because her mommy is also a budding photographer, so the camera was nothing out of the ordinary for the little sweetie!  Even though this family has lots of great photos of their little girl smiling and being cute, they were missing the family shots.  We took care of that by doing a family session with the three of them interacting as usual- playing games, peek-a-booing, and giggling!  As I am editing the session I am realizing that my favorite photos of this family are not the posed moments (with great smiles, by the way), but rather the ‘in-between’ shots that showcase their fun, sweet personalities.  

Well, I’m still here… ;o)  I had an awesome Christmas and New Year, with tons of family time.  We did ‘homemade’ gifts between my sisters, mom, and me for Christmas.  My older sister gave us reprinted and framed photos of my mom when she was little- some of her and her siblings posing with their parents, a few of just my mom as a tyke, and my favorite, a photo of my mom (around 4 years old) eating breakfast at the kitchen table with her dad.  I love that I can see what their furniture looked like, the dishes they used, the food they ate, and most of all- the happiness they shared.  The realness of the photo is so compelling, it draws you in and nearly hugs you with a ‘life is sooooo good’ vibe.  

That photo reminded me of the value of lifestyle photography.  Life gets crazy busy and then passes us by too darn quickly.  Photos help us to recall the details, the stories and memories, the laughter and joys, the sweetness of life.  As a mom, I am constantly feeling panic over how quickly my babies are growing.  When that feeling creeps up, I grab the camera and try my best to get a shot that will describe everything I hope to remember.

This week I took some photos of Ezra napping.  My other two (Annie and the cat, Mylo) were goofing around behind the scenes and woke Ezra up from his nap, so I didn’t get too many shots.  I tried to put him back to sleep on my bed (which usually works) but his big sis just wanted to cuddle him… Which turned into sort-of cuddle/wrestling, a common happenstance for them. ;o)  I love how the photos turned out.  It’s about my favorite thing in the world when you can look at a picture and almost here the squeals of delight and smell the sweet baby scent.  

Ahhh, the everyday.  Slow down and take a look around yourself, look at your family, your friends— you are so blessed!!!  If you want photos of your ‘everyday,’ I would love to come over with my camera and hang out with you!  Please, email me for availability and rates at hazelbphoto@gmail.com.

The theme of the day- toys.  We have tons of them {in every corner of our home} but, especially in the playroom!  This morning we horsed-around, did lots of dancing and pretend birthday partying, and even built an ark for all the little animals and ‘guys.’  

It was super fun, but also a bit frustrating.  I just can’t seem to take a decent picture lately, and it’s starting to really frustrate me!  I wasn’t trying to show it, but I know it was obvious because at one point Annie said, ‘Don’t you worry, Mommy!  I’ll tell Daddy to buy you a new camera!’  Ugh, it’s definitely not the camera- it’s the user. ;o)  The other frustrating part is that I was trying so hard to get a good shot that at times I was missing out on the play!  Not cool.  I really want to be a play-at-home mommy and not just a supervisor of my kids.  So, I am going to make an executive decision and put this little project on hold. I feel like a total loser/quitter even typing this on only day 2, but our schedule is pretty packed the rest of this week and this weekend, so it’s for the best anyhow.  I WILL finish this week long challenge.  I will. ;o)

Today’s shots… not great photography, but the kids are stinkin’ cute!!!

Yesterday was the first day of my own little week long photo challenge.  The theme of the day was ‘Mornings.’  I was hoping to capture what a typical morning in our home looks like and tell the story with the photos.  Yesterday, however, was pretty much the opposite of normal at our house!  Ezra woke up at 5:15- an hour and 15 minutes earlier than normal, and then Annie strolled in about 15 minutes after he woke up, which is about three hours early for her!  I didn’t want to skip the first day of this challenge, so I took pictures of the ‘typical’ things that were happening, even though everything was out of order and WAY earlier than normal.  It was completely dark for all of the photos other than the last two, so the lighting was either from lamps or overhead recessed lights… not great for photos, but we still came away from it with some nice images of our morning.  

