Fall Golden Hour Family Portrait Photo Session With Newborn Son and Pup

Nicole reached out to me wanting to capture family photos in the beautiful Colorado autumn light with her husband Marc, their pup and newborn son Sasha.

We decided to meet at South Valley Park in Littleton, Colorado. With beautiful those unique Colorado red sandstone formations, open meadows, sunflowers and stunning late afternoon light it makes for a beautiful backdrop. It’s also really easily accessible to carry a young child around and dog friendly too.

We met up at the parking lot where Nicole and Marc were bottle feeding Sasha and changing his clothes. Nicole laughed, “Sasha doesn’t love car rides and often decides to have rather explosive bathrooms during his rides…so we decided to wait until we got here to change him.” I laughed, as I told her my wife is due with our first baby boy in two months, and we will surely be joining the joys of parenthood party soon.

They slipped on his adorable tiny shoes noting this was the first time he’d ever worn shoes. How cute. Their pup, a border collie mix was ready to rumble thinking he was going for a big hike. He quickly spotted the mule deer grazing in the meadow and was attentive to them for the rest of the 1-hour session which actually made for some beautiful moments of him sitting regally carefully watching the deer and their every move.

South Valley Park is quite a popular spot. There were probably 10 other groups of families, graduates, engagements and such enjoying beautiful photo sessions with their respective photographers as well. We decided to head up the hill a bit away from the crowds, so we could enjoy the more intimate moments in a relaxed nature. We decided we’d come back to the ‘money spot’ by the pond just at sunset when most folks had cleared out. Sasha was so cute throughout trying to make sense of this new outside world. Sometimes he’d cry, sometimes he’d look at me and the camera with curiosity and other times with a blank stare. It’s what baby’s do. And Nicole and Mark were such incredible parents engaging with their beautiful son and with their calm loving energy. It was really special to see as I was a soon to be dad myself.

We really enjoyed our time together, and we made sure to grab some professional headshots for both Nicole and Mark, so they could update their professional profiles. The golden light was stunning and we talked about the joys of parenthood. It felt like hanging with old friends, and we decided that we’d meet up once our little one was born to have play dates. I feel so grateful they chose me to capture their first family photos all together. A truly special evening. If you have a new addition to the family and want to get outside and capture these fleeting and cherished times together when they are oh so small, I’d love to help you! Reserve your family photoshoot today!