Memories Portraits {blogged} » Peeks into Memories | Knoxville Photographer, Nancy Belden

Hey guys, just wanted to pop in for a quick minute to wish everyone a Happy Labor Day weekend! Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog lately… we have tons to share but have been so busy with the new birth website and other various new projects (I think we aren’t happy unless we’re overwhelmed, haha!) We are, however, taking the weekend off to recoup and enjoy some family time… so we will be out of the studio tomorrow and will return calls and emails on Tuesday. Enjoy!!

I was so excited to hear of this wonderful family’s new edition. I feel so honored to have photographed each one of their precious children in their first year. Beautiful family, beautiful images, beautiful girl!

I had such a wonderful time photographing little Addie this weekend, her momma is my cousin and it was so wonderful to spend the day with family. I can honestly say that she was the sleepiest baby I have ever worked with, this girl was a total dream… and who doesn’t love it when a nine-day-old newborn flashes a smile that big??! She is also the first baby to wear the new hat I knitted while at home sick a couple of weeks ago. All in all, What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Miss Isabella came into the studio and had such a good time, she decided to join our Baby’s First Year Program! We just loved this sweet girl, and we look forward to watching her grow. Great session!!

Sweet Rory Kathleen came into the studio this week for her Squish session, and we simply loved her. She was so agreeable and such a great little sleeper, this pretty girl was putty in our hands, lol! She also has the kindest family, and we are so glad they found us just a few short months ago!

Her mommy paid us the best compliment too. After the session was wrapped up, she asked us how long we’ve been working together… and when we answered nearly 2 years, she was surprised and said just how well we communicate with one another… knowing what needs to be done without saying it. Most people don’t realize that Nancy, Michelle and I all work together during an entire Squish session. Nancy and Michelle work their camera magic, while I pose the babies. It works for us, we’ve been shooting newborns like this for what feels like forever now and I can’t imagine it any other way. If I haven’t said it lately… I love my job, it just doesn’t get better than this. Thanks to everyone who make this kind of work possible… and thanks to our wonderful and loyal clients — you and your sweet kiddos are what keep us going… literally!



And this one is my personal fave! Thanks so much guys for bringing in these sunflowers for your session. We loved them, and judging by the look on Miss Rory’s face… she does too!

Alright guys, here it is, my first experience photographing a birth… and I owe a huge thanks to Liz and Seth for letting me in on their amazing day! Liz is so beautiful and the entire family was so, so gracious, I could not have asked for more.  All of this to say, as much as I’m talking about myself here, that is not what this day was about… this day was truly about just being there with my camera and this family during their most special day… documenting the first journey of sweet Anna Kate.  It was a true miracle to witness this precious girl enter the world… amazing family, amazing girl!   You guys are the best

And, thanks so much to everyone for the amazing response we have gotten for our birth photography services!  We are excited to have more upcoming births within the next little bit… Hannah & Candace — you’re next girls!

oh, and the artists to these amazing songs are Innocence Mission “Wonderful World” and Matthew West “Safe and Sound”.

Remember this? The contest with Regal was a smashing success, and we are so excited that we now have winners to announce! Babies Eva, Sawyer & Kaori’s parents have all been contacted and will be enjoying their prizes soon. And thanks so much to everyone who entered, we had such a great time with this contest (and, from what I hear, Regal had a verrry difficult time deciding… all of the babies were so adorable and so full of personality!) We can’t wait to get Eva & Kaori into the studio for their sessions (and, Sawyer, enjoy your movie themed birthday party!)… see you soon girls!!

As soon as my mother-in-law brought this old tricycle over to my house, I knew I would be using it for something special.  It belonged to my husband when he was a toddler.   Soooo, for Lexi’s third birthday session last week, I bought a dozen balloons and had Nancy go to town photographing Lexi with her daddy’s favorite old toy.  This was, by far, the most fun session we’ve ever done with her!  And before you ask, I bought her dress at Target (for $11 — what a steal!)… the top was plain though, and quite boring compared to the cute, cute bottom… so I hired one of our newest clients Julia of Elise Claire Designs to cutify the top (I’m pretty sure I just made that word up, LOL!)

The result of it all… pure L-O-V-E.  Today is my girl’s third birthday, and I think we shall go play and enjoy THREE!

