I've been thinking a lot about an article that I read recently by New York Pet Photographer, Richie Schwartz, about why professional photography is "worth it."  

He wrote about the year that he and his neighbors were forced to evacuate their homes by Hurricane Sandy.  As he loaded his car with his most prized and priceless possessions, he looked around him and noticed that his neighbors were loading their cars with the exact same things... not xbox consoles or computers or fancy blenders or pretty lamps.  Instead, he noticed his neighbors loading their cars with wedding albums and family portraits that they had taken off their walls, frames and all.  

And Richie understood.  In his words:

"We know that at the end of the day, of all our “possessions,” it is our memories that we treasure most and place the highest value on. Pictures represent our memories. Pictures trigger our memories like nothing else on earth has the power to do. Our memories cannot be replaced with any amount of money or any material goods — it really is the most valuable thing we have!"  Read the full article by professional photographer, Richie Schwartz, here.

And so I know that little, sweet newborn baby Ivan's parents are doing it right. This new family is one of our baby photography plan families, and I love that we get to follow their growth from their maternity photography session to newborn photography session and onwards.  

Little Ivan arrived pretty much right on time in between Christmas and New Year's.  And boy, is he loved.  He even has his own Facebook community, called "Monsieur Ivan"!  That's a first.  I love it!

We got to meet him just 12 days later at our Maryland photography studio when he was still a very newborn bundle of joy.  Before his arrival, together with Ivan's mom and dad, we had planned 4 setups/themes for Ivan's newborn photography session: a blue theme, an architectural theme using mom and dad's architectural supplies and architectural drawings; a Christmas / holiday theme (we kept the Christmas tree up into January just for him!); and family portraits on the studio's sheepskin rug.  We also managed an in-between image of mom and dad holding Ivan against a black velvet backdrop... beautiful!  It's almost time for Ivan's 3 or 4-month baby photography plan session.  I can't wait to see how much he's grown!