Happy holidays to all of you readers! Before the beautiful chaos of Christmas and New Year’s hit, I wanted to share how happy I am with my studio lighting gear AND the decision to make the switch.

As an alumni of Jaci Forshtay’s Newborn Posing Workshop, I am part of a closed Facebook group where fellow photographers can seek advice, encouragement, or get some constructive criticism on an image. The group is NOT designed to vent about clients and Jaci is really good about moderating and keeping it positive! Recently, one photographer was asking for advice on how to properly compensate a client who had to reschedule TWICE because of poor natural lighting conditions. I realized that had I been in that same position with my last shoot, it probably wouldn’t have happened! My client, albeit tiny, was already 12 days old and the newborn sleepiness starts to wear off around 14 days AND bad weather hit that weekend. Add in the fact that I was only 6 weeks from my due date on the day of the shoot, and it is pretty obvious that pushing the shoot date any further out would probably end in a disaster!

I also want to share this because I think it is SO important to consider a photographer who uses studio lighting when you are selecting a newborn photographer. That’s not to say there aren’t Ah-Maz-Ing natural light newborn photographers out there, but photographers can only control so much! Also, for obvious reasons, photographers who don’t shoot newborns exclusively try very hard to book newborn sessions in the winter to help bridge the gap between the busy fall family portrait stretch and spring/summer weddings. Winter is tough not only because of the possibility of bad weather, but because the days are the shortest this time of year. Rescheduling a whole different 4-hour chunk of time can be difficult, if not impossible, to do before Baby is too old for those precious, sleepy shots.

Okay, I’m off my soapbox now 🙂

What posts are in the pipeline?

– Sneak peek of some props I’ll be using for Lydia’s shoot early next year… and you better believe they’re girly!

– Unveiling of a few birth announcement designs I’m considering (designed by Yours Truly!)

– A big old post full of pictures of my little girl due to arrive sometime in late January 🙂