On a partly cloudy evening, a little family came to meet me on a farm in the rural South. A beautiful blonde mother in a lovely pale blue gown, a handsome husband with love in his eyes for his wife, and the little girl, Briley, who had made them a family. They are waiting for something very special though. Waiting for the arrival of baby Jensen, the little boy that will balance everything, in May. The anticipation and the joy were evident as they posed. The Mom, Chelsea, had sent me the inspiration photos that she loved and I scouted out the farm where we were shooting to see if I could capture exactly what she wanted. I put together a timeline, including the locations we would use on this lovely little piece of Heaven. Having photographed this family twice before, I knew that the Dad, Blaine, would be all about Briley’s safety in the tall grass and on the deck overlooking the pond. I didn’t want there to be any unwelcome surprises to spoil the session. Chelsea was glad for the heads up and it only made her anticipation for the future photos greater as she looked at the field with pink blooms, the sun coming through the trees, the colors in the trees beyond the deck and the soft light of the lane. As sometimes happens, the weather pushed us to the next day and being that we are in Louisiana, I wasn’t totally confident in the forecast for the next day but we made our plans. With one month before Jensen’s arrival and Blaine’s work schedule, I watched the HOURLY predictions as we planned our time. I didn’t want to put it off to another weekend because my last maternity shoot turned into a newborn session instead in the NICU. (See the gallery of Caleb Bolton, Jr. who decided to enter this world three months early but healthy and beautiful!)
I was there early, rechecking the light and when the family arrived, I was ready to go. I knew that Blaine, being a man, was probably doing this out of love for his wife. I had gotten to know him a bit when I took Briley’s photos at the Webster Parish Fair and while he is cooperative and willing, he is still a man! After about two minutes of meeting the landowner and exchanging pleasantries, he looked at me and said, “Well, what are we doing?” and I said, “Let’s go!” For this shoot, that began around 6:35 at the Golden Hour, we had plenty of time at our first two spots, but having done my research and scouting in the days before, I knew that once the light began to fade, we had to hustle! I needed it just right for the field and the sun coming through the trees. I had prepped them for this ahead of time because I didn’t want to be bossy but going in prepared with a timeline makes everyone feel better about the rush when the light begins to fade.
We began on the deck overlooking the pond. This couple was so natural in their posing! I was thankful that the grandparents came along to help make little Briley laugh, carry props and to watch Briley for the couple photos! We even got to do a lovely family photo that everyone loved!
We then moved to this lovely little lane where we took these joyful photos of a family filled with love and anticipation.
As the sun began fading fast, we moved up to the field of pink, where the light would be at its best at 7:40 in the evening.
As the sun set to our left, we moved over to catch it for these magical portraits!
Time for the family photos by the beautiful vintage truck. Notice how the clothing choices for everyone in the family blended so well together!
I found inspiration photos for the following photos by searching “pregnant woman and truck.” I was so glad they were willing to play along!!
Little Miss Briley got the spotlight all to herself for a while and she had so much fun “driving!”
As the sun softened the sky even more, we moved to a country lane there on the farm.
I included this one just because it makes me smile!
Grandmother Darlene Couch painted this lovely door hanger in anticipation of Jensen’s arrival! You can see more of her creations on Facebook. Search “Here’s Your Sign.”
It was important to get portraits of the expectant mom alone. This is such a beautiful, precious time in a woman’s life, when she alone provides everything this little human needs and he lies close to her heart, soothed by her movements and safe in God’s perfectly created embrace.
Then as the very last light of the day passed away, I took this shot. It looked like moonlight at midnight on the back of my camera. I had to edit a bit but the beauty of the moment is striking!
And that was the end of session. In a little over an hour, we made these eternal images that are priceless!
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