These fall maternity photos were VERY entertaining to capture, thanks to this cute soon-to-be BIG sister! I figured out pretty quickly, that she is a great little story teller. Little Miss also had a few funny jokes to tell us. It’s always nice to have someone help to make SURE that mom and dad are wearing their best smiles for their photo session. ;-) Of course they did great! Dad was super patient with all of us, and mom had that gorgeous Prego-Glow. We chose a location in Anchorage that offered a good amount of variety. As a result, we had the opportunity to adventure around looking for various great photo spots. That was great for their photo session, AND moving around helped us to keep warm! Double whammy!! The fall colors were so pretty, and there were SO many picturesque locations. Thank GOODness, because it really meant a lot to this beautiful Momma to capture her cute belly, her cute family, and the beautiful Alaska fall all together for her Maternity photo session. Now I’m really eager to get her album designed, so she can show off her Maternity session!
Maternity
Fun, vivid and unique Maternity photos taken by Savvy Images.
A Stunning Fireweed Maternity Session
MaternityAnyone who lives in Alaska knows that once fireweed takes over, it doesn’t stick around long. And they also know that as soon as that happens, summer is justtt about over. Sad, but true. I’m a strong believer that one must seize the moment. I absolutely could not let the opportunity to take stunning photos in the fireweed quickly pass me by! This maternity session was my personal project for the month of August. Or you could say, my passion! I HAD to make this session happen, and everything about it makes my heart go pitter patter on SO many levels!! It was perfect timing for this beautiful momma-to-be to have maternity photos taken, and after some spur of the moment resourceful researching, we stumbled on THIS incredible location. When we arrived, I quickly scoped out the area, crafted a little fireweed head piece, and she absolutely ROCKED the session! Her entire second outfit was styled by the lovely ladies at Butterfly (maternity) Boutique on Dimond in Anchorage, and complimented the gorgeous fireweed perfectly. We didn’t have any issues with Mosquitos this time, but there was a random bumble bee fluttering around in a few of the photos! The sun tried to peer out behind the clouds and put a kink in our perfectly overcast afternoon, but regardless, I couldn’t be more pleased. Hopefully, you guys will see these images on the walls and website of Butterfly Boutique, and in this gorgeous momma’s home! This session confirms my NEED for a monthly personal photo project. I will seize the moment, pursue passion, and push my creative limits. In fact, I’m already brainstorming/debating possibilities for the next few months. Whatever I decide on, I can assure you there will be an overload of cuteness! If you would like to be a part of the exclusive email list that gets casting call information on any of my upcoming projects, be sure to check out THIS blog post from a couple months ago when you get a moment. You never know, you or someone you know, could be the perfect addition to complete one of the next Savvy Images photo projects! If not, that’s cool. Just be sure to do whatever makes your heart sing! ;-)
The DeMartino Family • Houston Maternity Photographer
Kids, MaternityI had the pleasure of photographing this fun family back at the beginning of 2012!! The exciting thing is, two years later they have really good news to share… Not only did they just finish building their dream home in Pearland, TX, but they are also going to be welcoming a handsome little boy named Austin to their family soon!! Even though dad was an allergy sickened super trooper for this session, he is definitely PUMPED about that (being the only male in their beautiful new home)! Haha. Their beautiful twin girls have grown up SO much since their last family session with Savvy Images. Not too awe fully long ago, I can remember when their momma contacted me telling me that they were going to start trying to have ONE more kiddo to complete their perfect little family. And when they did, that I had to be the person to take their maternity and newborn photos! That is an ABsolutely amazing thing to hear, but it was right about the time we started considering our move to Alaska. Yikes! Once we did make our move, and she called me with her exciting news, we weren’t sure we’d be able to coordinate our schedules so I could take their maternity photos. =( At one point, I even recommended another great photographer to her in Houston. BUT, towards the end of my surprise trip home to Texas for Easter, we managed to make it happen!! Because she really wanted to include their fur baby, Brutus in the session, we got to take some photos in and of their new home. Their mom even made a special exception and let the girls jump on her and dad’s bed. We had to have some fun! Then we finished up their session at a nearby park. This hot momma and I have been friends since college, and her loyalty and support means the world to me. She loves and believes in my photography SO much, that she’s willing to do just about whatever she can to book a session with Savvy Images! Once Austin arrives, it’s clear that he is going to be surrounded by family with endless amounts of love, AND two awesome big sisters. I wonder if they’ve realized that in a few years mom and dad will even have two beautiful little built in baby sitters! When he’s being a handful for them, they’ll have to break out these photos as a reminder of how excited they were to meet their baby brother! ;-)
