What happens during your baby’s portrait session? | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

What happens during your baby’s portrait session? | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

What happens during your baby’s portrait session? | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

We like to say that both “a lot happens” and “not much happens” during one of our typical portrait sessions with a newborn baby or child! Saying both might sound contradictory or strange, but it’s the truth: As specialists in children and newborn photography in the Cascades, VA area, we would tell you that there are two sides to a portrait session. Can you guess which one is ours? If you guessed our side is “a lot happens,” you guessed correctly!

So what does happen during a session? Here is a glimpse:

A Lot Happens
Before your newborn’s, baby’s or child’s portrait session even begins, we have a lot to do! Whether the session is indoors or outdoors, there is a significant amount of planning and prepping ahead of any session. Cameras, lenses, lights, and batteries are checked to make sure they are ready to go when you arrive. We set up as much of the equipment as we can ahead of time and ensure everything is ready for when the session begins. As a newborn photographer, we especially appreciate the need for safety in the studio with children present, so we like to be certain that the environment is safe for you and your adorable baby.

Once a client arrives with their child (or children), we make sure that we turn to the kids and establish a rapport if the child is old enough for that. No one likes strangers taking their pictures — unless they’re used to the Paparazzi! We always tell clients in advance to trust us with their children and allow us to direct the scene. Kids will engage with us and are more likely to enjoy their portrait session if we, and not their parents, are leading the session. The better and more we engage them, the easier it will be to capture them as candidly as possible.

Not Much Happens
If we’ve done our advance work well, including providing clients with information before their session, then not much happens on the clients’ side. We ask you to relax and enjoy the session. That’s your job for the entirety of the portrait session. If you follow our instructions and allow us to do our job, we will be more likely to capture the best possible pictures of your kids. We will work with your children in an engaged and age-appropriate manner. We will direct poses for the portraits, if needed, and we will guide them if they are older and can follow instructions. So, not much happens on the clients’ side because we do the bulk of the “work!” We don’t expect our clients to have to do much else other than relax, follow instructions, and enjoy the session!

As a specialist in children and newborn photography in the Cascades, VA area, we value the opportunity to work with parents and their children. These are some of the most rewarding sessions we do particularly with return clients. Return clients give us a unique chance of seeing how much the children have grown since their last session with us! So, trust us when we say that “a lot and not much” happens during our newborn, baby, and children’s photography sessions!

 

Baby Photography, Baby Photographer, Newborn Photography

Ever After Baby Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter newborn photography team located in Cascades, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits, including newborn and baby portraits. Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

View Our Portfolio | Ever After Baby Portraits

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Your kids will enjoy their session with us! | Northern VA Baby Photographer

Your kids will enjoy their session with us! | Northern VA Baby Photographer

Your kids will enjoy their session with us! | Northern VA Baby Photographer

We love children which is why we love our work as a child photographer in the Dulles, VA area. And, that’s all good news because we have the philosophy that if you’re fortunate enough to work in a field you have a passion for, you will be all the better at it! So, trust us when we tell you not to worry too much about your children during their portrait session. Let us handle directing your children because they’re more likely to listen to us than you!

Put children in front of a stranger and camera equipment and there’s a pretty good chance they’ll be very excited. There’s also a chance that they might not behave as you wish they would! But no need to fear or feel embarrassed. With almost two decades of photography experience under our belt, we’ve probably seen it all!

Our experience has taught us:

• We know how to establish a rapport with your children and engage them before we even start the session whether it’s newborn photography or a family portrait session.
• If we try to “corral” them into doing something too early in the session, it could backfire.
• We talk to them. We look at them. We encourage them. We engage them. We relate to them. And it usually works!
•If you think your child will be frightened in any way by our equipment, let us know and we’ll talk them through it. If they’re interested, we’re happy to discuss our equipment with you.
• We are successful with children because we relate to them and they know it and feel it. That tends to make them far more responsive to us.
• When parents try to pose the children or stop them from doing something, there’s a more than like chance the child will push back during the session. So resist the temptation to direct your children during the portrait session!
• Let us handle your children because we know just the precise moment to shoot the photo and how to maneuver them for the shots. It’s what we do all day!
• Lastly, we will never push your child to do something they don’t want and we will never risk their safety in any way. We make their sessions enjoyable! We want them to look forward to their next session with Ever After!

