family sessions, kids, short and sweet sessions Dana Pugh family sessions, kids, short and sweet sessions Dana Pugh

Growing With Me

Recently, a couple of other photographers have pointed out that my subjects are getting...well...older. Not entirely, but often enough to point it out. That, a lot of the kids I have the privilege of getting in front of my lens are not toddlers anymore. Inevitably, when the other photographers mention this, they add how scared they are to have older subjects. Truthfully, they used to scare me, too...but not anymore.

Partially, it's because a lot of my clients--over half of them--are repeat clients. These kids have grown with me. They know me and I know them. There is a comfort level that comes from using the same photographer over and over again. But, it's also because my own kids are older now(and so are their friends), so I have gone from talking Backyardigans to Pokemon to Minecraft...and my comfort level around older kids has grown.

I love older kids. They have interesting stuff to tell you. And, they take direction...you can have them run and jump with a balloon over and over again to try and get a better and better shot. In fact, most of them LOVE it--that feeling like they are a part of creating something. And, you know what I've learned this fall? I love it, too.

This beautiful girl and I just met...so, we didn't have that comfort of knowing each other. But, I listened to her tell me stuff...and she has had an amazing life so far. Truly amazing. And, then...she ran and jumped and ran and jumped and swung her hair around and giggled and goofed around. See...11 year olds like to play just as much as toddlers :)

~ Dana

 

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family sessions, newborn, one frame, signature session Dana Pugh family sessions, newborn, one frame, signature session Dana Pugh

New

This is one of my favourite newborn photographs that I have ever taken.

Newborn photography is what I set out to do when I started. Bet you didn't know that...I thought that it would be a wonderful job. Cuddling with babies, curling them into little balls and taking the photographs that you see so many photographers do now. But, something happened very early on in my career...I think of it as one of the first steps towards learning who I was as an artist. I took a photograph of a baby all by itself(I can even tell you the exact photograph when this lightbulb moment happened) and as I took the photograph a little voice in my head whispered 'that baby looks lonely'.

Since that moment, I have moved further and further away from traditional newborn photography towards taking more images like this...which was maybe the 10th image I took upon arrival at their home. I don't like photographs of babies by themselves, generally, so most of mine have other people in them....even if it is just someone's arms holding them. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule(even in my own work, but mostly in the work of others). My friend, Ashley Skjaveland, has a talent at making babies look like they are wrapped in cocoons of love even when they are all by themselves. Even when it is just a foot or an ear. Seriously. It is a gift. It is a gift that I see so many newborn photographers struggle towards achieving but falling short of the mark...and I know that it is a gift that I don't have.

And, so I strive for moments like this. Moments where there is so much love there that you can't help but feel it...where the world stopped for literally a fraction of a second and this two year old boy gazed at his new baby brother in wonder. In that moment, I got to see the impact of this new life for both of them. So, even though you can't see the baby's face...it is one of my favourite newborn photographs ever. I think it marks a step closer towards achieving exactly what I want from a newborn session...

Of course, I have pictures of just the baby, too...but, this one sings for me :)

Felt like sharing a bit about my creative process...thanks for indulging me.

~ Dana

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