Category: Toddlers - LONG ISLAND NEWBORN AND PET PHOTOGRAPHER - LAURA PEA PHOTOGRAPHY

Happy Halloween! 2019

10/31/2019

Fall is my favorite season and Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I pretty much smile the entire month of October. Seeing the leaves change, going to fall festivals, decorating the porch with a ton of autumn decor, and planning out costumes is just so much fun for me. My fall porch is something I take a lot of pride in, so last year I took photos of Seth, Gracey and Ash out there.

This year, I had a fall set up in the studio for a few sessions, and if you follow my Instagram, you’ll probably have seen my stories about how incredibly messy the bales of hay were! I took some photos of Seth up there, and then we moved out to the porch, taking those messy hay bales with us! Gracey joined us at the end too!
Here are my favorites from that day!

Then a few days later, I took Gracey up in the studio for her close up in her Halloween costume! Again, if you follow my Instagram (or if you know just how crazy I am), it won’t be a surprise to you that I bought a little something to match her while we go trick or treating with Seth and for handing out Halloween candy!

Here is Seth in his actual Halloween costume as an Ewok from Star Wars. It was so hilarious watching him walk around with the oversized belly, he looked like a big teddy bear. It was so sweet. I love this little boy so much.

Follow along with me on Instagram for more Seth and Gracey :) and Happy Halloween!

Dominic’s First Birthday Session at Fink’s Country Farm

10/8/2019

Dominic is the son of one of my best friends, Dina and her husband Mike. Dom gave everyone a big scare when he was born and his parents couldn’t bring him home until he was 6 weeks old. That meant his newborn photos were really special for me, because I was so happy we could finally see him out of the NICU.

Now, he’s happy and healthy and today he turned 1. To see the long way he’s come is amazing! To celebrate his October birthday, his parents planned him a fall themed bash at Fink’s Country Farm in Wading River. We met there a few weeks before the party to take some fun first birthday photos!

Dominic is so fun to photograph because he’s got so many amazing facial expressions. He does this hilarious surprised face when something really strikes him and it’s the funniest thing! I loved celebrating him at his first birthday party this weekend. Happy First Birthday, Big Dom!
Here are some of my favorite photos from his session!

One more thing, just so you know, in all the photos where Dominic is sitting up high on top of things, I edited out his parents holding onto him. I'd never put a 1 year old 4 feet off the ground on top of a metal cow. I say this because I never want an amateur or beginning photographer to see something here and attempt it, not knowing the image was edited. Always put your subject's safety first, no matter what! This has been a public service announcement by Laura Pea Photography : )

Book a session with me! Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or call me at (631)256-7476.

Lily's First Birthday Photos

10/6/2019

Lily is my friend Brandon's baby and she's turning one! Brandon and his wife Richelle moved to Connecticut a few years ago, so I especially love photographing Lily because it means I can see her cute face and also catch up with her parents! It also means her and my nephew Seth can see each other! They're 3 months apart and it's so cute to see them play together! My sister Lisa and Brandon's older brother were friends and Brandon and I have been friends for years and years, so now we call Lily and Seth "third generation friends". :)

It feels like just yesterday that I shot her newborn and Christmas photos last year, I can barely believe she's already a year old! She's so smiley and talkative, and even though she was a little tired during our session, she gave me such beautiful smiles! She loved playing with the gourds I set up for her fall-themed photos at the end of the session! Props to Brandon for picking out her adorable fall dress! That is not usually the dad's territory, but he did a great job!
Here are some of my favorites from Lily's First Birthday Session!

After our session, her and Seth played downstairs and I got this really precious photo on my phone. I can't take the sweetness.

Book a session with me!
Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com
or call me at (631)256-7476.

Seth's Memory Bear

8/14/2019

Like most people my age, I’ve spent a good portion of my life saving ideas to Pinterest that I will never ever use. There was a certain pin housed in my “DON’T LOOK LISA” board, a secret board to which I saved ideas for my sister’s bridal shower, bachelorette party, 35th birthday, baby shower, etc. This pin sat there for years waiting, just like we did, for baby Seth to arrive. I knew, when the time was right, this was one idea that I would go through with.

