Minimal Maternity Session in Massachusetts

I’ve been lucky enough to photograph this beautiful lady for her engagement, elopement, pregnancy and soon, her family of three!
I think what I loved most about this session is that we were both completely in the zone, laughing, totally relaxed and just excited to be documenting this beautiful belly of hers.

She just did major renovations on her new house that she hadn’t even moved into at the time, so it was seriously the most perfect atmosphere for a simple, relaxed, and minimalistic maternity session.

It left me feeling inspired, and I hope it inspires you, too.

Dresses are FillyBoo.

The Lawton Family | Massachusetts Family Photographer

I bring you this beautiful family who I’ve grown to LOVE and adore over the years. I’m just going to let the pictures do the talking here, but all the heart eyes for these four humans.

Alaina and Tommy | Lifestyle Maternity Photographer

Alaina and Tommy are expecting their first baby (boy) this September and I am over the mooooooon excited for them!
I’m sharing their maternity session with you because the images speak so much better than I can on it.
Can’t wait to meet baby Cross! <3

Unraveled Retreat Family shoot | Fairview Utah

Ah, Utah. It never disappoints and leaves me yearning for mountains when I get back to Massachusetts.
I had the privilege and pleasure to be invited back to Unraveled Retreat this year for the second time to teach some really incredible students and this beautiful family was so gracious to model for us!

This was a live shoot and I always get a little anxious teaching and shooting because part of my process is to become so immersed and friendly with the family I’m shooting it’s hard for me to think about teaching at the same time! I can’t really express how natural and easy these 5 were in front of the camera, and their three boys explored and played making it the most incredible teaching experience! I am so grateful to the women of Unraveled Academy, Sarah & Co, for this opportunity, I’m grateful for this family being so willing to model and just be themselves, and I am thankful for all of the students who actually want to hear what I have to offer. Because I’ll tell ya something… I never in my wildest dreams imagined I’d be teaching photography one day.

Without further ado… I present you with the sweetest family of 5 who will become a party of 6 later this year <3

Thank you, again from the bottom of my heart!

Dress: Reclamation

Baby Max | Massachusetts Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

I’m going to let the pictures do all the talking here… but I want to say that I am so very happy for Elisa and Alex. They welcomed their son Max into this world after waiting so very patiently for him. He slept through most of his session and melted in their arms. If there ever were “natural-born parents”, Elisa and Alex are the definition. All the chill vibes, all the love and happiness… congratulations to this new family of three!

Turks & Caicos Family vacation - Airbnb + Adventure

If you’re thinking about taking your kiddos to Turks and Caicos, let me go ahead and reaffirm that it’s a good idea. Of course, there are many ways to travel & stay. You have options! All inclusive resorts, hotels, Airbnb, VRBO, renting a car, using a shuttle service, the list goes on… we did our trip a bit more of the “adventurous” way and I’m going to fill you in on all the details!

Back in March 2018 we decided we were going to join Sarah Driscoll (my Root & Bud partner & best friend) on their trip to Turks & Caicos to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. I was going to photograph her family and in result, our family was going to make a little vacation out of it!

We started planning and all said and done the planning process was fairly quick (about a month or so). What’s so great about planning a trip so far in advance is you usually put half the cost of the house down upon booking and the other half is deducted 2 weeks prior to your trip, making it way less painful then shelling out the full cost of the vacation all up front. Think in advance! It will ease the pain of spending the money!

Accommodations

We knew right away that we were going to go the Airbnb route and let me tell you why:

It’s the only way we travel for us. After we did it once back in Florida for our Disney trip and Gulf Coast trip, we knew we’d never go back to a hotel again.

If the comforts of your own home, separate bedrooms, the option to cook, pack lunches, make breakfasts, privacy and more freedom to explore is your cup of tea then renting a house is the best way to get all of those amenities.

We knew we wanted this trip to be pretty low key. What I mean when I say that is, with Abel being under 2, we knew we couldn’t do crazy excursions, hikes, horseback riding etc. so we definitely wanted to be ON the water. That was our #1 priority when we were searching for a house, and will ALWAYS be top priority going forward. The convenience is paramount and having a view is priceless.

The house we fell in love with and ultimately booked had 3 bedrooms, a laundry room, 2 bathrooms, a spacious kitchen and a killer patio with a view. It was ON the water and had a pool, so everything we needed was right there. Not only that, but this particular Airbnb had a property manager who was SO incredibly helpful. He helped us with a rental car after ours got a bit messed up, he showed us the grocery store, he gave us recommendations of favorite beaches and things to do and lastly he shuttled us to the airport when it was time to go. Emmanuel was THE MAN and made our trip so much smoother.
You can find details about our Airbnb and how to book here.

