Shanna Chess Photography

Tess and Tim brought new baby Genevieve and big sister Chiara to see me early this month. I photographed Chiara almost exactly two years ago as a newborn , and again at six months old , so it was wonderful to see her again. She was one of the cutest babies I’ve ever photographed, and is growing up just as adorable as ever. I can see so much of her mom in her too. Doing Genevieve’s newborn photography session brought back so many great memories, because this little one looks so much like her big sister did at that age. Same beautiful dark skin, perfect round cheeks, and adorable propped open mouth with just a little bit of pink tongue showing! I remember wanting to just wrap Chiara up and keep her when I did her baby session, and I felt exactly the same way about Genevieve!

My first session of 2018 was a bit of a grab bag: a combination of family photography and one year birthday cake smash. It was a lot of fun and great to ring in the new year by working with this sweet and beautiful young family!  Denae and her husband Hitesh brought their three children—big brothers Ranvir and Keshav and little sister Zaia—to my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon the day after New Year’s. Denae is originally from this area, but she and her family now live in California. They travel up to Oregon a couple of times a year to visit family though, so it was natural for her to reach out to a Eugene, Oregon photographer for some professional family photos, as well as some fun celebratory photos of a cake smash for Zaia, to celebrate her turning one year old. 

Sweet Taya was my last session of 2017 and it was a great one! I did a mini newborn photography session with her just a couple of days before New Year’s and she was an absolute dream for me. I schedule up to an hour for these types of sessions, but Taya was such a well-behaved baby that we were totally done in less than half an hour. Not only that, but she had as many pictures in her gallery as if we’d done a full session. She’s just that good! I don’t think I could have gotten a bad shot of her if I’d tried. 

I was able to welcome Vivian to my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon just a couple of days after Christmas. She was brought in by her parents, Kendall and Louie, for a newborn photography session, and was so good for me the whole time. 

I welcomed this sweet little girl into my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon just a few days before Christmas. Little Campbell was a preemie and was already seven weeks old at the time of this newborn photography session—even though she wasn’t due until January! She decided to surprise mom and dad and the doctors by making her grand entrance much earlier than expected. We’re all delighted that she’s here, although I think mom and dad especially would have been grateful for a little more warning! 

This was a really fun family photography session! It was a little different in that it wasn’t a single nuclear family—we had three generations in the studio all together. It made for a very full studio, a super fun range of ages and stages in life, and a wonderful atmosphere. 

Caitlin and Mark brought their new baby boy into my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon last month for a session. Rupert was such a sweetheart and I loved every minute I spent with him! We actually did this session on my birthday, and it ended up being a wonderful gift for me as a newborn photographer because he slept the entire time and posed like a dream. Such an easy baby to work with! 

Jessica and Terran came into my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon last month, in anticipation of their baby boy arriving very soon! They are planning to bring him into the studio for a newborn session towards the end of February, and I’m so excited to meet him. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year’s celebration! It’s nice to have a time set aside each year to reflect on the past and make goals and resolutions for the future, and it’s a great opportunity to get organized again! I love the chance to reflect on my year as a Eugene, Oregon photographer . I have so many fun memories of 2017—adorable babies, sweet kiddos, and amazing families—and I’m looking forward to a year filled with many more! I have lots of new goals for my business and I’m excited to see the changes and improvements in store.  One of my fun memories from 2017 was doing this newborn mini photography session in November for Ellie. Lauren and Kyle brought their sweet baby girl to my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon and I had such a great time photographing her! She was an adorable little chunk with some of the most delicious cheeks I’ve ever seen! So soft and pink and chubby—I can only imagine the fun her mom and dad must have kissing those every day!