Newborn

In case you haven’t heard elsewhere, I had to [cue the word of the 2020] PIVOT to in-home LIFESTYLE newborn sessions for the foreseeable future. And only when it is safe for me to do so. However, the little guy below is my nephew, so he actually came to visit me in my home for his baby blue newborn portraits – where I set up a temporary studio to photograph him.

Auggie was perhaps the most CHILL baby I’ve ever photographed. He hardly made a peep and slept the WHOLE TIME.

He was just as happy swaddled as he was totally naked. Thanks, little buddy, for making my job WAY too easy on this occasion! And I was SO happy to snuggle this sweet little guy – it was my first time meeting him and although COVID has thrown such a wrench into everything, I was so glad that I still got to meet him and photograph him.

I hope I can snuggle this guy again soon…my nephews are all growing up so fast and it’s so heartbreaking that COVID has kept us all apart. I actually photographed ALL FOUR of my sister-in-law’s boys – how fun is that?!

You might even remember little Forest from last year!

Here’s hoping that we’ll be together again in 2021.

If you enjoyed these baby blue newborn portraits, please comment or share my blog post with anyone you know who might be currently looking for a Reno newborn photographer! I would be most grateful. Thanks and CHEERS, my friends!

I have a special place in my heart for twins (obvs) – and it was an absolute joy to photograph these fall and winter twin newborn photos. These two sweeties are identical sisters that belong to a couple I’ve known through several stages of life!

I knew Sonia & Jimmy at a time before marriage and kids (feels like yesterday but also forever ago). And then I had the honor of photographing their engagement & wedding (again, seems like yesterday). Now I am so happy to say that I photographed their newest little blessings!

In-Home Twin Newborn Photos

These twin ladies were rockstars. They slept pretty much THE WHOLE TIME and posed so perfectly! They were very patient with our setups. Total dream babies!!

Thank you, Sonia & Jimmy, for inviting me into your home (especially during a pandemic – aaah!!) to safely photograph your little loves and their big brother with you guys!

Sweet Identical Girls

Before we move on to the actual photos, let me just make a little shoutout.

I couldn’t have made winter these twin newborn photos all by myself, nor as well, without my assistant & friend, Elizabeth. THANKS girl, for being my secret weapon baby whisperer and expert wrapper/poser. You do things effortlessly that take me a whole lot of effort LOL.

And now, let’s focus on these sweet BABIES!!! Just look at them!

Fifth and Chestnut Photo Co. is a Reno portrait photographer providing heartfelt memory-keeping for families across the Northern Nevada region.

I am the luckiest Auntie in the WHOLE WORLD to have been able to photograph my new nephew, little Forest.

As some of you may know, I have pivoted my newborn work towards lifestyle newborn photography (casual documentary-style sessions in my clients’ homes). I could go into why (for those of you who don’t know) but this post is about this awesome baby!! And this baby got some special treatment because he’s family <3

With a name like Forest (his Grandpa’s name, by the way), I just HAD to do a studio-style woodland forest themed session (with the blessing of his mama of course). So, I happily transformed my dining room into a studio just for Forest’s very special newborn session.

It is definitely times like these that make me really miss my studio. I LOVE (and I mean LOVE) studio newborn photography. It’s something I’ve worked hard to get better at through all TEN years of running this photography business of mine. And I feel like just when I hit my stride with it, I had to give it up. So I will count myself very lucky to have had an opportunity to create these photographs…especially for family.

Forest Themed Baby Portraits | Studio Style

Forest was the definition of Rockstar Baby Model Extraordinaire. Ladies and gentlemen, he didn’t even poo or pee on me. Everyone give this guy a round of applause!

He was very soundly asleep when I worked with him in the prop shots, and woke up for a short period where we did the classic swaddled photos. You’ll see an image with him looking straight at me – my heart!! Then he fell back asleep and did so well on our fabric backdrop. It was so seamless, which makes me a happy photographer.

So let’s let his portraits do the rest of the talking, shall we?! Check out my favorites from his session…which were insanely hard to narrow down! I can’t wait to capture more images of this guy as he grows!

Emmitt was such a dream for his in-home lifestyle newborn portraits this Summer. He gave me such a great mix of sleepy and awake shots. His eyes were so locked on the camera at times!

Mr. E & His Cozy Summer Lifestyle Newborn Portraits

You’ll see how precious Emmitt is below – it was so hard to leave out any of his portraits for the blog! Isn’t the dimple in his chin just absolutely perfect?! I love how cozy he looks swaddled up so warmly, but he posed perfectly for his nakey shots, too!

It was an honor to photograph this little dude – thank you Mieka & Daniel for asking me to create his newborn portraits!

Welcome to the world, Emmitt!

I was so lucky to be invited to Kelly & Stephen’s home to take Reno lifestyle newborn photos of Mr. Bear.

Reno Outdoor Newborn Photos

Bear was a breeze to photograph. He loved being swaddled and he was so cooperative with the various settings I photographed him in. As I walked up to the front door, I knew that I wanted to take advantage of the lovely greenery and flowers that surrounded Kelly & Stephen’s beautiful home. Their property was blooming with gorgeous poppies ALL over. I had so much fun placing Bear into a cute and cozy little nest and taking outdoor newborn portraits of him in addition to the indoor ones. Gotta love this warm Nevada weather!!

Reno Lifestyle Newborn Photos

Kelly & Stephen’s home was so inviting and BRIGHT for the indoor portraits of Mr. Bear. His nursery is so adorable and was the perfect place for lifestyle newborn photos of him, along with family portraits. And their living room was the perfect place to get cozy and silly on the couch.

