Risa West Photography

Alisea ~ Maternity

2012-02-09T12:45:00.002-07:00

N ~ Family

2012-02-08T12:22:00.003-07:00

I'll be playing catch up on many photo sessions from last year over the next couple of weeks before I start getting too busy with new sessions. 2011 was a great year!

Here is a sweet family. They were great to work with and the weather wasn't too cold when we did their holiday session.

Mikey ~ 6 months

2012-02-06T12:59:00.002-07:00

Here's Mikey's 6 month session. He was so good during this session. So happy and so much fun to be around. We got so many great images it was hard to decide which ones to share.

I love watching dads and babies! Aren't these next 3 so stinkin' cute?!?

Katie

2011-09-21T05:13:00.002-06:00

Katie's session was scheduled for August 27th. The day Hurricane Irene was rolling into town. It started raining as I was driving over to the clients home, and for a minute I was afraid. I didn't know how easy or hard it would be for me to get home. At the time we didn't know how bad things would be. Katie put me at ease. She was sleeping when I arrived and stayed sleeping long enough for us to get wonderful shots of her. She's been one of my quickest newborn sessions this year, and I couldn't have asked for an easier baby on such a high anxiety day.

Tatum

2011-09-20T05:06:00.003-06:00

Natasha ~ Maternity

2011-09-19T14:20:00.004-06:00

Luca

2011-09-15T13:38:00.001-06:00

Erica ~ Maternity

2011-09-14T13:22:00.000-06:00

Bran

2011-09-13T13:13:00.003-06:00

Eva ~ 20 months

2011-08-05T13:18:00.004-06:00

A common question I get: Do you photograph older babies and children? You bet.

This is my ''older baby'' and I took her out to play on the swings yesterday morning. She's currently 20 months. Swings are a great way to get several good images of your child in not a lot of time. These were my favorite images that I got in under 30 minutes.

Show me your teeth!

Details:

One of my favorites. I loved this image in a moody black and white.

Peek-a-boo

I think it's good to be doing something fun when photographing a toddler. Playing on the swings, on a slide, or even with bubbles get great expressions out of a toddler and help ease them into having their picture taken by a complete stranger.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-18T21:33:00.003-06:00

I want to say Happy Father's Day to all the dads I've been able to work with. You're amazing. Thank you for being patient when I just want to take "one" more picture. Thank you for keeping your homes unbearably warm so we have a good photo session with your new baby. Thank you for being part of the photo session with your family. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

So, I've realized I don't have enough photos of my dad and I together... luckily for me I'll be seeing him soon and will need to take a few really good photos. I also don't have enough good ones of my husband and his dad together. I'll also have to fix that too. What I do have... plenty of photos of my husband and daughter together. {I hope you don't mind if I throw in a personal post here and there} Here are a few of my favorites of my husband and daughter... all taken since last Father's Day.

I love the expressions on their faces in the separate images.

Isani

2011-06-13T12:23:00.003-06:00

I'm always grateful when clients refer me to friends. It's probably the biggest compliment I've ever received. That's how Isani's family found me, and I'm glad they did. Isani was a sweet preemie. He's the first premature infant I've worked with and he was super tiny. His mom was worried that he wouldn't sleep through our session. He was already over two weeks old and was becoming more wakeful. Honestly, she got me a bit worried too... but little Isani slept like a champ. So we took lots of cute photos of him.

In honor of Father's Day on Sunday we'll start with one of Isani and his dad. Doesn't this just make you melt?

I loves this exposed brick wall in the family's home and used it as the backdrop for this image with my new bucket.

Zachary

2011-06-13T12:14:00.003-06:00

I have 2 baby boys to blog today. Zachary is the first. His images are way overdue to make their appearance here on the blog. His parents are friends of ours and we were excited when we learned they were expecting. We were even more excited to meet their baby boy. He is super cute and just tiny... like his mama. I always love photographing babies of friends, and Zachary was a wonderful baby to work with. We're excited to watch him grow up and someday play with our daughter.

I love this image... it shows just how sleepy little Zachary was for us that day.

