My next-door neighbor is having a baby. It seems like just the other day she was playing in the street. Now, she’s married and having her first child. Geez, I’m getting old.  

Anyway, she wanted candid and not over produced pictures to document her and husband during this special time which I think we managed to accomplish. Dad was definitely on board with the candid off the cuff look. He was in the middle of doing a million and one things to prepare for baby and just didn’t have the time for hair and makeup.

We found the good light right in the front yard. It was just a matter of setting up the scene. As much as I would have liked to have gotten creative with the poses, there was a limitation to what Mom-to-be was able to do, so we just had to work around that.

The original plan was to have the pictures taken a lot earlier in the day, but due to the family being super busy we had to reschedule a few times. It worked in our favor though. By the time everyone was ready, we had the perfect late evening glow from the sky.  The well-kept front lawn provided the ideal backdrop for the scene.

The outdoor shots were all taken with the Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens on my 6d with only the available light. The indoor shots were a little more complex. It involved using a couple speedlights and the Canon 50mm f/1.4.