When your child is in their last year of high school, everything seems bittersweet. You’re so excited for them and the future that lies ahead of them, and you cherish all the exciting milestones and memories they’ll make in their senior year. But at the same time, all of these things are further reminders that your baby has grown up and is getting ready to fly on their own. This adds a bit of stress to every senior event, including, of course, senior photos.

Senior portraits do take a lot of planning and coordinating, but the photo shoot should be a fun experience for both you and your teenager. To make sure that it’s a great experience for you both and not just a stressful day, check out these tips for stress-free senior photos.

Of all the different types of photography I offer, from family portraits to branding photograph, boudoir photography is easily the most misunderstood one. So many women think that they don’t have the confidence for it or that they should wait until they’ve sculpted their ideal body, or, especially heartbreaking, so many moms think that it’s something they should have done when they were younger, but they missed their chance.

As both a mom and a photographer who has watched so many of my clients come to life in the course of a boudoir photo shoot, I can tell you that moms are actually perfect for these sessions! Here’s why.

If you’re on my mailing list, you might’ve seen my latest newsletter about being intentional about how you want your new year to go. Everywhere you look, the beginning of the year is a time when there’s so much messaging around renewing your ambition and giving it your all this year. We see it when it comes for fitness and New Years resolutions, when it comes to business and careers, when it comes to financial goals…and if you’ve tried in the past to do that New Years “give it your all,” and you’re like most of us, it was a week or two into January when you realized that that’s not realistic.

None of us were made to do it all, and that’s why this year, I’m setting my intention to one word: acceptance. Not every year can be the year that my business reaches new heights or the year that our vision boards come to life, and that’s okay!

We’ve all had our plans changed or ruined entirely, more than a few times, because the weather has other plans. As a maternity photographer in the Seattle area, I’ve seen more than my fair share of uninvited rain clouds. But does rain have to ruin your maternity photo shoot if those clouds roll in on your day? Or can you still have a maternity photo shoot in the rain?

You thought about boudoir photography for a while, about whether it might be a fun and uplifting experience for you, and one day you decided you’re worth investing in and you booked your session. But after a while, self-doubt started to creep back in, and you got nervous. Am I really going to be comfortable in front of the camera? Do I actually want to feel that bare and exposed?

So many of my clients go through this before their boudoir photo shoot, and I’m here to assure you that it’s completely natural! Boudoir photography is a big step outside the comfort zone for most women, and in fact, that’s kind of the point - being brave and embracing who you are to rediscover your confidence.

For your business, branding photography is an investment that has powerful potential. It’s a vital step in building your brand and connecting with the right customers. But there are a million recommendations out there about how to make the most of your photo shoot, and one that you may see mentioned often is to create a mood board to show your photographer. As a branding and headshot photographer, I’m happy to weigh in about this suggestion.

If you have a baby on the way and you’ve been browsing newborn photos online to get inspiration for your little one’s portraits, you might have noted that a lot of them feature some sort of props. You’ll see soft blankets, cozy bassinets or baskets for the baby to lie in, and more.

Have you ever taken a look at a professional photograph or just the background of a TV show and thought about how every single item there was curated and placed there for a specific purpose? The same thing happens in branding photography: I style every scene in every photo shoot in particular ways to create a look that embodies your brand and your professional image.

When you have a new bundle of joy on the way and you’re looking for a newborn photographer to capture the incredible first days of your baby’s life, it’s important to look past the portraits. Sure, you want the photos to be beautiful, but you also want this to be a wonderful experience for your growing family, so make sure you look for a photographer whose process aligns with how you want your photo session to feel.

A newborn photo shoot in your own home can be a beautiful way to memorialize your first days at home with your precious new baby, celebrate the new chapter in your life, and create special memories as a family. How can you make this photo shoot go smoothly for a stress-free day?

It starts with hiring the right photographer, of course. As a Seattle area photographer who specializes in newborn photography and the motherhood journey, I’ve done countless newborn photo shoots in clients’ homes, so I know exactly how to make the experience a wonderful one and I’ll guide you through every step of the way.