Fall Mini Sessions 2019 | Indianapolis Family Photographer

Fall mini sessions are now open to the public!  Book your fall mini's today as slots will fill up quick.

Sunday, October 6th at Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis

SOLD OUT

Saturday, October 26th at Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis

9:00am

Saturday, November 2nd at TBD (NW side of Indy)

Times: Sold out!

Details:

• $175 for a 15 minute session

• Includes 8 edited images that you pick with print release (option to upgrade for $50 to receive all edited images)

• Limited to 5 people per session

• Payment is due upon booking and is non-refundable (exception noted below). If you have to cancel, your payment will go towards another session with Kelly Martin Photography.

• If inclement weather occurs, a backup date will be provided. If that date does not work for you, we can work out an individual session time or I will refund your fee.

• To book your session, contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388. Please provide your preferred date and time. Once a date/time is confirmed, I will send you a booking link to sign a contract and pay the session fee. Your spot is not guaranteed until the session fee is paid.

The Kirkpatrick Family | Coxhall Gardens Family Session | Carmel Family Photographer

Sometimes it’s funny to me how the first time I meet many of my clients is the day I photograph them. It’s pretty standard in the industry and I guess it takes a certain type of person to drum up conversation with all types of people (the little humans and the adult humans) to help the session go well. I have to win clients over and make them smile, and be playful, and have fun in a short period of time. Something like this would completely stress me out several years ago but now, it’s all part of this gig. My planning helps. I get to know my clients by sending a questionnaire where they share their kids’ interests and their hopes and dreams for the session. This planning portion has been so key in helping me create a vision for a session before it even happens.

I met the Kirkpatrick family for the first time on a PERFECT evening in May. It not only was a perfect evening but they were the perfect family. We played, swung the kids around, tickled, adored the baby bump on mom (baby #4!!), and most importantly, had fun. The vision I had for a playful, candid session came to life. Amazing clients make amazing pics….

If you are looking for a family photographer in the Indianapolis area, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388. 

Olivia | 7 Days Old | Zionsville Newborn Photographer

Life is pretty sweet at 7 days old. No responsibilities. Sleep is life. Eating is life. Mom and Dad take care of everything. I visited the Thakrar’s a week after Olivia was born and she was living the good life, just like any 7 day old should. Teresa and Sanjay were rocking the parenthood thing already. We spent the afternoon of St. Patty’s day chasing some great light in their home and capturing sweet images of their new family of three.

If you are looking for a maternity or newborn photographer in the Indianapolis area, please contact me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com or 765-749-4388.

What is newborn photography? | What session is right for me? | Indianapolis Newborn Photographer

My Road To Newborn Photography

Back when I had my first kid seven years ago, I knew pretty much nothing about newborn photography. I had a friend of a friend who was building her portfolio come over and take some posed images of my new babe. I remember being intrigued and thought she was a baby whisperer. And I adored those images and honestly had no idea what it took to create them and make them look perfect. After we had said kid for awhile I decided we needed a nice camera. I purchased a Sony mirrorless camera for $800 that I thought was pretty fantastic. I was still shooting on auto but it was good enough for me. Once we had kid #2, I decided to take newborn photos myself using an awful green fleece blanket and a snowman hat. I look at those now and cringe, but at the time I thought they were the bomb. (: I would share but I don’t want to embarrass myself. Fast forward to my third kid, which was early in my business and I did take her newborn photos. Much better but not to where I am today.

Newborn photography is an absolute art. When I started my business I knew I wanted to include newborn sessions in my offerings. And to complicate it more and give myself a real challenge, I wanted to tackle posed newborns. In those first couple years of my business, I was not that good at the posed stuff. I didn’t have much of a plan going into a session and I didn’t prepare the parents enough. In my first year I had one newborn session last 6 hours. 6 hours!!! That is insane. I didn’t improve until I committed to learning. Perfecting posing - investing in training videos from some of the best photographers and focusing on just a few at a time. Perfecting wrapping - this was huge for me because I discovered that my starting off sessions with a calm wrapped baby gave me confidence at the beginning of a session because I was able to capture several great images almost immediately. Perfecting editing - I learned Photoshop at the end of my second year in business and it’s a game-changer for newborn editing. Newborn editing is both time-consuming and tedious and any tools to make that easier, like Photoshop, are necessary. And perfecting….I use that term loosely…..there is always so much more I want to learn and improve on. But baby steps and with each year I’m getting better and better.

What is Newborn Photography?

Newborn photography is not all about the posed images. There are basically three different types of newborn sessions offered by photographers (and this does not include birth photography - but that is a thing too):

• Fresh 48 Session -This session is held in the hospital after the baby is born, and typically happens with the first 48 hours of life. These sessions are documentary and focus on the emotions of those first few hours with your baby. Very unposed, very candid.

