Madeline’s Milestone Portraits | Oconomowoc Baby Photographer
Madeline has grown so much since I captured her newborn portraits six months ago. I was definitely looking forward to this little girl’s milestone “sitting” session for quite some time. I like to keep tabs on my “baby planners” checking in with mom every so often to see if baby is sitting unassisted yet. Oftentimes this doesn’t happen until month seven and that’s fine!
Every baby is different and focuses on different skills at different times.
The six(ish) month milestone session is one of my personal favorites to photograph. I loved it when my own children were at this stage. I could sit them down safely in the middle of the floor with a couple of toys within reach and they’d be happy just sitting there for a while. They weren’t crawling away or getting into any trouble for this short time. Just sitting there kept them happy!
Our patience for sweet little Madeline to master this skill paid off and was rewarded with these beautiful pictures! How adorable is she?! I can’t get over her big eyes and long eyelashes! I definitely have some serious eyelash envy. Many things change with babies between their newborn and first milestone photography session but those eyes and long lashes definitely weren’t one of them!
While I was taking photos of her she definitely wanted her mom nearby and we took numerous short breaks for snuggle time. Good thing there are unlimited snuggles included in portraits with Julie Collins Photography! Have a look at all the sweetness of Madeline’s first milestone portraits.
Even big sister got in on the action and wanted to pose for a shot. 
Come visit us at our newborn photography site to view more beautiful pictures of babies, kids and families too!
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Lake Country Baby Photographer | Baby Owen
This baby has been doing some serious growing since the last time I saw him when he was just days old. Just look at all of his skills! Sitting all by himself. Crawling to get what he wants. Eating some “solid” foods. And that sweet face is sure to get him out of some trouble if he decides to create some, wouldn’t you say?
He’s so sweet, I could just eat him up!
I’m pretty happy his family decided to sign up for the Grow With Me (Baby) Plan. As a result I get to see him every six or so months for more pictures.
Afterall, that first year flies by so fast it would be hard to remember this time without any pictures!
Good thing I’ve got your back. Almost all of my newborn clients sign up for this program because they want in on the ground floor for the awesome savings.
Three sessions for $100? Yes, please!
That’s right! When you’ve held your newborn session with Julie Collins Photography you are eligible to buy into the Grow With Me program for only $100. That’s a tremendous savings in session fees alone and my Baby Planners don’t have to choose between digital images either. They get them all! Read more about it here.
You might be thinking…”Oh no! I never had a newborn session with Julie Collins Photography. I missed out on a really great deal!” Not so, my friend! This program is open to anyone who wants milestone images of their baby. The session fees go up to $250 for the three if you didn’t buy in during the newborn reveal. Still an awesome savings at just over $83 each!
Enough about that! I have GOT TO talk about this precious little boy and his sweet, sweet family. They recently moved into a beautiful new home across town yet right in the middle of the chaos of moving his momma still made time for pictures! I’ve been keeping dibs on him since his newborn session (like I do for all of my “Baby Planners”) just waiting for him to master the skill of sitting by himself. That’s the milestone I’m looking for to hold that next session.
I call it STAGES not AGES.
That means that if baby reaches six months old but still isn’t sitting unassisted, we wait until he or she gets that skill. It could take another month. And that’s fine! I’d say this guy mastered it alright.
And how do you like that little outfit? It’s one of the most recent additions to my growing wardrobe collection available to parents. Now his six month images will match the brown tones we used in some of his family’s favorite newborn images. Why is that important? So that your images are cohesive, of course. That way when you put them together (in an album, in a wall collection, framed and next to each other on a shelf) everything looks well designed.
See what I mean? I’ve got your back!
Check out some more from this little guy’s session.
Can you tell I love capturing babies playing with their feet? It’s my favorite at this stage.
And don’t forget the baby food shots! I always offer these included in the six month milestone session because that’s an important milestone baby is learning at this stage. And well, HELLO CUTENESS!
Lake Country Baby Photography by Julie Collins
Baby Isabella’s milestone photo session | Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
The “sitter” session (as it is widely referred to in the photography industry) is one of my absolute favorites. The baby has mastered the milestone of sitting all by his or herself and that is definitely reason to celebrate! Here at Julie Collins Photography I like to capture “stages” not “ages.” This means that rather than photographing a six month old just because traditionally this is when a milestone session would occur, I work closely with mom and dad keeping tabs on when baby is sitting unassisted. Typically that happens around seven months.
By waiting you get a much bigger variety of images.
I make it a point to capture some belly shots, on the back shots, sitting unassisted, standing assisted (if possible), and nibbling toe pictures, which are my favorite. I loved it when my own kids went through that stage and definitely want that captured in imagery for mom and dad.
Here’s a glimpse into sweet Isabella’s milestone “sitter” session. She rocked it out! Isabella loved her toes! She is always a pleasure to photograph. So sweet, so happy and so photogenic! I love spending time with this sweetheart.