Capturing beautiful portraits of children is one of the great joys of being a child photographer in Dulles, VA. As parents ourselves, we also know that these pictures become treasured heirlooms for us as our children grow and separate from us. We hope that you will consider documenting your child’s life through fine art photography!

You might also enjoy this post:
What if my kids won’t sit still for our portrait session?
 

 

Baby Photography, Baby Photographer, Child Photographer

Ever After Baby Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter baby photography team located in Dulles, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits, including newborn and baby portraits. Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

View Our Portfolio | Ever After Baby Portraits

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Baby Portrait Session Tips: Yes, you can bring the Teddy Bear! | Northern VA Baby Photography

Baby Portrait Session Tips: Yes, you can bring the Teddy Bear! | Northern VA Baby Photography

Baby Portrait Session Tips: Yes, you can bring the Teddy Bear! | Northern VA Baby Photography

Oh, baby, we love baby photography! As a reputable fine art family photographer in the Cascades, VA and Dulles, VA area, it is one of our specialties. When it comes to a professional photography session with your children, there are a few tips to make things go more smoothly. Let us break it down for you because there are some things you can do, too!

These tips can be handy whether you are doing a professional portrait session with us or taking your own snapshots at home. They are probably most relevant for children three years old and younger, but might work with older kiddies as well.

• Try to schedule your portrait session appointment at a time which works best for your child’s schedule and personality. A happy, well-rested child makes for a better portrait, after all!

• Bring more than one outfit! Babies and children spit up, get dirty, or certainly have accidents. Bring at least two to three outfits to be safe.

• A hungry baby will likely be a cranky baby — unless you have one of those perfect children always in a great mood. Congratulations if you do have a perfect child! Just kidding. No one is perfect and babies get cranky; it’s what they do. But a well-fed baby is a lot less cranky!

• Tired toddlers can either be cranky or a bit on the hyper side – unless you have that perfect child we mentioned earlier! You know your child best. Try to pick that golden hour of opportunity.

• We’re mothers, and we have loads of experience working with babies, toddlers, and children in all kinds of moods. WE CAN HANDLE IT. Leave it to us to work with your children. Remember, we spend a lot of time taking pictures of babies and families!

• Bring a favorite blanket or toy, and bring a few snacks. Bring whatever your child loves. We don’t care if it’s a teddy bear or doll. It’s probably not advisable to bring a live animal like that pet lizard unless we’ve discussed it first!

• Some of our best portraits have included a beloved toy – frozen in time to be appreciated when your child is an adult. A friend’s toddler once refused to pose without her favorite bear, and so Teddy became part of the picture. The picture was precious! It was a good thing Teddy joined her in the photo because less than a year later, Teddy sadly disappeared while on a family vacation. The heartbroken child would find solace talking and looking at her portrait with Teddy displayed in their home. Today, she is a young woman in college and still loves that picture hanging prominently in her family’s home!

We hope you will consider us for your precious baby photography in the Northern Virginia area, including Cascades, VA and Dulles, VA. Photography captures a moment in time, and there are no more precious moments in our lives than those we share with our children.
 

 

Baby Photography, Baby Photographer

Ever After Baby Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter baby photography team located in Northern Virginia, in Dulles, VA, near Cascades, VA. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits, including newborn and baby portraits. Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

View Our Portfolio | Ever After Baby Portraits

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Tips from Anne Geddes on Taking Great Baby Pictures | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

Tips from Anne Geddes on Taking Great Baby Pictures | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

Tips from Anne Geddes on Taking Great Baby Pictures | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

Specializing in newborn photography as we do, we have no doubts about saying this: There is no more famous child photographer than Anne Geddes – whether it’s here in little, ol’ Dulles, VA or anywhere in the world. Ms. Geddes is world famous for her iconic and whimsical children’s portraits often featuring twins. Last year in an article on babycenter.com she offered tips to parents on how to take great baby photos. It’s a great opportunity to learn from the best in the busines, thanks to babycenter.com and Ms. Geddes.

