I am so excited to share photos of this amazing little girl that I photographed yesterday. Although she was actually due today, little Harper Grace was born at 24 weeks gestation back in April. She weighed just 1lb 6oz at birth and was 11" long.
At long last, she is now home with her adoring parents Crystal and Matt and big sister Billie, and she weighs a whopping 5lb 4oz. She is the tiniest little princess but already has a lot of personality and spunk. She is amazingly strong for her size, and she is strong-willed with definite preferences. She is only truly happy and peaceful when being held, but there's no shortage of eager arms willing to do just that. I'm sure that she has been able to not only survive but thrive because of her family's love and faith and all of the compassionate support and prayer that they receive from the many who know and love them. They are an amazing family that I have been priveleged to know since I first photographed their wedding back in 2007, and I am overjoyed for them to have this beautiful, little addition.
I normally like to photograph babies within ten days of birth, but that obviously wasn't possible with Harper. Although she is still smaller than most newborns, she was much more challenging to work with. She really made us work for the photos that we got, but that makes it even more rewarding.
Baby smiles are so sweet, but capturing them takes a bit of luck and a lot of patience. I actually had to edit two shots together to get each of the finished photographs below, but I love the results.
