RTC Triple Threat Throwdown 2022

Hello Triple Threat Throwdown athletes and fans! Welcome to the gallery from the event! Digital images are available for purchase, $5 an image, or 3 images for $12. Once you purchase and download (be sure to download to a computer, not your phone) feel free to post, print or share as you wish!

Ordering tip: When you find an image you would like to purchase, at the top of the image, click BUY. From there, you can either choose to order 3 digital images at the discounted rate, OR if you click ITEMS, you can order just individual images.

This gallery will expire in one month, so get ‘em while they are hot! ;)

RTC Triple Threat Throwdown 2022 Image Gallery

Editing

Whether there is one blemish, or a case of acne (baby, teen or adult), my goal when I edit skin is to create a natural look.

For example, this sweet and perfect baby had developed a case of baby acne. Baby acne is rather common, and usually very temporary. This baby also had some skin flakes, which almost all babies do as they are growing so fast and their skin is adjusting to being in the outside world.

First, I remove skin flakes and white spots.

Next, I tone down the redness and smooth the skin.

Last, I make a few final adjustments and ta-dah, we have the final image!

All this to say, if you’ve booked a session, and you want the belmish(es) gone, not to worry, I’ll make them disappear!

Best advice for preparing for baby

When I was pregnant with my first, my husband and I went to all the classes and did all the things, like reading books, hospital tours and anything else we could get our hands on to prepare ourselves for bringing home a baby. Let me just say, in practice, NONE of it prepared me for actual motherhood, or even labor and delivery. I would say there is one exception to that statement, I took a breastfeeding class at The Breastfeeding Center, in Massillon. That class gave me actual useful information to better understand how a baby eats, but again, in practice, I still needed help. Lots of it.

Up 60 lbs from my normal weight and blissfully unaware of what my next few weeks would be like.

My water broke at home, on Christmas Day. I called my midwife and let her know. I did not have any contractions at that point. My midwife told me to just stay home for a few hours, relax, eat, take a shower and begin to get ready to come to the hospital. Because I was GBS positive, I would need to come to the hospital in a few hours to start antibiotic treatments. So, that’s exactly what I did. I finished packing any last minute things, ate some lunch and tried to relax. We called our family to let them know it was baby time, and my parents were on their way from Cincinnati.

At the hospital, at check in, they wanted to check to see if I was in labor. They had to run some sort of test to see if my water had actually broke (which I was sure that it had, but that was already several hours ago) and they hooked me up to a monitor to see if I was having contractions, which I was. They showed me on the screen and even said, “Oh, that was a big one!”, but I could hardly feel it, so I thought this is going to be a piece of cake if THAT was a big one.

Before things got “real”. Awww, look, I had my hair all done, you know, to look good for pictures. Bahahahaaaa….. silly momma.

So, as any woman that has given birth will tell you, the contractions got MUCH more uncomfortable and were coming every 1-2 minutes. I thought, ok, we must be close, the contractions were super painful and super frequent, I could hardly catch my breath in between them. But after a few hours of this, I couldn’t take it any longer, and I got an epidural. The epidural help immensely, but it was still no walk in the park. I labored all day, and all night, (18 hours to be exact), barfed a few times, maybe from the pain, maybe from the medication, and my body simply wasn’t dilating. I was still at 6 cm. Baby was starting to show signs of distress. My midwife and doctors decided it would be safest to do a c-section. A c-section? What? I mean, I agreed at that point, but this was not something I had really even considered. I was a young-ish, healthy and active woman, why would I not be able to deliver vaginally? Well, as it turns out, baby was turned the wrong way, sunny side up, as they say, which makes it really difficult for baby to make its way down the the birth canal.

So, by morning, I was prepped for surgery, which happened really quickly, and within an hour, I was sliced open and he was out. We were both safe, which is the important part, but man, I was traumatized.

I was a hot mess, but man, look at that perfect little guy.

You see, I had envisioned a smooth birth, as drug free as possible, recovering quickly, and going home as quickly as possible.

The only thing that prepared me for what the c-section might be like, was one of my favorite bloggers had just had a scheduled c-section and she wrote about it here https://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/2013/12/his-arrival-what-c-section-is-like-and/ Thankfully, I had that bit of information going into surgery, or I would have been totally blindsided. Sure, hers was planned, mine was an emergency and I had already labored for 18 hours, but the surgery part was pretty much the same.