The Nettles Maternity Photos • Anchorage Photographer
MaternityOnce we started brainstorming and planning for this first time momma’s maternity photo session, there was no doubt in my mind that it would be a good one! After trading ideas, and several pins on our secret Pinterest board, we fell in love with the idea of incorporating a feather head piece to make her session really unique. A quick trip to Michael’s and a little DIY arts and crafts time later, we were almost set! All we needed was the perfect location for her session. I set out to finalize that last detail, and randomly/quickly came across the PERFECT spot. Seriously. Amazing. It was a location that I had my eye on for a while, that I finally took the time to check out. Thank goodness, because it just happened to have a huge TEEPEE formed from large tree branches! There is was…it was the perfect backdrop for her custom feather head piece, and the surrounding area also offered great variety for her maternity photo session. The rest was a cake walk. Even though it was her first time to have professional photos taken, she did awesome, and we even managed to get the daddy-to-be to jump in on a few of the photos! I had SUCH a hard time narrowing them down for this post. With their gene pool, I can’t even imagine how beautiful their little angel will be!? I know her momma is beyond ready to meet her, and I’m almost as eager for her newborn photo session! You will definitely want to keep an eye out for that…she’ll even have a beautiful, custom little head piece of her own!! ;-)
The Hefner Maternity Session • Destination Maternity Photos
Kids, MaternityI am SO excited about posting these maternity photos on the blog today! When I went to WPPI in Las Vegas for a week at the beginning of March, I just HAD to schedule a maternity session while I was in town! And I was dead set that this said maternity session take place in the DESERT. Luckily, I have a friend who lives in Las Vegas, because she posted a quick little ad for me on her Facebook page. Thanks to her, I quickly found an awesome, beautiful and FUN momma that HAD to have beautiful maternity photos! I was a tad bit nervous scheduling a session on top of ALL my other workshop madness (knowing how exhausted I would be by that point), but I’m SO glad to say that everything worked out perfectly! Not only did my hot Vegas momma ROCK her session, but she had a PRECIOUS little girl nicknamed Chip Chip to add some MAJOR cuteness also. All little Chip wanted to do was run around in the desert checking things out, WITHOUT her headband…lol. That’s just something you have to expect with little one’s her age, but who can blame her?! She had no interested in taking photos, and there are a few cute photos from their session that I just had to include in this post. Regardless of their age, things usually never go as planned, and that’s okay! We still managed to capture some really cute moments because mom and especially dad (sporting little Chip’s headband at one point), were such great sports! I love photographing fun families, and it’s clear that Chip is going to be a really fun big sister. I am very eager to get their album designed and ordered in the near future!!



Timing and Tips for Perfect Maternity Photos
MaternityPregnancy is an incredibly fascinating journey. I came across a really creative/cute video on Buzzfeed.com this morning that reminded me of this completely obvious fact. I just had to share it with you guys since the timing was perfect with this blog post about the timing for Perfect Maternity Photos!
One of the questions I get most often is “When is the best time to take Maternity photos?”. There is no completely right or wrong answer to this question, as it varies drastically for each individual woman. From her body, to the growth of her baby, to her personal preference. Over the years I have found that the beginning of the third trimester, and more specifically their 7th month seems to have worked well for most of my beautiful moms. They are big enough to actually LOOK pregnant and embrace their bellies, but not big enough to feel miserable and bloated. Repeat mothers tend to show a little sooner than those that haven’t had children already, as well as if she’s expecting multiple babies is definitely a major factor to keep in mind also. If one of my moms is unsure about what to expect of her pregnancy, I personally prefer to err on the side of caution when it comes to scheduling her Maternity session. We can always reschedule and push the session back a bit to allow more belly growth if needed. Becoming a mother is a fabulous thing, and that’s just what I want each of my mothers to feel like when taking their Maturity photos…FABULOUS. Any mother would agree that there is a fine line there, and I would rather take her photos when she’s a bit too small, than a bit too big and uncomfortable. Plus, if you wait too long to take her maternity photos, you run the risk of missing the opportunity all together, if her little one making their brand entrance to the world early!
