maternity
birth story
the baby
the family
the kids
behind the scenes – [St. Louis Maternity & Newborn Photographers]
Posted on March 12, 2010
… of which Jodie may kill me, and I am shaking a bit at her potential retaliation! Ha!
Remember this shot from Jessica & Gabe’s maternity?
Here’s how Jodie captured it:
Yes, it had rained all night before, and clearly dirty ground…. but pretty much every session you’ll find one of us laying on the ground for a killer shot!
And yesterday, at a huge, but fun commercial shoot…. testing the light and settings. ::snicker::
Sorry, Jodie, but I adore this photo of you. Silly face and all! It just shows your fun personality and how much fun we have at shoots, even when we are at the end of a full day and exhausted! And seriously, those amazing eyes framed by the best curls ever! Love you…. and totally running away to Gulf Shores now!
Filed Under behind the scenes | 6 Comments
Colin – [St. Louis Newborn Photographers]
Posted on January 25, 2010
Kim and I met up with sweet little Colin, 8 days old, and his 1 year old brother yesterday afternoon. Colin, very much like his cousin, was a VERY wide awake baby! He certainly gave us a run for our money! And so did his busy brother Nathan! But MAN were these boys adorable! And we absolutely LOVE their family! We’re getting to know their mom, aunt and Grandma pretty well and just love spending time with them! Thanks Tina, Maggie and Midge for making our afternoon so much fun!
Could Nathan be any cuter? I mean seriously!
And little Colin, while awake most of the time, barely made a peep! Soooo sweet and cuddly!
We have a BUSY week! Two more newborn sessions, a meeting at Children’s Hospital and a T.V. interview! More on THAT later!
But can I tell you that my Monday freaking morning started out with an entire bag of Goldfish AND pretzel sticks being dumped on the ground? Oh and I have NO clean underwear. And well, I can just tell it’s going to be one of those days. My goal? Survival. And to catch up on the massive laundry pile that’s threatening to give up and walk out the door! Oh and go buy diapers and pick up dry cleaning. And get the girls to and from school. And keep Bubba busy and not making huge goldfish messes. When I read that THESE photographers stay in bed until 10am on Monday mornings it made me want to cry… how nice would that be?
Time to get moving! GO!
Filed Under newborn | 8 Comments
sweet little brynn – [St. Louis Newborn Photographers]
Posted on January 20, 2010
Jodie and I got to meet sweet little Brynn yesterday. Mom Sherri is a dear friend of mine, our boys are best buddies… as in, my Samuel will go home to spend the night with him on Friday, and Sherri and I say, “see you sometime Sunday!” because it’s just a given that they spend the entire weekend together… and vice versa.
I also remember not toooo long ago, Sherri and I talking about how we were both SO done with having babies, I’m sure she was teasing ME about having another, but both being of “advanced maternal age” we laughed and laughed… DONE! But Miss Brynn had other plans for their family in mind! And what a sweet little surprise she is!
Sherri told me Brynn is a very easy baby, and they hardly see her eyes open during the day…. and she was spot on! Brynn was putty in our hands! And she’ll also be the very first star of our tutorial videos we are hoping to share very soon!!
Hope you love these, Sherri! (she purposely didn’t watch us so she could be surprised!) She looks so much like big sister Emma!
Filed Under newborn | 11 Comments
my sister. the rockstar.
Posted on January 6, 2010
I was getting ready to run to the post office and pick up the kids from my mom’s yesterday afternoon when she called and screamed, “PACK YOUR BAGS! WE’RE GOING TO WISCONSIN!”
Why?
Because Abbie’s water broke and ONE HOUR later I had a sitter with my kids and my parents and I were FLYING down the highway from St. Louis Missouri to Madison Wisconsin… and ONE HOUR before Avery was born we got there!
And I captured the whole thing!
Ab’s last belly photo! It was a perfect belly!
And THIS is right after the doctor said…
“Abbie, you are nine and a half centimeters dilated. There is no time for an epidural. You’ll have to do this naturally.”
OMG I thought Abbie was going to hit him! HA!
But DUUUUUUDE. She ROCKED it. There were a few screams, which is when we closed her door to the hallway (the worst thing a first-time mom can hear is another woman in agony!), but it went SO fast and you would NOT believe her today, twelve hours after natural child birth and she’s practically skipping around her room! She feels GREAT! Her exact words… “Jod! You need to have a FOURTH just so you can try natural child birth!”
HA! I just gave Chris a heart attack!
I want to let Abbie tell her story and once she does I will link her blog here… so for now… I’ll let the photos tell the story. Of Avery. My sweet new niece.
Avery Lee Enlund. 7 lbs. 12 oz. 20 inches. And totally perfect. And perfectly beautiful!
Welcome Avery. We love every little ounce of you already! And congratulations to my TOUGH AS NAILS sister and brother-in-law! Two little girls! It’s so so awesome and you’re going to love every minute!
