Photo Display at the Avon Library in Avon, Colorado.

This week marks the last week of my 2 month display at the Avon Library, featuring 50 of my favorite photos from the last couple of years.  It took a while to get the logistics of the display organized, including hoarding photo frames for about 6 months leading up to December (much to my husband's dismay, due to the lack of room in our garage!).

Given that our closest Michael's is in Denver, I surprised myself by being able to make it down there 3 times over the fall to collect numerous supplies including spray paint, mod podge, brushes, canvases, ribbons and a couple of frames.  A lot of the frames were given to me by friends or found in thrift stores, which gives the display an eclectic look.  I based the color scheme on a pad of scrap book paper that I found in Denver.  I was hoping to cover some of the frames with the funky designs, but that didn't go according to plan and alas, the pad is still sitting untouched in my closet.

For 2 weeks I was getting up at 5am to paint, repaint and frame the photos.  I had to get up early to do it before work and also before Maxwell woke up.  Although he wouldn't have made a good helper in the paint department, he was a great helper when it came to hanging the display, handing me nails and the hammer whenever I needed them.  Russ was also a big help in making sure all of the frames were safe and sturdy and not likely to drop off the wall!

Seeing as I'm in the photography business and not the framing business, I learned a few lessons the hard way.  For example, if you don't smooth everything down with Mod Podge, it will bubble up on you and you'll be forced to order re-prints and you'll need to pay extra to have them rush ordered.  I'm hoping to show the photos again in the Vail library later on this year.  That can only mean one thing...storing the photos in our little garage for little while longer!  Oh well :)

Haley's Maternity Photos in Edwards, Colorado. Through the Lens Series, Entry 37.

It's a been a few weeks since my last blog post, but I have plenty to post about.  I've been really busy with lots of photo shoots for christmas cards, so there will be more to come on those shortly.  I have a 50 photo display up in the Avon library (which took some time to get together with a lot of help Russ) and I'll post some photos of that soon too.  In the mean time, I'm going to go back a few weeks and post some photos from a maternity photo shoot that I did in Edwards for Haley and Mike.

To get the maximum effect from a maternity shoot, you don't want to do the photos any earlier than 36 weeks.  I've done a couple of sessions before that, but 36 weeks seems to be the general rule of thumb.  Haley was right at 36 weeks when we took the photos.  These were taken right around Thanksgiving and we didn't really  have much snow at the time, but we found a nice patch of snow outside Riverwalk and we took the rest of the photos around the Riverwalk area.

I loved the red top that Haley chose to wear.  It looked great against the late fall, early winter colors.  As I've mentioned before, I always love it when husbands take part in the session and Mike did a fantastic job helping Haley through the snow.

Here are a few of my faves from the session.  

I love the lighting on this shot.

To see more maternity photos, go to The Maternity Collection

Maternity Photos in Beaver Creek with Lili and Nico. Through the Lens Series, Entry 15

Today is Maxwell's first birthday, which is great segway into today's post about Lili and Nico's maternity photos.  I met Lili and Nico through mutual friends a couple of years ago.  Lili works as a nurse in the Labour and Delivery ward in Vail and we were lucky enough to have her as our nurse during my labour with Maxwell.  She played a very special role in helping our little man arrive safely into the world and we are eternally grateful to her and the amazing team or nurses in Vail for that.

When I found out that Lili was pregnant, I instantly wanted to do her maternity photos.  Did I mention that she also taught our labour classes?  Any woman that can teach a group of husbands effective ways to help their wives during labour deserves a good photo shoot right?!

We scheduled the shoot for last Thursday at a time when Nico could join us.  Lili was 35 weeks pregnant at the time, which is the perfect time to do maternity photos.  I know I've mentioned it before, but I'm loving the fact that so many husbands are taking part in maternity sessions now.  We took photos in various locations around Bachelor Gulch and Lili and Nico were so fun and easy going that it made for a really great session.

