Marten’s Family

The Marten’s are an amazing family, and their session was so much fun. A year and a half ago I had the honor of photographing their son for his newborn session; the kids have grown SO MUCH since that time! We went out to the Riverbed Trail in Merrill, Wisconsin and jumped in puddles, explored the fields and picked wildflowers.

Playing in puddles!

If you’d like to book as session for your own family, feel free to send me a message. I can’t wait to help plan a super fun session with you!

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Flower Session

There’s some beautiful flowers that grow by the side of the road near my home. I love flowers, but if it’s not a rose or a tulip I’m sadly ignorant of the name - no matter how much I can appreciate it’s blooms. I recently learned that the flowers I love so much are called forget me nots. They are a beautiful shade of blue and bloom in riotous clumps.

For the two years I’ve been in my house I have wanted to do a session in these flowers. There’s no reason I haven’t, other than time gets away from me, I get busy, or a million other silly excuses. This year I vowed I would take advantage of the forget me nots (even if it’s just one session)! I called up my good friend and asked if her daughter (who has the most beautiful blue eyes) would be a little model for me. I told her - “I only need five minutes”.

. . . . . .

Here’s the results -

Fall Family Session

Fall in Northern Wisconsin is always such a gorgeous time of year. And I just love when clients invite me out to their properties to capture the beauty. This family lives out on a couple of acres of land just a bit North of Merrill, WI - and boy did it not disappoint! There were several wooded trails, a pretty little creek, and even some animals that the boys couldn’t wait to show me.

T and A couldn’t wait to show me all their favorite spots to explore. We had tons of fun seeing who could throw the biggest rock, and who could throw the rocks the farthest into the creek. Within minutes the boys dissolved into giggles!

And what family session wouldn’t be complete without a few wild runs under blankets manned by Mom and Dad?

Here’s a few more of my favorites from this session!

One fun fact about this family - young man A was actually my very first newborn session ever, back in 2019. I’ve since photographed their wonderful family pretty much every year since. I can’t describe the appreciation I have for them, and the faith that every year I will have grown more and more as a photographer.

Interested in scheduling your own session? I’d love to hear from you!

What time should I schedule my family photo session?

What time should I schedule my family photo session? What’s the best time to take pictures? Or why do we have to do our session so late? Are all questions I get asked when families are looking to schedule their sessions (especially in summer). I’m here to answer all these questions and MORE!

The short answer to what time is the best time for photos is about an hour to an hour and a half before sunset. This is called golden hour, and it makes for beautiful, dreamy photos like the one directly above.

But that’s so LATE! Is a complaint parents with young children commonly have. And that’s true, at the height of summer sessions often don’t start until after 7 pm. With littles that can be super tricky, and here’s some suggestions.

1. Let’s plan your session for earlier in the evening! We can choose locations that are shaded and still capture beautiful images. Note, we don’t get the sunset/golden hour images - they will still be beautiful but they will have a different tone and feel.

2. Wait until later in summer or early fall to book your session. As the days shorten golden hour comes earlier as well!

3. Wing it! Plan the session anyway - I will help keep the kids engaged and active during the session. Feed the kiddos supper a little later than normal and give them an extra snack or treat before the session to help keep energy levels up.

The season, time of day, weather and location will impact the images you receive during your session. For example - the wooded image on this page was taken during the morning in late Spring (with rain threatening the whole time), the field picture with the little kids was taken mid summer at golden hour, and the picture below was taken in the afternoon during fall. All these sessions were amazing, and yours will be too! Each of these families had a different vision in mind for their session, I’d love to hear what yours is! :)

How to pick outfits for your family photos

How do I pick outfits for our family photos? What colors go best together? Should we all match? Should we wear clothes with words or images? These are all very common questions I’m asked before every photo session.

Picking outfits for you and your family is one of the more stressful aspects of preparing for your photo session.

I’m here today to offer some guidance, and hopefully help remove some of the stress for you.

“Let’s talk color!”

I know you’re all just reading this to find out how to pair colors! That’s alright! And I have a super simple trick for you!

Head to (you can also just Google color palette ideas):

https://www.canva.com/colors/color-palettes/

This site offers tons of color palettes for you to view. You can search things like spring, autumn, rust, blue, etc to get inspo.

Once you’ve found a palette that you like (like the example below) you are ready to start shopping! These colors go together well and you can start basing your outfits off this color grouping.

Such a simple trick, but so effective!

“Layers, Layers, Layers”

Beyond colors, there’s a lot of other aspects to take into consideration! Being in Northern Wisconsin the temps can swing wildly from day to day. Should you plan for short sleeves or will you need a winter coat?

I suggest to families that have their sessions in the spring or fall months to plan on layers. Layers you can take off or put on as the session goes on. Photo sessions aren’t stand still events, you’ll be moving most of the time. So you might start out cold, but get toasty!

Cardigans or zip up sweaters are both great options! A blanket that’s big enough to wrap around you, fashion coats, or a shawl are good alternatives.