Recovery was awful. I mean awful. I couldn’t even get out of bed to go to the bathroom without assistance, let alone get out of bed and pick up my baby. Did I mention my husband was sick during this whole process? Like drinking DayQuil straight from the bottle to keep from coughing all day/all night? I had to tell him to go home and get some rest and try to get better (also to try not to infect us with his sickness). So, I spent the first night in the hospital by myself and that was a mistake. I was exhausted, in pain, helpless, and I had to rely on the nurses for anything I needed, including getting my baby out of his bassinet to feed him. By the next night, I asked my mom to stay with me, which thankfully, she did. She was able to help me stay on top of my meds, change the baby, and get me anything I needed.

The days at the hospital are very foggy to me at this point. I was able to begin walking very slowly around the halls as the days passed. I remember seeing a lactation consultant at the hospital which didn’t help me at all, and at that point, I was already in a lot of pain. I remember it taking hours to be discharged from the hospital. I was exhausted and just wanted to be home.

Soon after getting home, I made an appointment at The Breastfeeding Center. I was already beginning to dread feeding time because it would bring tears to my eyes everytime I had to feed him. (Which is like a million times a day for a newborn.) My nips were cracked and bleeding. When my baby would spit up, there would be blood in his spit up. My blood. I tried nipple shields, they didn’t help. I tried all the lanolin and it helped a little, but my saving grace was the Medela Tender Care HydroGel pads, thankfully my mom saw them at the store and picked them up for me to try. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure my nips would have fallen right off. My appointment at the Breastfeeding Center was amazing. Betsy was so supportive, kind and understanding. Best of all, she showed me how to get a better, LESS PAINFUL latch. I had to make a few visits to see her and work with her on this, but it was really reassuring to see other new (and experienced) moms there that were in the same boat. If nobody has told you this, let me be the first to say it: BREASTFEEDING CAN BE HARD! Sure, for some women, its easy, but I’d be willing to go out on a limb and say for most women, it is hard. The breastfeeding moms of Northeast Ohio are so lucky to have such an amazing resource in Betsy at The Breastfeeding Center.

The other thing I want to mention is the emotional rollercoaster new mothers are on after giving birth. I had learned about the baby blues after giving birth, but man, that was tough. I was a mess, physically; belly sliced open, wearing giant pads for the bleeding (oh yes, you are still bleeding with a c-section), my nips feeling like they are going to fall off, with boobs engorged so much at times it hurt for them to exist. Now, on top of that my emotions are going insane? My mom’s Gramnesia (definition: when moms forget all the difficult parts of motherhood because they are now grandmothers) was already in full effect. She was trying her best to support me, but couldn’t remember having a difficult time at all after birth. Apparently her journey into motherhood was all rainbows and butterflies. My husband and his useless nips and ability to sleep all night weren’t much help either. I felt like I had failed my baby, I wasn’t able to give birth vaginally, had to take all kinds of drugs while in labor, and I was really struggling to feed him. He was getting enough milk, but I was constantly worried that he wasn’t. Oh, and I was exhausted. Extremely exhausted. Worried he would stop breathing in the middle of the night. Worried he needed more than I was giving him. As the days turned into weeks, and my body began to heal he developed colic. I didn’t know it was colic at the time, but he would cry for hours. Everyday. For months. That eventually all passed, but man, those first 3-4 months were rough.

What did get me through though? Supportive friends that could give me encouraging words about how breastfeeding was hard for them too. They could talk to me about what their baby blues phase was like. It made me feel a little less crazy and a little more normal. As supportive as a husband or partner can be, I truly think it’s important to have friends and family members that have been down this road too.

In hindsight, I think the best two pieces of parenting advice I received were 1.) breastfeeding can be hard, but you can (and should) get help! and 2.) be prepared to cry, a lot, for no reason. (This is known as baby blues, and it’s normal, but it if lasts more than a few weeks, you should talk to your doctor about it.)

I have been a mom for 7 years now, with 2 kids. I can tell you, I was able to have a VBAC with my second and the recovery from that was a million times better. Breastfeeding was still hard. I took myself straight back to the Breastfeeding Center with my second kid, because, different kid, different problems.

What was the best advice you received as a new mom?

Does Golden Hour Really Matter?

Does it really make a difference what time your session is shot? For this photographer, in one word, yes. I am a natural light photographer so when I shoot your session, sunlight makes a HUGE difference in the results. This especially applies to outdoor sessions, like seniors or family sessions. I prefer to shoot closer to sunrise or sunset. The “Golden Hour” as we photogs call it, is about one hour before sunset. That is my favorite time to shoot outdoor sessions, especially in the summer and fall. Why is this time ideal? Well, the best way for me to explain is to show you.

