Nashville Family Videographer + Photographer | The Taylor Family

Filming this family twice in a year, gosh it's the biggest compliment. Not only did they hire me for their incredible home birth, but then to hire me to capture their family with their newest newborn (not to mention, they are former wedding videographers)... It's the BIGGEST compliment.Having families who now hire me annually, brings me near tears. It has been a dream to have this unique business and seeing it having grown into what it is, makes me so happy.I love this family because they truly prioritize simplicity over busy, connection over things. Their are so engaged with their kids and truly love one another. They make every effort to live their lives to the fullest and to be fully present with their family. I loved capturing them playing and gardening. My favorite scenes are of them planting their garden and of mom and her daughter going to the coop to get the eggs. I love audio in family films and how it really brings the story to life. Engaging all of the senses, so bring you back to that very moment.

The Taylor Family | April 2024 from Jennie Pyfferoen on Vimeo.

Nashville Birth Photographer | The Birth of Shiloh Owen

Being hired to video and photograph the most important days of a family's live.... it's just beyond words. It's a gift, and honor, and I truly never take it for granted.

Krista reached out to me about filming her birth. She and her husband are former wedding videographers themselves. There is no greater compliment than when other photographers and videographers choose me.

I was incredibly blessed to be able to come to Krista's birth of her 3rd baby, during the day time. We had such gorgeous weather for her March Birth. Her home birth team was incredible. Krista's labor progressed so fast, we worried the midwife would not make it! Baby was born within 10 minutes of the midwife arriving. It was fast, but incredibly beautiful.

Krista and Patrick did not find out the gender of their baby until he arrived. It was such an incredible moment as she found out he was a boy!

Doula: Kimberly Williams of https://growingyournest.com/

Midwife: Cameron https://libertymidwife.com/

The Birth of Shiloh PG from Jennie Pyfferoen on Vimeo.  

Nashville Newborn Photographer | The Morrison Family

What I loved and appreciated about this family was that they had such a deepened gratitude for having a baby, for becoming parents. It was quite like their biggest dreams in life had come true. They are already the most intentional parents, loving their sweet baby girl fully. Embracing life as parents together, as a team, a unit. Their new baby girl is the piece that bonds them now. I absolutely adore their film and photos and how it all came together.

If you would like to have a family video and photos done after you have your baby, please let's chat! 

The Morrison Family | January 2024 from Jennie Pyfferoen on Vimeo.

4 Benefits of Delayed Cord Clamping | Nashville Birth Videographer + Photographer

In my 3 years of birth photography and videography experience, I have been drawn to so many elements presented before me in the birth space. Because of my decision to niche and only offer my services for home births, I frequently see similar birth plan decisions play out in the birth space. One of those being delayed cord clamping. I have yet to see any babies not delayed. I wondered what the benefits were, as this wasn't a known thing when I had my own babies in 2009 + 2012. As a person with a BS in developmental psychology, anything that affects a baby's health or development interests me. I thought I would share with you what I found.

According to the American College of obstetricians and gynecologists, here are 4 benefits of delayed cord clamping.

#1 Blood Benefits

In full term newborns, delayed cord clamping increases hemoglobin levels at birth and improves iron stores in the first months of life, which in turn can affect development. I know both of my boys had "low hemoglobin" and I remember  wondering how and why, as I was nursing. My 2nd baby, I even went so far as to serve him liver for one of his first foods and he still had this issue.

#2 Circulation + preterm babies

Delaying cord clamping was associated with SIGNIFICANT neonatal benefits in PRETERM babies. It improves their circulation, then better establish red blood cell volume.

#3 Premature Babies Benefit

In Premature babies, there is a lower incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (a severe complication within the intestines in premature babies).

#4 Reduced risks for preterm babies

Delayed Umbilical Cord Clamping also decreases the need for a blood transfusion and decreases risk of intraventricular hemorrhage in preterm infants.

If I were having a baby today, I would have a doula ready to keep the hospital from clamping too early especially if I went into labor early.

If you are thinking about having your birth filmed and photographed, please reach out! 

What age should newborn photos be taken? | Nashville Newborn Photographer

When is the best age to take newborn photos?

