Salem, Oregon Photographer: Fresh 48 Photography | Huxley Oliver

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Fresh 48 | Newborn swaddled in crib for an in home lifestyle photo session | Salem, Oregon Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com

Due to recent world events, we weren’t able to do this sweet boy’s Fresh 48 session until he was over a month old.. So I am absolutely overjoyed to share this beautiful family’s lifestyle Fresh 48 session, done at home with their precious newborn!

Fresh 48 | In home lifestyle family session | Salem, Oregon Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com

It was so fun capturing Mom, Dad, and their boys relaxing at home; cuddling, playing, and living life as a new family of four! I love when client’s choose to do Fresh 48 sessions at home, it just adds such an intimate, unique feel to their portraits. I always think about as the kiddos get older- how fun that will be for them to have a little glimpse into their very first childhood home, their nursery, and hopefully they will feel all the love that I saw when I was there that day. Such a gift!

Fresh 48 | In home lifestyle photo session | Salem, Oregon Fresh 48 Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com

And the absolute BEST part of Fresh 48 sessions: The family’s slideshow with all of my favorite photographs and video clips from their session.. Enjoy!

Welcome to the World, sweet one!

Salem, Oregon Photographer: Birth Photography | Kinsley Grace

This is Kinsley’s Birth Story

Kinsley Grace entered the world in just about 5 hard pushes by her Mama, ON her due date. Literally 9 minutes after midnight on her actual due date. She arrived healthy and perfect, and even gave a few tiny “smiles” for her birth video- I wonder if this is any indication of what her little personality will be like? ♡

If you know Kinsley’s Mama (Lea) and Daddy (Jeremy), you’ll know the journey they went through to have their two beautiful children. Kinsley and her big brother Carter were born through IVF, and they are both so unbelievably adored. I think one of my favorite things about this family besides the immense love they have for eachother~ is how important the little details are to them. From Lea’s carefully thought out birth plan, (NO PAIN MEDS, FRIENDS! Yes, she is amazing!) to Kinsley’s personalized embroidered blanket; you can tell that Lea has dreamed of being a Momma her entire life. (She did the same thing for big brother Carter’s arrival!) I LOVE that they had big brother come to the hospital during the beginning stages of their induction, and that they face timed with him to say “goodnight” from their delivery room.

Lea and Jeremy were an incredible team; Lea listened to her body and Jeremy remembered Lea’s cues from her last labor with Carter. Through her waves, Lea would go from concentration, to instantly being absolutely GIDDY thinking about getting to hold her daughter soon. It was THE sweetest! I was so happy to be there with them during this time. Also! Lea’s Mom lives in Florida and was unable to be there to meet her newest Granddaughter- but she DID get to meet her via Face time directly after birth. That was such a sweet moment I put into the video for them to remember! I think that is one of my favorite things about getting to be a birth photographer.. I LOVE preserving these moments for my families!

The last thing I wanted to write before I introduce Kinsley’s Birth Video- is that her big brother Carter ALSO had a birth photographer capture his birth. I was actually able to find the exact same song that was used from his birth video, and I added it as the ending song for Kinsley’s slideshow. I thought that would be a sweet little detail to connect their birth stories :) And now, I’ll share what you came here to see! ;) THANK YOU to the lovely K family for allowing me to share the precious birth story of Kinsley Grace!

Welcome to the world, little beauty!

Salem, Oregon Photographer: Christmas Mini Sessions 2019

Christmas is my favorite Holiday, and I’m SO EXCITED to host a limited number of indoor photo sessions for my clients this year! Whether these photos will be for Christmas cards, or for a seasonal keepsake, they will be a special addition to your family photo collection! Click the link below to learn more about these limited Holiday Mini Sessions!

Spring Blossom Mini Sessions 2019

SPRING BLOSSOM MINI SESSIONS

Spring blossom mini sessions are BACK! These popular spring photo sessions are perfect if you need a few updated family photos, a maternity session, or a few additional senior photos! They will be held the last weekend in March- right here in Salem, Oregon!

Your Blossom Mini Session will be held at a NEW location this year in Salem!

The package includes 10 professionally retouched digital images that you get to choose from a gallery of around 20(+) photos.  30 minutes is just enough time to have a gorgeous selection of timeless posed portraits as well as my favorite "in-between" shots :)

Due to my busy shooting schedule in the Spring, I highly recommend getting your appointment reserved soon if you are interested!  These sessions tend to fill up quick!  Click the link below to view more information about these beautiful spring sessions!

Shelby Blanton is a photographer specializing in family, birth, maternity and senior photography in the Salem, Oregon and surrounding areas including Portland, Keizer, Albany, Corvallis, Lake Oswego in the Willamette Valley.

Salem, Oregon Photographer: Birth Photography | Elaine LaRue

This is Elaine’s birth story

I was contacted by this sweet couple for a maternity photo session followed by a birth photography session (I call them Birth Stories!) I was so excited to do both for them because it meant I would really have the opportunity to get to know them before the birth of their daughter AND that I could capture two HUGE chapters of their lives. (Cue TEARS because this makes my heart flutter!) We met for coffee to interview eachother to make sure we would be a good match for a birth story session- and the rest is history ;) Here are two of my favorites from their maternity photos!