If you want a truly special and unique newborn portrait, you should always have a professional photographer; however, you’ll most like want to snap some photos (probably many photos!) of your baby yourself. Below are excerpts from Ms. Geddes’ sage advice for baby photography. After all, you can’t have a professional photographer with you every moment!

Be prepared
Keep a camera handy at all times – even your camera phone. The more accustomed your baby is to being photographed, the more natural your pictures will be. Having a camera handy at all times makes it far easier to take those fabulous candid shots.

Background
Keep your background simple to let your baby take “center stage” in the image. We’d add to make sure your background doesn’t somehow “clash” with your baby.

Perspective
Always get down to eye level with your baby or child!

Be ready
Safety first when taking a child’s picture! Second, making certain that you take photos when they are fed, happy and comfortable and at their happiest will make for better pictures.

Let there be light
For snapshots, it is always more flattering to use the soft directional light from a window than the harsh light of a flash.

Time of Day
If you’re taking pictures outside, try to take advantage of the early morning or late afternoon light. The midday sun can be especially harsh on your baby’s perfect skin!

Camera
You don’t need an expensive camera to take a great photograph, because the best image begins in your heart, inspired by your baby. So even if you don’t have the latest phone with the best camera, go for it.

Candids
The loveliest shots of your baby will most likely be candid ones.

Forget the props
The photograph is not about the props. (No flowerpots, please!) It’s just about your beautiful baby.

Make it personal
Take pictures in settings that have meaning for you. Making your images personal gives them an even deeper resonance.

They grow so fast
Remember, babies are only this tiny for such a short time. You might not believe it now, but you’ll forget how small your baby was in the beginning, so try to show your baby’s size in relation to the surroundings. For example, images of a baby’s hand in a family member’s hand are so poignant because they capture that sense of scale.

Put it in context
Try for a sense of place, as well. A background that “sets” the image for you helps bring the story to mind when viewed years later.

Put yourself in the picture
Do try to include yourself in as many photographs with your family as possible. Your children will want to know what you looked like “way back then” when they were babies and as they grew up.

Save, save, save
Download your images regularly and keep them organized. When saving your images, try to add a keyword that will help you find the image later for a greeting card or scrapbook. Instead of “Amy, Summer,” try “Amy 6mo in hat” – something memorable, so you can locate it more easily months or years later. We would add this: Always, always PRINT your images. They are valuable and irreplaceable. Files can be corrupted; prints last much, much longer.

Shoot some video
Moving pictures of those small spontaneous moments will be precious additions to your keepsakes.

We have a confession: We aren’t Anne Geddes. But we think you knew that already! We are, however, a top family and child photographer in the Northern Virginia area, including Dulles, VA. We work with families across the Metropolitan area, and it would be our privilege to work with you and your child.

 

Baby Photography, Baby Photographer, Child Photographer

Ever After Baby Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter baby photography team located in Dulles, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits, including newborn and baby portraits. Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

View Our Portfolio | Ever After Baby Portraits

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Keeping the kids happy! | Northern VA Baby Photographer

Keeping the kids happy! | Northern VA Baby Photographer

Keeping the kids happy! | Northern VA Baby Photographer

Hiring an experienced child photographer can make all the difference in the success of a portrait session. As long-time Dulles, VA area photographer, we know how to keep children and families happy during a photo shoot. A happy child is the star of a happy picture!

Here are some things to bear in mind when it comes to children or family sessions:

Kids are kids!

When we are photographing children or families with children, we love to take it outside. We let kids run around just enough to let them be kids. They will have the fun they want and deserve to have! All children need to get their energy out. They don’t need to feel constrained or forced to pose in any way. Sometimes, by letting kids just be themselves during a portrait session, we can get the best pictures of them – genuine representations of them as they are away from the camera!

If there are teens, go ahead and let them hold that phone and stare into its abyss. We can promise we’ll bring them back from that edge just in time to snap a great shot.

Laugh it up!

We try to be funny! We even think we are funny (not sure if our family would agree), but if you’re funny then let your humor shine! Humor and being silly can bring out the best in all of us. Great candid photography is about catching those unexpected moments, those laughs, smiles, and sometimes those silly looks.

Can we talk?

