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Pittsburgh Newborn Session: Photo Shoots can be Exhausting for Babies

February 23, 2018/by kmiller

This recent newborn session was chock-full of cuteness with a sweet baby girl and her siblings. So I’ll just start with my favorite: I can’t get enough of seeing these siblings love on their baby sister.

big brother holds baby sister

What better place for a family portrait than a couch, especially this one with lots of nearby windows and soft natural light!

family portrait on the couch

This baby girl is in for lots of kisses and tickles from her big sibs!

brother and sister checking out baby

kissing baby sister

This session was such a breeze, but this baby girl wasn’t able to fully sleep though all of the passing back and forth and an outfit change or two. So I suspect she was ready for a long nap after I left!

daddy and baby

Isn’t it sweet to see a parent look into their baby’s face? It’s such a sweet expression of love! I love photographing newborns one-on-one with mom and dad for just that reason.

kisses from daddy

smiles from mommy

mommy snuggles

And I hope that mom and dad got some rest too! Life sure looks busy with three little ones!

Snow Day! Documenting My Boys At Play

January 5, 2018/by kmiller

A few weeks back we had a snow day, one where it wasn’t so cold that my boys could actually play in it for a while. The conditions were gorgeous and my boys were chomping at the bit to get out there and play, and my one condition was that they had to wait for me to run and grab my camera! As a mom photographer, you’d think I document everyday like this, but it’s too easy to shoot more than you have time to edit, so when a gorgeous snow day comes along like this, I can’t resist—even if I have two-years worth of our own family’s photos to print!

playing in the snow

I started with my youngest who is still not certain if he likes playing in the snow.

watching snowflakes fall

I think he is starting to realize that this is more fun for me than it is for him.

close-up

But not so for my oldest, he loves playing in the snow.

walking downhill

playing with his snowman

And when my little asked to go inside, he lingered by the door to watch his big brother at play.

little brother is torn about playing in the snow

snowman games

smiling for mom

He’s thinking, “Ok, enough with the photos already!” Good sport, though and one of my two sweetest, most mischievous, lovable little guys.

being silly for the camera

Pittsburgh Newborn Session: Photos with a Full Belly

January 3, 2018/by kmiller

This little sweetheart was just two weeks old when I got to photograph him and his is darling parents. And he started out the session a little fussy – his mama had an unplanned guest visit the hour before the session and she didn’t get the time to feed him beforehand like she had planned. And I can really identify with her, not wanting to turn someone away and hoping that everything would work out. Well, this little sweetie just wasn’t having it, so she took a break to feed him and what a turnaround once he had a full belly! He was so content and it was a breeze documenting this angel and his sweet family.

brand new baby

bright eyes

Look at how content this little guy is.

what I like to call a baby sandwich

father and son

mama and baby

This one of my favorite ways to photograph a baby. I love seeing babies in their mother’s arms, they’re happy that way and what a beautiful representation of this special time.

babe in arms

family portrait on the bed

Just look at those bright eyes! And this little guy is so content, he doesn’t even fuss at being in his crib.

newborn portrait in crib

I also love the simplicity of swaddling a baby.

baby swaddled

And then there are these sweet baby feet! My baby fix has been met and I’m excited for all that’s ahead for this sweet family!

baby feet!

Merry Christmas from the Millers: Lifestyle Photography for Holiday Traditions

December 22, 2017/by kmiller

Christmas time is special for families because there are lots of wonderful traditions to be passed down. And I love these traditions and enjoy documenting them so that I can look back on them with with happy tears when my sons are grown. Each year I think to myself, “it’d be great to create a whole album of photos telling the story of our Christmas traditions.” And then I remember that I have two-years worth of photos to print (that’s my New Years resolution). So maybe next year I can get around to making a Christmas album? But for now, I’d like to share some of the traditions we’ve documented this year.

going to get our Christmas tree

Our traditions start right after Thanksgiving with the search for the perfect tree, which in our family, is one that’s not too wide or tall. Something like this:

we found the perfect tree!

This is the first year we cut our own tree and I’m so glad my husband suggested it, because my boys loved watching their daddy “chop down the tree.”

daddy cutting it down

It is so sweet to see my boys want to help their dad.

going to get our Christmas tree

Then comes the family portrait. You might think this is a breeze for me being a photographer, but I have to be honest—self portraits with my family generally make me grumble under my breath. I set the camera on a tripod and use a remote shutter. The running back and forth to check my settings and forced smiles alternated by frantically coaxing our children to look at the camera, should be enough for me to plan ahead and hire a photographer next year before the busy season kicks in. After all of my grunting and fussing, I’m glad to have this shot. And I’m totally fine with the smirk on my youngest. His day was not going the way he wanted it.

Christmas-traditions-photography-7

Now that my oldest is learning to write, I will definitely be taking annual photos of letters to Santa. I’m so proud of his new skills and someday I will love looking back on what he was requesting.

Letter to Santa

We are very blessed to have Santa visit our new neighborhood and I prefer this image over a photo with Santa at the mall any day. What a sweet moment!

Santa's visit

And when you’re the mom and photographer, sometimes your camera gets messy. With our cookie baking tradition, my camera had a light dusting with flour…

making Christmas cookies

I love this shot of me with my son. I handed my husband the camera and he captured this sweet moment and I don’t mind if its a little out of focus.

mommy and son cutting out cookies

These cookies still aren’t iced as I type this post, but that’s ok, we’ll get to it tomorrow.

Christmas cookies

Wishing those who celebrate a very merry Christmas!

Pittsburgh Newborn Session: Getting Comfortable with your Photographer

December 15, 2017/by kmiller

It was an absolute treat to photograph this new family. I know this couple from church and I am blessed to witness their family grow.

mom, dad, and baby on bed

For every session, I try to identify a take-away that I can offer to anyone reading my blog that might be helpful to apply to their next session. Usually it’s clearly titled after the colon in the title of the post. And for this session, I really felt the biggest benefit I noticed is that this new mom and dad were totally comfortable with me. Now they have an advantage in knowing me from somewhere else, and hopefully have the sense that I will support them and encourage them in this exciting and sometimes challenging thing called parenthood. But I want the same for every family I photograph and I try to show my support and encouragement throughout the session. So what I’m getting at is when my clients trust that I support them, they can relax and that is very evident in their photos.

baby talk

We spend so much time admiring our babies, so it’s natural to spend a lot of time doing just that during a newborn session. And I think it shows the love that a parent has when they welcome a child into the world.

admiring their son