Madeline makes her debut

I haven’t had the privilege of doing a newborn photo shoot since last fall, so I was so thrilled to get to photograph darling Madeline that I couldn’t decide on just a few images.

Though she’s less than two weeks old, Madeline is already a young lady who knows what she likes. Topping the list of likes so far: Being swaddled. Dislikes: Being naked. So many of the photos show her snuggled up in her blankie, which in January in Wisconsin makes perfect sense and still lets her be perfectly adorable.

I convert many of my newborn photos to black and white, because it gives the images a classic look and is flattering to sensitive newborn skin. But Madeline was glowing, and I loved the colors in these photos.

A big yawn. Nobody said it was easy.

With mom and dad. Aren’t they a beautiful family?

Even though this photo is pretty nontraditional, I love how it turned out. Claudia, their very friendly 11-year-old calico cat, had been getting entirely too few pats over the last couple of weeks and she was going to let anyone who would listen know about it. Including me. It was a sweet reminder of how much family dynamics shift when a baby arrives.

I think this one would look lovely in black and white as well, but I had to showcase those baby blues.

Madeline with her beautiful Mom.

The same photo with Dad, though by this time the swaddling had kicked in.