We could not have asked for a more perfect northwest Florida fall day for this client's Tarklin Bayou State Park Maternity portrait session! The fading sunlight filtering through the trees only enhanced this mama's own goddess-like glow.

Daddy was a bit nervous in front of the camera, but mama rocked that beautiful baby belly.

If you're looking for a Maternity photographer who captures not only the beauty of your pregnant body but also the connect between you and your significant other, Finding Beauty in the Ordinary Photography is your northwest Florida or south Alabama photographer! I capture your growing family’s connections, emotions, and moments in a fun, natural way. Located in Pensacola and also offering family, newborn, and birth photography, service areas include but are not limited to Perdido Key, Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Beach, Navarre, Pace, Milton, and Cantonment in Florida and Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Foley, Fairhope, and Daphne in south Alabama.
Amanda offers a full service experience including exclusive access to her Maternity and Newborn wardrobe, an online proofing gallery to share and download your included high-resolution digital images, and an array of professional print, canvas, and album options. I can’t wait to hear from you and help create your own beautiful heirloom memories!
 
Pensacola Photographer | Pensacola Newborn Photographer | Gulf Shores Newborn Photographer |Pensacola Maternity Photography | Pensacola Newborn Photography | Gulf Shores Maternity Photographer | Pensacola Birth Photographer | Pensacola Birth Photography | Orange Beach Maternity Photographer 

The majority of my Pensacola and Orange Beach clients know exactly where they want their family pictures taken - the beach, a park, or downtown Pensacola. But there are some who want something a little out of the ordinary, a little off the beaten path. Whether you are looking for a classic location for your Pensacola family photography or if you'd like something a bit more unique, I guarantee I can find the perfect spot for your session. 

This family wasn't interested in the more typical family beach photos. This family wanted something a little special.
This past summer, mom, Jessica and I had taken our kiddos to see Bamahenge and the Dinosaurs in the Woods about 25 minutes west of Pensacola. While we were brainstorming out-of-the-box ideas for their family portrait session, Jessica asked if I'd ever done a session at Bamahenge and if it would work. Until then, I hadn't even considered doing a family session there, but I LOVED it! And so our plan began.

Bamahenge was such a unique location for this fun family's portrait session!

The late afternoon sun gave us the most lovely light and the woods surrounding us were absolutely beautiful.

So never fear, whether you're looking for a more classic location or something off-the-beaten-path, I've got you!

Baby Plans and Birth Photography are my two favorite things to photograph. 
With Birth Photography I get to share a tiny part of the most important day of someone's life. And with Baby Plans I get to follow my clients from mom's Maternity Photography session, to baby's Premium Newborn Photography session, through a couple of milestone sessions, and wrap up the year documenting a Cake Smash and 12-month photography session!

Ben's Watch Me Grow Baby Plan started when his mommy's Maternity Session at 26 weeks and continued with his Premium Newborn Portrait session about 3 months later.
I photographed their Maternity session one late December evening on the dock in their neighborhood with a beautiful Pensacola sunset behind them. Ben's Newborn session took place in their home. I love being able to photograph in my client's homes. Everyone is more comfortable as no one has to pack up a 10-day-old baby and travel! Plus, I'm able to take pictures in the rooms they'll soon be hanging!

Ben's 4-month Milestone Photography session took place on the little bay-side beach in their lovely neighborhood. We were pushing bedtime that July evening and when he just couldn't hang anymore, I kept shooting and these are some of my favorite photographs out of all of their sessions!

Mom and dad requested Johnson's Beach (a part of the National Seashore) for Ben's 7-month Milestone Portrait session. Since this session took place in October, mom provided some super cute pumpkins for a few of the pictures.

We wrapped up Ben's first year where it all began - on the neighborhood bay-side beach.

Finally, we headed back inside for Ben's Mickey Mouse themed Cake Smash!

As far as I'm concerned, EVERY cake smash session should wrap up with a couple of photographs of baby in a tub getting cleaned up! And these clients have the most gorgeous bathtub I've ever seen! This is like bathtub goals for me. :)

If you're expecting, call me and let's pick the best Watch Me Grow Baby Plan for you!

It was a beautiful January day when I had the pleasure of photographing 24-day-old Walter. Though 3 weeks old, Walter was still only around 8 pounds as he'd decided to surprise his parents by arriving a bit earlier than expected, and he'd only been home from the hospital a few days before I met him at his Newborn photography session.

Walter was the sweetest little boy who was happy to snuggle into every pose for me!

Even though newborn pictures are "typically" taken before 14-days-old, as far as I'm concerned, that's a guideline NOT a rule! I'll happily work with an older newborn any day!

Did you know that I offer professional business headshots? 
I do!
I can bring everything to your office for a simple, clean background, or we can meet somewhere around town for a headshot portrait that really shows off your personality!

If you're interested in a headshot just for you, I'm available for that as well. You can even come to my house to make it quick and easy!

Interested in updating your headshots? Email me for pricing.
findingbeautyphoto@gmail.com

The Williams family wanted something different for their three-generation family portrait session. This was their first family vacation with the new grand baby, and their first family vacation to Orange Beach. Mom/ Grandma, Christy, wanted a laid-back family photography session that focused on her daughter's new family, and her relationship with her children, son-in-law, and new granddaughter.

