Big Sister Katie is descended from artists. Grandpa (see his Katie poster and card below & in slideshow) is an artist. Dad is pretty artsy. And Katie clearly follows in their footsteps. I love her bold bright sense of color and shape. When baby brother Ivan arrived home from the hospital, he delivered to her a fabulous set of Prismacolor pencils….
And Katie, putting on the finishing touches on this beautiful work of art …
which came home with me :-) (oodles of thank yous, Katie!) and kept me company as I edited their pictures. And such was a morning in the new life of Ivan the Great, a very sweet little guy who is currently completely unpredictable - and may be stonewalling Dad's attempts to make coffee in a timely manner - but who will, in the blink of an eye, be asking for the car keys ...
postscript: I’m so grateful that photography is much like the art industry at large: there’s a different flavor for everyone. I know amazing newborn photographers who have a whole routine established with rules of engagement re: feeding schedule + toasty-heated-house + naked-baby-wrapped-in-blanket + baby-whisperer-techniques that create stunning, peaceful sleeping baby portraits. My “niche” is at the opposite end of this art spectrum, I think. My heart’s desire is to capture authentic story. And this is the story-snapshot of Ivan’s beginning days – beginning days where he sometimes sleeps deeply and oftentimes doesn’t. And life and art and Christmas preparation and celebrating and sports-tv-viewing and attempts to find time to eat a meal happen in the midst of all the unpredictableness. And that’s the story we captured. Authentically, and I humbly submit, beautifully. I’m ever so grateful for families who trust me to photographically tell their this-is-what-now-looks-like story.