At the very beginning of the year I was contacted by Casey who was inquiring about a bundle for their first baby. They live in my neighborhood and I'm sure have seen me post me work and my extensive closet of maternity gowns on occasions for other neighbors. There was one dress in particular that caught Casey's attention... The Rainbow Gown. Casey and Mason had lost their first baby at about 12 weeks, so this time around they they were hopeful and so excited.

Casey loved my beach work so we decided on a sunset session on Folly Beach towards the washout and walked down to where the beach is pretty quiet and you can see the Lighthouse peeking through. 

We started with the white Everly gown, I knew that would fit her perfectly and was an amazing base for the Promise Rainbow Skirt I have in my closet to add. 

It was stunning on her, and we got some gorgeous colors in the sky that night to compliment. 

Once we completed their maternity session in early March is when we play the waiting game... for what feels like FOREVER! I instructed Casey on the importance of keeping me in the loop about induction dates or dilation since she booked a Fresh 48. 

Casey was due for induction on the 28th of May but Finleigh had her own plan, eight days earlier they were headed to the hospital and she was born May 20th at 10:38 pm weighing 6lbs and 15oz!

I met them at the hospital the next day to photograph their Fresh 48 documentary session. 

The planning of the newborn session was fun, Casey had some fabulous ideas and color preferences and I surprised her with a few ideas of my own. She knew she wanted to incorporate the color purple to match the Nursery and Mason's badge. She also wanted something Duke themed but as it turned out we actually didn't get to that set up and decided we'll save that for when she is sitting up. But what we did accomplish in our time frame of "milk drunk baby sleeping" was an amazing variety of colorful portraits.

We didn't have a whole lot of light in their home so I actually photographed all of Finleigh's individual portraits right in their entry way of their front door. The heat of the summer coming in acted as my space heater and the light reflecting off of the adjacent house was the perfect amount of light.

Finleigh is very much a SUMMER BABY so when I went shopping for fabrics I kept this in mind. Casey wanted bold and bright colors and when I came across the lemons I fell in love. I knew I had some great accessories to match so that was my personal choice of set up after their chosen purple set up. I also knew I wanted to use the Promise Rainbow Skirt again, I had used it in the past for a newborn and knew that it made for a stunning backdrop. I built up my crate with the skirt completely covering the floor and set her right on top. The wrap I chose was still within their bright and girly theme and it tied in all the colors of the skirt as well. To photograph this I actually had to hide my own feet underneath the gown so that I could get close enough to shoot from right above her. And finally, I always bring along my black bean bag for the classic black and white shots with a personal touch. As mentioned above, Casey wanted to use Mason's Mount Pleasant PD badge and it was the perfect size for Finleigh to hold. 

We concluded our session with the family shots in their living room near their windows for some light and their wooden wedding guest book on the wall. 

You know that term "Worth the wait"? I think that describes everything about this family, this baby girl, this session, and life in general sometimes really.

Finleigh Lauren was absolutely worth the wait. She is perfect and so loved by so many!