Cost of Airbnb for 5 nights 6 days was roughly $3800

Airbnb - the sandbox villa

breakfast

Hammocks by the pool

Pool hangs at the house

view from the deck

The pool is on the side of the house and has a little playground behind it! They are fully equipped with beach chairs, snorkel gear, life jackets, floats and more!

Flights

Last time with a lap child😭


Next were the flights. Once we picked a house we booked our flights. Since Abel was under 2 we decided to take advantage of the last year having a “lap child” meaning we didn’t have to pay him to fly with us. He’s pretty heavy and certainly mobile, however, so traveling 4 hours with him on my lap was interesting to say the least…
We brought three iPads, three sets of headphones and some travel games & coloring pads. If you search “travel games” on Amazon you’ll see things like ‘bingo’, ‘checkers’, ‘memory’ etc.!
For Abel we had a movie downloaded on his iPad that kept him entertained here and there for 25 minutes at a time, then we’d switch and read a book, color, or play with little cars or toys and go back to the movie.
BIG TIP: Bring kids melatonin. Haha I swear… I gave him one of these on the ride there and he passed out in my arms! The older kids Grant, 7 and Dean, 5 were occupied and happy the whole plane ride!
If you’re going to choose a longer flight, I highly suggest booking a Red Eye. You can administer some melatonin and let them sleep. We had a late flight on the way home and flew 9:30pm-10:30pm on our last stretch and two of the three were sleeping.

Cost of four plane tickets round trip was roughly $3000

Getting around

That bum.

We had booked a rental SUV through SIXT and when we landed in Turks & Caicos they had told us that they didn’t have any more cars… FUN! We learned that these things can happen quite frequently when traveling out of the country to a small island and Emmanuel hooked us up with a rental car for half the price. We ended up lucking out, thankfully!
Car seats: in Turks & Caicos no one drives around with car seats or really even seat belts for that matter. Their “highway” was a long rode with dirt roads off of it. Part of the fun when traveling outside the country is immersing yourself into their culture. I’m not recommending one thing or the other, but if you don’t feel comfortable with this lifestyle, you’re able to bring your own car seats or see if a more popular rental car service like Avis can provide rental car seats for you.

The taxi to the house was $46, so you don’t really want to be taking a taxi around the island, especially if you plan on exploring or grocery shopping!

Cost of renting a car through our property manager: $300 Cost of renting a car through SIXT (thankfully that didn’t work out ) $850

Grocery Store

We ended up going to the grocery store twice in 6 days. The first shop we got the basics, breakfast foods, snacks, milk, juice etc. and the second time we went to get dinner for an evening we planned on cooking at the house. We spent a total of just under $400 on groceries and I found the pricing to be comparable to the US.
We had planned on having breakfast at the house and doing late lunches at restaurants! That ended up tiding Andrew and I over for dinner most nights… and then we just fed the kids what we had back at the house for dinner. It was nice not having things so planned out and structured, we were fully on island time and saved a boatload of money on going to breakfast and dinner every day!

The restaurants were also fairly comparable to the US. Of course, imports are going to be a bit higher on an island and why buy steak when it’s flown in, am I right? So we stuck to local food like fish tacos, I think Grant had fish tacos at every restaurant we went to. They used local snapper that was freshly caught, or shrimp and it was SO GOOD! Highly recommend #allthefishtacos

Beaches

We stayed right on Thompson Cove and didn’t do any exploring other than that the first day! The beach there was pretty much empty and we caught a horseback riding tour multiple times throughout our stay. It was a really nice beach to walk and the water was breathtaking. Just a short walk down the beach from our house was a restaurant called “The Conch Shack”, we ate there once on the first day we arrived and watched some locals retrieve huge conch shells from a tiny reef off-shore. It was nice having the convenience of a cute little beach side restaurant within a 5 minute walk from where we were staying with all the local island vibes.

The beach our house was on!

Horseback riding route came right in front of our house!

