Welcome Home, Zander

 When photographing a newborn session, I like to encourage families to include some "lifestyle/natural environment" photos as well as the more posed stuff and studio portraits, whenever it's possible to do so. Doing this allows me to capture things such as touching candids, fun and funny behind the scenes shots, the nursery and decor, and a look at what life really looked like at home during Baby's very first days back from the hospital. In the case of Baby Zander, it was a joy to be able to capture him and his family, both in several studio-style shots as well as in his own real world.

The trick here, of course, is that with a family as sweet as the Morrisons, a baby as handsome and mellow as Zander, and what might be the COOLEST nursery I have ever seen...I had a bit of a tough time picking just a few favorite shots to share with you. So, here you go: a slightly extended gallery featuring many of my favorite moments from the session.

Zander's mom and Dad, Ali and RJ, are huge fans of "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings", so not only was this the main theme for our session, it's also the theme of Zander's AMAZING nursery.

Seriously, look at this room! I was so impressed. RJ even painted the Tree of Gondor himself. Incredible! The whole nursery is filled with items and decor from "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings", but also "Harry Potter" and a few other books and movies as well as sweet quotes of encouragement and notes of faith. It's lovely and so personal to the family!

We took several photos in Zander's awesome nursery before moving out for the studio portion of the session. He did so well throughout! Such a sweet and mellow little guy.

During our LOTR section of the session, we included Ali's beloved copy of "The Hobbit" which also made an appearance when we shot their maternity portraits this past spring. And when we were able to get Zander to clutch one of the Leaves of Lorien in his tiny hand for a few photos, we all swooned with geeked-out glee!

Both Ali and RJ's mamas were along for the fun, so of course when taking some of the family photos, we had to make sure both of Zander's grandmas were in the portraits with their sweet new grandbaby!

This baby is so loved by his family, and it's genuinely heartwarming to see.

Many thanks to Ali and RJ (and their sweet mamas, too) for allowing me to capture this special time in your lives! It was an honor, and I'm beyond happy for you as you embark on your new adventure.

Welcome to the world, sweet Zander!