3 days later we had Lili's baby shower at the Alpine Arts Center in Edwards.  We made cute little applique shapes on onesies and t-shirts for Baby Ty and ate delicious cupcakes as we watched Lili open her presents.  Just standard fare for a baby shower...except that Baby Ty was born the next morning!

I've never had a maternity session that cut it so close.  Just 4 days earlier we were taking photos, so it was a huge surprise for everyone.  Lili, Baby Ty and Nico are all doing well.  So congratulations to the Browns and happy first birthday to my sweet Maxwell D!  Thank you to Lili for helping us out on this day 1 year ago and I hope you enjoy the photos.

PS:  There are people reading this post in New Zealand and America.  This blog is just not fancy enough to keep up with spelling variations across different continents.  Words like labor/labour and center/centre are going to pop in various forms, so bare with me as I try to decide which variation to use.

Click here to see more Maternity Photos in Vail, Colorado.

Caro's Maternity Photos in Eagle Vail. Through the Lens Series - Entry 9

I knew the time would come when I would fall behind with the Through the Lens series of photos, but I have a legit reason!  I've just been overwhelmed with a lot of photography projects this last couple of weeks, so now I'm in the catch up stage.

To get me back into the swing of things (or my A into G as we say in NZ), I'll start with this series of maternity photos with the beautiful Caro, her husband Skip and their adorable dog Perro.  We spent some time shooting on the Eagle Vail golf course, but we couldn't spend too long out there.  We've definitely had an unseasonably warm winter and pregnancy certainly keeps you much warmer than usual, but as you can see, we still have plenty of snow.  I'm loving the fact that more and more husbands are taking part in maternity sessions.  They definitely bring something special to maternity shoots, not to mention the dogs that seem to be stealing the show lately!

Caro is an extremely talented graphic designer with her own company based in Eagle Vail called Caro Creative.  She is also the creator of Something Good, which is a wonderful organization which donates a
t-shirt to a child in need for every t-shirt that is purchased.  She's also helping me with some White Starfish Photography re-branding, so keep an eye out for that in the near future.  The last photo shows a design that she created for their new addition, who will be named Oliver.  We're all very excited to meet him and it won't be long now!

 Click here to see more Maternity Photos in Vail, Colorado.

Maternity Photos in Avon, CO with Desiree and Lucas. Through the Lens Series - Entry 6

This was my first maternity shoot for 2012 and I was so excited to be able to capture such a beautiful moment in time for this amazing couple.  Desiree is a fellow photographer, so between the 2 of us, we had a ton of ideas to play around with different backdrops and props.   We were really lucky to have amazing natural light that day, which I always prefer because it saves me from lugging a big lighting rig around. 

You just need to take one look at these photos to see who the real scene stealer was.  In the Vail Valley, our dogs ARE our babies.  Clearly Miss Maddie is excited to meet the new addition to her household and it only took a few treats and lots of loving to get her to get in on the photos.  Isn't she adorable?!

If you know any engaged couples residing in Colorado, make sure to tell them about the Valentine's Day Engagement Photo Shoot Giveaway!  I'm giving away a 2 hour Engagement Photo session to once lucky couple and it's simple to enter.  Just click on the banner below or go to http://www.facebook.com/WhiteStarfishPhotography for more info.  There's only 7 days left!

Click here to see more Pregnancy Photos in Vail, Colorado.

Jessica's Maternity Session. Gypsum, Colorado.

This photo session is long past overdue to be posted, but sometimes life can get a little hectic with a little one. I had the good fortune of working with Jessica on numerous events at The Ritz-Carlton Club, Vail and we were both due with o...ur first babies at the same time. We'd host events once a week and it was always a good chance to catch up on each other's pregnancies. Baby Hank has moved on from the mountains and is now living it up on the beach!

To see more maternity portraits, go to The Maternity Portraits Collection. Vail, Colorado.