Well it has been awhile since I have updated my blog. It isn’t for lack of newborn photography sessions. It is more the editing time and children at home that do not like me spending time on my blog showing off any of my latest newborns.

About a month ago I had this sweet little newborn session in the East Bay Area. Her daddy is a Raider fan and at the end of the newborn session he pulled out a Raider helmet and we got a few great pictures of her with it. Even though my family members are die hard 9er fans, I think they would agree she looked adorable with it! I loved her flower headband that her mom had. I get asked a lot if I can supply headbands and do I! But I find that most more want to use the things they have purchased for their baby to wear everyday – it just seems to make the photos just that more special.

I hope you enjoyed Lily’s newborn session. I am off to finish up a maternity session I had in Jack London Square – it is one of my favorites. We even stopped at her favorite ice cream shop to pose for a quick meaningful picture. Those ones I think are the best – the ones that actually make you remember the moments and the experience of your pregnancy. I have actually been very busy with maternity session lately as well. One common email I have been getting a lot, asks if I do boudoir maternity sessions. The answer is YES! I do!  As I mentioned in my past boudoir post – I don’t post pictures from those sessions as a respect to my clients. For more questions please feel free to contact me on by hitting the button on the top right hand side. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have!

I have another newborn photo session in the East Bay today, and since I have been working a lot more – that means my blog falls behind. Something always has to give right?!

So as I drink my coffee and curse my alarm clock – I decided to share another past newborn photography session I did.

This little cutie was 21 days. Gasp! I know, not so much a true newborn and we felt it in effort it took to get him to fall deep into sleep. The session took almost 4 full hours but we got it. I usually don’t take on newborns that aren’t within 10 days of life, unless for a medical reason. (i.e. premie, etc.) You can read all about my sessions and what to expect here. Back to this sweetness…. his lips – oh man, he is just such a cutie. His mom and I are friends on facebook and he is getting so big! I ended the gallery with a few more current pictures from his last session. Everyone deserves to see those big, beautiful brown eyes of his.

My family are BIG Giant’s fans. So my sister was ALL about this newborn first newborn photo. She thinks it is one of my best. One of the main questions I get asked when I set up my newborn sessions is “Do you bring props?” I do! But the ones you see of a newborn in a tractor or some of the bows, etc. – are supplied by the parents. I encourage parents to think about what is special to them. In this case a baseball team. Everyone is different and while my props are awesome (if I do say so myself!) – you will find the ones you love 25 years from now are the ones without props and the ones that had a special headband that a family member made, etc.

In this share I put more black and whites in since I usually show so many of my color edits. I work so hard on getting the color tone correct that it becomes hard to show anything else other than color! But I have a lot of clients ask me if I edit in black and white. The answer to that is YES! Every image will be edited in color and black and white. Off to fold blankets out of the dryer and pack my car , so I can play with a little newborn girl. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Warning: This is a long post with a ton of information. You are more than welcome to contact me with any questions you may have.

With the amount of inquiries coming in about child, family, and maternity sessions – I have been a bit overwhelmed, and wondering what I could do to A. Keep the cost of sessions affordable for my new and past clients and B. Make it so I wasn’t driving to six different sessions all over the East Bay in one day, every weekend – and missing out on my much loved family time. After my sister’s great idea -God bless Ashley- about Beach Mini Sessions, I decided that is where I would focus a lot of my energy now. It is the best fit for my busy family and I think it will be awesome for my clients as well.

So what is a mini session? Well, a mini session is a session that lasts anywhere from 15-30 minutes vs. an hour or more at a full session. It gives you anywhere from 8-12 images vs. 25-35 images from a full session.

These sessions would be ideal for the following:

*Maternity  - For anyone who has ever done a maternity session before, you know you probably won’t hang 35 images of your pregnant belly around your house. So these are perfect to capture the moment you want to remember but at a more affordable cost.

*Child – Babies and Children grow so fast, this is an easy way to continue to capture their first year and on without the high cost.

*Family pictures – We all have our reasons for taking family photos. Maybe it is with our children as they grow, grandma’s birthday is coming up, or you just lost 50 pounds. Whatever the reason a mini session could be a great option to keep the cost down and still obtain the photos you are looking for.

*Engagement sessions – This would be perfect for a fast and painless engagement session.

What these sessions would not be ideal for:

*For a larger group – These sessions are quick, and while I believe I try to complete my job as easy and quickly as possible – the more people at a session the harder it is to do it quickly. Every mini session will have a cap to the number of people allowed to be captured. Full sessions are available for larger groups.

