Shanna Chess Photography

I hope everyone is having a wonderful memorial day. With the changing seasons and beautiful flowers coming on, last month was time for my spring minis! I was joined by fifteen beautiful families for these mini photography sessions, and it was a wonderful experience. I love how all the photographs turned out!

I had the opportunity to photograph this wonderful family last month in one of the prettiest places in Eugene! Krissy and Jan and their daughter Olivia currently live in Albany, but they traveled to Eugene for their family photography session. Krissy grew up in Eugene, so I’m sure it was a nice experience for her to come back for a brief visit. It’s always nice to revisit your roots and spend time where so many memories were made. And now she’s able to make more—this time with her husband and child!

Welcome back—and happy birthday, Jayne! Jayne recently turned one year old and made a return visit to my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon for a birthday photography and cake smash session. This was the third time she’s been in my studio, and I have loved all the opportunities to photograph her in different stages over this first year of her life. I hope that in the coming years I will have many more chances to work with her. She’s an absolute delight! She is such a happy baby—and super tall! Every time I see her I can’t believe how much she’s grown. I envy her the gorgeous long legs she’s going to have when she grows up.

Alia is expecting her baby girl in a few short weeks and has already booked her newborn photography session with me for soon after the big day. I am so excited to meet her new little one! In the meantime, it was delightful to meet Alia and work with her doing a maternity photography session. Alia reached out to me about doing a milk bath session for her maternity shoot. I had never done a milk bath session before, but they are very much in vogue at the moment and it’s easy to see why. They are absolutely gorgeous! I’ve seen them done by other photographers in other areas of the country, so when Alia asked me about the possibility of doing it I was very excited for the opportunity. I am always up for adventure and trying new things—especially when it comes to exploring new methods of photography—so this was right up my alley! 

Evelyn’s mama is my daughter’s preschool teacher, so I was super excited to photograph this sweet baby girl. It’s always extra special when I get to do a session with people I already have a connection with so it was a real pleasure to have Evelyn and her mom and dad in my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon last month.  

With Mother’s Day coming up I think it’s the perfect time to share photographs from my most recent maternity shoot with you! I met Jennifer and her husband, Adam, last month for this maternity photography session at Fern Ridge Lake. For those unfamiliar with the area, Fern Ridge is a local reservoir that is a popular spot for sailing, water skiing, and other water sports—who knew it could also make such a great backdrop for photography?

Please join me in wishing a very happy birthday to Adilynn! 

I am so happy to be able to introduce you to this special sweetheart, Donovan. 

I am delighted to introduce you to Isaac!  This sweet little boy was almost five weeks old at the time of this newborn photography session, which was a little unusual. Typically I try to get newborns in to the studio within the first two weeks of life, but things were pretty busy for Isaac’s mama, so it we scheduled the session a little later. I know—it’s unheard of for the mother of a brand new baby to be busy, right?  Isn’t he such a sweetheart?