Kitchener Christmas Mini Sessions 2018!

It might feel way too early to be thinking about Christmas, but over at the studio, I started planning and purchasing for my annual Holiday Photo event in AUGUST! Yes you read that right!
I was shocked when I started hearing buzz from the photographer community about opening their booking dates for their sessions, and that's when I knew... IT WAS TIME!

I opened up booking in September and am shocked and proud to say we are past the halfway point of being full!

I invite you to join me on November 3rd and 4th this year for your family's special holiday sessions. But become last year the event sold out completely, I had to open extra dates. Busy on November 3rd and 4th? No problem! I've got you covered. Extra dates are open now on November 17th and 18th. You'll have plenty of time to receive your holiday cards and plan the perfect gifts for the Grandparents.

The sets last year were a huge success.... so what to do but go BIGGER and BETTER! This year I have 3 huge and gorgeous set designs for your choose from. Check out a sampling of them below.

Copy and paste the link to follow to the booking page and snag a session before it's too late. Trust me, you'll want to get in on this. The events at Studio HRKVC are unique, fun and incomparable to anything you've experienced before. And that's a guarantee!

https://herakovicphotography.simplybook.me/v2/

If you have any questions about the event, or are new to Holiday photos in studio, you must reach out today! I can't wait to talk to you and fill you in on all the juicy details.

Kitchener Breastfeeding Photos - Mommy and Me

I'm going to write about a hot topic for this blog, and share some personal experiences I had while breastfeeding my sweet babes. But first, how did we end up here? Well, back a few short months ago, I photographed a family and their newborn son in studio. I completely felt like I bonded with this family. We just hit it off. Unfortunately they live quite a distance from me, so when the opportunity came up to have them back in studio, I felt both blessed and excited!

That "little" newborn happened to be the biggest baby I have ever photographed! He was 8 days old, but I swore I was photographing an almost 2 month old! Now, he is 9 months old and sitting all on his own, so of course I had to have him back for the popular "sitter" session! I've discussed "sitter" sessions in previous blogs, but I'll say it again, it"s literally one of my favourite sessions to capture. So much personality has blossomed in such a short time! I just get such a kick out of it.

Anyhoo - this little guy comes into the studio and I felt like I was looking at a 2 year old! He is now 26 lbs of pure BOY! When Mum and I were planning the session, she had asked if I wouldn't do a few special photos of her breastfeeding this little (big) guy as she wasn't sure if they would have more children or if their family was now complete. I was completely thrilled to have been asked to do this! Of course I said yes... and I am so glad we captured these moments for them.

The photos turned out wonderfully perfect, and while I was shooting, and again when I was editing the photos, I really reflected on my experience breastfeeding. Now, I will say that I was fortunate to have had plenty of supply, both my babies latched easily and overall there was no struggle to find a rhythm with feeding my kids naturally. I had comes to terms before delivering my kids that if I found that I couldn't breastfeed, I would be okay going the formula route too. I just wanted my babes to be fed and nourished! As a new mom, I was completely overwhelmed and I don't know how I would have coped with the struggle of getting it all to work had it not been as easy as it was, or the pressure of "breast is best". I immediately felt my first twinges of guilt, because I did have friends at the time who were struggling. This was the first of many moments of Mom guilt that I experienced. I sympathized with those who struggled and at times, even felt bad or slightly uncomfortable for admitting I didn't struggle with it at all. But that doesn't mean there weren't other kinds of struggles... I was postpartum with my first baby and I probably wasn't coping very well with the newness of motherhood. I found that I didn't always enjoy breastfeeding, despite having read in so many places how precious it was, what a beautiful bonding time it was for mum and babe, and how I should cherish it. Don't get me wrong, I did eventually have moments like those, but it took a long time. So there was more guilt. Was I doing it wrong? Was I bad mom for not loving every second of it?

I eventually had our second little babe and by then I was more experienced and maybe more relaxed. I do think I was able to enjoy it more by then. During this particular photoshoot, memories of how it felt to be engorged came flooding back, how the latch felt and the moments of calmness and when babe was older- squirmy as heck! I also felt sad for not having photos of my babes breastfeeding. Even though my kids are only 8 and 10, I don't believe breastfeeding photo sessions were trending as much back then as they are now, and even if they had been, I admit I was way too short sighted to even think about potentially wanting memories such as those documented for the future. I can say now that I do wish I had photos of me and my babies as lovely as these, even just to keep for myself.

With Mum's permission, I share with you the beautiful bond she shares with her little hunk of love. He is SO heckin' cute!! I hope you love them as much as I do. If you are breastfeeding and think that you'd like to capture some of those moments to hang onto, I would be absolutely smitten to chat and plan a session together.

Kitchener Sitter Session!

Gahhh! Give me ALL the little sitters! On Friday, I had this little beauty in the studio for her Sitter session. It was wonderful seeing her again! The last time I photographed her she was just a wee babe - maybe a week old!

This is one of my favourite sessions to capture before the BIG O-N-E Cake Smash session because we get to showcase all the charming personality that shines through. She has grown and changed so much, and its easy to see what an amazing toddler she will be soon!

For this session, a custom outfit was ordered from a very talented vendor who is wildly popular in the biz. If you have the chance, check out her work here: https://www.facebook.com/Propsbyjeana
She has beautiful outfits for almost any age and is open to ideas, which worked out awesome, because I made a few special requests for this particular outfit. And oh my goodness - the colours!? My all time fav!!

This can be a session that is sometimes overlooked for a special photoshoot, and I truly wish more parents booked it. Its just so cool to see the in-between stage, where already so much development has taken place, yet SO much more is about to happen! In just a short while this precious little princess will be walking and talking up a storm! I can't wait for her 1st birthday. Mum and I are 100% in cahoots planned the perfect custom theme which will absolutely knock everyones socks off!

Let me know what you think of her session, and if you have a little one at home who is sitting, or just about to start, get in touch today and let's plan something awesome to remember this fun stage with!!

Kitchener Newborn Session - Baby T!

Happy Long Weekend everyone! It's almost time for the kids to go back to school and I have a feeling there are a lot of parents secretly excited about this. lol We've had a great summer and fortunately, I haven't experiencfed too many moment's were I was counting down the days until school begins, but here we are! The EVE of a new school year!

It' has definitely been a busy summer for me in the studio...A few weeks back I had 4 babies in the studio nearly back-to-back and 3 of those babes were wee boys! I'm always excited when I get the call that a babe has made his/her arrival into this world because thats my cue to start planning their session! This session was especially dear to me because it was the baby of a close friend of mine who works in the industry. His work is awesome and you can check it out here: http://www.justinalexanderstudios.com/

This sweet baby boy was just 6lbs of pure perfection. He slept the whole session and let me dress him and pose him to my hearts content! In my business we call this kind of baby a "Unicorn Baby" because not all newborns come into the studio ready to sleep and be posed as easily as this one! WIN!

We had a terrific session. Mum and Dad got to sit, relax and watch some TV for a bit while Little T and I had some fun! I'm extremely pleased with his session and hope that one day he has the chance to book back on these memories of his earliest days with awe that he was so tiny way back when. :-)

So far, the winter is promising lots of babies in studio!! I'm excited as always, but if you happen to be expecting a new family member it's a good idea to reach out and book in your Maternity and/or NewLife session as soon as possible.