Hartland Newborn Photography Session
I’m photographing this little guy’s “sitting” milestone session today and I never even blogged his newborn session! This family is so devoted to this little guy and it definitely didn’t feel like they were new parents to me. They had this thing down! Helps that they’ve had some experience with sibling’s children but I was seriously impressed! They didn’t have that deer-in-headlight, sleep-deprived, not really sure what’s happening look to them that I sometimes see with new parents. Ha! Happens to the best of us but I really just enjoyed this time together with these sweet parents and their new little bundle!
Dad is an avid hunter so of course we had to integrate some of his prized antlers into the session. I love how it turned out!
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Oconomowoc Newborn Photographer | Baby Isabella
Meet baby Isabella! This sweetheart is halfway to her next milestone photo shoot with me so I’d say it’s about time I actually blogged her newborn session! She was the sleepiest, easiest baby and I could have photographed her forever. Not once did I get a glimpse of her eyes. They were shut the entire time.
Her mommy worked very hard decorating her nursery in their new home so I made sure to capture some of those details during a quick feeding. I definitely saw a mermaid theme and grandma made her a mermaid tail so we had to work that in. Mom requested big bows and graciously had some to choose from. A number one request was to use the crown she had me photograph on her belly at the maternity session too. It was so evident how much love Elyse and Jeff have for their sweet baby girl. She is super blessed to be born into this family of dog lovers.
Little Isabella is in my “Grow with me” baby plan so I am beyond excited to be able to follow along with her throughout her first year capturing all of those awesome milestones she is about to experience. It won’t be long now before you see more of her in my social media feed! YAY!
Wisconsin Newborn Photographer | Baby Owen, Oconomowoc, WI
Hello there! Your friendly Oconomowoc newborn photographer here to bring smiles to your faces with beautiful baby pictures yet again! This mom contacted me fairly “last minute” for professional photos of her baby boy expected to arrive any moment. She was in the hospital at the time 34 weeks pregnant and trying NOT to have the baby quite yet. I was about ready to leave on vacation but the baby was expected to spend several weeks in the NICU so we had a bit of time. I was so happy to squeeze it into my schedule because just look at all of the adorable squishiness I would have missed out on had I not.
The craziest thing happened with this session too! Tracey’s out-of-state colleague contacted me wanting to purchase a gift certificate for her not knowing Tracey had already booked a session with me. With the number of photographers out there what are the chances they both unknowingly chose me? It was so much fun presenting this gift certificate to their family at the reveal.
And now for the images of this sweet family welcoming home their sweet little boy…
Wisconsin Newborn Photographer | Baby Avery, Dousman, WI
I’m super behind on my blog but very determined to catch up! We’ll start with this session of Baby Avery and her sweet family in Dousman. I connected with Avery’s mom several months ago. She owns Empower Movement, a physical therapy clinic in Oconomowoc, and contacted me to photograph headshots of her staff as well as some candids of them performing different treatments on her clients. Since then I have used their services for a few problem areas on my shoulder and elbow and I highly recommend them if you are in the market looking!
They recently welcomed baby Avery into their sweet family. She is so beautiful and look at all that gorgeous hair! “Big” sister Brooke took some time out of her busy day to peek in on her sister from time to time. What an advantage to having your photographer come to you, am I right? Siblings play and come over whenever they’re ready! During a feeding break I enjoyed taking some images of her playing with Daddy in the nursery. She’s got some serious balancing skills. See below for an image of what I’m talking about. Impressive! I just love the expressions she has with her new baby sister too. So funny!
Baby Avery had some skills of her own too! She focused better than any newborn I’ve every photographed. I could hardly believe it! She seemed very aware and didn’t want to miss a thing. It took a bit of time to get her to fall asleep but worth every ounce of effort because well, see for yourself…
JCP Parenting Hacks: Getting babies to sleep
The comment I hear most at newborn sessions is, “Can you come back at midnight and work your magic?” I always laugh because I remember those sleepless nights very well and being so desperate and willing to try ANYTHING to get my babies to fall asleep and stay asleep.
All laughing aside, it’s not magic. I LOVE learning, reading and researching. When I was a new mom I read countless parenting books. “Getting your baby to sleep” is a topic that never goes out of style and there were many, many strategies I read about during this time. What resonated with me most was the 5 S’s from the book “Happiest Baby on the Block.” They are:
1. Swaddle
2. Side or Stomach Lying (to calm only; not for sleeping)
3. Shush (fairly loudly)
4. Swing (quick, small movements with head/neck supported but never shaking)
5. Suck
Essentially what they teach you is to create a womb-like environment.
Your baby was curled up inside a small, warm space (swaddle!), hearing their mom’s blood flowing (louder than a vacuum cleaner!), moving around constantly (swing!).
Until I read this book I always wondered while pregnant why my babies would start kicking me so much when I lay down at night to go to sleep. After reading the book it made perfect sense that was when they would “wake up” because I was finally at rest, not rocking them to sleep by moving around. The same was true the first few weeks after birth. I remember people telling me that my baby had “his days and nights mixed up” and thus slept a lot during the day but not so much at night. In reality my baby was just lulled to sleep in utero by my movement.
Do you ever get sleepy on a long car ride? Same idea. The movement, the monotonous sound of the highway…hand me a blanket and let me lie down on my side and I’ll be out in one minute flat!