*For newborns – Newborns are long sessions. Newborns need time to eat, time for diaper changes, and to get settled into those sleepy poses. You can’t rush those.

*Boudoir sessions – Mini sessions will be captured outdoors, so boudoir photo shoots will only be available as full sessions.

*Family session with very young children – not all young children will do well at mini sessions. Their is a reason why most photographers like an hour to capture sessions, sometimes children take awhile to warm up to that massive black camera in their face. If you have a shy child or a camera shy child, you make want to invest your money into a full session so you don’t waste any on a session that won’t yield the results you are hoping for.

Photography is an investment; just like a Coach purse, or Baby Jogger stroller – except these are pictures of your baby/family/engagement that you will have forever to remember this moment in time you will never get back. After knowing what you do about your children/family and the process of mini vs full session, it shouldn’t be hard to know which one suits your family best.

More Information on Minis:

I will be offering mini sessions roughly every 30-60 days in different locations all over the Bay Area. They will be a supply/demand type of thing – so the more I hear from clients stating they would like one, the more I will have available.  Each “mini session day” will have a limited number of appointments available at each location and a deposit is due to hold your time and is non-refundable.

As I said before these mini sessions are a maximum of 30 minutes and will include the digital images in the price. They will cost less them my normal pricing since I will be able to stay in one location and have my clients come to me. The price will change slightly with each mini session due to the following:

*the location

*length of time

*amount of people allowed to be captured at the session

*the amount of digital images edited and given to each client

PLEASE NOTE: Since mini sessions are at such a reduced rate I will not be excepting discounted gift certificates or gift certificates obtained at auctions. Those are for full sessions only. Please email me with any questions you may have on that.

Every “Mini Session Day” will have a blog post with all the details regarding what is offered and the cost. Please also sign up for my monthly newsletter to ensure you are up to date on the most current information for Amanda Rachelle Photography. Signing up is easy and fast – click on the “More Info” tab on the left hand side of my blog and fill in your name and email address to be added to the list.

I know that was a lot of information – so if you have any questions at all about these mini session or where the next one will take place, please feel free to contact me by hitting the contact button on the menu bar above.

The other day I was talking to my sister about how I would love to take my kids to a beach and get some pictures. Her response was “you should book a day where you do back to back sessions at a beach for your clients so they can have beach pictures too.” Why has it taken me two years to think of that, and it wasn’t even me who came up with the idea!!! Ha! So thank my sister for this great idea!

So here it is; the formal announcement. On Saturday June 9th I will be at Baker Beach in San Francisco. I will be taking six (6) sessions for the day. The details of what the session includes, the cost, and how to reserve your spot will be listed below. Please note: gift certificates purchased at a discount or a gift certificate purchased through an auction cannot be used towards these sessions. They are greatly discounted for my normal pricing, and those gift certificates are to be used for regular non-mini sessions (as stated in the fine print on them.) Please hit the contact button if you would like to reserve your spot or have any other questions.

This pricing is for Beach Mini Sessions ONLY. This is not my normal pricing for mini sessions.

Beach Mini Session cost $250

Includes: 30 minute with yours truly capturing your family

12 high resolution edited images from your session emailed to you for your printing pleasure

Maximum of five (5) members per session

It is very basic, simple, and easy. $50 reserves your spot – the deposit is non-refundable – so please only book if you know you can attend the session.

Because I believe no blog post is a great blog post without pictures – here is one of my recent February sessions with the P family. How cute is this little boy?! We had such an enjoyable session and they even got to go to Chuck E Cheese after – LUCKY!

Today my children and I are going to a very special 1st birthday party, for little Miss Poppy. Poppy has been my first baby I followed from maternity to newborn to her 1st year. Although this little diva has quiet the list of nicknames; Pop, Popstar, Poppyseed, Lolli – all suit her perfectly.

Poppy likes to steal your attention and she does it quiet easily. Her sweet smiles, those blue eyes, the very light strawberry blonde hair, and now all that too die for baby chub – the girl has it going on. She loves all eyes on her – you know the way it should be.

Over this year I have watched Poppy grow from a baby bump to a one year old, and while it is always so special to do any session with a child because we all know they will look so much older so quickly – it has been really awesome to follow Poppy through her first year of life. She holds a very special place in my heart and I am excited to see her grow into that sensational personality of hers.

In honor of her party today, I want to share with you what I got to capture in my camera this past year. Memory lane here we come.