“Keep it simple”

Here’s a few general rules to follow when getting ready for your shoot.

• Matching family outfits can be fun (Christmas jammies!) - in the right setting. In general though, simple is better.

• Avoid graphic t shirts, especially those with really bright colors. Solid colors photograph better, and fit in everywhere.

• Steer clear of shirts with a lot of words. They are difficult to read in photos and often get cut off while you’re moving around. Think simple.

• Refrain from choosing bright colors (anything in the neon family) and busy patterns.

“Pro Tip!”

Don’t forget about your shoes. You can have a killer outfit, but the effect can be completely ruined with shoes that don’t match. Guys tend to be the bigger offenders on this one. Ladies, I recommend doing a double check of your hubby before you leave.

“Always here to help you!”

If you’re really struggling on your outfit, it is perfectly ok to reach out to your photographer before the session and ask for advice. The last thing we want is for you to be uncomfortable at your session.

A couple of things to keep in mind -

Your photographer is not responsible for you hating your outfit. They are also not responsible for clothing that is wrinkled, creased, or covered in pet hair. Photoshop is amazing, but it’s not magic - it also takes a lot of time to edit (and not everything is fixable).

As always, if you have a question or need help, reach out! Photography by Brooke wants you to love your photos for years to come and is always happy to help!

What is a model call? And why do you do them?

Many of you may not be familiar with what a model call is, or why photographers do them - I’m here to give you more insights!

So what’s a model call anyway?

A model call is a free or reduced session that a photographer hosts to practice new techniques, styles, or for a specific project. Model calls are great for photographers because they provide a low/no pressure situation for the tog to practice or create a specific vision.

Why don’t you just practice on your friends?

We do! Sadly our friends aren’t always available, might not be interested in the particular vision we’re trying to create, or be the right fit for the session we need them for.

If it’s a model call, how much say do I get in the session?

That’s the catch - a model call is usually for the photographer to create something for themselves, or to practice on something they don’t normally do. In exchange for the free session you are giving up control. Meaning the photographer picks the props, colors, location, etc. But you still get gorgeous images to keep.

Will you take anyone?

No. The requirements vary by session type and what the photographer is hoping to achieve through their model call. For newborn model calls the photographer might be looking for a boy or girl specifically, have age restrictions as well as physical requirements (such as a baby with hair). These will be communicated to potential candidates when they reach out.

What are you going to do with the images?

The images could be used for a variety of purposes. Portfolio building, website images, marketing, contest entries, social media, etc.

Do I have to sign a model release?

Yes. The photographs are not helpful to the photographer if they can’t post them. While you might not be a great fit for a model call, you definitely can schedule a regular session! We completely understand if you don’t want your images shared on the web and will respect your decision.

Well that all sounds cool - I might be interested…how do they work exactly?

That is a great question! I’m so glad you asked! Send us a message! You can email us at photographybybrookewi@gmail.com or send a message on Insta or Facebook. Additional details on the session will be provided at that time.

We look forward to working with you!

Outdoor Newborn Sessions

Here in Merrill Wisconsin we are truly blessed with some gorgeous weather - I’m often asked if I can do outdoor newborn sessions. The answer is YES! And here’s some things you should know -

1.) Outdoor newborn sessions can be done between April and October (as weather allows).

2.) Sessions will not be conducted outdoors when the weather is over 80 degrees as it is too hot for the baby, recovering mom and photographer.

3.) Sessions will not be conducted outdoors when the weather is less than 60 degrees, as baby’s comfort and safety is the top priority. Babies like to be warm and cozy, when they are uncomfortable sessions do not go well.

4.) Colors and props will be limited and typically selected by the photographer (with client input of course!).

5.) Summer session locations will be at the discretion of the photographer - usually these sessions need to be somewhere that has a lot of shade. This is both for lighting purposes and for the comfort of everyone at the shoot.

Want to schedule your own session?

Contact me here!

Molly’s 6th Birthday Session

It’s Molly’s 6th birthday! What better way to celebrate than with a session? Molly is a very girly young lady. She loves everything that has to do with sparkles, makeup, unicorns, dresses - she loves it all! So I just knew I had to get Molly some over the top, beautiful, princess-esque dresses to celebrate. We had three distinct looks.

First up was this gorgeous pink number. It’s really everything a little girl could ever wish for. It has a lacy overskirt embroidered with flowers and leaves. The back is corseted so it’s very adjustable. This dress turned out to be a little too big for Molly, but we clipped it for the photo session.

The second dress is a lacy blue butterfly babydoll type style. Molly’s favorite color is blue, so we had to incorporate it! We finished our 6th birthday session with a boho style for some variety. Happy birthday Molly! We hope your 6th birthday was an absolute blast and 2022 is your best year yet!

All of these dresses are available in Photography by Brooke’s client closet. Children’s clothing in the client closet ranges from newborn outfits up to sizes 7/8 with new items being added throughout the year.

Photography by Brooke is a photographer specializing in newborn, maternity and family photography servicing the Merrill, Wausau, Mosinee and North Central Wisconsin areas.