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These two were beautiful together. They are one of those couples that you can tell were meant to be, to the point where you’re not sure if or how they ever lived without eachother before they met <3

Nicole and Chandler were so in sync with eachother throughout the birth of their baby- and Mama was unreal as she labored and delivered her girl completely unmedicated and in tune with her body. I’m so excited to share their birth video- I feel like it really tells the story of their baby girl’s birth, but also a story of their love. Dad was such an incredible birth partner- rubbing her back, applying ice packs, breathing calmly and slowly with her, getting on the ground with her, offering water. (He can probably write a book with birth partner tips at this point!!! :))

Miss. Elaine’s entrance into the world was a quick one- so quick that she almost flew over the midwife’s shoulder! And while we’re on the topic of her provider- once again I was absolutely floored by the incredible support at the Salem Hospital. The nurses were SO kind, supportive, and they truly listened to Mama and Dad’s desires and just went above and beyond. Nicole’s INCREDIBLE midwife even sat on the bathroom floor fanning her while she was laboring in the bathtub, offering such loving support by just BEING there and holding that space with her.

Clearly I have way too much to say about this beautiful birth- so I will let the video tell the rest of the story.. :)

Welcome to the World, lovely Elaine! <3

Salem, Oregon Photographer: Fresh 48 | Finnley's Story

"Family is not defined by our genes, it is built and maintained through love."

 -Amalia G., Independent Adoption Center

Yesterday was an incredibly emotional day for me.  I had the incredible honor of photographing a very special Fresh 48.  I'll give you a little bit of a back story!

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Salem, Oregon Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com | Fresh 48- An Open Adoption Story | Finnley Thomas

I am a part of a Mom's group on Facebook, and a few months ago, a woman made a post in the group about how after three YEARS of waiting, she and her husband had been matched with a an AMAZING birth Mom for an Open Adoption.  *They were FINALLY getting their little one!*  (But what they ended up getting was SO much more than that!)  Anyway, it just struck a chord in my heart.  I choked up a little bit just reading her post about how excited she was.  I thought about contacting her to see if she may be interested in a Fresh 48 session, but I didn't want to sound like a weirdo!  Haha!! It was one of those moments in life where you think to yourself, "should I reach out..? No..? Too forward?" Hahah!  I have a lot of moments like that ;)  I put the idea to the back of my mind and went on with my life.  Sometime after that, the woman made another post or commented on something, and I recognized her name.  All my thoughts came flooding back, and I just felt so compelled to contact her.  At the risk of sounding like a crazy person, I reached out and told her how moved I was by their journey and how I would be soo honored if I could capture some memories for them at the hospital.  To my surprise, she wrote back and said that she would talk to the Birth Mom and see what she thought about all of it!  I got another message later saying they were TOTALLY on board, and wanted to hire me.  AHHHHHH!!! <3  We spoke the next day on the phone, and she said something that I'll never forget!  She told me that just the day before, her and her husband were talking about how it would be really amazing if they had someone photograph some of these moments for them.  UMMMM GOOSEBUMPS!!  (THAT totally sealed the deal for me.  This was MEANT to be.)  

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Salem, Oregon Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com | Fresh 48- An Open Adoption Story | John, Britt & Kayla with sweet little Finnley

As I got to know Kayla, she shared with me how incredibly close she was to the Birth Mom, Britt +  her two sweet kiddos and how they LITERALLY had become a family throughout all this.  (Seriously, cue all the tears.)  She sent me some photos of them cooking breakfast together on Mother's Day, and just hanging out at the house together!  She also shared some BEAUTIFUL maternity photos they had done.  I was so moved.  To be honest with you, I didn't know very much about open adoptions.  But I will tell you one of the reasons I wanted to be there to photograph them that day.  I wanted them to be able to see themselves in that moment.  For Britt to see herself holding little Finnley (SUCH A CUTE NAME!)  I wanted Kayla & John to be able to see themselves becoming PARENTS, cuddling with their little man, and most importantly, I wanted Finnley to be able to see these photos someday.  It is my prayer that he will be able to look at these photos when he is older, and see three ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE adults, that LOVE him more than anything in the World.  Three beautiful people, that worked together, to create this precious life for him.  You guys.. He is SOOOOOOO loved already.

Here are some of my favorites from my time with them.   

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Salem, Oregon Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com | Fresh 48- An Open Adoption Story |  Finnley with his precious big brother + sister

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Salem, Oregon Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com | Fresh 48- An Open Adoption Story | Mommy taking a moment with her sweet boy <3

When Kayla and I were first talking, she told me how long they had prayed that a birth mother would pick them that also wanted an Open Adoption.  And it was Britt's desire to find the perfect family very early on in her pregnancy so that they could experience the pregnancy with her.  So Kayla and John were able to go to appointments, to hear his sweet little heartbeat, and share in the joys of pregnancy with her!  She told me they talked every day, and saw each other AT LEAST once a week.  Britt gave them the gift of parenthood in the most beautiful way, and they have truly become a family.  (They call themselves "The Tribe!")  As you can imagine, I cried as I read through her e-mails.  Finnley will grow up knowing Britt, and his big brother and sister, and get to experience ALL of their love.  I am so in awe of this family!

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Salem, Oregon Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com | Fresh 48- An Open Adoption Story | The beautiful Mama's <3

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Salem, Oregon Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com | Fresh 48- An Open Adoption Story | Mama Britt & Finnley <3

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Salem, Oregon Photographer | www.shelbyblantonphotography.com | Fresh 48- An Open Adoption Story | Their Tribe <3

Aren't they amazing?  Sweet little Finnley is so blessed.  I wanted to give Kayla, John, and Britt the biggest THANK YOU for letting me get a glimpse into your beautiful, precious journey.  I know my life has been changed just knowing you all.  You are an inspiration, and an image of HOPE for so many people.  XO  

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