(The voting for the Fresh Class will continue through the weekend… just had to get these images up for this family tonight! To vote please leave a comment on the post below…)

Sweet little Sadie was born on June 23rd at 34 weeks. Soon she’ll be here in the studio where Kim and I can spend hours taking amazing photos of her and we absolutely can’t wait! But. Time spent in the NICU, healing and growing, is a special time. It’s not an easy time or a fun time but there is something powerful watching your brand new baby want to live. Becky and Nick may never look back on this time and wish it back, but they will one day look back and smile as Sadie runs through the house playing with her sisters. And so of course, I wanted to capture a piece of it for them.

When looking at these images, please take into account that it was dark in the NICU. And Sadie couldn’t have the lights on at all. So my ISO, for all you photogs out there, was at 3200 or higher. And on my way home I was talking to a friend who joked that I should “embrace the grain” when I told her I was worried about how they would turn out! So as the images came onto my screen you have no idea how big I smiled as I saw them, with the grain. Because I swear, in these photos, there is something magical about that grain. So although my camera settings were pushed to the max (think ISO 3200+, SS 125 and f-stop 1.4) I love the moments it was able to capture for this incredible family.

Becky and Nick, thanks for allowing me to come meet Sadie a bit early and give you these moments to keep forever…

(The voting for the Fresh Class will continue through the weekend… just had to get these images up for this family tonight! To vote please leave a comment on the post below…)