Sometimes spontaneous sessions are the best! Baby Melissa and her beautiful family came to Israel for a 6-week vacation – and right before heading to their next destination (they traveled the world for a year!) decided that they have to have a family session with me – and me? I immediately arrived at their hotel, and between the messy packing and the suitcases, we managed to create this beautiful session together!
Anybody who knows me knows that I love a few things in particular – old enamel tubs, milk baths, flowers, balloons, and smiley babies.
When Rotem called me to book a 1st birthday + family + nursing + milk bath session…well, we clicked right away! We had the same vision for this amazing evening together. And when I met baby Eitan, and he looked at me with his big blue eyes, I melted away! We had a casual and fun-filled session – full of light and love in an incredible secret location of mine. Rotem, Vladi, and Eitan – you are such a wonderful family, and I thank you for trusting me to capture your precious moments together. Happy birthday to Eitan!
All I have to say is that this is what 30 years of true love look like! These two lovebirds met in the military, built a family and a home, chased their dreams together, and have stayed young forever! They chose to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary with a couple’s + family session in the rolling hills near their home in Israel. I came to capture their story but ended up learning so much – seeing how true love can last when you nurture it and keep that dreamy spark alive. I can only wish one thing for myself and for you – that after 30 years of marriage we will look and feel like these two lovebirds!
This session was a gift from their incredible kids to celebrate 30 years of marriage – and I have to say that this is one of the best gifts you can give your parents – a memory that will last a lifetime, and a day celebrating family and true love.
What do I look for in my family sessions? This! this right here is what I look for! Do I even need to elaborate? Just look at this beautiful mama and her happy family! We had so much fun together!
We started our session an hour before sunset in a beautiful orchard – a green canopy of pecan trees above our heads, sun peaking through the foliage, wildflowers all around, a chilly spring breeze – I could not ask for a better location. At golden-hour, we drove to a nearby winter-pond and explored the area while the light was illuminating every shrub and every leaf with a golden halo. When the sun is at a certain angle and the earth turns to gold it always takes my breath away, always.
As for COVID-19 regulations:
a. I shot this entire session using a telephoto lens – which means I was far away from my subjects (well over 2 meters), therefore maintaining social distancing.
b. We all wore masks when not shooting.
c. We chose a location that was supposed to be secluded and moved to a different location when the original location was “compromised” (writing this makes me feel like I’m a CIA agent lol).
If you have any questions about booking a shoot during this current global pandemic don’t hesitate to contact me: 052-8662207.
Stay safe XOXO,
Martha
This beautiful mama was a dream to photograph – we just clicked! Sapir called me on Wednesday and by Friday I was already at their family home for our photoshoot – two days! We planned everything in two days! And let me tell ya’ – it was AMAZING!
I arrived early Friday morning, it was a rainy day and we were lucky to have beautiful even lighting due to the cloud cover. We even had half an hour of no rain to take a few photos in a vast olive grove situated right next to their home (is it grove or orchard? I can never remember this one). When I arrived, the family was getting ready and I had time to bond with big-sister, Ruth – or Princess Ruth, as I called her. This little girl completely stole my heart and I was so happy to see her excitement and joy over taking photos and telling me all about becoming a big sister! At some point, this clever 3-year-old was right beside me helping me to take photos of her parents – I taught her how to press the shutter-button and she was happy to help me 🙂
When Mom was getting ready I was given full access to the closets in the house, “go wild…choose whatever you think will work best for the photos” she said to me. Did I mention we clicked? Sapir is pretty much my dream client – we did everything in two days, she let me pick the family’s wardrobe with no questions, everyone was chill and happy to just be themselves, and everything had a relaxed flow. ‘Flow’ is the word I want to stress here – everything fell into place and time just flew by – I arrived at 09:00 and left at 14:00…nothing beats a session this relaxed. And can we just talk for a second about little kids falling asleep at the end of a session? It may be my favorite part…I mean, they are just so sweet with their sleepy little faces – Princes Ruth was fast asleep by the end of our session 🙂
The funniest part is that Spair gave birth exactly 1 week after our session! Talk about calling it close, right?! I was SO happy when she had sent me a photo of little baby boy, and I can imagine how excited big sister Ruth was. This family was an absolute joy to photograph, and I can’t wait for these two siblings to grow up together and become best friends.
Newborn family sessions are my favorite! And this session was no different – I absolutely fell in love with baby Talya and her firecracker big sister Gaya. I can already see these two beautiful sisters becoming best friends and having each other’s backs forever – there is nothing like the bond between sisters! Ilana, their beautiful mama, is a total girl-boss – rocking life as a mama and a career woman. If you want to read more about balancing motherhood and a busy career, I highly recommend visiting Ilana’s blog, Heels & Sneakers!
On a personal note, thank you Ilana and Elior for letting me dive into your little family bubble and allowing me to capture these tender moments. I have so much respect and appreciation for mamas who allow me to capture the connection between mother and baby during nursing (I don’t post any nursing shots because I believe some moments are meant to stay private for my clients to cherish forever). You have a beautiful family, my friends 🙂
There is something so beautiful and intimate about photographing a new family, something personal that I never take for granted. A family lets me into their home and allows me to capture a few treasured moments of their life, they let me see them in their natural element, they trust me and I feel so grateful for this trust. This session was a treat, and it always amazes me when I meet clients that I instantly feel a simple connection with – let me tell you something – nothing makes a shoot go smoother than having fun and a good conversation with the people you’re photographing!
I came in early in the morning, the spring light was soft and whimsical – the type of light you see on your pillowcase after you sleep-in on a weekend. When we started our session baby Logan was still sleeping, which allowed me to focus on mom and dad – I love getting shots of mom and dad alone, capturing a few stolen glimpses, a few light kisses, a gentle touch, a memory of a time before babies when they were just two souls longing for each other. And then Logan woke up – a boy full of sunshine and smiles, lighting up the room with buckets of positive energy and gummy baby grins.
Capturing this family was such a joy! Seeing how much love this little family shared made my day…Here are a few photos from our session!
Why didn’t I post this session earlier?! I’m so weird about posting stuff – it really feels like I want to keep all of my client work for myself because I love it too much to share! I know…I’m odd…it’s all true. But whatever, I’m trying to get over my weirdness and share! And to you my dear clients – I hear you – no more password-protected galleries (unless you ask!), I’ll be sharing your images on the blog so you can easily share with your friends and family without passwords!
And now to the actual photos…
This beautiful family was an amazing treat to work with! Mama contacted me and we soon set up an early morning shoot before Big Brother was off to preschool and before dad was off to work. It was amazing! This session was the stuff lifestyle photography dreams are made of – flowy dress and gorgeous mama, cute baby, adorable big brother, chill dad, and a pup named Gizmo. I won’t say more…just look at these shots!
Ever since seeing a few milk bath photos over on Pinterest I couldn’t get the idea of them out of my head! However, my bathtub doesn’t have any natural light sources, and I dislike using flash despite getting many natural looking shots using a Profoto A1 flash with great success. So, the idea of doing a sink bath came to me and that’s it – I had to do it! So, I cleaned up our kitchen sink, heated up the house since it was a chilly April’s day, and got to work! That’s real milk for those wondering, and there are a few tricks involved in getting the water to look just right. Let me tell you one thing though – my daughter now thinks the kitchen sink is her personal bathtub, and I’m on board for that haha!
