Jessica B Photography

Dixie Story | Las Vegas Midwife

Jessica — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:00:52 +0000

Being the birth photographer, I’ve decided it would be fun to spotlight a Las Vegas midwife each month. I hadn’t met Dixie before, but I remembered hearing her name as a child. It turns out, she lived in the house behind my childhood home for a short time. Yes, I’m a native. And so is Dixie.

Dixie has been attending births since before I was born. She shared a little bit about her early experiences as a midwife and said the second baby she caught came out face first! She talked about her excitement for learning opportunities and being so grateful to those who trusted her at those first births. Dixie says, “I believe education is of the utmost importance in the birthing process” (and I absolutely agree!!!). She is a great example of that because she is always reading or researching something.

Meeting Dixie was like meeting someone you’d want for a grandmother. She has a very calm and loving feeling about her. Not mushy-gushy, but a caring for one’s well-being. Her office – although it didn’t feel like an office, I don’t know what else to call it – was filled with art depicting mothers loving their babies. There was a gentle spirit in the room.

On her website, Dixie says, “We are all very different but also very much the same. We have similar problems, ills and concerns. If we separate from one another then we are alone. We need to come together in order to help and assist one another. What I may know you might not and visa versa. Thus we can help each other….There is no place for judgment of one another because we are all doing our best with what we know and what information we have available to us at the time. What may work for me might not work for you.”

Some people are surprised that you see a midwife for your regular prenatal appointments, like you would an OB. Dixie measured, listen to the heartbeat, and felt for the baby’s position. She also took the mom’s blood pressure and tested her urine. Yes, you still have to pee in a cup. That’s quite a feat when you are 9 months pregnant.

As you can see, this mama is about to pop! This may be Dixie’s first appearance on my blog, but it’s not her last! Look for a birth post in the not-to-distant future!

Cowboy Family Portraits | Las Vegas Family Photographer

Jessica — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:43:51 +0000

This family is sooooo cool. These four boys are just so much fun. They are totally into cowboy stuff right now (obviously!) – hats, belt buckles, guns, boots and even spurs! They each have their own rope, which they got to use on Grandpa. He’s a good sport. These boys are also getting a baby sister!!! Hopefully she’ll look just like her gorgeous mama

This portrait session took place a the fantastic Clark County Heritage Museum. I can remember driving all the way across Las Vegas to come here on a field trip in third grade. The drive was so long, a few kids fell asleep on the way home. I still can remember how much fun I had touring the Heritage Street homes as a child. I now take my own children here and they love it as well. If you’ve never been here, you totally need to check it out. The museum is a gem. I love learning history and this is an incredibly fun way to do it. And my mom can tell me stories about people featured in the museum, which is also really cool. And it’s also a great place to photograph.

Taylor | Las Vegas Senior Photographer

Jessica — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 07:36:38 +0000

Miss Taylor is graduating. We met up for her senior portraits, and she totally rocked it. Four different outfits, four locations, gold glitter heels, had to walk to the ballfield because her mom & car were no where to be found, Mom raced home to get the softball jersey that was still in the dryer, oh yeah and Mom has a boot on her foot because she just had surgery, posed on the field in front of all her teammates, made it out to the corrals before the sun completely ran away from us, and RJ was such a good horse. And he was so big! And THAT is Taylor’s portrait session in a nutshell

Taylor plays catcher on the Boulder City High School softball team. And that’s a State Champion ring she’s wearing.

This one is kind of reminiscant of this football session…

And then the cowboy session…

Watch Me Grow | Las Vegas Family Photographer

Jessica — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:09:21 +0000

A year ago, this little guy was, well, little. Born a few weeks early and weighing only a few pounds, William is now one year old and 30 pounds! He’s ready to play for the football team!! He is seriously one solid dude. And he’s not walking yet, but he sure had his mama working up a sweat chasing him at the park as he would crawl away from his “spot.” At least he didn’t poo on his mom, like he did last time. It’s so fun to use the same location to show how much he’s grown. With my own children, I had an armchair I would sit my oldest in and take a picture of him every month or so. What do you do as a fun way to gage your children’s growth?

This is us | Las Vegas Family Lifestyle Photographer

Jessica — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:45:51 +0000

Oftentimes people will make the comment “I bet your kids pose for you all the time. Do they just love getting their picture taken?” Um, no. At least not usually. They last about fifteen minutes, but they do suprise me once in a while by being especially cooperative.

So, what can a mother do? Make it as painless as possible! The shirt my eight year old is wearing – it’s his favorite shirt. The shirt I’m wearing – that’s my favorite shirt (PS it’s a Westmama Designs!). And my husband? That’s one of MY favorite shirts of his. There were no curling irons involved in this shoot, no scratchy sweaters, no shirts & ties. I did actually find some sweet winter hats just two days before, but, alas, I forgot to have the two kids put them one. And best of all, we had a fire with marshmallows!!! And hot dogs, but we ate those after the marshmallows. We love to have s’mores nights as a family and it dawned on me one day last summer that this was what I would do for my family Christmas portrait for 2011. I had been planning this shoot for 5 months!