Ezra pretty much always wakes up in the night and joins Ben and I in our bed, so he snuggles me for awhile in the morning.  If Annie does wake up before we head downstairs, she hops up on the bed, too.  Once we are downstairs we have our ‘cheerios’ which are actually Joe’s O’s from Trader Joseph’s, and our morning drinks.  Annie and Ez each have a sippy of whole milk and Mommy has Chai tea.  The peek-a-boo shots are so Ez- he loves to play simple games and read books with Mommy until Annie is up.  If we don’t have anywhere to be in the morning, we usually play a little bit before we get ready for the day.  

Our morning:

I almost titled this post, “We were on a break!!!”- ha ha ha… Ross.  Anyway, I am on a break.  A little vacation from doing photography sessions (although I have cheated and done a few). I am taking some time for some breathing room to collect my thoughts, reflect a bit, and refocus myself for the new year.  I am a stay-at-home mom, and a so-called, sort-of photographer, so you would think that combo would be the perfect storm for a huge stock of amazing photos of my own children.  Well, sort of.  The thing is that I get busy with all of the taking care of the kids and living life stuff, that my camera usually only makes debuts when I have sessions with other people.  I tried to change that by signing up for an online class that encouraged family photos through some mini-assignments.  I did a couple.  Here are a few for you to see: 

The grocery store photos were taken at Trader “Joseph’s” and were cut short when the manager informed me of their no photos policy- whoops!  Anyway, I realized that I wasn’t in any photos, so I handed off the camera (all set on auto-mode) to a little old grandma-type and asked her to get one of me pushing the cart with the kids… um, yeah.  Not so much.  Then I ordered a remote shutter.  Greeaaat purchase!  Here are a few of Annie and I at bedtime and Ezra and I napping together:

These photos were all taken without flash, using high ISO since it was so dark- which results in some pretty grainy images.  I still really like them though, because they are all REAL.  Real is good, super good.  ;o)  I decided I want more of this, so I threw in the towel and brought in a professional.  

Her name is Gina, she is a super-good photographer, and she is FROM MINNESOTA!!! Her talent also comes with an incredible personality and sixth (or seventh) sense of knowing how to bring out the real in people.  Isn’t that what you want photos of?  The exact emotions and relationships that you have with the ones you adore- the way you actually snuggle up to each other, instead of a stranger’s pose for you to hold while you squeeze out the ‘cheese.’  It was a wonderful experience for me, as a budding photographer myself, and I feel a great sense of accomplishment in having some really nice images of our family during this stage of life.  Here are just a few of my favorites:

From Gina Zeidler Photography:

There are so many more great shots she sent us, so one of my current projects is choosing which to enlarge for a gallery to display.  I am ordering all of images in cheap 4X6 prints so I can sort and organize the photos into groups that will look nice together in frames.  This is a little method we used the last time we did family photos (before Ezra was born) and it helped us to see which images really stood alone and which looked best with a few around it to tell the story as a group.  I am so excited to print the final product!!

Besides taking some really lovely photos of our family, Gina encouraged me to be more confident and assertive with my photography.  It’s clear that her success as a photographer does not rest on her talent alone- she is focused, determined, and has the perfect balance of being realistic and passionate all at the same time.  God blessed her with specific gifts and she is bringing Him glory by not letting fear get in the way of HIs plan for her.