Our portrait sessions aren’t a catwalk where silence reigns supreme and the photographer barks out orders. When we’re doing a children or family session, let’s talk! We love chit-chat especially with those teens looking a bit uncomfortable about being dragged in front of our camera. We’ll ask questions, and we’ll get things more relaxed. You can help us out by chatting back with us and asking us questions. However, if you’re an experienced parent, then you’ll know that kids often respond better to everyone but their parents! Let us handle the kids! We got this!

Consulting the kids!

Yes, we consult with them – it’s not newborn photography, after all! These kids can talk back and engage with us. We aren’t just going to bark orders about poses. We’re going to ask what they think. We’ll show them a few of the shots after we’ve taken the pictures – young ones, especially, love to see themselves! Occasionally, you might hear us ask what they think, or if there’s a pose or spot, they think we should try.

If a funny, engaging, patient, and flexible child photographer near Dulles, VA is what you want in your next photographer, then you’ve found the right one in us. Contact us to discuss your family’s next portrait session.
 

 

Baby Photography, Baby Photographer, Child Photographer

Ever After Baby Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter baby photography team located in Dulles, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits, including newborn and baby portraits. Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

View Our Portfolio | Ever After Baby Portraits

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Portraits, Tangible or Intangible? | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

Portraits, Tangible or Intangible? | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

Portraits, Tangible or Intangible? | Northern VA Newborn Photographer

Have you ever thought how much your things mean to you? Is there a tangible or intangible value to them? Most people would say tangible. A friend of ours, however, recently had a thought-provoking conversation with her daughter on this same topic. It reminded us of our portrait post on whether photography is tangible or intangible. As an experienced newborn photographer in the Broadlands, VA area, we know that there are both tangible and intangible benefits to photography. So, we thought we’d share our friend’s chat with you – with their permission, of course!

Our friend and her daughter were discussing the popular tiny house movement. She admitted to her daughter that, while fascinated with these smallest of homes, she didn’t think she could live in one permanently. She wasn’t willing to give up so many of her possessions to be able to live in a tiny house. Surprised, her millennial daughter called her out on how materialistic that sounded. Her mother had raised her quite differently than that.

The mom went on to explain. The things she valued, and would find tough to part with, weren’t things like expensive shoes or handbags – although, let’s face it, those aren’t easy to part with either! For our friend, it would be difficult to let go of some things she’d collected throughout her life’s experiences and extensive travels. The most important of those things were photo albums of family and travels, professional portraits, as well as several dozen photos from a gallery wall art collection she’d created in her home.

Moving into a tiny home would mean getting rid of these items or, at the very least, putting them away in storage where she could no longer enjoy them. This family had moved internationally quite a bit during the years following the husband’s finance career. The many family portraits are what helped make any “house” into their latest “home.” Our friend felt strongly about being able to enjoy these precious pictures no matter where she lived. She didn’t feel that putting them into storage or onto a CD or DVD would be acceptable to her. And, we can understand why.

You can enjoy displayed wall portraits every day or browse through an album displayed on a coffee table for all visitors to enjoy. Newborn photography can be especially wonderful because each day you can see the growth and changes in your baby compared to its first days of life!

A CD, on the other hand, is not the same. While they are valuable for backup storage, the ability to enjoy the contents is limited. It’s not unusual that someone who purchases images on a disc finds themselves dissatisfied and wants more tangible proof of their portrait session.

We always recommend finished portraits. Their benefits are both tangible and intangible. Their value is priceless. The enjoyment is everlasting and immeasurable.

As a newborn photographer near you in the Broadlands, VA region, we believe that portrait photography is one of the most meaningful and enjoyable gifts you can give yourself. Call us today to schedule your newborn, baby or family portrait session.

 

Baby Photography, Baby Newborn Photographer

Ever After Baby Portraits is comprised of Mindy Belcher and Joriana Belcher Anderson, a mother-daughter baby photography team located near Broadlands, VA in Northern Virginia. We specialize in timeless and emotive fine art family portraits, including newborn and baby portraits. Family means everything and capturing those precious moments to preserve forever will mean family heirlooms for you to share for years to come.

Best,
Mindy & Joriana – Contact Us!

View Our Portfolio | Ever After Baby Portraits

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