Shanna Chess Photography

 I can’t believe how long our beautiful fall weather has lasted! I am loving the sunshine and the crisp, cool mornings and evenings. Usually Oregon autumns get soggy too quickly to really be able to enjoy the crunching leaves and pretty colors—but we have gotten super lucky this year! Of course, regardless of what the weather is doing, I am lucky enough to have a ray of sunshine in my Eugene, Oregon photography studio whenever I’m working. These little ones are so much fun and always a highlight! About a month ago I had Adeline and her parents (Lili and Jordan) in the studio for Adeline’s one-year baby photography session. We had a blast together! Adeline was super smiley and happy the entire session, which was great. Sometimes kiddos this age have developed a little bit of stranger danger and it can take them a while to warm up to me. But Adeline had no problem working the camera! She had the most adorable little head tilt and liked sticking her tongue out. So cute! Those eye...

 Hope everyone is enjoying the transition to fall weather! I’m loving that we still have sunshine every afternoon. I know the rains are on their way, but I’ll soak up the sunshine for as long as I can get it. Hope you enjoy the beautiful pictures of this little angel! This session was so much fun! Little Piera was lucky enough to have her parents, Katie and Pierino, big brother Marco, and her grandparents (Katie’s mom and dad) join her in the studio for this extra special newborn photography session. Katie’s parents were visiting from out of state and I know she was so excited that she would be able to get photos with her parents and children. Family members are always welcome to join in my full newborn sessions, and it was wonderful to be able to get multi-generational pictures during our time together. Piera was just stunning! She had the prettiest skin, a full head of lovely dark hair, and the cutest little face. And it wasn’t just skin-deep either. She was a total angel for me...

 This was my last session of August—and what a great way to finish off the month! Mr. Dawson was such a cutie pie. The whole family was able to join us for this newborn photography session, which was even better. I usually like to get newborns into my Eugene, Oregon photography studio within a couple of weeks after birth, but that doesn’t always happen. Welcoming a new baby is a busy time (as all new parents can attest) and sometimes things have to be rearranged or pushed back despite your best efforts. Dawson was about five weeks old by the time the family was able to make it in for his newborn photos, so I wasn’t sure how our session would go. Photographing older newborns is totally doable, but it can sometimes be a bit more challenging, since older babies tend to be more wakeful and less cooperative about posing for the camera. Dawson did great though! He was actually a really good little sleeper, and on those occasions when he did wake up he was pretty calm, so we were able t...

 This is the last of the maternity photography sessions I did in August. It was so fun to be able to see all these moms and join in the excitement of getting ready to welcome a new baby! Rita is expecting baby number three very soon and the whole family is super excited! Rita was a gorgeous maternity subject! I especially loved the purple gown on her. So pretty with her skin and dark hair! We tried a few different maternity gowns (all of which looked amazing) and I also got to use a couple of my new backdrops. I like being able to offer my clients lots of variety when it comes to outfits, props, and backgrounds, so I regularly invest in new pieces. My collection is constantly expanding, which enables me to customize every session especially for you. With Rita, we chose a muted floral backdrop for some of our pictures, and then contrasted that with a much darker background to add some drama and flair. Because we were working with mostly neutral colors, I only played around with bla...