Bear’s amazing big brother was very interested in my camera and I had a lot of fun photographing him, too!

Thank you to this beautiful family who invited me in so warmly and allowing me to capture these irreplaceable moments!

When Oakley’s mom sent me pics of his adorable woodland and lumberjack inspired nursery, I got so excited to pull props and items for a special woodland themed session to go with his beautiful nursery. Hello, buffalo check!!

Reno Woodland Newborn Photos

As you’ll see in some of my favorites below, Oakley graced me with his beautiful smile. I know it’s just gas, but still!! He smiled! AND he has the most inquisitive eyes and squishiest wittle lips!!

Oakley was an absolute joy to photograph, and it was also so amazing to see this amazing couple become parents. I’ve loved working with them from their engagement forward!! It’s my favorite thing in the world to be able to photograph these incredible life milestones!

Enjoy my favorites from Oakley’s in home woodland newborn photos!

I was absolutely honored to be invited into Hetty & Branden’s home to photograph their brand new baby girl! Their in-home session was so amazing for these beautiful girl lifestyle newborn photos. Just WAIT until you see how cute Miss A’s nursery is!

In Home Newborn Session with Miss A

Our session started with this family’s first ever portraits! This is always one of my favorite parts of any newborn session. Seeing a new mama and daddy adore their baby is one of the most precious things to me.

After some family portraits, I brought out some cute props for her solo baby portraits. Then I wrapped up sweet Miss A into a cute little bundle until it was time for a mid-session feeding. Baby’s gotta eat!

The Most Adorable Totoro Nursery

While she was eating, it was a great opportunity for me to snap pics of her nursery – which is decked out with the cutest Totoro details. Hetty and Branden did such a wonderful job in preparing the nursery. It’s a comfortable and beautiful space – perfect for the long feeding sessions that lay ahead for this new set of parents!

After some cute sleeping portraits on the little bed prop I brought with me, Miss A was changed into the CUTEST Hello Kitty outfit I’ve ever seen. Did you know that I LOVE Hello Kitty? Now you do! She blessed us all with some adorable awake photos! I’m not always able to get photos of newborns while they are awake – and it’s always special when it happens.

She was then changed her into the sweetest little pink dress & white cardigan for some final photos in her beautiful nursery.

Miss A was honestly a rockstar baby model (like most of my baby clients tend to be), and she did so well for her first ever photo experience.

Check out just a small sampling of her lifestyle newborn photos below!

Say hi to Jack, he’s new here! I photographed his mom and dad’s wedding just a little over a year ago, and I was THRILLED when they told me they were expecting! Jack was a total dream to work with while creating his in-home casual lifestyle newborn photos.

Casual Lifestyle newborn photos on a bright November morning

His eclectic nursery was a perfect backdrop for our in-home lifestyle newborn photos with him and his parents. Jack’s nursery is bright, and so beautiful with all the amazing handmade touches. His dad even made his crib!!

Holly had some wonderful ideas for his photos and I was happy to oblige! They turned out so cute, I can’t stand it. I also love how Jack has a full head of wonderful hair. Isn’t he absolutely precious??! Grandma was also there (props to all the grandmas and grandpas who help with the baby that first week or more!!), so I had the honor of taking a few photos of her with her brand new grandson!

Here are just some of my faves from Jack’s session 🙂

Introducing sweet baby Olivia 🙂 Her mama is my best friend, Chloe, who lives in the Bay Area. Chloe had this sweet little pumpkin about a month ago – and I have been DYING to snuggle her!! Chloe’s family planned a weekend over Labor Day at her cabin in Twain Harte and invited my whole family to join – so I packed up my troop and we headed down to California for a visit! You’ll see below that I was able to grab some outdoor newborn photos of this newest addition to what I call my extended family!

It was incredible to see my best friend become a mommy. I’m so excited to share in the ups and downs of motherhood with her now!

Impromptu Outdoor Newborn Photos

I am glad I took a few minutes one morning of our trip to photograph Olivia. Month old babies don’t always cooperate for newborn style photos, but Olivia was a ROCKSTAR and settled right down when I swaddled her. I love that we have awake and asleep shots. We also managed to get a few of my babies + Olivia on the last day of our trip!

We had also planned a vacation/beach themed shoot. Oh, and a little forest shoot, but as things go with little babies, those shoots just didn’t happen. Opposite feeding and sleeping schedules, I tell ya!! But I will make it happen next time when the babies are all a little older!

Check out my favorite shots from Olivia’s impromptu outdoor summer newborn session in Twain Harte 🙂

These fall firefighter themed newborn photos are just so precious, I can’t stand it!! This baby boy was SUCH a good baby for us at the studio. Even through several set changes, he was a complete trooper! It was also exciting to do some warmer/darker tones with this little guy. Yay, fall babies!

In the Studio: Fall Firefighter Themed Newborn Photos

His parents are firefighters, so of course we had to do some shots with a helmet and their boots. *NOTE: pictures of him in the helmet are either composites (2 or more images combined together and heavily photoshopped) or pictures in which I photoshopped the arms out that were holding the helmet up. Do NOT attempt to take this style of photo without training & knowledge about baby safety and image compositing.*

His parents also wanted to incorporate aviation themes into the session as well, as you’ll see with their family portraits.

Big shout out to my studio mate, Elizabeth, for helping me with this shoot. I was 27 weeks along with my twins at this shoot, and my tummy was sooooo in the way. It was also very difficult for me to squat and hunch over this little guy for several hours. Her expertise and the extra set of hands was extremely helpful!

Congrats to this family on their new addition. Wishing you all a joyous holiday season together!

PS: Fall plaid blanket by the amazing Lavender Gray Designs