Haven's Delivery Session

It has taken me a while to compose my thoughts for this blog post. Considering Haven and this session all happened back in the first week of January - I've had a lot of time to think about this post.

As a photographer, part of my job is to capture and tell a story about my subject. For me, I tend to get emotionally involved with my clients. I hear their story, I document a portion of their lives and I am drawn into their family - even if for few moments. In the words of Juno, I just like being a piece of furniture in their lives.

I was immediately drawn into Lindsay's story in the previous post. Lindsay is only a teenager and has dealt with life decisions that I can't even fathom of dealing with. She has brought her pregnancy to term and has made the decision to bless a family with a gift of life. A gift called Haven. She has been able to find a couple who has agreed to an open adoption. This couple has been an amazing blessing for Lindsay as they will let Lindsay see Haven as much as she want. They even let Lindsay name her....Haven. A beautiful name for a beautiful baby.

And so begins the story of Haven.

Riverton Medical - Labor and Delivery Suites are on the 3rd floor....I was literally running at this point to make it to Lindsay's room!!


Cute hospital details!
Lindsay called me at 10:00am and told me she was 5 cm. When I got to her room, she had already progressed to 8 cm!!!!!!! As you can see on the wall, it only took her a little over 40 minutes to progress that much!

Even in the moments before child birth, Lindsay managed to be stunning and beautiful!!

Lindsay and her mom entertained each other and me while we patiently waited for the action to start!
Lindsay was a little nervous...and she had every right to be. No one can tell you what it's going to be like to give birth.

I couldn't get over it when I peered over through my camera lens to capture Lindsay pushing...yes - this is Lindsay pushing. She may be the most gorgeous woman in labor...ever!
More concentrated pushing....
Lindsay only pushed for maybe 30 minutes....tops....one of the last few pushes...
I love the tiny detail of Lindsay's fingernail polish. To me, it shows how young she really is.
At this point, the baby was ALMOST OUT and I couldn't help but tear up...Lindsay had no clue how well she was doing and how close she was to seeing this little miracle...
And then at 11:30...a miracle happened...
...and out popped beautiful Baby Haven.

The whole room immediately fell in love with this little miracle.
Baby Haven wasn't quite excited to meet everyone else in the first few moments of her life...
Tiny baby details.....make my heart melt.
I was so excited to document the feet prints with the ink and all....but there was no ink!! Just baby feet prints!! Technology these days....
Something about this image seems peaceful.
More baby details for Lindsay.
This image makes me want to cry every time I see it.
...but then again, so does this one. A proud mama looking over her baby girl that just gave birth to a baby girl.
In the days following, Lindsay took some time to soak up Haven before she had to go to the placement. The last day, I met them back in the hospital to photograph that angelic gift again.
Peaceful Baby Haven...






Lindsay - you have done a beautiful and wonderful thing. Words will not ever describe the happiness that you have given another family. I am so proud of you and feel so unbelievably fortunate to have been able to document this journey for you. You are a special and beautiful soul. Thank you for letting me document your love story and share it with others. I love you!

Lindsay - Maternity Session

I met Lindsay through the previously mentioned, Eric Russell.

Lindsay is 8 months pregnant and stunningly beautiful. Lindsay's story is just as beautiful as she is.

Lindsay is having a girl. This baby girl is going to a family that longs to have a baby...and can't physically have one themselves. I've seen open adoptions work out wonderfully through friends of my own that have fantastic relationships with the children that they've placed in open adoption. I know that Lindsay's situation is going to be the same.

I fell in love with Lindsay during our first meeting, but when I saw her for our session...I fell in love with her all over again. Not only is she one of the sweetest girls I've ever met, she might be one of the most beautiful...

Lindsay wanted to have photos of her belly so that she could always remember this time in her life. When I walked in to her room - I knew that I had to photograph her in this room! It was amazing! She's totally decorating my house when we get one here in Utah!

And her belly is so darn cute!

We decided to head out to This is the Place to take some outdoor photos. I handed the session over to Eric Russell to work his magic, but couldn't help myself and had to snap a few photos for myself! Lindsay is so stinkin' beautiful...belly, heart and spirit.





I'm hoping that the stars align and I can be there for the birth of this beautiful baby who is going to bless everyone she meets. Lindsay, thank you and your family so much for sharing your story and letting me photograph you!

A photography lesson in Bokeh

I strive to learn something new everyday. It can be something about my day job, something about the people around me, something about the world and even something about photography.

It took me moving to Utah to meet an awesome photographer, Eric Russell, who has already taught me so much! He has turned out to be my technical mentor when I have questions, need help or just need someone to challenge me photographically.

In December, I wanted to go out and do some night shooting. I asked him to show me around downtown and to just be there for me!! Brad, Allie and I met up with Eric and his girlfriend downtown for a quick bite to eat at Siegfried's Deli downtown and they took us to Temple Square to check out the lights. We've never been to the Temple and I was excited!

While we were out, Eric gave me a quick lesson in Bokeh. I had to do some research on it when I got home just to satisfy my curiosity.

Wikipedia defines Bokeh as blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image, or "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light."

I must say that I had a lot of fun with Bokeh and the lights at Temple Square.

These will definitely turn in to some art prints that I will have in our new home (whenever that may be!)

I also got some night shooting in as well. Thanks Eric and Gina for accompanying us downtown. As always, Eric, thanks for challenging me...photographically! :-)