At-home lifestyle newborn sessions are back and I love it. With vaccines being widely distributed in the San Francisco Bay Area and because San Francisco is the first major city in the US to reach herd immunity, I have resumed photographing newborn sessions indoors. For a whole year during the pandemic, I didn’t feel comfortable photographing inside but now as a fully vaccinated individual, I am.

I can’t even describe how happy this makes me. I am back to doing what I love most and my work really doesn’t feel like work.

Here is one of the most recent lifestyle newborn sessions that I photographed in San Franciso.

And then we had to step outside for just a few photos because my client’s back yard was too cute too pass up. I love the little playhouse.

BOJANA KORACH IS A PUBLISHED LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHER SPECIALIZING IN NEWBORN, FAMILY & CHILD PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HER PHOTOGRAPHY SERVICES.

The Lockdown

Last March I photographed my last indoor newborn session a day before California’s pandemic lockdown. Prior to the formal lockdown, I had not quite realized the degree of danger posed by COVID-19 and the lasting effects it would have on my business. However, I recognized that hard times required hard choices. I decided that, in order to safeguard my own health and the health of my clients I would no longer perform indoor newborn sessions until such close-quarters indoor activities were deemed safe again. I knew this change in my business practice would hurt my earnings and inconvenience some of my clients, but I believed and I still believe, that safety should come first. Soon, hopefully, vaccines will be widely available and I will be able to recommence indoor newborn sessions.

Outdoor Newborn Session

In the meantime, I managed to serve some of my clients through outdoor maternity and family sessions. I also had the chance to experiment for the first time with outdoor newborn sessions. I had the opportunity to photograph a few and really enjoyed each one. At times it was challenging, but with a little bit of creativity and enthusiasm, I really loved the process and the outcome. The session I chose to feature in this blog post is my favorite. I just love how the images turned out. I want to show that outdoor newborn sessions are not only the safe alternative during the pandemic but could also be a valid new option for clients who prefer nature over the confinement of shooting indoors.

Bump to Baby Package

When these clients booked my Bump to Baby package, the pandemic was not in sight. As it became a reality, my clients and I decided to adjust our expectations to the reality of our new world. Although we knew there would be obstacles to planning their maternity and newborn sessions, we were determined to do our best to make them happen. We chose San Francisco’s Lands End as the location of the maternity session. When we first met, we immediately felt a connection and had a great rapport. I had a lot of fun during our shoot. My clients loved the images and enjoyed their experience. Despite a great start, I communicated my understanding should they choose to go with another photographer for an indoor newborn session. While I chose to forestall any newborn sessions until safety permitted, I recognized that my clients may not feel the same way. My goal is always for my clients to be happy whether with me as their photographer or someone else. I am grateful that my clients chose to trust me and attempt an outdoor newborn session. We met at the Piedmont Community park, not too far from their home. The outdoor newborn shoot was a great success and I loved the entire process. We kept baby Ethan warm and fed. He was happy as can be in the fresh air. Here are the photos…

After our gorgeous maternity session at the Sutro Baths in San Francisco, we waited for the baby boy to make his appearance.

BOJANA KORACH IS A PUBLISHED LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHER SPECIALIZING IN NEWBORN, FAMILY & CHILD PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HER PHOTOGRAPHY SERVICES.

Escaping the Pandemic | Family session at the SEa Ranch

With the start of the New Year, I have been thinking about all the sessions I have done in the infamous year of 2020. One that pops into my mind as my most favorite, was the session that I photographed at the Sea Ranch. Sea Ranch is a coastal community of mostly vacation homes about 2 hours north of San Francisco. The homes are all uniquely built in the signature weathered wood style (to blend in with the surroundings) and they are sporadically placed along Coastal Highway One. Also, I stumbled upon this NY Times article, which left me intrigued. Throughout the pandemic, I was hoping to spend a few days there and I was checking Airbnb obsessively for the best deals and availability, which was quite difficult since it seemed like everyone had the same idea of escaping into nature. Once I had pretty much given up on the idea, one of my previous clients contacted me and asked if I would be willing to go to the Sea Ranch to photograph her family. My clients, it turns out, have a family vacation home there and were married there. So for them, the place had a lot of special meaning. With the arrival of their second baby girl, they wanted the family session to be extra special in one of their favorite places. They suggested that we swap a photo session for a week-long stay at their Sea Ranch home and I was so excited that I did my happy dance. At first, I was not sure how the logistics would work out since I have never done anything like this before, but it was well worth the effort to figure it out.

We worked out all the details, and soon we were on our way to the gorgeous Sea Ranch. I was so excited to photograph this family session and to take a much-needed break.

In addition to this gorgeous beach, we went to my client’s favorite hiking spot that is located in the majestic redwood forest near their home.

I had so much fun during this family photoshoot. It was a much needed and welcomed escape from the reality of being quarantined for a long time due to this horrible pandemic. Until next time…

BOJANA KORACH IS A PUBLISHED LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHER SPECIALIZING IN NEWBORN, FAMILY & CHILD PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HER PHOTOGRAPHY SERVICES.