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!
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!
Oaklynn’s Newborn Session
Merrill, WI Newborn Photographer
Sweet baby Oaklynn was born just in time for Christmas! Her parent’s love for rustic, outdoorsy vibes paired perfectly with the approaching holiday.
But just because you have a holiday baby doesn’t mean those are the only types of pictures we can take. I love getting to know more about you and your family before your session to find out what colors, themes, props you would love to have as part of your session. Allan and Angela loved woodsy and florals in addition to some subtle Christmas photos. So that’s exactly what we did. And of course if you are obsessed with the holiday your baby is born near, we can definitely go all out!
Oaklynn brought a proud big sister and grandma to her session! We were able to capture some really sweet family memories that I hope they will treasure forever. And of course Santa just had to make a special appearance too!
What time should I schedule my family photo session?
What time is the best time to schedule my family’s photo session? And why does my photographer always want to schedule so late during summer? What are some tips for scheduling a session? All great questions! Find out more here.
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.
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.
Wait until later in summer or early fall to book your session. As the days shorten golden hour comes earlier as well!
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! :)
Outdoor Newborn Sessions
Outdoor newborn sessions are so much fun! Wisconsin is a great place to capture some beautiful images.
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
Photography by Brooke is located in Merrill Wisconsin and is a full service photographer servicing the Merrill, Wausau, Mosinee, and greater North Central Wisconsin area.
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.
Fussy Babies
Getting your picture taken is hard work!
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?
Let’s keep it simple! I’ll give you a simple list of everything you need (or don’t need!) to bring to your newborn session. Photography by Brooke is a newborn, maternity and family photographer servicing the Wausau, Merrill, Mosinee and surrounding areas of North Central Wisconsin.
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.