He was also the first baby to get photographed in my new cocoon.

I love baby toes!

Miss Scarlet ~ Newborn

2011-04-24T08:05:00.003-06:00

Here's little Miss Scarlet. She was so sweet... I think I say that every time, but that's because these little bundles are so perfect and wonderful. Scarlet was one of the harder babies I've worked with in a while. She slept for us while we took some pictures of her and her parents and then didn't want to go back to sleep. To be honest, I got nervous that she wouldn't go back to sleep at all, but she did!!! When she finally went to sleep she was out and we worked quickly to get as many great pics of her as we could. When working with newborns patience pays off.

So here is Miss Scarlet.

Warning: If you schedule a newborn session with me I will take photos of you and your child. I think these images convey emotions that are so real and precious at this moment in your family's life.

Mom had some props for us to use :D

I took these next two while Dad was helping her to sleep.

Isn't she cute in this family keepsake Easter Bonnet?

I love the drama of these images.

B ~ Family

2011-04-21T00:09:00.001-06:00

This family was so sweet. Emily contacted me to take photos of her family because they had just welcomed a new daughter. I cannot say enough about this woman. She has the prettiest nursery I've ever seen in person. It's super girly, in a good way, and they did almost all of it themselves. I should have taken photos of it but you'll have to believe me that it was amazing! Yes, it really was that great. Talking with Emily was so fun, and hanging out with her was like hanging out with one of your best girl friends. Here are a few images from her family session:

I L-O-V-E these next three. I love how happy she is with her little man.

I love everything about this image, probably my favorite from the day.

Michael ~ Newborn

2011-04-16T11:42:00.000-06:00

Remember Kristina's beautiful maternity session? Well here's the little bundle. He was such a sweetie during our session. I always try to warn mom's how long a session can end up going and it's usually only that long if the baby doesn't want to go to sleep. Well we had a long session because little Michael was so cute and sleepy so I just kept taking pictures. It was such a pleasure to spend a few hours with this family, they are so warm and kind. Kristina was very involved in the process and had great ideas for her images. She's another mom who had great props on hand, which I love!

#1 reason to leave on the hospital bracelets for the photo session. Little Michael was only 5 days old!

Isn't that bear cap the cutest?

Using Dad's helmet as a prop was such a cute idea! Way to go Kristina!

Towards the very end of our session Michael woke up and was so peaceful and wide-eyed we had to snap a few more images, didn't we?

Sweet Baby A ~ Newborn

2011-04-10T09:17:00.001-06:00

Here's a sweet little angel. She was such a good baby during our session. She slept the whole time and was very easily consolable when she did get fussy. Her mom had some props on hand that she wanted to use for her daughter's session and I'm so glad that we got to use them. Those angel wings are to die for cute!!! So cute that I bought myself a pair for future sessions. I love that A's mom brought out her wedding veil for a few shots, such a great thought and use for a keepsake. Mom's take note: I love when we use props that have meaning to your family for your images.

Harry ~ 6 months old

2011-04-08T20:04:00.002-06:00

Pardon the look of the blog... there are some changes happening and so it'll be looking better and better {I hope} over the next couple weeks. One of the changes will include larger images.

This is Harry. He was such a good sport during his photo session despite being so tired. He even fell asleep which was so cute, and not something that normally happens during a photo session with 6 month old. I love this age because it's a great time to capture so many expressions.

This is probably my favorite picture of the bunch. You can't see much of the faces but I love the emotionality in this image. Plus aren't all of us ladies suckers for daddy's and their babies.

Kristina~Maternity

2011-04-05T12:15:00.007-06:00

I was a bit nervous for this session. I hadn't done a maternity shoot in a while, and it was cold and super windy. The session turned out wonderfully despite all my fears and at the end of it I realized that I had nothing to worry about. The soon to be parents were happy during the session and didn't complain when I took too long... I always take too long because I just want to get one more picture... again and again and again.

