Eugene, Oregon baby photographer: McKenzie is ONE!

I had so much fun with McKenzie and her parents during this one year mini milestone session! Her mom and dad, Ryan and Brittany, brought her in to my photography studio in Eugene, Oregon near the middle of last month to record the big one year mark. I photographed little miss McKenzie when she was a newborn, (you can check out the pictures from her newborn session here if you want to see how much she’s changed) so it was wonderful to see her again and see how she’s getting along. This little sweetie was a preemie, born nine weeks ahead of schedule, so it was great to see how well she’s doing a year later and how much she’s grown! Despite her early start in the world, she has caught up in size with a typical one year old, and you would never know she had to spend the first part of her life in the NICU. 

McKenzie is absolutely adorable! She has her mama’s soft blonde hair and blue eyes, but I can definitely see her dad in her too. She was such a happy little gal during our baby photography session, loved showing off her crawling skills, and gave me some fantastic expressions! Doesn’t she have the cutest smile? She really seemed to enjoy adventuring around the studio and being in the limelight while I took pictures. She was a natural in front of the camera when she was an infant, and it doesn’t look like that’s changed!

Since this was a mini baby photography session we only used a couple of props: my little white rocking chair and miniature tepee. We used purple for McKenzie’s newborn session last year, partly because it’s one of the colors that represents premature babies, but also because her mom, Brittany really likes it, so I wasn’t at all surprised by her choice of backdrop. We used my purple and teal floral backdrop, which is a great choice for either spring or summer, and ended up looking really good with McKenzie’s skin tone and hair. It also worked perfectly with the dress Brittany had bought for her daughter’s one year photo shoot. McKenzie looks so cute with those layers of puffy purple around her chubby little legs, and I love the lacy white top of the dress as well.

It was great to have this family in my studio again. Being a Eugene, Oregon photographer gives me so many opportunities to meet and get to know new people, but I especially loved seeing Ryan and Brittany because they are friends of my sister and her husband. I met them when it was just the two of them, before any little ones had arrived on the scene. I know it was an uphill struggle for them to have a child, and I remember being so excited for them when I heard they were expecting. Seeing them and their daughter together as a happy, thriving family a year down the line was good for my soul!