TL;DR Any age is a good age for relaxed, natural newborn photos.

You have a newborn for all of 7 weeks. So when is this 7 week period, is a good time to take newborn photos?

It varies by style, for sure. If you want the posed newborn photos (I used to pose newborns for many years), you'll definitely need to do them within 10 days of birth. After about 5-6 years of posing newborns and then discovering my true inner self within documentary photography and videography, I now prefer the style of in-home relaxed newborn photos. I want to tell the story of what your baby preferred or did not prefer during their newborn stage.

Maybe they always had their hand up by their face. Or they make a scrunchy face often during the day. With offering newborn videography, I can also capture their little noises or coos. In-home newborn photography allows for baby to lead the session. We are able to capture any nursing photos (if you want), as well as how dad naturally interacts with your newborn baby!

There are many advantages to waiting until the baby is closer to 4-6 weeks old, especially if clients are hiring my to do videography. In the earlier weeks, baby won't interact with mom and dad much. But closer to 4-5 weeks, they are cooing and smiling and making eye contact. I give my clients the choice between photography around 2 weeks old or later, when they are more interactive. Because my clients can hire me for just photos, or for video+photos, that might alter their response as well. If they are hiring me for just photos, my clients tend to choose to have their in-home newborn session closer to 2 weeks, which is super precious.

2 week old Babies:

If you are wanting to capture that really young newborn stage, then this is the time frame for you! It is the most common time newborn babies are photographed. Babies are still sleepy, and curling up like they did in the womb. They are very snuggly and don't have any newborn acne, typically.

3-4 week old Babies:

This stage might offer some baby acne. If this really bothers you, you might put the session off until it clears. (I am very flexible with newborn bookings!). But for a photographer who captures real life, it doesn't phase me. However, how much acne can vary widely and a baby with worse acne, might be a situation to put it off a few more weeks until their acne clears. During this stage of development, babies tend to go through growth spurts and can be crankier and hungrier and needier.

5-7 week old Babies:

I love capturing babies most at either 2 weeks old, or in this 5-7 week window. They are more alert in this window and interacting more, which is great for video and for photos. Mom has had more time to recover from birth and everyone has fallen into their roles as mom and dad. Babies have filled out, they keep their eyes open more and they most likely are smiling by now!

Older Babies:

Don't let any belief out there make you think you have missed a magic window to capture your baby. The beauty of lifestyle photos, is that any time, is a good time to capture your life with your baby!

If you want newborn or even older babies photos, please reach out! I would love to help.

Nashville Newborn Photographer | The Morgan Family

This session was years in the making. Jillian has wanted to hire me forever and after becoming pregnant with #2, was able to convince her husband to have a newborn family video of their early days with a teeny new daughter. The film turned out absolutely amazing and she immediately booked her 2nd film 😂

They have an older daughter, who is completely smitten with her little baby sister. I loved highlighting that new relationship in their film and photos. They will always have precious video to remember the beginning of their daughters' sisterhood. How big sis would read and sing to her baby sister. Years from now when big sis is giving her little sister boy advice, this film is going to be 100x more meaningful. It literally makes me tear up thinking about it.

My 3 favorite things about this family film + photo session...

#1 How mom responded after seeing her film.

This is literally my MOST favorite part of the entire process. I LOVE filming and I LOVE editing but getting to experience mom's (and dad's) responses to seeing it, is just on a whole other level. Here are some quotes from her texts to me:

"I think my heart just stopped"

"I don’t have words… you truly have a gift!"

"I forgot about her baby Afro 🥰"

"I am going to watch it on repeat, truly amazing! Thank you SO much!!!"

"I am so thankful we finally did it!"

"You turned my ordinary into extraordinary!!"

"If I was rich, I would get one every month for the first year of life!"

#2 Dad's authentic chit chat with his new baby girl.

He is incredibly smitten and has this southern accent. His sweet but hilarious personality really shines through.

#3 Absolutely big sister and her love for her baby sister.

How she kisses her, talks to her, sings to her, reads to her and just organically shows her love. It makes me tear up every time I watch their film!

The Morgan Family | December 2023 from Jennie Pyfferoen on Vimeo.