Filed Under allen family, birth photography, newborn | 20 Comments
Wrapping up 2009 – [St. Louis Photographers]
Posted on January 5, 2010
Kim created the awesome video you’re about to watch… which you should by the way…because it’s great! And she emailed me late last night to tell me she’d finished it and put it on the blog for me to post so I immediately stopped editing and watched it. And laughed and cried. And about half-way through it I realized that I wasn’t thinking about our clients… whom we love and adore and are so so so grateful they trusted US with their memories and so thankful they came along on this new Fresh Art adventure with us… but instead, I was thinking about Kim.
Because for every photo that we place on this blog and every gallery we give to clients, there is a whole lot more going on behind the scenes. And I found myself watching that video and remembering those moments.
The moments during our first sessions when we really didn’t know each other that well and tripped over our words and ideas and thoughts all just trying to get our opinion about a shot to the other person, without stepping on toes or fingers or feelings, because we were getting to know each other and working it out. Seeing how many sessions we’ve had and laughing about how much money we’ve spent in sodas and snacks, because we ALWAYS stop on the way to a session for a soda! Seeing shots we are unbelievably proud of and knowing I never would have gotten to this place without Kim. Laughing about the mishaps, the mistakes, the weather, the inside jokes, the stories. Seeing the photos from Chicago and ALL the fun memories it stirred up! The crazy expensive lunches, not leaving our room, the homeless man that nearly got in my car, getting lost, the corn… it was a fun trip! Remembering the first time we slapped a high five leaving a session b/c we KNEW we’d nailed the shots… and me being SO excited b/c KIM was so excited… b/c up until that session she’d been pretty low key and I was always the spaz! All the conversations in the car, talking late at night, emailing 50 times a day… just getting to know each other so so well.
Looking at those photos was like this visual trip through our friendship. Because our partnership started out as a business relationship and has grown into a friendship. One that I didn’t realize I cherished so much until I got to walk through it all with this video. Every session we learn more about each other. The longer we work together the less we actually talk during a shoot because we know what the other is thinking. As the days and weeks and months go by the more I love the fact that we joined forces and are working together. Do I sometimes miss Jodified? Sure. Would I trade Fresh Art for anything? Never.
So to our 2009 clients… thank you for hiring us. Trusting us. Laughing with us. Understanding us when our kids/families/NILMDTS have had to come first. And for letting us travel this road with you. Because until last night, i didn’t really see how significant of a role you’ve played in our Fresh Art adventure. But with each one of you we’ve gotten better. Smoother. More confident. So thank you! Thanks for everything you’ve given to us this first (half) year.
And Kim… thanks for putting up with me! You’re one of my best friends and I can’t imagine living my passion with anyone else!
Filed Under behind the scenes, children, engagement, families, maternity, newborn, Uncategorized | 14 Comments
Ainsley – {St. Louis Newborn Photographers}
Posted on December 27, 2009
In the freezing cold and snow Kim and I ventured out today for two photo sessions! One for little miss Ainsley and one for our first maternity session with a mom pregnant with triplets! Those babies will be coming in a few weeks and we can’t wait! Look for her sneak peek tomorrow!
Today though, we had just one baby and Ainsley was beyond perfect! She slept the entire time and at nine pounds she is one of our chunkiest babies! And MAN OH MAN do Kim and I love a chunky baby!
And as much as it was hard to leave jammie day with the kids and C, it was also kind of nice to get out there and shoot again! Especially with my NEW Nikon! Yep! I made the MASSIVE switch from Canon to Nikon recently so Kim and I can share lenses and more easily add to our equipment in the future. I bought THIS camera and so far LOVE it… although I will say I am SLOW still and luckily have some indoor shooting time this winter to get used to it before I have to need fast skills while I chase toddlers around outside! Still figuring things out as I had NO idea how different the little things are between Canon and Nikon! Little things that really change the way you have to think about shooting! Anyway, you be the judge since today was my first time officially shooting with the new camera…
Thanks Murphy family for having one of the sweetest baby girls around! She was absolutely perfect! Look for your full gallery soon!
AND… the gauntlet I threw down for Kim to post photos of their Christmas morning won’t be answered as she DID NOT TAKE ANY PHOTOS! HA! I can’t believe it! I mean, I only took CRAP photos but she didn’t take any! She did say she’ll post some old ones but DUDE! KIM… we want to see photos of your CUTE KIDS! All SEVEN of them! 
Filed Under newborn | 6 Comments
ellie bellie & livie lu & frankie too! – [St. Louis Twin Newborn Photographers]
Posted on December 20, 2009
a few more of the sweet little twins we got to hang out with this past week. Ellie & Livie were 4 weeks old, which makes us nervous with ONE baby to get the shots we want, let alone TWO! But they were fabulous and sweet! And they have the best big brother… who we bribed sufficiently (I think at one point Jodie promised him a million dollars or a new car… ha!). They have lots of great family who were there to help, as well as their future BFF, Miss Gretchen, who we were delighted to see again with her mommy! Our clients truly DO become our friends!
A few more to tide you over, Annie & George (and all their family/friends too)!
Filed Under newborn | 2 Comments