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Day 2: Long Bay Beach

View from path of Long Bay Beach

The second day we visited Long Bay Beach. This was my FAVORITE beach because it stretched for miles and had so many kiteboarders surfing the waves. This beach was soft white sand and perfect for the kids to swim in. Here Abel fell asleep in our arms for about 40 minutes as we just waded in the water and took in the scenery. It was truly a breathtaking view! This beach was pretty desolate as there weren’t many people there which we found to be quite common throughout our stay. We spent most of the day there and then drove back home exploring the island in our car. We stopped at Jack's Fountain for lunch and this place was adorable. They had little corn hole boards in the back patio and such a great island vibe. This place wasn’t on the water, but you totally felt like you were dining ON an island. The food was so good and we learned it was owned by a Canadian, pretty cool, eh?

jack’s fountain

Day 3: Chalk Sound

Kayaking through chalk sound

The third day we headed into Chalk Sound. There were re tons of huge beach front houses there and they were absolutely gorgeous. We spent the car ride daydreaming about the beautiful island homes and stopped at Sapodilla Bay for the morning into the afternoon. There weren’t many people at this beach either! We walked this little cove, swam and rented some beach chairs and an umbrella for the day. They had little beach drinks, jet skis & kayaks for rent and it was the PERFECT place to spend the afternoon. The kids LOVED this one and the water was shallow and clear so they felt confident and safe swimming. The whole area was breathtaking!
Afterwards we ate lunch at La Brisas which was literally 3 minutes from Sapodilla Bay. The food there was as beautiful as the view and right around the corner and down a little path there were little huts and kayaks you could take out around Chalk Sound. We rented two for $50 and kayaked around. YET another amazing afternoon.
I think if we were to go back to T&C we might consider staying right on Sapodilla Bay.

spaodilla bay

view from La Brisas restaurant

beach chairs at sapodilla bay

Day 4: Grace Bay

Swim at grace bay beach

The fourth day I’ll admit… we spent the day with the Driscoll’s on Grace Bay Beach. This beach was actually voted the number 1 beach in the WORLD in 2018. There are sailboats and parasailers and the most BEAUTIFUL water ever, ever. We actually were naughty and snuck onto the Beaches Resort to hang with Sarah and her family and later take her family pictures! It was SO incredibly perfect for the kids. Water slides, pools, restaurants, you name it… they had it. We found a little spot right on the resort beach and where not a lot of people were and it worked PERFECTLY! Here’s a little slideshow of her session <3

Day 5: Boat ride to Fort George Cay & Iguana Island

The fifth day we rented a boat and the captain took us to Iguana Island where the kids got to feed some Iguanas! This was Dean’s favorite part of the trip! Shortly after that we boated around Grace Bay and over to Fort George Cay which was uninhabited and desolate. The beach was INSANE. Truly the most gorgeous beach we had seen and the water was so clear and beautiful. It was completely one of those moments where if you envision heaven at all, it would be similar to this desolate beach. The Cay you can only get to by boat and because no one lives on it you truly feel like you’re in a scene from the show Lost- it’s what makes these Caribbean Islands so amazing in my opinion. The desolate beaches on the outskirts of the main islands are something everyone needs to see and it’s 100% worth the money to plan an excursion to get you there!
You can book an excursion or a boat ride through this site here.

After we boated we drove over to Coral Gardens for the boys to snorkel. That was an epic failure as they couldn’t quite figure out the snorkel paired with the life jacket riding up on them. Better luck next year!
But what was a huge success was the restaurant called Somewhere. This restaurant was situated RIGHT on the beach and had stunning views. It had such an island feel with perfect island music and it may have been my favorite restaurant that we visited! The fist tacos were actually to die for.
After all this we went home, put the kids down for naps and then went out for our one and only dinner!
We ended up going to Mango Reef and I have to say, while it was cute with the lights, I don’t think I’d recommend going back… we were told to go to Coco Bistro/Coco Van, but you totally needed reservations for that and we dropped the ball! Next time.

Thompson cove where we stayed

Day 6: half day on the island then flew home!

The last day, day 6 we packed up early morning and spent about 3 hours or so swimming in the pool and eating lunch on the beach! Emmanuel shuttled us to the airport and we started our journey back home!
We could have stayed a few more days to be honest, and we weren’t “ready” like you usually are when you’re far from home and wrapping up a vacation! All good signs :)

Things to know

First thing I never expected was how many stray dogs there would be on the island. They are EVERYWHERE. But this is the way they live. Lots of people on the island have what they call “beach dogs” meaning they live outdoors, on the beach, but they come around for food, water, and basic care. For the most part ALL of the dogs we came in contact with were friendly.
The boys were really heartbroken at first, (so was I) but thankfully with a good talking to from Dad, we learned to understand their way of life! It’s just very different from what we are used to back in the states!

