S {Bella Valentina Photography, Zanesville, OH}

During high school I spent a lot of time with my friend's family, practically living with them for a time of my life, so when I decided to giveaway a newborn session, I KNEW I wanted to give it to this high school friend. My own little way of saying thank you, & giving back.

If you're a photographer reading this then you already know just how difficult newborn sessions can be. You're on THEIR time! If they're fussy you wait it out.... they might need changed, they might need to eat, then you need to let them get nice & comfortable again, or wait for them to sleep. This can require blankets, noise machines, heaters, & lots of patience lol! Did I mention it can take 2 to 3 hours?! This sweet baby made it sooo easy & our time was enjoyable. Maybe it helped that Mom knew me, so she trusted me to do what I needed & control the session. whatever it was, we were lucky ;) And so, I had to share!

Thank you Shala & Andy, for giving me your time that day, & trusting me with her. She's beautiful, & I'm honored xox!

Wedding Planning Tips via Rock n Roll Bride! {Bella Valentina Photography, Wedding Photographer, Zanesville/Columbus, Ohio}

Just ran across this great blog post by Rock n Roll Bride and had to share!



"As usual, you guys are a lot better at the weddingy tips that me! I turned to twitter and my facebook page to ask for some of your top wedding planning tips for this week…


@Simply__Elegant Don’t try to do EVERYTHING do the important bits REALLY WELL
@RhianHJ Choose your max budget,then deduct 15%. Always work to the 85% figure then have a little buffer for the things you forgot!
@mrsmandydingle To find your colour scheme, take a colour photo that you love and pick out complimenting shades like this
@cupcakes_london Plan your make-up trial for same day as engagement shoot – pix will look fab & MUA can see how the makeup looks in photos.
@makebelieven Stick to your gut on design. If you have seen it on the blogs it might not be authentically you. Get ideas, don’t copy.
Bekki Cooke - Follow your favourite vendors on Twitter. I have great contact with my venue on there, and have found both my awesome photographers via tweeting as well!"

Recent kiddos! {Bella Valentina Photography - Zanesville, Ohio Child Portrait Photographer}

These little ones came to me as a referral from another new client. Word of mouth is my favorite because it means someone was happy :) And what a wonderful family. Grandma came too, and I recognized her as being the 'girl' that sold me my Homecoming dress my, when I was the freshman Homecoming Attendant in high school. And YES, that was a very long time ago lol! But what I also love is when someone decides on a membership package because that means I'll be seeing more of these adorable little faces, and getting to watch them grow!

So it started out about fashion.... {Bella Valentina Photography Zanesville, Ohio Photographer}

My Mom & Sister have a boutique on Grandview Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. Super cute! Vintage stuff, new stuff, stuff you wanna look through all day! So I wanted my Sister to model some things from their store, let me photograph her, and we'd display some of them in their store. Mutual benefits, and a fun project, outside of my usual daily shoots. Of course I got a little sidetracked, by my Sister's beauty, & not everything ended up being as focused on fashion, or the product, as it should have been. Luckily I had that freedom with it! Either way, I wanted to share some of them. I'm not even half way done with this session but I can always share more later : ) And the last one is my Mom, just because!

More studio cuties! {Bella Valentina Photography Zanesville, OH Photographer}

I like to share a few from all of my sessions so here are a couple of my latest cuties, but I warn you, they could make you swoon for one of your own! ; )

www.bellavalentinaphotography.com