One day, last Fall, I took my trusty assistant (read: very unpredictable, but bribable 4 year old) out to a woodsy spot near our house. We did this twice in one day. Once around noon, and again near the golden hour. Can you tell which is which? The bottom image is from noon, the top image is from later in the day. Do you see the harsh shadows on his face in the bottom image? See how the background isn’t very pretty at all? In the top image, the way the sun hits the foliage when it is closer to setting is so much more pretty. In the top image, see how you can see his whole face?

Do I only shoot during these times? Ehhhh, I try to stick to it as close as possible, but there certainly are exceptions, like if we are in a shady area, or if it is an overcast day. I even try to plan my indoor newborn sessions when the light is best in my house, it really makes a difference in the amount of shadows on the baby.

So, I hope this helps you to understand why I really try to stick to specific shooting times. I want you to get the most flattering, best results possible.

Your Newborn Session, leaving your house with baby for the first time

So, while you were waiting for your new little one to arrive, you decided you would like to have newborn photos taken. Excellent choice! You contacted a photographer and began to plan your session. Maybe you decided you do, or don’t want to include family photos, or maybe you looked at your photographer’s work and picked out a few poses or set ups that you would like your photographer to try with your baby. Maybe you even read your photographer’s website to get an idea about what to bring, or not bring with you during your session. (You get bonus points for that, you overachiever, you!)

So, now the baby is here. Yaaaaayyy, congratulations! I can promise you, your photographer is lightweight stalking you on social media to get a glimpse of their next client. So, after you are settled in, you reach out to your photographer to let them know the baby is here and then you schedule the session. Your photographer may have suggestions about which age is best to photograph (I prefer around 2 weeks old, this allows baby’s umbilical cords and circumcisions to heal, mom’s milk is usually in and feeding has become a little easier at this point, but the baby is still young enough to sleep deeply and allow me to pose them).

So it’s the day of your session. At around 2 weeks old, you probably didn’t get much sleep the night before. I know. You are tired. Go ahead and get yourself up and get ready anyway. I don’t expect you to look like a supermodel when you come to my house, you just had a baby for crying outloud! Get your diaper bag together (diapers, wipes, pacifier, milk/formula for the baby (or fresh from the tap), some food and drinks for yourself, heck, just go ahead and pack a whole lunch, or be prepared to send your partner out to grab you some lunch, that’s totally ok too!). If baby didn’t sleep much the night before, don’t be alarmed, that usually means baby will sleep better for me during the session. I begin my newborn sessions between 10 and 11 a.m. Sessions can last up to 4 hours, so we may be working right through lunch, which is why I suggest to bring a lunch or send your partner out to grab something. Let’s chat about partners for a minute here too. I’m going to be honest, are most dads into sitting in a room while I create adorable baby poses? Ehhhh, not really. Maybe a hour, but after that, most of them are pretty much done. So, usually, I have found, that dads are more than happy to get a break and go pick up some food. If you are coming solo to your session, just pack your lunch/snacks. Also, if you are coming solo, give me a text when you get here, I’ll help carry your things into my house. (TRUST ME on this, I had a C-section with my first and thought I would try to carry my baby in his car seat, because duh, I’m strong. Uhhhh, mistake! I will never forget that ripping/burning sensation on my C-section scar when I lifted that car seat! Learn from my mistake! (Luckily no damage was done, but I learned my lesson pretty quickly!)

So, once you get here, if you are planning on doing family photos, we will do those first. If you have older kids, after family photos, your partner and the kid(s) can be on their merry way! Once we have finished our family photos, I get to work on the newborn photos. This part usually takes the longest because I need the baby to be in a deep sleep to get them safely into these adorable poses. This often requires a little extra feeding, or a pacifier for a short amount of time to help them settle completely. Occasionally, I’ll ask for help from the parents to help spot a pose or two, but for the most part, you can just relax. Eat, drink, rest your eyes, catch up on social media, whatever you want to do. If/when baby gets hungry or seems unsettled, we’ll stop and let baby eat.

Anyway, I write all of this to say, once you get yourself here, I expect very little of you. I will help you get your things in and out of your car. You will have to feed your baby and yourself, but I’ll even burp your baby for you (I’m kind of a pro at that)! If I need an extra set of hands, I will ask, you don’t have to be on alert the whole time. I do keep extra supplies on hand, diapers, wipes, pacifiers, bottle warmer and nursing pillow for baby, and mom supplies in the bathroom for you, if you need them, just help yourself. Or, if there is anything else you need, just ask! Trust me, I’ve been there! I’m a mom of two, so I’ve been through it all as well! My hope is that you can just sit back and relax and admire your adorable new baby!