The pin was for an Etsy shop called “The Pretty Piggy”. The owner makes handmade keepsake memory bears (also dogs, foxes, bunnies, elephants, you name it). They are customized to a baby’s exact birth weight and height, and made with the baby’s own clothes and blankets! It took me a while to decide which of Seth’s clothes I wanted to send in. I wanted to make sure I included ones that Lisa loved and that I loved, but I didn’t want to ruin anything important that he only had one of. I ended up choosing the onesies he’d worn the most when he was tiny because they were ones he’d also had in newborn and in 3-6 month sizes. I also sent in a blanket that he hadn’t used but had a onesie in the same pattern.

The bear took about 12 weeks to arrive, so if you're looking to get one, you need to order way ahead of time! But 12 weeks is worth the wait for something made so beautifully. Lisa cried when I gave it to her. We all went back and forth holding Seth now at 1 year old, and holding the bear to compare him to the weight he was when he was born. Then, of course, I brought him and the bear into the studio for some photos. That romper he's wearing in the photos is Lisa's favorite from when he was a tiny baby. She had it in the newborn size, 3 months, and 12 months. The outside of the bear's legs are covered in that pattern. This is probably the only time Seth is going to be able to play with the bear until he's much older, since it's really a display piece for his nursery, and he's a bit rough on his toys!

Go check out The Pretty Piggy on Etsy, the owner is so talented!

And just to let you know, if you think it's easy taking photos of a rambunctious 1 year old who just learned to walk, check out some of these outtakes. If Puffs hadn't been invented, I have no idea how I'd get a photo of him at this age! Thank you as always to my mother, who is Laura Pea Photography's official Spokesbaby Wrangler.

photo of a memory bear by the pretty piggy shop on etsy and a 1 year old baby boy photographed by Laura Pea Photography

photo of a memory bear by the pretty piggy shop on etsy and a 1 year old baby boy photographed by Laura Pea Photography

photo of a memory bear by the pretty piggy shop on etsy and a 1 year old baby boy photographed by Laura Pea Photography

Think Baby Seth is adorable? Follow me on Instagram to see waaaaaaay too much of him :)

Caroline & Nathaniel's First Birthday (feat. Benjamin Franklin the Dog)

7/26/2019

You might remember last summer when I shot an incredibly sweet session with newborn twins and their big adorable Airedale Terrier named Benjamin Franklin. If not, check it out here! I loved this session so much because it perfectly combined my two specialities, newborns and pets. That's why I was so happy when mom Sarah got in touch with me again for round 2 for the twins' first birthday photos! Of course, Benjamin was coming along for the ride too! This time, since the babies are a lot bigger and on the move (Nathaniel is walking, Caroline is close to it!), Sarah decided to adopt a 1:1 supervision technique! She would be in charge of one baby, dad AJ would be in charge of the other, and her brother, the twins' Uncle John, would be there to keep a hold on Benjamin. With two spirited one year olds and a huge dog, needless to say, we all got a workout that day, but it was SO. MUCH. FUN. Is there anything cuter than seeing dogs and babies interact? I daresay there is not.

My favorite photo of the day was a special request by Sarah for a photo to go on some change of address cards. The family is moving soon to a house on a street called Caroline Avenue. She had a friend make shirts for the twins to wear, Nathaniel's with their house number (which I removed in this photo below, since I don't think they'd want me broadcasting their address to the whole internet!), Caroline's with just an arrow pointing up to her face, and a sign with the word Avenue for Benjamin Franklin to wear. Since from previous experience, I know how hard it is to get two kids and a dog to look at me at the same time, I opted to take a few photos of all of them together to have for size reference, and then individuals that I could put together later in Photoshop. I absolutely love the way this came out. They're just too cute.

Photo of twin one year old boy and girl with their Airedale Terrier dog for an address change announcement card.

It means so much to me when clients bring back their children that I've photographed as newborns. It's so fun to see how much bigger they've gotten and what kinds of personalities they've developed over their first year. It also makes me feel great that they're putting their trust in me once again to document a really special time for their family. Here are some more of my favorites from the session!

Have you always wanted your babies and furbabies together for a great photo? Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or call me at (631)256-7476 to schedule a session!

Seth’s First Birthday

7/10/2019

I can barely believe it. One year ago today, my nephew Seth was born. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not a sappy person. I can rarely get through a serious moment without cracking a joke. But when I think of how much I love this little boy, I might as well be a walking Hallmark movie.