Maternity Self Portrait

Keep scrolling to see the end result!

I am not a person who loves to take selfies, or post a lot of pictures of myself. In general, I’d much rather be the person behind the camera than in front of it. The downside of this, is that I don’t have a lot of pictures of myself and my kids together. And virtually no pictures of any of my four pregnancies. I decided that when I was pregnant with my son, things would be a little different.

For me, I am never more self conscious than when I’m pregnant. I have never felt like I had the cute, perfect baby bump. When I was pregnant with my first two daughters, I couldn’t afford maternity pictures. And then when I was pregnant with babies number three, and again with number four I was too nervous to do them with another photographer. Thus the brilliant idea was formed - I would take maternity self portraits! I am a photographer after all! How hard can it be?

Really hard.

At the time, my husband and I had just sold our first home and had several houses we were trying to buy fall through on us. We were in a cramped, old, dark, not very attractive apartment (as you can clearly see in the before). There was no room for my studio, or really very much of anything. Definitely no room for my studio setup. In short, things had not gone according to plan. I’m telling you this to set the stage of what I had to work with.

I was bound and determined to make it work! I pulled my backdrop stand out of storage, found a roll of my seamless paper and set to work. In my head, it would be simple and I could knock out these maternity pictures in an hour or so. Learn from my mistakes, don’t try it yourself. I spent the better part of the afternoon fighting with my setup, tripod, and shutter trigger trying to get something usable. When I called it a day and uploaded the images to my editing program, I realized I had some hard work ahead.

I had the best of intentions to edit the images right away, I did not. It actually took me about nine months (oops!). To edit just ONE maternity image! Life has this funny way of ruining the best of intentions sometimes. Between kids, school, my day job, my photography, moving, having a baby. . . . . . . I just never got around to it.

Guys, moral of the story. Hire someone to help you get beautiful maternity pictures you’ll want to treasure forever. You will be stressed enough trying to prepare for your new baby, navigating the changes in your body, along with all the other stressors and obligations life brings. Let me help take one of those burdens off of your shoulders.

Fussy Babies

As a newborn photographer - I have a lot of practice working with fussy babies.

You’ve just had a baby, your newborn session is all booked. You have spent the last several months fantasizing about what your baby’s newborn pictures will look like. You may even have a Pinterest board half a mile long with amazing images that you admire. You cannot wait to bring your vision to life!

The day of your session finally arrives. It’s so exciting! You get to the studio and hand the photographer your gorgeous baby. And your baby starts crying….and keeps crying…and crying…and crying.

At this point you be starting to freak out a little, this isn’t what you envisioned at all. You followed your newborn session prep guide! How can your photographer possibly get anything usable when your baby is being fussy!?!

I’m here to tell you it’s ok! And completely normal! I have many tricks to help with a fussy baby (these are just a few):

Wrapping

Feeding

Pacifier

Baby shusher

Rocking

Most babies are going to cry at least once during their session. This is totally normal and expected. It’s shocking for baby to be in a new place, to be undressed, and to be moved around multiple times. Getting your picture taken is hard work, you’d probably be fussy too! Your baby will most likely want to eat during their session, and may also need one (or more) diaper changes.

Most babies will settle after a short time, but some babies take longer. And on very rare occasions, will be too unhappy to safely pose.

Not to worry! While it’s rare that we are unable to get baby happy and sleepy, it does happen. In those situations, we simply reschedule for another day.

A couple of things that can contribute to a baby being fussier than usual at their shoot are:

• Cluster feeding

• Reflux or Gas

• Illness

If your baby is experiencing these, it’s helpful to let your photographer know so we can discuss together and decide if we should move the session.

Your baby is the boss of their session. Their comfort and safety are Photography by Brooke’s absolute top priority.

What should I bring to my newborn session?

One of the first questions I’m always asked by parents is, “What should I bring to my newborn session?” At Photography by Brooke I understand how stressful packing up your brand new baby and bringing them to the studio can be. Being a new parent, even if this isn’t your first baby, is hard! Your body is recovering, you’re getting to know a brand new human, no one is sleeping, it’s a lot. And I get it. That’s why I want to make your session as low stress and easy on you as possible.

What you should bring to your newborn session:

• Diapers (2-3 should do)

• Wipes

• Formula or pumped breast milk

• Pacifier

• One special item to incorporate into your session (optional)

That’s it! I will provide the rest for you! While it doesn’t seem like a long list of items, when you’re running late it’s easy to forget one, or all of them. My studio has you covered. I always keep some extra newborn diapers, wipes and pacifiers on hand for my clients.

Additional items I provide at my studio for your session:

• Newborn outfits

• Wraps

• Props (beds, buckets, chairs, etc.)

• Backdrops

• Misc decor

• Snack basket

• Water

• Toys for siblings to play with during the session

I want your session to go as smoothly and as stress free for my families as possible. If there’s something I can do to help you be more comfortable, just ask!

Photography by Brooke serving the Wausau, Merrill, Mosinee, and surrounding areas.