Second thing: BRING CASH! I know, it’s sort of a no brainer- but we didn’t think of this too much in advance because we didn’t bring enough. You have call the bank and let them know you’re traveling outside the country and they’ll take a hold off your account to allow you to withdraw from ATM’s. Without having an international plan though, that call will run ya! So just be prepared!

What we loved SO much about adventuring is we were able to really rely on nothing but ourselves, the car and nature to entertain us the whole time. We stayed so busy and we were constantly in awe of our surroundings. The boys spent every hour of the day on the beach or swimming for the most part, and needless to say they had no trouble falling asleep each night!

We are already planning our 2019 Caribbean vacation because this truly was a trip of a lifetime and it’s just the beginning for us. We’ve got big plans with drones, vlogging and more for our next trip and we can’t wait to document all the fun!

My biggest takeaway: family time is EVERYTHING. You only have 18 summers with your children until who the heck knows… once they’re adults they could be doing anything, right? So we want to make it count. Sure, it’s hard traveling with little ones, but if you feel you can swing it, I encourage you to try it. It’s so rewarding and so worth it. This trip was the best family trip yet and Turks & Caicos is INCREDIBLY family friendly. Happy vacation planning, friends!

Family Tripod picture at Thompson cove

Grace & Liv & Mama | Massachusetts Photographer | Motherhood Session

This beautiful mama who is also a fellow photographer with SO much talent reached out for a motherhood session just two months after her second baby girl was born. I was so excited to meet her and her girls and completely smitten by all their adorableness. Best news? We shoot again in September, with dad, too... and I am so excited to spend some more time with them. For now though, she's got a whole bunch of photographs to print of just herself and her beautiful babies. I can't think of anything better to treat yourself to <3

Carson | Motherhood Short Sessions | Massachusetts Lifestyle Photographer

Baby Carson and his beautiful mama came to my house for a motherhood short session this March and it just solidified my love for motherhood sessions even more. I certainly didn't think that was even possible... 
These sessions are exclusively for mama's and their babies. 
Why should you consider a motherhood session at my home? Here are some reasons:

1.) You'll be so happy you have photographs of you and your baby because baby's don't keep, and how often are you in front of the lens? They are intimate, special and so sweet.

2.) I have a rack of dresses for you to choose from, so it takes the stress out of picking out an outfit! 

3.) With that being said... you also don't have to clean up your home or worry about where we are going to shoot! Everything will be prepared and ready for you upon your arrival!

4.) Since I don't offer "mini sessions" this is the closest to a "mini" in that it's only 30-40 minutes long, more affordable, and the perfect treat to yourself. 

So, how do you book? Visit my website http://www.elisemeaderphotography.com/contact-me/ and let's pick a date! <3

I'll leave you with this adorable duo... 

“The days are long but the years are short.”

Click Away | Emotive Family | Massachusetts Lifestyle Photographer

I taught for the VERY first time this past month at Click Away Conference in Amelia Island, Florida. I have to say, I wasn't fully prepared, didn't know what to expect, and looking back I definitely could do things in the future to better prepare myself and educate the students that were so kind to take my classes. It still blows my mind that there are people that actually find value in learning from me, and I want to be the best educator I can be, so I think reflecting upon my experience and blogging it here will be so beneficial to look back on in the future. I am SO grateful to my model families for allowing me the opportunity to photograph them, while teaching and letting others shoot alongside of me. 

As you can imagine, shooting while teaching can be a little distracting to the family you're photographing. Directing the family, observing for those candid, emotive and special moments while instructing, stepping aside for students to get their shot, and pausing every few seconds isn't exactly conducive for a fluid session. WITH that being said... this family is one hundred percent my IDEAL client <3

They showed real love, connection, emotion and had fun together. Their love shines through in every image and I couldn't be more grateful to them for allowing me the opportunity to photograph them with so many distractions going on. Stacey and her husband Ben are photographers out of Florida, and their grasp for what's important is held tight. They get it. Photographing people who get it makes every single image come to life and I just love these images we got from my VERY first live shoot-out that I instructed. They are even sweeter than I ever expected, so kind, so beautiful inside and out, and I am so blessed to have met them. So, Stacey & Ben thank you for making it easy. I loved capturing your love.

Lydia | Massachusetts Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

Sweet Lydia graced this beautiful family of four early this month and made this beauty a big sister! The last time I saw this adorable family was when Emme, now 2, was a newborn. So happy to be invited back into their home to capture all the snuggles saved up for their new baby girl. Congratulations Beth & Kyle! 