• Lifestyle Session - This session is typically held in your home in the first couple weeks after you bring your baby home. This session is also a very documentary-styled shoot, focusing on emotions and connections while shooting in well-lit areas of your home. It’s a “this is how our life was at this point in time” type of session. Some photographers do offer a lifestyle set up in their studio with a bed and/or couch to mimic a home.

• Posed Session - This is probably the type of session that comes to mind first when people think of newborn photography. Sleeping newborns in wraps and props, wearing hats and headbands, or sometimes naked on blankets in cute poses. Anne Geddes was one of the pioneers in posing newborns in different props. In this type of session, the photographer works with a (normally) sleepy newborn to position the baby in flattering and adorable poses that accentuate their tiny features - those tiny hands, fingers, toes, lips, etc. And some poses show off how curly they still are after being in mom’s womb for 9 months.

What does KMP offer?

KMP currently (this blog post is dated in early 2019 and these may change over time - for the most accurate info always check out my Investment page) offers four different types of newborn sessions:

• Posed+lifestyle session - This session is held in your home and offers a mix of the traditional baby-only posed shots as well as some documentary lifestyle images for sibling, parent and family shots. I bring my “studio” to you and provide props, wraps, blankets, headbands, and hats for the posed portion. It typically lasts 3-4 hours including my set-up and tear down but the glorious thing about this session is not having to leave your home.

Newborn Posed+Lifestyle Session

• Lifestyle session - As mentioned above in the descriptions, this type of session is very unposed and candid. The focus is on capturing the emotions of those first couple weeks home with your new little one. I typically shoot these sessions with all natural light. We will spend some time touring your home and to find the best lighting. Then I guide you through some “poses” to make the best use of the light. We’ll get a variety of images - entire family, each parent with baby, sibing shots, if applicable and baby only. This session typically lasts 1.5 hours.

Newborn Lifestyle Session

• Studio mini session - This is a fully posed session held in my in-home studio. At the time of writing this, I only offer a mini wrapped session in studio BUT I do have plans in the future to offer a full session so please check my Investment page to see what my current offerings are. The studio mini is a session where baby stays wrapped the entire time, but I layer wraps to get a variety of looks. It includes 2-3 baby-only set ups as well as sibling, parent and family shots. This is a 60-75 minute session with limited images included with the session fee.

Newborn Studio Mini Session

• Fresh 48 - This session is usually included in a package along with one of the above newborn sessions. A Fresh 48 is done in the hospital following birth. It captures the newness and emotions following the arrival of your new babe.

Fresh 48

What session is right for me?

Need help deciding what session is a good fit for you and your family? I think the most important question to ask first is what type of images are you drawn towards? If you absolutely love the baby-only posed shots, then you can narrow it down to the Posed+Lifestyle or the Studio Mini session. The baby-only shots will be almost identical with either session, except the Posed+Lifestyle session possibly will include some naked shots if that is priority for you and if baby will cooperate. Parent and family shots will be more posed and formal in the studio and will be more lifestyle in the in-home session.

If you are more into the documentary/candid images in your home and posed images don’t intrigue you, then the Lifestyle session is perfect for you.

The time in the hospital is a blur - trust me, I’ve had three kids. So maybe capturing that time is important to you - just so you remember, with clear, sharp, creative images. They probably aren’t the images you will hang on your wall but you will treasure looking back on them when your kids are older and giving birth is a speck of a memory.

I always ask my clients, “what do you envision on your wall?” What do you want to hang on your wall? Do you have plans to hang the adorable posed baby images in the nursery? Do you want a large family canvas for the living room? Or maybe a collage of B&W candid images from a lifestyle session? I think starting there will give you a good foundation on how to choose. And let me know exactly what you want and I can possibly create a session for you that checks all of your boxes.

Just know that with any session you choose, I will be there to help you prepare and guide you through it. I send out prep guides for each session so you know exactly what to expect. And I’m always here to answer any questions you may have. I’m a mother and I’ve been there before.

Spring Mini Sessions 2019

Scheduling spring mini sessions is like trying to read Mother Nature’s mind…..when will the blossoms, warmth and greens be back? I am not a mind reader but I will do my best based on past history. I am offering two different sessions this year on different dates - one evening and one morning. Locations will be determined and communicated at a later time but I typically hold sessions on the NW side of Indy, Zionsville, or in the Carmel area but I may toy with the idea of shooting downtown on the canal if it’s not green enough, at least for the April session.

April 28 - evening - SOLD OUT!

May 19 - morning 6:50am, 7:15am

Details of the sessions:

- 20 minutes

- 8 edited digitals

- $175

- option to upgrade for $50 to receive all edited digitals

- limited to 5 family members

Session fee is due upon booking and is non-refundable. If weather doesn’t cooperate, I will provide a backup date.

Email me at kellymartinphotos@gmail.com with your preferred date/time and I will send you a booking email.