So here is to you Miss Poppy girl. I wish you many, many more wonderful years. As you grow I hope you continue to carry that strength and grace you have in you and let it shine as much as it does now. I know you will go to great places and do amazing things with all your spunk and drive, but don’t forget to stop and smell the poppies – I mean roses – every once in awhile. Life is sweeter because you are here. Happy 1st birthday baby girl.

Have I been missing in an action or what?! Well it is because of my new wedding photography website I have been creating. I would love for you to check it out. I have a section on vendors that I love, as well as questions to ask me or any wedding photographer for that matter.

Short blog post right?! I will be back again tomorrow to share my session from two weeks ago. Little Miss Brooklyn is getting so big and I can’t wait to show you just how much!

I stole this ENTIRE post from Jasmine Star. She is an amazing wedding photographer, who I greatly admire. I also love reading her blog. You can read this same article on her blog here.

Jasmine is the most down to earth blogger I have read and I love the realness that rings through her blog. She doesn’t cook, makes fun of herself, and is obsessed with her dog. She will be the first to tell you she isn’t perfect, and in the internet blogging world that is hard to find. Her blog makes me feel normal.

She posted this article and my husband and I were amazed by it.

You can read the entire Washington Post article HERE.

I thought this was very interesting – too interesting to not share with you all. I hope you enjoy it as much as me.

I have been a number of inquiries on my maternity photography sessions and newborn photography sessions. Since I have changed my website in January I haven’t shared a ton of my maternity photos. This post is just a cluster of some of my past maternity sessions. I will be doing possible blog posts of the different sessions, but this gives my readers an idea of my style and the overall outcome of my maternity sessions.

Currently I am only accepting mini maternity sessions with a booked newborn session. Mini maternity sessions are done on location – usually outside – and last 30 minutes long. My clients will receive roughly 20 poses edited in color and black and white to choose. Please contact me with any questions on pricing and scheduling an appointment. Either by email or you can hit the contact button on the menu above. The best time to do a maternity session is closer to sunset, when the lighting isn’t so harsh.

I would tell you which ones are my favorite, but the truth is they all are. And yes I am so in love with all the outfits these woman picked, too. I get so many emails about the orange shirt in the sunflower picture. Amy bought that from the I.N.C. department in Macy’s. I also get so many email about the white shirt Mel is wearing in the picture that has the yellow leaves in the background. She got that from Macy’s as well. Both of them were not in the maternity departments. Mel told me she just bought a size up from her normal size of small, mostly for the length. So don’t feel as though Pea in the Pod or Motherhood are your only options. Venture out and try to see if you can find something that you are truly comfortable in. When you feel comfortable, confident, and beautiful it will shine through in your photos. You can’t fake comfort, especially in pregnancy.

So I know I already shared a few from Cooper’s newborn photography session but I feel like those very few images weren’t enough to truly share the sweetest of this little guy. He was probably one of my most sleepy baby I have ever had. Lucky Mommy! He let us move him all different directions and pretty much slept through the entire thing, I was very impressed.

Of course my most favorite newborn images are the ones with his parents. Its the emotion you can feel though those images that always makes me love my newborn sessions, and honestly his mom looks so beautiful. I will be sharing her maternity session soon. To die for! The girl knows how to dress for a photo session, and the lighting was so awesome that day!

Mr. Coop has gained over 3 pounds since his newborn session. Hims loves him some food – true little man already! His birth announcements came in this week and I thought I would share just a few more from his session before I move all the images to my external hard drive. Besides my oldest daughter loves to look at all his photos. She is sitting next to me “ohhing” and “awwing” more all her newborn sweetness. She is baby obsessed like her mommy.

Yea I know what you are thinking – did this beautiful mom really have a baby just 10 days before this session?! Yes, yes she did. But don’t hate her – she is truly one of the nicest client (and friend) I have. To say I am jealous is an understatement – she is one hot momma! No one Coop is so cute! And I mean how sweet is that photo of Cooper and his very proud daddy?! I absolutely LOVE that photo – melts me every time I look at it! Here is the link to Cooper’s first newborn photography blog post.

Meet newborn Aubree. This little baby girl didn’t want to sleep long at her session, but when she did we got some great images. She was a tiny little one – just like my other Aubrey newborn session in October, and just as sweet!! The wraps and headbands in these images were from Studio 412 Boutique.

I am working on a new brush for my copyright so please forgive me for changing it around on this pictures. I hope you enjoy!