This family has helped me so much the last few weeks and they don't even know. I'm currently finishing editing their son's newborn session and it's beautiful. I love it. But what was really amazing was the drive home after the session. It was one of those self defining moments. I realized I'm not just a photographer, but a newborn photographer. The last year I've kind of just let my business go where it was going to go and because of wonderful clients it's gone in a great direction. After my self defining moment I'm getting back to business. I'm happy to say that I've been reinvesting into my business and I'm so excited for where my business is going to go this year... where I'm going to take it.

Back to the pictures though. Here are my wonderful clients a few weeks before their little nugget arrived.

Townes & Family

2011-03-22T07:04:00.000-06:00

This is Townes. His family was so super sweet. We photographed Townes in their living room and I loved his mother's style, and I loved his vintage style outfit. It was so sweet and he was so happy for us.

We did journey out into the cold for a few moments for some photos with the family.

W.D. ~ Family

2011-03-20T06:11:00.007-06:00

Well it's time to get my blog and site caught up. I was really busy before Christmas and then after. I feel like I'm finally getting used to things and am starting to get busy again. So it's time to post some sessions that didn't get posted before, and then I can start posting more recent ones.

I photographed this family for their holiday card. It was freezing but they were great during the whole session. Mom rocked her hot outfit. It was their son's birthday and he was a great kid during the whole session.

This is one of my favorite shots. Sometimes I over edit photos, and I do it mostly for my own enjoyment and usually only for my personal photos. It's just not my editing style to over edit client images. With that said I love the moodiness, romance, drama, or everything about this one.

Mom also told me Dad doesn't like to smile, but I got him to and he looked great.

Henry Jr ~ 8 Days Old

2011-01-21T14:01:00.000-07:00

Henry's mom contacted me for a newborn session when Henry was 7 days old, and lucky for us she wasn't hesitant when I said I could photograph her son the next day. The window of opportunity with newborns is a small one and I think we did Henry's photo session at just the right time. He is a beautiful baby boy and so sweet. Henry also had just fallen asleep when I arrived at his home, which was AMAZING!

Nate ~ 6 months

2010-12-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

Nate was such a fun and happy little boy. Six months is such a fun age and he gave us so many cute faces. Love the bright blue eyes!

Grateful

2010-12-01T12:02:00.002-07:00

I just have to say how grateful I am for all of my clients. This year has been wonderful and my business has grown and gone in a direction that amazes me and brings me joy. I love all of the little ones I've met and think they are just darling. So a big THANK YOU to everyone who has allowed me into your home and life this year.

J ~ Family

2010-11-28T02:09:00.000-07:00

This sweet family just added a baby girl and I was so happy to be asked to take their portraits. Their kids were very cooperative and I heard they don't always like having their picture taken. Lucky for us the weather wasn't too cold either. Oh, and their new baby slept the entire photo session, most of my new newborns don't even do that.

Miss Hunter ~ School Pics

2010-11-24T02:05:00.000-07:00

Hunter is actually a friend of mine and a really sweet girl. She did some babysitting for me in exchange for a portrait session. I was happy to oblige and would trade with her any time, and it was way fun to go out and take these portraits of her.

J ~ Family

2010-11-22T14:48:00.001-07:00

My husband and I have only lived in this area for a little over a year. We had no friends or family when we moved here. Lucky for us we've met some great people and they're quickly becoming great friends. Here are few images from a portrait session of one of those families.

Alejandro

2010-11-19T13:52:00.013-07:00

Alejandro's Dad contacted me to schedule a maternity session of his wife. We picked a day and then a few days later I received an email that the maternity session would now have to be a newborn session because their sweet son had arrived. Meet Alejandro. He didn't want to sleep at all, but in the end I was able to capture some wonderful images of him.

Olivia

2010-10-10T15:12:00.000-06:00

Baby Olivia was a doll, and not much bigger than one either. She was super sweet and just a joy to work with.

Xavier

2010-10-04T10:21:00.015-06:00

Maybe I shouldn't say this little man is beautiful, but he is. He was the sweetest little baby and only 14 days old when I met him. Just the perfect subject.

It took almost no time at all to get him to go to sleep and towards the end he was out... it was too sweet. I could have photographed him all day long.