The first time I met Erica was when she arrived at my studio for the maternity portrait session.  Mom-to-be, Erica, her mother Linda, and her sister Gaby arrived at my studio together.  Linda had called and set up what was to be the first of two portrait sessions, first Maternity and then the infant portraits once her baby was born… but Erica had never even seen my work.  She didn’t know what to expect.  Soon we got to know each other and she realized that my sessions are very easy and fun.  We played around with different ideas and shot a lot of great images.  There was one image she came up with where she’s sitting indian-style, naked, but her nudity is tastefully and strategically covered.  Those images were kept for her private use so I’m not displaying them on the site.  I always honor my client’s privacy.

It was a couple months down the line when Linda called and told me Aaron had been born.  We set the date for me to come to them this time.  I brought an assistant along with me and I’m glad I did!  Linda’s home was on a hillside and there were many stairs to take to get us where we needed to go.  My assistant and I got a nice work out carrying my portable studio up them.  The whole family was there, six or seven people although the only ones I would be photographing where Aaron, his father Raphael and Erica.  She looked lovely as usual and Aaron was such a cutie.  Only 3 weeks old.  

I had the parents interact with each other and with baby Aaron and the shots came out beautifully.  I like to keep things natural, even in a studio environment.  It helps me capture people as they really are, not posed and uncomfortable.  

At the end of the session Linda and her family had made beef tortas for us and Deirdre (my assistant and friend) were in loooooove with them.  I didn’t know it but ‘torta” means, simply, sandwich.  Her family had a good laugh at my naivete’.  :)  I’m always willing to learn!  I’ve actually bought DVD’s to teach myself how to speak Spanish.  When my schedule slows down a bit, I’ll begin my lessons so I don’t get caught with a silly question mark expression on my face again.  haha

The last shot of the day is my favorite.  It’s the one below where the new family sleeps quietly together.  When I made the coffee table book for Erica after she chose all of her favorite images, this one was the cover, and the image on the last page as well.  The peace they all share, what a beautiful thing.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 25th, 2009 at 1:23 pm and is filed under Photography. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.