We headed over to Alabama Point in Orange Beach, AL just before sunset, I threw my favorite quilt in the sand, and then I just stepped back and let the magic happen!

When expecting parents begin researching hiring a birth photographer they're often hit with a bit of sticker shock. A bit of "does it really cost that much?" 
The short answer is yes, it does.
Most people understand that we are on call 24/7 for potentially 4+ weeks for each birth and then there's time to edit the photos themselves. My on call time starts when the mom reaches 38 weeks gestation, and then I remain on call until baby is born - sometimes at 42+ weeks. For a mother carrying multiples, my on call would start earlier, at 36 or 37 weeks depending on how her pregnancy is progressing. 

What a lot of people don't understand is exactly what being on call means - what birth workers (not just photographers, but doulas and midwives) give up by going on call. So, I thought it'd be fun to write a little blog about it. I asked a large birth photographer community that I'm a part of as well as some of my favorite doulas with Belly to Cradle, LLC the following question: 
"What are some of the weird things you (as a birth professional) have to consider when you go on call for a birth?"

Here are their answers.

I'll ask you, how much would you charge to potentially miss your kid's first soccer game, VPK graduation, or Thanksgiving dinner?

There's one more thing you should know though -
it's worth it!
I'd photograph births every day to witness and capture these moments! Making the decision to offer birth photography services in Pensacola, Crestview, Foley, and Fairhope is one of the BEST decisions I've ever made in my life!

Every photographer and doula I spoke with wouldn't change a thing.
We photograph births, we support mothers, we hold space because it's what we LOVE and because it's important.
​Everything we risk missing is worth everything we are allowed to witness!

When Kayla booked me as her photographer for my Bump to Baby photography package, she warned me that we probably wouldn't able to follow my "normal" timeline of maternity photography session between 30 and 34 weeks and newborn photography session about 7 days after baby's due date due to her past history of preeclampsia.
​She wasn't wrong.

Mom, Kayla, chose a gorgeous Chicaboo gown from my Client Closet in aqua for her Tarklin Bayou Preserve State Park Maternity photography session. We schedule her bump session for when she would be 30-weeks gestation and hoped.

The week after Kayla's Maternity session, she was officially put on hospital bed-rest in an attempt to keep her baby boy in as long as possible. The bed rest helped and about 3-weeks later, 6-weeks before his official "due-date" Jaxon decided it was time to join the world. After a little extra time in the hospital, Jaxon came home and I was able take his newborn portraits!

With a newborn photography session date of January 2nd (23 days before his due-date), Jaxon had the honor of being my first photography client of 2019. And this little peanut was a dream! It was very import to mom and dad that I capture plenty of family pictures as well as pictures of Jaxon with his doting big sister.

"This is how we take the fear out of birth: by honoring and embracing all the many possible variations that birth encompasses. In this way, every birth is a natural birth. Each of us is a part of nature, not separate from it, and nature is always stunning in its variety. Your birth, then, is part of the natural world, however it unfolds."
~ Lauralyn Curtis

Cesarean. C-section. Belly Birth. Call it what you will. You go into an operating room pregnant and come out a mother! I don't think there's anything more wonderful than bringing a new life into the world - however you choose to do so!
Claudia contacted me early in her pregnancy to hire me as her birth photographer to photograph her fourth and final cesarean birth. Mathias would be their fourth and last child as well as their first to be born in Pensacola, and they wanted to make sure that his birth story was captured!

When you hire a birth photographer for a c-section delivery, there will always be the possibility that she (or he) won't be allowed into the operating room to capture the actual moments of birth. All of my clients know it's up to them to let their OBGYN or midwife know that they've hired a birth photographer and to advocate for me to be allowed with them along their journey to parenthood. 

Mathias's birth was amazing to witness! Look at that beautiful, angry little man.
The clear drape that was used for this birth was so neat! The mom was able to watch her baby being born just as she could during a vaginal delivery.
​BTW - Thank you Baptist Hospital Pensacola, FL for the BEST OR clock placement ever!

The pediatrician and nurses called dad down to the warmer to meet his newest son while baby was cleaned up and measurements were taken.

As soon as they were sure Mathias's vitals were good, the nurses returned Mathias to his mom for some skin-to-skin while she was still on the operating table! 

Finally, we all headed to the recovery room for some family bonding. Mathias's 2 older sisters and big brother even got to come in to meet him for a couple of minutes!

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart." ~Elisabeth Foley

I don't know about you, but that quote rings very true to me. And I think it rings equally true for these clients! Extended family photography sessions aren't just for blood relatives - they're also for the family you chose for yourself. 
These ladies became friends in college, and now, over a decade later, they along with their significant others and children, gather together each year to celebrate their continued friendship. As someone who only sees her closest friends at most once a year, I was tickled that they wanted commemorate their vacation with a family photography session in front of their Gulf Shores condo.

We wrapped up the session with a picture of the four girls who started this whole thing.