One Last Photoshoot Before Baby Girl Arrives

Zach and Lauren came in for a maternity photoshoot on the Civic Square grounds in Carmel, home to the Kawachinagano Japanese Garden, with their son Henry along for the day. In just a few weeks, their family of three becomes a family of four, and this session was as much about capturing where they are right now as it was about celebrating what’s coming.

This part of Carmel is one of my favorite spots for sessions like this, right near the Japanese Garden and its koi pond and red bridge, which most people around here know well from the Cherry Blossom Festival each spring. We started at the City Hall portico, where the columns and brick facade give us that classic, timeless architectural backdrop, framed on both sides by beds of pink and white impatiens in full bloom. Lauren’s blush dress was the perfect choice against that palette, soft enough to let the flowers do some of the work without competing with them. Zach kept it simple in a cream popover shirt, which worked well next to Lauren’s dress without pulling focus.

From there we walked to a quieter garden area on the same property, tucked behind a wooden gazebo and a wrought iron bench, surrounded by tall yellow daylilies. The light back there was softer and more diffused under the tree cover, which gave us a nice contrast to the brighter, more formal shots up front. It’s a peaceful little pocket of green space that a lot of people driving past the Japanese Garden never realize is right next door, and it’s become one of my go-to backdrops for Carmel sessions in the summer.

Henry, if we’re being honest, was not fully on board with the whole photoshoot idea that day. There were a few crossed arms and a couple of looks that said he’d rather be anywhere else. But that’s part of what I love about sessions with toddlers and preschoolers in the mix — we worked around it instead of against it, and by the time we got to the bench, something clicked. He ended up laughing so hard at one point that it’s now one of my favorite frames from the whole gallery. The quieter moments came through too, especially the ones where he rested his hand on Lauren’s belly like he already understood his role as big brother was starting well before his sister’s arrival.

This session doubled as a family portrait update for them as well, since it had been a while since their last round of family photos. Soon enough, I’ll be back with this family for a newborn session once their baby girl arrives, and I’m looking forward to photographing this family of four together for the first time.