The timing of when to take Maternity photos is key, but another important thing to consider is your photographer! When you probably have a gazillion other things on your mind, you want to invest in a photographer that clearly, absolutely, without a doubt knows AND cares about what they are doing. Your time is limited, you’re hormonal, you’ve recently gained lots of extra weight, you’re exhausted, you probably STILL have an adorable nursery to complete, and you CANNOT wait for your little one’s arrival… You don’t want to have to worry about things like your photographer putting you in some uncomfortable, unflattering pose in front of a cluttered background! The female body is beautiful, but we all know that there are angles that do it NO justice, and even more so with a big baby belly. Again, it’s very important to me that all my Mothers-to-be to FEEL and LOOK fabulous in their Maternity photos! A huge part of having great confidence during your session (in addition to the timing) is being fully prepared for it, and informed on what to expect. To make sure of that, all my Savvy Moms get an electronic Welcome Package with LOTS of helpful information before their session. It includes great information like what to wear. Your Maternity session is to capture photos of you and your beautiful belly. Crazy patterns can potentially be a distraction, as well as loose/baggy clothes. You want to be sure to wear something a bit fitted to show your baby bump off. I believe that a great combination of classy and comfortable is key, and you can always add accessories to jazz up your look if you’d like. As your photographer, I do everything I can to set your session up to be a success, INCLUDING brainstorm cute/meaningful shoot ideas! Whether we get together for tea, chat on the phone, or set up a private Pinterest board for session inspiration, I want to make sure we have lots of potential for a super unique AND meaningful Baby Belly Session!
GET THE GIFT OF MEMORIES CAPTURED BY SAVVY IMAGES:
Another great thing that I have set up especially for our proud expecting parents is our Newborn Registry. You can make it extremely easy for your family and friends to give you the best Baby Shower gift EVER… A Savvy Images Gift Certificate (aka the gift of YOUR memories captured by Savvy Images)!! You can use your gift certificate credits toward your Session Photo Collection, newborn announcements, wrapped canvas prints, a session album, and/or many other beautiful photo products. You’ll enjoy the beautiful items you get from your newborn photo session well after your little angel blows thru or grows out of all the many diapers you got at your baby shower! You can read more about our Newborn Registry Program here!
to get our blog on Timing and Tips for Perfect Newborn Photos soon!!
The King Maternity Session • Anchorage Maternity Photos
MaternityThis beautiful mother-to-be had a VERY detailed vision of what she wanted her maternity photos to look like. She contacted me monthsss in advance to schedule her session. Luckily we were able to coordinate it successfully for when I was back in Texas shooting a wedding! We began the first portion at a nearby boutique hotel to capture some classy, beautiful, boudoir belly photos. You are just going to have to trust me when I say that those are absolutely gorgeous, because we’re going to keep those photos for her and her husband’s eyes only. ;-) For the second portion, we ventured to (what seems to be) one of the most popular photo spots in all of Austin… the cliffs overlooking the 360 Bridge. This location NEVER disappoints though. It amazes me that my moms don’t mind making the hike all the way up to the top pregnant, but then again, that just goes to show that they are game to do ALMOST anything for beautiful photos! I absolutely LOVE that. Just my kind of client. Momma King was very passionate about having beautiful sunset silhouette maternity photos. I have to say that we had MAJOR success there! In fact, I actually ordered a HUGE canvas of the very last photo to display in my studio. I CANNOT wait to get that in!! This is their first baby, and I know that they will cherish these photos & moments together for years to come. After all, her glow is just stunning!!
Anderson Family Review • Houston Family Photographer
Babies, Families, Kids, Maternity, NewbornsThis blog post is a compilation of photos that I have taken of the Anderson Family over the last year and a half, beginning with wonderful news of Baby #2 during an Announcement Mini Session!! You have probably seen some of these photos on past blogs or sneak peeks, but I thought it was really important to actually show their journey collectively. I am very fortunate because this hot momma happens to be one of my very best friends. Not only does she have a beautiful growing family that is a blast to photograph, but she also truly cherishes having beautiful photos. WIN-WIN. I’m incredibly grateful that she has helped to support the growth of Savvy Images over the last several years (another major WIN)! She and her husband are small business owners themselves, so they fully understand the struggles involved with growing and maintaining a reputable company these days.