And so this is us.

Make your portrait session yours! Take something you truly love (in my case, chilling with my family), and create for yourself a unique and incredibly personal portrait!

And because I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on this image and “How did you do that???”, here’s a little technical info for you: I used a super awesome super-wide lens with the camera nearly sitting on the ground and a flash off to the right. And, yes, I used the self-timer. Lol.

Janine Sax

Jessica — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:15:56 +0000

Sometimes it’s good to do something out of the ordinary, something out of your comfort zone. Janine contacted me, saying “I need photos for a magazine feature!” and I thought “I don’t know if I can do this…..” But Janine convinced me and away we went for the afternoon. She was dressed to the nines! Nails done, make up, hair, the dresses, shoes, & jewelry! This was not Janine’s comfort zone. She is more at home in running shoes, a swimsuit, and riding forever on her bike. Originally from New Zealand, Janine is an internationally-known superstar triathlete. She has competed and WON (or placed in) many triathlons and even a half Ironman around the world. And to top it all off, she now has a feature story in UNO magazine, a New Zealand lifestyle magazine, including one of my photos. So, here’s to stepping outside of our comfort zones! Congrats Janine!

Sisterhood | Breech Homebirth | The Road to Midwifery | Las Vegas Birth Photographer

Jessica — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 08:34:24 +0000

As circumstance would have it, Jillian found herself in a bit of a predicament. Her baby was breech and her labor had started. Although she had had some prenatal care, her care provider would not be able to attend her birth and recommended that Jillian go to the hospital. A breech presentation at a hospital in Las Vegas usually means one thing – cesarean. Having had a previous homebirth, Jillian was not excited about going to the hospital, let alone having a c-section. Lucky for her, she has an aspiring midwife for an older sister. Susan is very well-read and has attended a handful of homebirths, including having her own at home. After much discussion and contemplation, Jillian decided to labor and deliver at home with Susan to guide her. I don’t know if Jillian would agree, but in my opinion, the labor was surprisingly fast and smooth. Susan caught her first baby! Many experienced midwives started this exact way – attending friend’s births and delivering each other’s babies. It is exciting to see the growth of the midwives and natural childbirth & homebirthing community in the Las Vegas Valley, and it is exciting to think of what the future holds for us all!

This birth was all about sisterhood. A sister delivered the baby. A friend supported a leg. A mother gave her someone to lean against. A daughter gave kisses of encouragement. A baby girl was born. A big sister cut the cord. And poor Anthony was the only male in the room.

Congratulations!

Brooke + Tyler. Engaged. | Las Vegas Engagement Photographer

Jessica — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:10:34 +0000

Fall is over. Brooke & Tyler are planning a wedding! I’m so excited for them. It’s really been fun watching Brooke grow up and to now see her starting a new chapter of her life. Congratulations!

One of My Favorite Families | Las Vegas Family Photographer

Jessica — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:07:03 +0000

Oh come on, no offense to anybody else!

This family truly is one of my favorite families. Combine genuine sweetness, hilarious personalities, good looks, brains & talent galore, an insatiable love for football, an ever-positive outlook on life, and incredible bonds between all nine of them and you’ve got this amazing family. They played a very important part of my younger years, since their home my home-away-from-home nearly every Friday night. I grew up babysitting these guys from when the oldest was only three or four. I remember visiting when they brought their oldest son home from the hospital. By the time I went to college, they had four kiddos and maybe one on the way. Their youngest (#7!) and my oldest are a week apart in age. My associations with this familiy gave me a lot of insight on family life (besides my own), parenthood, raising children, solving problems, marriage, and most importantly DATE NIGHT!!!! For real, had they not been going on dates, I wouldn’t have been called over to babysit. Now that I am married and the parent of four ~~rambunctious~~ lovely children, I understand the value of regular date nights. Not only are they necessary for the parents’ realationship, but they are good for the children’s growth as well. Plus our babysitters hopefully benefit too, as I did. I love that my kids are excited when they find out we have a date. They fight over which babysitter to call first, they want to go with me to pick up the babysitter, and thankfully there are no tears when we leave. (There once was, and that was just awful. I still feel bad for those babysitters!) I love going out with my husband. I encourage you all to make Date Night a priority and a regular occurance in your household. By the way, this is not at all a not-so-subtle hint to my husband regarding our plans for this weekend

I know, there is more than 9 is this family portrait. That’s because there is a wedding in the works!!!

First Birthday {Las Vegas Children’s Photographer}

Jessica — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:22:06 +0000

Ryder turns one today!! His mama says this last year has been a whirlwind and I agree (and I’m not even the one who had the baby lol!) To read Ryder’s birth story, click here.

We did this session about two weeks before Ryder’s birthday, on his Daddy’s birthday! We had a cake and balloons and everything for Ryder, but it was actually Andy’s birthday, so we told him he had to jump in there for a few cake shots! Thanks for being a good sport, Andy.

We also did family portraits before we got messy with the cake. Again, I love the in-home sessions!

Recognize this bedroom from their maternity session?

One of my favorite shots of the session.

Happy Birthday Ryder!!! And Andy