Katy Belle Sneak Preview

I had the pleasure of photographing cute little Katy Belle last week and we made great use of a modern onesie contrasted with a vintage chair - I love it!

2009 Baby Model Search

Hi All,

I am announcing the first casting call in the 2009 Baby Model Search. Occasionally I need to photograph a very specific baby at a very specific point in their development and this year I am looking for:

Sun, Sand and Sitting
- A baby, boy or girl, ~8 months old that's able to sit up on its own without help, to be photographed outdoors at the beach playing in the sand. If you are comfortable with having a sandy baby in a summer outfit or in a bathing suit, and can provide suitable age-appropriate beach toys and entertainment, apply for this particular baby model casting role! This is not an opportunity for a family portrait, only the baby playing will be photographed, perhaps with mom making an appearance in some photographs to facilitate play.

Baby Steps
- A baby, preferably a little girl, that is just learning to walk. Preference for one that is able to take a few steps alone and handle the inevitable little falls - and then push right back up and try again. We will be taking portraits of that joy of first discovery of walking and some portraits with mom and dad's hands helping along in the process. The portrait session will be outdoors in a grassy location.

First Birthday
- A just-about-to-turn or just-turned one year old little girl, preferably with a full head of hair to be photographed at home included some first birthday type shots with cake. Preference for location in Seattle and a home with good light indoors and even a small nice grassy space outdoors.

To apply for any of the baby model roles, please send your baby's name, age, sex, sitting/walking ability, why you think your baby would be perfect for the role, and preferably a recent snapshot to be considered. Open to new clients or friends and family of existing clients. Clients, please let me know what your portrait needs are if your baby fits one of the roles. Email applications to info@mlarsonphoto.com. Thanks!

Baby models will receive: a complimentary portrait session, two 5x7 portraits of the artist's choice, a "Facebook file" of those two portraits, and will be featured on Facebook, the M. Larson Photography blog, and the M. Larson Photography website. You will be able to see edited proofs for one week and will have the opportunity to make an additional purchase, but no purchase is necessary.

Sneak Peek - Baby Trygg

This guy was a pure little angel during our shoot!

Tattooed Dad-to-be

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph a beautiful, tattooed, dad-to-be Stefan with his wife Biz for their maternity portrait session. Stefan had gotten a new tattoo entitled "The Little Family" just to honor the occasion of the birth of their daughter and it was important to him that we got a few great portraits showing it off.

Here's one of the portraits from our session, used with my permission, featuring Stefan on a tattoo blog Needles and Sins:

Stefan and his tattoo

2nd Annual Seattle Children's Boutique Sale

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick blog post to let you know about a big sale coming up! (Gotta love sales, especially on kids' stuff.) Time to stock up on some cute clothes for those upcoming portrait sessions!

It's the largest sale of the year from the best kids boutiques in Seattle.

One day, one location, 18 boutiques!

Saturday, June 13th from 10-2
2913 East Madison Street, Seattle
(Next to Plum Shoes)

Here's who will be there...

Baby Nouveau, Birth and Beyond, Bootyland, Buggy, Bump, Georgia Blu, Izilla Toys, Lambs Ear, Mon Petit Shoe, Once Upon a Time, Plum Shoes, Pop Tots, Retro Active Kids, Spoiled by Nana, Sugar Lump, Two Owls, tottini, and Urban Kids Play

Newborns At Home

The newborn portrait session is pretty much the best part of my job and I truly believe it's the most important portrait session for your baby will ever have. It's the only time to photograph those uniquely newborn characteristics like wrinkles and worried looks, tiny hands and feet, downy soft newborn hair, and screaming like only newborns can do! Try getting artistic portraits, or simply in focus portraits, while holding your baby in one arm, your iPhone in the other and walking around in your sleep-deprived emotional state and you'll never be so happy to see me walk through the door!

Many clients love the look of newborns in the studio and are comfortable packing baby into the car and coming to me. But, many feel more comfortable staying home where they and their baby are still getting used to each other and, frankly, everyone can be in pyjamas! At home, you can be relaxed and not worry about having a "guest" over with a week old baby, piles of baby laundry, scattered bottles, and unwashed hair. I understand what my clients are going through so I am happy to come to your home and do a newborn portrait session in the most low-pressure environment possible.

This week I went to the home of Will, who is 7 weeks old but has only been at home for three days after being born at 30 weeks. He is doing great and weighs a little over 7 pounds now. While I was photographing Will, his Dad turned the tables on me and pointed his lens in my direction! I'm not one to like being in front of the camera but I realized this was a great opportunity to blog to all of you about what it's like to do a newborn shoot in a client's home.

You do not have to clean or shower or put on anything better than sweatpants and t-shirts (a nice t-shirt if you're planning on appearing in the photos!) You do not have to pick up baby laundry that you're folding on the coffee table or the rock band drum kit (Rock!).

You do not need a lot of space. I did Will's photographs in the small nook of space in front of their sliding glass door.

You need a window that gets some light and I will make a mini-studio. Here we used a large reflector that I brought and a baby vibrating chair covered in a solid cream baby blanket. Pillows or a boppy can also work.

Here I am hard at work:

And finally, I get my reward!

Many, many thanks to Graham, Sarah, and Will for welcoming me into their home three days after coming home from the hospital. Also, thanks for letting me share your photographs and your home on the web!

Stayed tuned for a sneak peek of Will's portraits from his newborn session!

Stefan and Biz's Maternity Portraits

Check out this slideshow I've made from the proofs of a recent maternity portrait session. The styling from this shoot is perfect modern-meets-vintage and was a great match for M. Larson Photography portraits.

Two people in love, with a baby on the way, and a gorgeous one-of-a-kind location and you have...a completely AWESOME maternity portrait session!

The Many Faces of Charlotte

This little one is kind of on the serious side...but that's ok too! She shows off a great range of expressions from "pouty" to "kissy" to "happy". Six months is such a great age to bring in babies to be photographed!