Documentary Motherhood

From Bump to Baby

Motherhood is a incredibly special journey for each woman and family unit. I started Paper Windows from my own journey as a mother – wanting timeless capture of real moments.

From bump to baby, I capture the moments you will want to remember. A photo that brings back those memories of being pregnant, the small moments that quickly fleet after baby arrives. 

When baby arrives, I capture the precious moments of first life – those first few days are a miracle to any parent – getting to know your new little one. 

TIME FLIES WHEN YOU ARE WATCHING THEM GROW

The Approach

Documentary Photography for Maternity and Newborns

01 - What's the Direction?

Relaxed, natural, low-direction. I photograph what is already there—the movement, the relationships, the interruptions, the quiet stretches, the things happening at the edges of the room. The goal is capture the real moments.

02 - To Pose or Not to Pose

A session is less about posing and more about spending time together while I pay attention. I may guide you toward good light or suggest a place to begin, but from there I’m looking for what unfolds naturally: the glances at your spouse, baby making his first smiles and coos, mom to be propping a book on her belly to read.

03 - Maternity: Set the Stage

Home is usually the stage for maternity. When you're pregnant, capturing those natural moments in your home will create amazing memories for you to look back on. The chair you liked to read on, the messy coffee table with baby stuff. That context matters because when you look back in five or ten years, the room will have changed, and the pictures bring it back.

04 - Newborn: Hospital

Most clients want pictures in the hospital - such a small window of time after baby arrives before life as as a new family begins at home. I wish I had more of us when I was at the hospital - I was so consumed with my new baby I forgot. These pictures you will cherish for a lifetime.

05 - Newborn: Home

For home births or those who want to capture the first moments settling into home - this is also a beautiful time to capture priceless moments. Remember how you were, what things were like then are memories you will always want to look back on.

06 - The Actual Story

If you've ever looked back at an old snapshot and felt the moment come back again, you already understand the point. Documentary family photography is a simple promise: we'll make photographs that feel like your home and your people. Not the cleaned-up, best-behaviour version. The actual story.

Session Types & Pricing

Most sessions will take place in your home or location of choosing. There is a small fee if the location is more than 30 miles out of the greater Tallahassee area.

Documentary Maternity

1-2 Hour Session
$ 325 Session
  • Full resolution digital gallery
  • Photo-film
  • Printed Family Album Keepsake

Documentary Newborn Hospital

1-2 Hour Session
$ 375 Session
  • Full resolution digital gallery
  • Photo-film
  • Printed Family Album Keepsake

Your Questions Answered

These are frequent questions clients ask – if anything isn’t covered here reach out to Denver with a direct message. We will get in touch with you quickly!

Documentary Newborn / Hospital

I 100% anticipate that your due date will change – that is to be expected. As a mom myself I understand, baby will come when baby comes! I only book a small amount of these a month to ensure I have the bandwidth to make a session on short notice.

We will be in close contact as your due date gets closer and if anything ever changes – just let me know. 

Safety is paramount for me and will always come first. For any work around newborns all equipment and myself is sanitized before coming into your space. 

I will also mask at your request – I have no issues keeping you and baby safe!

I do have a few ground rules when it comes to interactions with family members who might be in the room at the time of the session:

  • No kissing the baby
    • I will not photography a family member holding the baby and wanting to have a shot of them kissing the baby
    • I have this rule because family tends to want these types of pictures when a photographer enters the room and babies safety is #1 at all times – kissing only from mom! 
  • I will honor any other safety rules you want in place and enforce with others if needed.

In general – I recommend that these photos only have your immediate family like dad and siblings. Max one or two others like grandparents – these photos are for you and meant to capture your time with baby – I want the session to focus on you and baby.

I serve the greater Tallahassee Florida area. If you aren’t sure if your home or location is with my zone – send me a message!

Currently I only photograph at TMH or HCA – or local birthing centers – or your home if within the greater Tallahassee area.

These sessions are 1-2 hours long with the majority falling somewhere in the 80 minute range. I give extra time in case there are other circumstances like medical, baby sleeping, etc… This way there isn’t in pressure – we can just let the day progress normally.

In the case there is some circumstance that prevents me from getting a good variety of shots, like a medical intervention, etc… I will work with you to get another time – perhaps later in the day.

Yes – I will photograph home births – these require a consultation first and a custom session package. Contact me directly about setting these up.

Home births require a more on-call status and typically families want to capture Golden Hour after birth. This is a beautiful sacred time after birth where mom has direct skin-skin after birth. While this is a magical moment to capture – I want to be completely blended into the background and not interrupting any bonding. Here, I usually capture a few key moments and leave the room to let mom have time with baby on her own. 

For maternity we recommend booking between 30-36 weeks. This is the typically when you have a very visible bump and not too close to your due date that you feel stressed about getting pictures done. 

This form of documentary style photography does have more space for poses and direction. With maternity – we do want to capture day to day moments of being pregnant – while also getting great shots of the bump. This can mean that we do some poses with dad and in general focus on the bump that isn’t just candid.

The session is a mix of capturing some day to day activities – maybe we want to focus in on the nursery and preparation for baby – perhaps reading on the couch with a cup of tea or snuggling with dad watching tv. The activities don’t have to be completely staged, and even better if they fit into that particular part of the day.

This is up to you – but in general this type of photography won’t capture well if you are wearing a special gown or something with details you want to capture. 

What can work well here is a lace cardigan or something simple or see through for your belly – but outside of that I recommend something more in-line with your day to day outfits. 

There will be ample time for changing if you need or want to switch between sets of clothes.