So there you have it! I hope this helps you soothe your baby and get some much needed zzzzzzzs!!!
Tribute to Motherhood: Lake Country Photographer
Yesterday all forms of social media were packed full of Mother’s Day posts. I loved every one! How can you not relish the celebration of the love that children have for their moms? You are their world. The one they want love and attention from more than anyone else. It’s you who fills them up with encouragement when they’re down, nutritious food to make their bodies strong, empathy when they’re hurting, love just because. You are most beautiful to them even on your ugliest days. It’s a beautiful thing to be so important to another human being. So I put together this little montage of mom pics for you to enjoy because let’s face it, MOMS ROCK!
Introducing the Grow With Me Plan
Chances are if you’re reading this you are either expecting a baby or have welcomed one home recently. Either way CONGRATULATIONS! I am super thrilled for you!
Coming off probably what may have felt like the longest nine months of your life the next year will fly by faster than you can ever imagine. Babies grow and change at an astounding pace, and every month brings new and exciting developments.
The Grow With Me Plan is designed to help keep your baby’s first year documented and well photographed. Because, believe it or not, memories will fade but portraits will help you remember this time for years to come.
Babies change so much in the first year of life. You get a limited amount of time to capture them achieving those BIG milestones before they’ve moved on to something else.
The Grow With Me Plan is the perfect way to capture each precious stage. Traditionally milestone portrait sessions occur at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and 12 months. However every child develops at different rates so I believe wholeheartedly in planning around STAGES, not AGES. In other words I find it worth waiting a bit longer when necessary so that your baby is hitting physical milestones like:
- Demonstrating head strength/discovering their feet/responsive smiles between 3-4 months (traditionally the 3 month session)
- Sitting unassisted, crawling and eating baby food (around 7 months)
- Standing and taking his/her first steps (around one year) when “baby” is more of a toddler now
That being said, when you book the Grow With Me Plan you get to choose from the following two options:
1. 4 months (smiling), 7 months (sitting) and 12 months (walking)
2. 7 months (sitting), 12 months (walking) and a bonus family session in year two
The best part about the Grow With Me Plan is that everything is carefully planned and designed around an annual product of your choosing. What does that mean?
It means that colors will coordinate across all sessions so that when a wall display is put together at the end of the year it looks intentional and collective.
It also means that I will be photographing each session with the annual product in mind. If you choose the book set for your annual product, for example, I will ensure that enough images are taken to fill each book, getting both candids and “posed” shots for a beautiful keepsake. If you decide on a wall cluster for your annual product my focus will be on orientation of the photos I take at each session, ensuring that the images will fit into the display pieces perfectly.
Look at this beautiful wood cluster which is an example of one of the annual products available for my Grow With Me Planners!
It’s no secret that I love photographing children but some of the images that touch my heart most are the ones of those little sweethearts interacting with their moms, dads and siblings. That’s why not only will we capture your baby at all the favorite milestones but immediate family members are always welcome during these sessions as well.
The Grow With Me plan is $250 total for all three sessions. Products and digital files are sold separately. You can find more information by viewing my Grow With Me Welcome Guide.
Interested in specials, VIP announcements and tips and tricks for taking better pictures? Take 30 seconds to sign up to receive my newsletter delivered to your inbox every once in a while. Click here to join in on the fun! I promise never to spam you!
Introducing Storyboards!
Have you ever booked a photography session with the main goal in mind of getting a large canvas of your family to hang over your fireplace mantle or couch? Or maybe with the idea in mind of completing your beautiful new nursery with a piece of wall art of your sweet baby to hang above his/her crib? Then you sit down to review the images from your awesome session and love so many of them that you really would like to display more but you’re not sure how. A storyboard could be the answer.
Storyboards are a series of images put together from your portrait session that are combined onto one piece of art for your wall/table/desktop. It is a perfect solution for you if you have chosen the main portrait for the space you had in mind but you still want to enjoy more images from your session.
Storyboards look great hanging in a variety of spaces. I’ve seen storyboards displayed in hallways, entryways, stairways, bedroom walls, living rooms, dining rooms and offices. They fit smaller spaces (think long and skinny) or when several are displayed together look fantastic as a wall display telling a beautiful story.
Storyboards are available as ready to hang canvases as seen here.
They are also available as a double mounted fine art piece ready to frame like this one. This could also be put on an easel for a table top display.
The storyboards above are all 10×20 but if a square would suit you better I offer a 20×20 that you can order as a stand alone or a few grouped together they make a beautiful wall arrangement! You can add custom text such as a family name or date or baby birth details (weight, date, name) to any of the layouts. Have a look at some other storyboards I’ve created in the not so distant past.
Storyboards are a great addition to decorating your home with a series of images that when put together tell the beautiful story of your family. I love designing these and am so excited to offer them to you.
Interested in specials, VIP announcements and tips and tricks for taking better pictures? Take 30 seconds to sign up to receive my newsletter delivered to your inbox every once in a while. For a limited time my newsletter subscribers are getting a special on storyboards ordered at their next reveal night! Click here to join in on the fun! I promise never to spam you!
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