St. Louis Photographer » A Journal by Holly McCaig

Okay, I quickly learned that I am not cut out to be a newborn photographer. This is the most exhausting and patience-testing subject to photograph, and I give TOTAL props to those of you that specialize in newborns. I’m out here in Phoenix, visiting Audra and her family. We wanted to get her baby, Reagan’s photos done on Friday and that we attempted. After about four hours, these are the four shots I’m proud to show. Yes, just four. But, they are cute. Reagan is such a sweet little girl. She just wanted to be in control on Friday and was only going to let us get a few shots in. Sigh. Love her.

Every shot but the last were taken with my 50mm f/1.4 in natural light. The last is using my 100mm f/2.8 macro.

My mojo has been hiding. Last night, I forced myself to open up Illustrator and do some drawing. It’s been ages. I finally was motivated to draw a ton of cute, little baby icons and graphics/word art. So, I’m slowly creating some new baby resources for Pink Ink Studios store. This is the first of the release! I think it’s rather cute.

You get both a girl & a boy birth announcement template with these. As always, be sure to read the full description in the store before purchasing. Click here to make your purchase! P.S. I will add the only place you would need the actual font is on the back side where you type out the custom birth information. The front word art is included.

So, I seem to knit almost every day now. When life gets stressful, or just trying to wind down the day. I took some photos of some of the hats I’ve done a while back and have decided I need to sell some of these to justify this huge stash of yarn I’ve managed to accumulate. I buy it to knit myself something for studio use with newborns (not that I shoot many – where are they?) And, I have yarn left over. So, I’m going to sell some! Don’t expect a regular stocked store. This summer is going to be crazy busy, but for the time being, here is what I have photographed from my stash to sell. They are sized at 12 inches in diameter (24″ circular at the brim). Pricing is a little higher than on some hats because I used handspun merino yarn from ETSY. Beautiful stuff!!! I ship these items US Priority mail so I can track them and insure them properly should they get damaged or lost in shipping. Oh, and if you buy one, would you PLEASE share your shots with me? Thanks! This one is my new favorite – click the ETSY links below it to go to the store.

I got to use my studio! Though it’s not really completely ready, I was excited to hear that Mia had arrived and was ready to have her photo taken. It’s a challenge doing newborns, but I’m up for it and learn each time. Mia was my newborn model from the call a few weeks back. She was a little fussy at first until she got another feeding. And, her belly button hasn’t fallen off yet, so we didn’t get too many of the poses I would have liked with her on her belly. She let us know that wasn’t too comfortable for her. But, she was so tiny and so sweet.

As part of this project, I decided to try a new album company, The Dream Album. I have ordered these spreads below in a 6 x 6 size with a CD option to hold the digital files. If it all turns out nicely, it will be something I’ll add to my packages. This is a sample of one of their 6 x 6 with CD option. I love shooting with albums in mind…telling the story rather than posed shots.

And, now for the spreads of beautiful, Mia. Welcome to the world baby Mia – just 5 days old here!

These two kiddos are gonna be pals, I can tell. Will just loves his new, baby brother, Max. But, he’s still a little bit more interested in the construction crew outside on their street. Capturing Will by the window was something his mom certainly wanted to remember. I can’t blame her. These little moments in life are what matters. It’s what my portrait work is about. Sure, there is that staged moment stuff, but we want to tell stories with our photographs. This is really what it’s all about. Thanks for letting me come into your home and meet you sweet boys!