baby photos Philadelphia | custom newborn photography

I was really, really excited for this baby girl to be born. I may have been stalking my emails from her mom while observing the hard and fast rule of "never ask a mom who is waiting to deliver if the baby is here yet". You see, much like the quote from Annie Leibovitz that I think of a lot, when I met her parents, I adored them. It happens to me a good bit, actually. So, I was so excited to take this baby's photos. Also, it's amazing that I got to go to her parents' space and spend some time photographing their maternity session, because I knew the things I wanted to incorporate into their session - even if they didn't know I was going to! Mostly, their love of the earth and of growing their own food. This little lady's mom is doing amazing things for her community, by the way, and I wanted that to reflect in the images from her daughter's session. Her organization Sista of the Yam has the mission  to help Black women and girls heal and grow resiliency through real, affordable food. You can check out her work at Sista of the Yam.

Anyway, I wanted the session to reflect what was important to her and her husband as much as possible. It encouraged my creative side to get it's wheels spinning. When I walked into Trader Joe's, I saw a box of clementines with the stems and leaves still attached. Yes, please. All the pieces of this session began to come together.  I love what came out of this session. I loved having her mom and her sister there.I love what this photo means, what it represents. This baby is the start of a new family tree, is going to grow up surrounded by nature and by plants and eating and learning about how to feed herself and her community. The plant growing around her, too, as she is a part of it. I just love this image and think it's perfect for her family.

 More nature: flowers. A smile, so beautiful. I love this photo. She looks like her mama and we have flowers. Purple is a great color on her! And I love how the bonnet frames her face and shows off those beautiful cheeks. There was pretty much not a color that wasn't gorgeous on her. I love this yellow setup and her little fingers under her chin. This photo is the kind of photo that takes my breath away for a second when it comes up on the screen. I love this. Proud mama, content baby. Dad: quiet strength, peace, love.  I feel so lucky to have been a part of this new chapter for this incredible family of three.