Amazing Fans & Facebook Reviews | The Paulina Splechta Photography Family

Everyone waited so patiently all day to find out the winner of the two giftcards... a giftcard for a Facebook review winner and a giftcard for a google review winner! 

So Kate and I got to the facebook winner today... but we won't get to the google reviews giftcard winner until Thursday because of our hectic schedule! So there are two extra days! 

I spent all day focusing completely on being a mom. 

We decided to spend the next few weeks giving the kids an immune system break... and boost. 

We are dedicating the next 8 weeks to solid immune system reparation after a ton of bacterial and viral infections those nasty preschool germs produce... and during this time, some totally uncharted waters homeschooling.

I created this blog post for the amazing fans who left such an incredible review for me.

I want to thank every single one of you for leaving me a review.

The words you wrote really raised my spirits, to just hear, months or years after capturing your incredible families, how much love and appreciation you still have for the work I do. 

Thank you! 

There will be so many more opportunities to win giftcards and other prizes throughout this upcoming year as Kate and I have our creative thinking hats on. 

If you'd like to apply for my ambassador program... there is still one space left, and you receive photoshoots for your family all year! follow this link:

http://www.paulinasplechta.com/paulina-splechta-brand-ambassadors

If you would like to receive fun mail (snail mail) year round, for your birthday and such, fill out this form below :)

Now, without further ado....

The winner of the $30 Facebook gift card is...... 

Mommy & me in a Strawberry Patch | Saying Goodbye (for now)

The first time I met Brooklyn, she was already the fierce little girl she is now, just tinier.

I remember Brooklyn's mom and I met through a shared passion of breastfeeding. We both believed that breastfeeding is an amazing bond to have with our children (along with the plentitude of health benefits) and I can't believe that I had to go back three years and three hard drives to our first session together when B was a just this tiny peanut, nursing on the beach at sunrise...

This year, the family journeys out west to their new home and this session was blissful and also bittersweet as I said goodbye to one of my favorite families I've kept near and dear to my heart over the last three years.

Three mommy and me sessions and a family shoot together, I wanted to include some of my favorite shots from the last two years (find them below our session this spring 2017)

I have faith that our paths will cross again one day. It's just meant to be. Maybe one day I will venture out west to California, Arizona, Nevada, and we will have a western adventure together.

I send you my love, and lots of good blessings for your journey my dear friends. 

I hope you enjoy these photographic pictures as much as I did!

September 2014

March 2015

March 2016

Bedner's Farm Delray Beach Spring Family Photo Sessions & Some Maternity Shots!

There's something about open land that makes me feel happy and blissful. Fields, fresh air, wind, wild animals, plants, trees; Being around these things instantly puts me into a happy, care-free mood, it's almost like hypnosis. I instantly stop worrying about everything and feel as light as a feather. I visited Bedner's Farm in Delray Beach with both of my kids, my two girls, a few weeks back. My brother and his family were with us, and I brought my camera of course. We took pictures of each other with each other's kids. When I got home and looked over these pictures, they immediately relaxed me and I thought of what a wonderful, splendid easy day we had outside with our families. 

I decided I have to invite some of my favorite families out to Bedner's one weekend and do some spring family sessions with them. While the strawberries, tomatos and peppers are ripe and growing, it will be the perfect time to capture some gorgeous family photos. One of my dear, sweet families I invited is pregnant and expecting a new baby boy in a few weeks... I am so excited for them with a newborn just around the corner, we had to celebrate with a maternity session... we did a little bit of posing, but this gorgeous family has shot with me in the past and needed no direction :) 

And for the most part, we just had a lot of silly fun. They laughed, picked strawberries, ate them, got pretty messy, rolled around in the green strawberries patches, and shared lots of snuggles, hugs and kisses. I had a really sweet and fun time walking around them capturing all these adorable, intimate, candid - lifestyle moments while they had fun all on their own, they even forgot I was there at one point, or so it seems :) 

Enjoy! and go pick some strawberries of your own! Yum!!

DOCUMENTARY LIFESTYLE FAMILY SESSION AROUND MOM'S BEAUTIFUL BUMP IN DELRAY BEACH, FL

Click here to Meet my partner Lena who captures all these beautiful memories from maternity and newborn sessions exclusively for my birth clients leading up to and following their birth stories... 

We were so excited to do this documentary lifestyle family session for Loreley and her family. We spent weeks planning it! 

I met them back when her son Mikey was a tiny nursling. I can't believe that I blinked and suddenly Mikey is about to become a big brother! 

We met just before sundown in Delray Beach... my favorite beach is just off of Linton Boulevard and A1A... its called Atlantic Dunes Park and its kind of perfect for moody, documentary sessions. 