My sister Lisa, brother in law Will and little baby Seth lived with us for 7 months until they moved into their house. Oh, and their house is right behind mine. That closeness means I’ve seen Seth almost every single day of his life (except for 2 when I was sick). Every morning from Tuesday to Thursday, I wake up early and go over to take care of Seth while Lisa goes to work. We spend the morning just having Seth and Aunt Laura time before I bring him to his Gigi, so I can get to work. I love that time with him, even though it means I've had to become a morning person :)

As a photographer, I got so lucky with this kid, because he loves to smile. Every time I point my lens toward him, he turns on the charm. After a couple of rough years of losses for my family, Seth has been a tiny little beacon of light for us, making every moment better with his beautiful little round face and sweet smile.

Seth's 1 year photo shoot was very special to me, just like his newborn session was. That feels like it was just yesterday, but then I see the crawling, climbing, animated little boy farting and laughing all over the studio, and it makes me realize all that's changed in a year.

This blog has seen a lot of baby Seth over this year, as I've documented all his firsts. You might think that'll slow down now that he's 1.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
No way.
Seth has become the official spokesbaby for Laura Pea Photography, and that's never going to change, because he's always going to be #lilbabyseth to me.

Here's the birthday boy.

Addison’s Christmas Session 2018

12/19/2018

You’ve seen Addison on this blog a lot through the years, starting as a little newborn! She’s going to be 2 this December, so this month is very good to her! She came in for Christmas photos, and she even let her parents steal a little of her spotlight by getting into some family shots!

She did a great job posing and her parents and I had a very fun time doing silly things to make her laugh. The things you’ll do to make a kid smile are unbelievable! Here are some of my favorite photos from our session!

Do you have your own little model?
Schedule a session with me by emailing laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or calling
(631)256-7476!

Vincent & Louis’ Christmas Session 2018

12/18/2018

Vincent and Louis have been coming into the studio since before they were born! They've been back many times now and it was great to see them back again for their Christmas photos this year! They had a lot of fun playing with the props we had on hand! It was so sweet to see how curious and playful they are, and how well they play together. They gave nice big smiles for the camera, especially when we waved around toys of their favorite characters from Puppy Dog Pals!
Here are some of my favorite photos from their session!

Schedule a session with me by emailing laurapeaphotography@gmail.com
or calling (631)256-7476!

Vincent and Louis’ 1st Birthday Cake Smash

5/31/2018

I was there for the baby shower, the maternity photos, the newborn session, the Christening, the Christmas photos, and now, finally, the 1st birthday cake smash for twin brothers Vincent and Louis! These guys were smiling and ready for their session from the get go. I mean, they should be used to it at this point, right? I’m not even sure these boys would recognize me if there wasn’t a lens in front of my face.

They gave me a ton of smiles and made each other laugh a lot during our session. I have a feeling they’re going to be doing that their whole lives! Once we did photos in their cute outfits, we stripped them down to just a diaper cover and bow tie to get to the main event...the cake smash! Now I thought they were going to take after their cousin Addison, whose cake smash I shot in December. She attacked her cake with gusto!

Vincent and Louis, however, were much more reserved when the cakes came out! They each dipped a finger or two in the cake and took dainty little tastes of the frosting. It wasn’t until we got both boys and both cakes together that they really dug in. I think they were more interested in what each other had, so it spurred them on to get their hands dirty!
I think they liked it! Here are some of my favorite photos from their session. Enjoy!

Is your little one turning the big one?! Schedule a session today! Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or call me at (631)256-7476.

Addison’s Christmas Photos/1st Birthday Cake Smash

12/14/2017

So I shot Addison’s newborn photos and then I blinked...and it’s her 1st birthday already! She came back to the studio for some Christmas shots and a 1st birthday shoot, because she’s a December baby. We started off in her adorable Christmas dress, then did some family photos. Then she changed into a very cute 1st birthday outfit...and then...the cake smash!!

Boy, did she get into it. She was quite literally covered in frosting from head to toe. I’m not quite sure how much cake ended up in her mouth, but I know she enjoyed it immensely. Her parents had quite a cleanup on their hands afterwards, but she left the studio squeaky clean, with maybe just a tad bit of frosting behind the ears! In my opinion, we should all attack our birthday cakes with as much gusto as Addison! Well, maybe more like half the gusto. A quarter, at least. :D
Happy 1st birthday, kiddo!

Have a first birthday coming up in your family?
Schedule a cake smash today! Email me at laurapeaphotography@gmail.com or call me at (631)256-7476.