This Manhattan mom loves to celebrate her little boy, Abram, with birthday photos every year. She reached out to me because she loved the white room look of our studio and the natural feeling of my photos. During our pre-session planning appointment, I learned that Abram is non-verbal, so I spent a lot of our meeting learning all of his favorite things, from toys to music. Mom told me that he loves walks, music, and dancing. I explained that this was perfect because that is exactly what we would be doing at a three-year-old studio session. The portraits of mom and Abram walking together are some of my favorites from this session. 

I selected some lovely outfits for both mom and Abram, but mom found the perfect modern dress on her own and something that she felt Abram would be very comfortable in. I absolutely loved her selections; they fit so well with my bright, modern style of studio portraiture. Each year, they do a theme for Abram’s birthday, and this year was trains. The first outfit that Abram wore was a sweet pair of overalls to match the theme. After some overall photos to send to family, we did an outfit change with soft tones and a minimalist feel for portraits that would eventually go in their Livingston, NJ, home. 

Mom is super busy and was traveling from Manhattan to our New Jersey studio, so she got a blowout before heading to us and opted to do her own very natural and minimalist makeup. We discussed her nails ahead of time, and she planned to get a fresh manicure with Essie Marshmallow, which always looks modern and lovely. 

While mom had previously made a birthday album on her own, she was looking to make a professional album this year. She loved the stress-free process of having an album made after our session. I helped her pick out her favorite portraits to be placed in the luxurious matted album and also for printing for friends and family. The album came out beautifully and will be such a special keepsake for this family for years to come.