Nico | Massachusetts Photographer | Lifestyle Motherhood Sessions

Sweet baby Nico and his momma Danielle were the sweetest way to break in my "in-home studio"  for 2018. I've always been an on-location photographer, traveling to my clients homes, meeting at common outdoor locations, and really capturing the essence of family and love in an environment my client is most comfortable. With the addition of a new sunroom in my Rutland home, I've decided to take a limited amount of motherhood sessions in my home. These lifestyle sessions emphasizing on connection and love will be offered throughout the year at a first come, first serve basis. For more information visit my website or send me an email! <3

Liam | Massachusetts Newborn Photographer | Lifestyle Session

The most wonderful thing about my Lifestyle Maternity & Newborn package is that I get to meet a couple, watch their excitement as they are weeks away from welcoming a baby into their lives, and THEN meet that precious babe once they have arrived. As if that's not enough, three, six, nine or twelve months later I get to see how that baby grew and capture another little snippet of their story. 

I get quite a few of these types of clients and watching a couple turn into parents and then being able to witness them grow is truly a gift. I'm grateful. <3 

Jillian's maternity session is linked here.

Congratulations to this sweet and beautiful family of three!

The B Family | Massachusetts Lifestyle Family Photographer

Another fellow photographer contacted me to shoot her beautiful family. Always the best compliment... they drove 2 hours to meet me and they were filled with love and light. I just sat back and watched how they interacted, captured those smiles and hugs and I think the result is pretty special. Here's to your story... your family... and your happily ever after <3

Thank you for choosing me to tell a little piece of your story.

The H Family | Falmouth Beach Session | Massachusetts Family Photographer

I met this family when they were welcoming their sweet baby boy, Grey home. 
He was just weeks old and his two older sisters were completely smitten. I sort of fell in love with these five right away. They were just SO natural and in the moment-- making my job easy as pie.

I was fortunate enough to capture a mama & me session for Krista and her babies back in February and loved everything about it. It was real, raw, natural and so much fun. She shared with me that they'd be moving to Texas in the summer and they wanted to plan one more family session, this time at the beach. 

Man, have I been lucky to have captured some really beautiful moments in this family's life. They left Massachusetts with memories of the beach. With some salt in their hair and sand in their toes and they were off to a new adventure in their new home state of Texas. I wish them all the best, and I will forever be grateful that they came back to me two more times after that first session <3

Cheers to clients that leave a special place in your heart <3

The O Family | Massachusetts Lifestyle Photographer

Family sessions are really simple when families disregard the fact that they're being photographed and live IN the moment. I promise if you engage with your family, run, laugh, be silly and have fun, you'll get me at my best. And me at my best is when your gallery is FILLED with images like these <3

Love this family and cannot thank them enough for trusting me and my process... perfectly imperfect is perfect in my book.

Baby M | Massachusetts Maternity Photographer

Some of my very favorite sessions are maternity. Especially for new parents... there's something about the excitement in their eyes and love they share together that will soon overflow to a little being they've created. These beautiful people are expecting their first baby just next month. They've kept the sex a surprise and I'm 100% certain it will be the best surprise of their life. Congratulations to Jill and Mike. I cannot wait to meet your sweet little love <3

Harrison | Massachusetts Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

Their first child, their first son, everything about this dynamic brought me back to those feelings I felt bringing home my first little boy. Man, there's nothing better. Diana absolutely killed it in the nursery, making this the most adorable and chic jungle themes I've ever seen. Can't get enough of this sweet session. Congratulations Diana and Nick! xo

Liliana | Massachusetts Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

My sweet friend had her beautiful baby girl back in April and watching her smitten in love with her baby girl for an hour was simply the best. Congratulations Kate and Tony! Your family is to die for and I'm blessed to know you. 

Declan | Massachusetts Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

I have been so behind in blogging and thought to myself, what better way to get back on the train then to share this sweet family? They welcomed their first son, Declan into their home just this past March. This little 6 week old session was the sweetest...

Tripp | Massachusetts Lifestyle Newborn Photographer

 Meet baby Tripp. I had the pleasure of documenting this beautiful mama's maternity images and just recently got to meet her sweet baby boy. I can't express the gratitude I have to my clients for allowing me the opportunity to document their journey through pregnancy and motherhood. It brings so much joy to my life being able to put these little memories together for each and every single family <3

So this blog post is just to say thank you. Thank you for choosing me to document your most precious journey in life. Welcome to the world, sweet Tripp!