Let me start off by saying just how very excited I am to finally reveal this video slideshow!   Many of you already know that my sister is an apprentice for Lisa Coomer, and has been planning for a home delivery ever since she found out she was pregnant.  But I’ve got to share with you a little about this amazing day, because I don’t want the images of the paramedics to leave you wondering.  {And a note about the video, I nearly decided to leave out the paramedic image, but ultimately decided to include it because it was an important part of the day… not a part that we planned on, but a major part of Robin’s delivery… so it’s in there, because real life happens.} My sister texted my mom and I around lunchtime to let us know that it was probably ‘Baby Day’… and not too long after that, we got a phone call from Jason (my brother-in-law) that we had better hurry on over because it was happening fast.  Let me tell you, we drove like a couple of crazy ladies to the other side of town just to make sure we didn’t miss this moment.  Once we got into the house, Robin was nearly ready to push.  Two hours later Luna Summer entered the world (did I mention that we all just knew that this baby would be a boy?!) We were so elated and surprised when Jason announced “It’s a GIRL!” just a second after delivery.  About 45 minutes after Luna was delivered, Robin delivered the placenta but it did not properly detach – part of it was still connected which meant that she was bleeding uncontrollably.  I immediately called 911, and Lisa began giving my sister medication to stop the bleeding.  The ambulance came and took Robin to the hospital, where she had to have surgery to remove the rest of her placenta.  After a couple of days, the hospital released Robin, and she’s doing more than fine now.  Robin showed incredible grace and perseverance during this amazing event, and I have never been more proud to call her my sister… and sweet baby Luna was born perfect and healthy, and is growing more beautiful by the day.  I feel like I should also tell you that what happened during Robin’s delivery is very, very rare; and I don’t want to frighten anyone who is considering a home birth.  Robin was Lisa’s 603 delivery, and this was only the 4th time that she has had to call for an ambulance transport… I don’t know the stats on anything, but I’d say those were pretty good numbers!  And I must say that if you are considering a home birth, I would 100% recommend Lisa.  I found her to be kind and caring, but also bold and assertive when it was necessary… just the combination you need in a good midwife.

Now… onto business.  We have been considering adding Birth Photography to our services for a while now, and now that we have done one… this project is AGO!  Most of our clients have met Michelle, Nancy’s daughter, working in the studio.  Michelle has an excellent eye for photography and also has become quite the Photoshop user around here, and she will be photographing these very special occasions.  Memories is currently looking for 5 expecting parents to allow us into your Labor & Delivery to photograph your amazing experience — at no charge to you!  With these special sessions, you will receive all of your original images, along with about 50-75 images in black & white on disc, a video slideshow set to music on dvd and an additional file that you may upload (if you wish), and a set of black & white 4×6 proofs of all images included in your video.  What we promise to you — to be a fly on the wall — we are not there to be in yours or the staffs way, or to distract or to interrupt your experience… we are simply there to document your day, as it happens.  There are so many things that are easily and quickly forgotten about these special days, we believe that it is important to preserve these memories just as they happen.  What we need from you — rights to your images and your video — in order to promote this new service, we need images and videos with which to share… we promise to use creative cropping, just as I have done in this video here  (and we can leave out the actual birth photos — my sister has given full permission to share, so they have been included in this video).  The last thing that I want to say is that I’m sure you’ll notice that we elected not to do touchup on Birth Sessions.  While we preform vigerous touchup on all of our portrait sessions, we feel that cleaning up skin and reducing body sizes would not accurately display the true events of the day… and these days are beautiful, so very beautiful, just as they are.

because. they. are. real. life.
[video type="vimeo" id="12755807" width="720" height="480"]

Interested expectant parents, please contact us with your due date and birth plan, so that we may see if we can accommodate you with a Birth Session… we can’t wait!

We have been looking forward to this Squish Session for quite some time now (oh, about 8 months ago when my sister and her husband told us that they were expecting their first baby!)  Nancy, Michelle and I thoroughly enjoyed posing and photographing this sweet gal during her session.  At just eight days old, she is honestly one of the sweetest, cuddliest little girls with whom we have had the pleasure to work. Luna was indeed very, very good to us… and soooo strong too! But let me tell you, she comes from one strong mama… I know I’ve already said it, but I was just so grateful to witness little Luna make her entrance into the world.  More on Robin’s amazing birth later though… for now, I would like love to introduce to you my beautiful niece, Luna Summer.







**edited to add: how could I forget to thank one of our most awesome clients ev-ah, Miss Kandice! She surprised us with the most awesome gift for any portrait photographer… these adorable hair flowers! Kandice, girl, you are awesome and we appreciate the heck out of you. So glad to have met you just over a year ago, sister!