The late afternoon sun cast some toasty, moody shadows all over the boardwalk and the green trees and plant life transformed it into almost a North Carolina vibe... made my heart soar! I have been dreaming of going out of state to a mountainous town with the loveliest forests and fields and rolling hills. I'm always so joyful and bubbly when I catch one of my favorite tropical south Floridian locations acting like its all northerny :) 

I hope you enjoy these photographic pictures as much as I did!

Grow with me | Second Baby Girl Newborn Session in Fort Lauderdale

Click here to Meet my partner Lena who captures all these beautiful memories from maternity and newborn sessions exclusively for my birth clients leading up to and following their birth stories... 

I met Caroline & Chris a couple years ago when they were expecting their first baby girl. It has been really cool watching their oldest daughter grow and become a big sister. I couldn't wait to see how their girls are getting along in the beginning :)

I have my own two girls at home that are 2 years and 10 months apart, and I am so excited about them growing up and being best friends. I think that's been my favorite part of motherhood so far, watching my girls play and learn about each other. And the beginning is so great, all the focus is on big sis and her newly attained role, and on baby sis taking it all in.

When I pulled up to their new house in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday morning, I was really charmed! Fort Lauderdale has its fair share of eclectic and quirky homes, and its so refreshing from neighborhoods where theres maybe 3-4 variations of the same house design. 

I almost wished I could stay the whole day and document every nook and cranny of their house. I walked through the front gate of their fence that encompasses their entire yard (which I just LOVE!) your kids can run around the entire yard without worrying they'd get in the street, how cool is that? Grandma and Grandpa greeted me at the door along with dad. Grandma was rocking baby girl in her arms and she looked SO in love, as grandmas always do. 

I spent a little bit of time taking candid/lifestyle documentary photos in their eating room and kitchen, (I absolutely ADORE their pot hanging rack by the way and want to get one ASAP for my own kitchen! And their window cabinet doors are just my style!) I followed the family upstairs to the master bedroom overlooking their entire backyard. The wall of windows was a dream come true. I feel that natural light is a beautiful, moody gift, perfect for capturing every moment in your home. 

I hope you enjoy these photographic pictures as much as I did! Such a sweet Newborn Session with the entire family including their doggy in their Fort Lauderdale cozy house. I can't wait to continue to capture amazing moments with this family as their girls grow up big and turn into best friends! 

Missing our Home Already | Moving Pains | THE Splechta Family Blog

I might cry!!!!!

I'm already missing our home... in two weeks we have to say goodbye to the only place my girls have ever known as home. we will be in a new home, with new adventures and fresh paint for tiny dirty hands... but while we pack, we are gonna play and laugh so hard we can't breathe... moving is bittersweet.

Message about your Family Documentary! Booking March through September 2017!

My Favorite Family Photo

We are in the middle of moving right now. I realized this morning that I only have 2 weeks left to pack our 5 years of life as a family alone!

I'm freaking out a bit!

Just before we started packing, I took this family photo of us on Thanksgiving. We were about to go to my parents house and I grabbed my tripod and we went out into the street in front of our apartment and did a 10 minute family shoot.

This amazing artwork is my favorite photograph of our family of four from the entire 16 months that Emma has been part of our family!

Well she'll be 16 months in 9 days. wow!

This has been our home for 5 years. It is all the kids know as their home, and it has become so special to us.

I'm so happy that our 'goodbye' is always going to be remembered with this. I can't wait to hang it up in my new home! 

It's never too late to go back and print images from your sessions in the past. But it can be really hard to find the time. Make sure you contact me by Monday, December 19th with the prints you want for grandparents and godparents for the holidays! 

Cozy Newborn Home Lifestyle Session with a family of 6 including fur babies!

When my Emma was born, things were so, to be completely honest, chaotic!

Suddenly everyday tasks took over the whole day! I barely got around to getting more than 1 big thing done a day. So for me, to schedule time for a photoshoot, get my whole family dressed and get out to the beach, well, that thought sounded exhausting to me!!!

Don't get me wrong, I would have LOVED to do a gorgeous sunset session on the beach with my family, but that just wasn't going to happen! Having just had a baby, we mommies know that it isn't a walk in the park! There's some recovery time, both physical and emotional, and it varies for every woman of course, but how easy and how YOU is it to invite your photographer into your home and have them capture what your family is like right now, without waiting until your baby is crawling or walking.

I started documenting my own family on a weekly basis with my big camera once the baby was born. I learned a big lesson all on my own, I'm not in most of these pictures! Insert big sad face! 

I was so excited that it was important to Ana that I come back to her home after the birth of her daughter Victoria. The first weeks of what a lot of moms call the fourth trimester go by so fast and a lot of days run into each other. I love that this session took place in their home. It is cozy and it is so them.

