You can run into the oddest little creatures during the summer in North Carolina. This little milk maid was spotted in June and her cuteness stopped me in my tracks. Meet sweet Sofia at the 6 month mark.

I captured her newborn portraits, which are adorable, but for this session, her mom wanted something extra special. We created a setting in our outdoor portrait garden under a chestnut tree that has become a particularly favorite backdrop recently. Mom Jessica selected the colors, brought flowers, a flower crown and the milk. We provided the setting, galvanized wash tub and additional props.

Sofia’s session took place during the uncertainty and “social distancing” we’ve all tried to adjust to. Mom, Jessica is an ER nurse, so for her safety was premier, but she was thrilled when she found out I was more than willing to photograph Sofia in a milk bath for her six month portraits. If you follow us and this blog, you know that these sessions are part of our one year package.

It’s important for any type of session involving liquid that the child can sit up and is stable on their own which meant we were slightly past the six month mark. I’ve found that for some parents the exact six month mark is important to capture while for others it’s less about the number and more about capturing the new found mobility of sitting up and crawling. Those two things don’t always necessarily come at the same time. My job is to be flexible, creative and help generate an easy scenario for grabbing the best possible images. The natural light, flowers and milk, especially against Sofia’s complexion all worked together.

Prior to the milk bath, I took more traditional portraits of Sofia using some of the props in our outdoor portrait garden. Parents needn’t worry about portrait sessions during this pandemic, especially during the mild months. I shoot outside, all props and accessories of Pixels on Paper are thoroughly cleaned before each session and only I touch my gear during the session. We remain socially distanced and extremely careful.

I look forward to seeing you soon, sweet Sofia.

We love family portraits whether they are set in the studio, the great outdoors, a specific location like the mountains or high country, or on our property in our outdoor portrait garden. Pixels on Paper photographs newborns and families, special events and portraits  of all kinds in our Wilkesboro, NC studio. We would be honored to meet with you, learn about you and your family and be a part of taking special portraits that will become, we hope, family heirlooms.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States LicenseAll photos are ©2020 Pixels On Paper. Do not copy, crop, or remove watermark.