As I begin this post I’m mentally bringing myself back to my drive into Iowa from Chicago… cruising through the lonely lands of nothingness that are the midwest, the fog so dense it carried a haunting beauty, I made my way to visit close friends of mine and their new littlest arrival.  The Dodds had just recently welcomed their third boy and while Shannon herself is an incredibly talented photographer, and it might sound like fun to spend days on end photographing your own baby with no pressure or time restraints, you never are truly present in a moment if you’re busy looking at it through a lens.. So I was more than elated to be there for her with my own camera along with our other two friends, Brittany & Jessica.  When I first arrived I walked into the house and downstairs into a sweltering hot sauna (aka, my typical working environment) to find Shannon feeding baby Jefferson and Brittany waiting for his next sleepy spell.  Brittany flew all the way in from San Diego and is not only a totally amazing person, she is a beyond amazing photographer (in fact, she and her business partner, Carrie, trained me in all I know about safe newborn handling and photographing!).  We spent the rest of Day 1 working with baby Jefferson before our other friend arrived from NYC to join in on the fun, and truly the next 2 days were something fierce for all of us from both a personal and professional perspective.  Not only was I so grateful to spend time with 3 friends who normally live on opposite spectrums of the country.. but as a photographer I felt beyond inspired to be one of 4 completely different types of creative genius meeting up and collaborating together under one roof.   We photographed Jefferson in Brittany’s style of sleepy newborns; we all took turns having our way with Jessica’s sweet 6 month old Eva (whose cupid bow lips absolutely slay me!); and I even got to have my a little candid lifestyle session with Shannon, Wyatt, and the boys 🙂  I could have cried when I left that Sunday morning to go back to Chicago but I know that I’ll see my friends all again really soon.  And in the meantime, I have all of these pictures to remind me of the many wonderful memories we made together in those 3 days 🙂

Note: credit to Brittany Woodall of Baby as Art for being in charge of posing sleepy Jefferson not only so beautifully but oh-so-safely (yes, even the snow shot we performed under the most extremely cautious measures).