If you are pregnant and expecting your little baby in January, February or even March of the new year 2017, it's not too early or too late to contact me about a newborn lifestyle or documentary session in your home! 

documentary session following the ripley family from gulstream beach park in delray beach, florida

I met the Ripleys years ago. Before they were the Ripleys. Lindsey and I met back before we were moms, and even back before we were wives. 

Life fast forwarded.

Years later, we crossed paths and it turns out we had both become birth workers and we both had two daughters. Lindsey is a doula and co-owner of  The Doula Sisters of South Florida, and she's a pretty rad chick and amazing mother, balancing it all like a pro.

For Lindsey & her hubby John's family session, we decided to do something different. They were trusting and willing to take my hand and follow me on my path through growth and evolution from lifestyle and posed portraiture photography over to documentary family photography. For that I am ever so grateful. I have been documenting my own family since my first daughter was born 4 years ago. And long before that, I was always the one documenting my two older sisters, my big brother and my folks as a teen. I needed this break out session in the dark, so to say, to discover who I am and what I love. Portraiture photography has filled my heart over the years and served me well. I have respected and followed some of the great portraiture photographers over the year, and I am still awed to this day by their consistently fabulous, on-point work. Birth was my gateway into documentation. What I enjoyed about births was the beauty of the first day of life, the struggle and journey and empowerment of women, and most of all, everyone having and knowing their role, even if it to silently support and encourage mama in labor. Bringing my documentarist traits into family photography has always been a challenge for me. How do I prepare my families for this? When they're not quite sure how to act, what to do, what to bring with them. So I took a different approach with Lindsey and John and their two daughters. I had them invite me to a morning with their family at the playground, and I just followed them from there. 

You would never be able to guess that the Ripleys received nearly no direction or posing from me during their session. I think I maybe suggested something 2-3 times during their session, but the rest... is all... Ripley Family November 2016.

I hope you enjoy this documentary family session as much as I did, and that you will eagerly follow me into my journey in to family documentation as 2017 rolls around the corner...

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FAMILY DOCUMENTATION | The evolution of Family Photography with Paulina Splechta

My dad emigrated alone to the United States when I was a 4 week old baby in the 80s. He knew he would have to work really hard for the next few years, and the only communication he would have with the love of his life, his wife, and his children would be letters. The first five years of my life my brother and I grew up without a dad. My mom did a hell of a job raising me and my brother by herself. I often take care of the girls on my own and I struggle so much to stay positive and resilient and strong for them and for my family but I can't imagine having to do this for five years alone. I use to have this homemade video that my sister or my aunt recorded of my mom sending a message from us (my mom, me and my brother) to my dad in Florida. The last time I saw it was maybe when a teen on my parents old TV in our old house. I haven't seen it in all these years. I asked about it recently, because I was curious to see what I was like when I was 4 years old. I wanted to see if I acted anything like my older daughter, what I looked like 'in motion' what my facial expressions were like, how my voice sounded, but the tape is missing and theres a chance it got thrown out between moves from one home to another over the last decade. And now I'll never know, my curiosity about all these questions will never get sated, I'll never have a video to show my kids of me when I was their age. This is a moment when technology and cloud drives to back up the important moments you don't want to ever lose of your family is such a necessity. 

I wish I could see what my everyday life was when I was a child. With all its ups and downs. 

Whether I have my young kids now, or young adults in the future, I want to remember how they make me feel in this moment. Sometimes my oldest, Kate who is 4, she just says the silliest things that you just can't help but laugh. And when she becomes a mom one day, I want her to remember the now. I want her to see happy moments that we have together right now, when life is still a little simple and things are not yet too far complicated.  

One day, when I am in my 80s and I am looking at pictures from my life, what moments and giggles do I want to remember? I want to remember the real stuff. I want to remember breakfast, with my husband cooking bacon and eggs while I try my best to entertain the kids while drinking a strong coffee. I want to remember doing laundry while my kids make a mess all over the rest of our home. I want to remember bath time and all the water that always gets all over the floor and the tea parties Kate has with bath water. I want to remember how easily the baby gets worked up when Kate gives her way too many hugs and kisses... and the snuggles we have on the couch over pizza, the kids tantrums over clothes not fitting right and meals. I want to remember the meals that we always work so hard to put together that my kids won't ever eat. That's what I want to remember, because the real moments are what make my life worth it to me. 

Life is just going by too fast. I have missed so many moments because I was worrying about responsibilities, that suddenly, the little baby I just met is now a child with her own opinions and character.

I have evolved as I have become a mom to two children and in charge of many new and challenging responsibilities. And the time I have with my little children has become ever so precious and fleeting.

It has become utterly important for me to remember moments and feelings and who we really are as a family right now.

I hope you'll join me on this journey into family documentation.

The family pictured below was not directed or posed in anyway. This is the raw and real Ripley Family

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CONTACT PAULINA NOW TO INQUIRE ABOUT BOOKING YOUR FAMILY DOCUMENTARY

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