I haven’t posted in awhile because we were finishing up getting ready for our little man to make his arrival and now the last three weeks we’ve spent every second loving on him! That’s right, James Kyle was born on March 6, 2018 at 9:25am and our hearts have never been more full!

Although I’ve always made sure Cole and I got regular photos done, I’m really starting to realize the importance of investing in photography. The truth is, although I’ve always loved our photo sessions, I never really knew the value of them. I’ve been so  fortunate to have a sister-in-law that has done so many of our photos in the past and now I’m getting to know more photographers and different styles and spend more time planning our family photos.

What do I mean by planning? Think about the last time you scheduled a photo session… how long ahead did you start planning it? A few weeks? That tends to be how a lot of us are… we randomly think “Oh I need to hurry up and get a family Christmas photo!” or “Oh it’s Fall and I want to get some pictures with the pretty leaves!”. Well, today I want to encourage you to start really planning your photo sessions.

When I got pregnant I knew that I wanted to do a maternity session and TWO newborn sessions – one styled session and one lifestyle session in our home. Because I knew that I wanted all three of those sessions within 2 months of each other, I knew I needed to start planning financially as soon as possible. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people trying to rush to find a photographer in a short amount of time and can’t afford a lot of the photographers they really like.

Now to the next part of the investment. When you’re investing in a photo session, invest in yourself. The first is clothing. While it’s perfectly fine to wear something you already have, I’ve found some of my favorite photos are when I get to wear something new for the first time. I plan for at least a month before sessions so I can find the perfect outfit. For example, we had an anniversary session in August 2017 that I really wanted to wear a blue floral dress for. I had the perfect outfit in my mind and spent weeks looking until I found exactly what I was imagining and it was SO worth it. Keep in mind, you may also need to plan your partner’s/kid’s outfits too!

The last thing I want to recommend for a new photo session is hair and makeup. This isn’t a must, but it’s something that really makes a huge difference. I get my hair styled every time I have a photo session because I am terrible at doing my own hair, but until our maternity session, I hadn’t had my makeup done professionally since our wedding. I’ve just never wanted to spend the extra money on something I could (somewhat) do myself. I can honestly say, having my makeup done professionally made me love my photos SO much more. So now that I’ve explained a little about investing in your photography, here’s a few of my favorite photos from our maternity session!

Hair: Stacey Fowler

Makeup: Chelsea Regan

Photography: Paige Kentner Photography