5 Reasons you should consider In-home newborn photography | Nashville Newborn Photographer

After having a baby, the recovery can be hard. Either your birth canal hurts or you've just had major abdominal surgery. Leaving home with a toddler and a newborn to carry everyone off to a newborn studio shoot, can be difficult. and too much on your postpartum body. This is just one of the many reasons I love in-home newborn photography.

Keep reading for the top 5 reasons to have your newborn shoot at home.

#1 It's more authentic.

In the 80s and 90s, we captured some newborn photos at the hospital with the traditional pink and blue hospital hat and the bracelet, but we also took a lot of candids at home with our cameras. Somehow, with the modern way we get photos done, we seem to have less of our candid lives. Having someone enter your home and simply be a fly on the wall, letting you be comfortable leads to more authentic images. You'll be able to look back at them and see the things that were on your coffee table, telling the story of the year you had a newborn. (like, maybe a Stanley sits there, and you would remember when the Stanleys were flying off the shelves). You might remember in the 80s, it was common for there to be a large circle ash tray. Something so simple can tell the most amazing stories. You would remember the sofa you had during the newborn stage. The way you had her nursery set up. The way her older sister adjusted to life with a little baby in the house. The middle of the night feeds, the way she grabbed tightly onto your finger. There are all of these tiny moments in our every day with a newborn and it only lasts 7 weeks.

#2 Getting photos is easier at home.

With little to no posing, Everyone, including big brother or sister, and dad, can be relaxed in their environment rather than walking into a studio they have rarely been to, and being told to sit here and smile, or kiss baby, etc. Which creates pressure. That pressure can lead to melt downs, and inauthentic and forced photos.

#3 There is no schedule.

When I show up, Im there on your clock, not mine. In a studio setting, there are usually set windows for each client. But when Im at my client's home, I can pause when baby needs to nurse (and can capture that if mom wants) and can take a break if the older sibling is feeling overwhelmed. I can set my camera down, and just be a friend who came over for a visit. I do whatever leads to authentic photos. Im never rushed and am only there to tell the story you want told.

#4 Each baby is beautiful just as they are.

While I spent years posing newborns, I have since learned that when I chose to do that, I was preventing mom of memories of how here baby was as a baby. How they chose to lay, how they preferred their hands to be. How they chose to lay their head. Oftentimes, parents will see their photos of their newborn baby and say "oh my gosh, she did that in utero!" and refer to previous ultrasounds or just the way baby seemed to constantly bring their hand up by their face like they had done it 100X before.

#5 There is no special window to capture baby in.

Depending on if you want newborn videography or just photography alone, You can have your session anywhere from 2-6 weeks after having your baby. If you want videography, I let my clients choose, of course, but often recommend around 4 weeks when baby is starting to interact with mom and dad, so we can really get some great audio and footage. I work with each family individually, and customize their session to what they want. Even if they want an earlier newborn session, we don't have to capture it in that first 10 days to get the posed type of photography, so we can even wait until baby is 2 weeks old and mom is moving around better and feels more herself. Plus, given that I'm trying to tell the story of what it was like to have a newborn, I tend to like mom and dad to have some time to process the fact that they have a newborn! It's so surreal at first!

If you are in the Nashville area, or want me to travel to you, feel free to reach out or take a look at my work!

Franklin, TN Family Photographer | The Swope Family Film + Photos

I hate to sound like a broken record, but it is such a huge blessing to be called to do this work. It is my purpose in life, to film families and births. To be asked to come into a family's home and create an heirloom video of their life together... it's beyond words. To get to see their joy in watching their film and feel their gratitude that gets deeper with each passing year that we film... It's been an absolute joy.

I spent a few hours with The Swope Family, capturing their sunny fall days they spend in the garden, playing card games together, their three kiddos loving one another so well. I loved capturing the newness of their eldest daughter teaching their younger daughter to knit. How they love cooking dinner together and eating tacos.

This family loves spending time together. Even in the hard seasons, you see their love and dedication. Their support for one another. and how their parenting has fostered 3 siblings who love each other well. (Don't worry, they fight too😂😂)

Enjoy their film and some photos from their session!

The Swope Family | October 2023 from Jennie Pyfferoen on Vimeo.