I know God brought Gina to Arizona for a little retreat and the exact time we were hoping to find a photographer for our family for a reason.  Sometimes we hear God’s whispers louder when they come through the words of another person.  So, even though I am on a break from sessions, I do not want to take a step backward on my path.  I am going to finish what I set out to do with a fun plan to complete a specific project.  Have you ever seen those ‘30 Day Photo Challenges?’  If you are ever on Pinterest, which I am sure you are, then you have! ;o)  Anyway, I can’t to anything for 30 days… But, a week I can handle!  So, I’ve made my own little photo challenge that I’m calling ‘Project: Mine.’  I hope to get around 5 ‘keeper’ shots a day documenting our daily life happenings.  This will be great practice of Lifestyle photography - which is my favorite to shoot, and I will have some good images of the special, simple things that I hope to always remember about my babies while they are still ‘mine.’  Here’s the themes for the week:

I hope to post the photos by the following Monday- so check back and let me know your thoughts!  Now, it’s time for me to get back to what I love most about being a stay-at-home mommy… just hangin’ out, with the cutest kids ever!!  

Yesterday my friend Michelle stopped by to drop off a bundle of knit goods she made for me…newborn baby photo props.  Just seeing them finished made me sooooo excited to do another newborn photo shoot.  Take a look at this pixie-style newborn girl hat.  Pretty cute!

I am just starting to collect newborn props and goodies, and let me tell you there are so many things out there!  I have learned that my style is a little more simple and “real life” than what the major trend is right now for newborn shoots, so I am trying to incorporate some more hats and whatnot, but just in a way that stays true to my style.

Besides style, I have also learned some important things about newborn photography.  1.It’s not easy.  Professional newborn photographers earn every cent of their profit- that is if they even break even after buying all the backdrops, blankets, baskets, wraps, etc.  Yikes!  No, really, the things I have learned are what I refer to as the ‘newborn c’s and p’s‘ (side note: I LOVE acronyms and other mnemonics, so bear with me).  The ‘C’s‘ are clean, confident, and caring.  I’ve had a newborn before, two actually, and with both of them I was sort of a soup-natzi about washing hands and using hand-sanitizer (or else, “No baby for you!!).  When I go to a newborn photo shoot I make sure I am clean (hands, clothes, camera) and all my stuff is clean (blankets and props).  I also wash my hands again and sanitize them in front of the parents.  This helps me to start off confident, by showing the parents that ‘I got this’ and I am thinking about the safety of their baby.  I also show confidence by asking if I can hold the baby right away, and just taking time to snuggle it up.  I am going to be handling their little one a lot and want them to know that I know how to hold them properly.  Also, I show care and respect by being gentle with the newborn and its’ needs - taking breaks, being patient with fussing/pooping on stuff/etc.  And the new parents need care, too!  They are tired, sore (mom… hopefully, not dad)  and probably a little anxious about handing their new baby over!  Now onto the ‘P’s’: prepared and practical.  I do this type of photo shoot in the newborn’s home, so it is extremely important to be prepared before I take off from home.  I like to decide ahead of time the poses and plan the backdrops and props for each one, then pack them in reverse order so everything is organized when I arrive.  I also like to have more than enough poses and backdrops planned, just in case we need to ditch one (accidents happen…on blankets).  And finally, ‘practical’- it’s easy to get lost in the whimsy of it all and to want to take a million photos in the most interesting poses, however these are neeeewwww babies.  Brand new.  So, I think it makes sense to get what you really want as far as posing goes and then to treat the remainder of the 2-3 hours as bonus- then get outta there!!!  Being practical with newborns also means really watching the newborn AND the parents to make sure you are posing and working within their comfort zone.  I really want the experience to be fantastic- not just the photos!  

One other little thing I learned is that the magical, cozy feeling that happens when a new life is settling into our world takes place with every new life.  I thought it was just with my own— me being like a mama bear, settling into the den - but, I have felt that amazing, warm, lovely ambience with each newborn I have been lucky enough to photograph.  Aaaahh, so cozy.  

From my humble ‘portfolio’ I am sharing some newborn photos below - one boy and one girl.  Before you view them, I want to share a gem that sings through my soul when I hold a new baby.  It’s from JJ Heller (I know, I should add a little variety to my tunes…) - a song called “Lullaby.” 

“The love of God is evident in the miracle of you… Little one.”