In the recent past I’ve gotten questions from aspiring/amateur photographers about taking photos for family and friends. I figured out fast that could be VERY tricky! I would absolutely LOVE to take beautiful photos of all of my loved ones at no charge, but if I did, I would quickly go broke! When I established Savvy Images, I decided that I would have a set rate (and expectations) for my family and and any close friends that wanted me to take photos for them. It prevented any potential miscommunications, and set our photo experience up for success! It’s safe to say that anyone would like great photos for free, but I felt that if they truly valued my hard work and photography, that they would be willing to pay a fair price for it. It helps to ensure that I never feel like I’m being taken advantage of (not they ever would intentionally do so), and no wheeling & dealing is ever necessary to cause any potential awkwardness between us. After all, photography IS my career. My clients reactions to their photographs is INcredibly rewarding to me, but unfortunately my bills are not going to pay themselves! Dang it..Haha! I honestly feel that one of the reasons that Savvy Images has been so successful is because my family and friends were completely on board with my thinking on this, and continued to support my vision and hard work over the past several years. What can I say… they truly are AWESOME!!













The Withrow Maternity Session • Anchorage Maternity Photos
Families, Kids, MaternityThese maternity photos make me SMILE!! Seriously…how in the world could these photos not make someone smile from ear to ear..?! From actually taking the photos, to editing them, to writing this blog post. All around, it was such a great photo session. Thanks to this handsome little ham Halen (and recently proud big brother), mom’s awesome style choosing the outfits for their session, all the lovely fall leaves, and even the evening light was fantastic!! I thought the Boardwalk at Potter Marsh would be a great place to keep this little guy’s attention, and get a good variety of great photos. Working with kiddos his age definitely keeps me on my toes and I love it! We played in the leaves, walked along the boardwalk, looked for birds, bears & fish, and mom & dad got lots of silly kisses. We manage to snag a few photos of Halen’s stunning momma, and even some of the proud parents alone. Someone (ahem…Halen..lol) loved taking photos, and tried to sneak his way into all the great shots! Haha. Of course we didn’t mind though. It was clear that this little guy lovesss his mom and dad. There is no doubt that he will absolulely love his baby brother Hudson just as much! SO DARN CUTE. I’m already looking forward to photographing the whole family soon!!
Are you expecting a new little addition next year? Be sure to mention you saw The Withrow’s Maternity Photos, and get a discount on your Maternity Photo session fee. Savvy Images would love to capture this special time for you!
The Thorsson Maternity Session • Anchorage Maternity Photos
MaternityThis beautiful Momma-to-be and I have a couple mutual friends back in Texas. Once our move to Anchorage was in motion, I was SO excited to hear that she was interested in having maternity and newborn photos taken! With countless beautiful new spots to photograph at, I had such a hard time deciding where to do their session! Though the wind definitely kept us on our toes, I’m very happy with our decision. Big Sister-to-be was such a little ham! She is certainly not a fan of being in front of the camera, but she kept us all cracking up while running circles around mom and dad, and photo bombing their photos! That little lady definitely has a personality, and we’re both eager to meet her little brother sometime soon!! Be sure to subscribe to the Savvy Images Blog (to the right of this paragraph) to be one of the first to see the “sneak peek” from his newborn photo session shortly after he makes his grand appearance!
Savvy Images is very eager to photograph fun new families in some of the MANY beautiful locations all around Anchorage! Contact us right away to get your session scheduled soon!!
The Cobb Maternity Session • Austin Maternity Photographer
MaternityI’ve know Jordan and JD since our college days, and was very excited when they contacted me to take their maternity photos! It was pretty amazing, because you could just see the excitement of the pregnancy pouring out from BOTH of their pores! Jordan was on bed rest during the last half of her pregnancy, so we tried our best to take most of her photos sitting or lying down. With the exception of a few poses, including the colorful “I Love You So Much” mural that she was very passionate about taking (for cute obvious reasons)! There were several great photo spots at their home, my favorite being the cozy/awesome bed swing! I must say that she could potentially be superhuman…in addition to her gorgeous glow, I believe she is the only Mother-to-be that I have photographed that still has amazing stomach definition! It will be pretty cool for her to look back on these photos as a reminder of the drastic changes her body we thru while she was sporting her cute baby bump!
The Johns Maternity Session • Anchorage Maternity Photographer
MaternityThis beautiful mother contacted me to do her maternity and newborn photos, and I was extremely excited to meet her little family. Gia, her precious pup was very curious about who I was, what my crazy camera gear was, and what I was doing in their home. She was SUCH a sweet little girl, and her mom and her cute little belly was just STUNNING!! I love photographing her and her parents, and it made me even more excited about her new little sister’s newborn session soon!