September was a busy month with back to school, strict routine & busy schedules.  As a result, my project did fall a few days behind on a couple of occasions, but even then I still found myself seeking out the happy moments each day and appreciating the small things which I'm grateful for.  We tend to be aware of the big stuff we are grateful for, but I've found that by noticing the little things, it has helped me focus less on the few negative or disappointing things in my life and to give more thought and attention to the positive .  

Today I got a call from a writer for the Globe & Mail in Toronto.  She is writing an article on Gratitude for next weeks paper and had come across my 365 Grateful Heart Project while doing research for her story.  I'm so glad she found me and I hope that sharing my experience with this project helps her article and encourages others to take a few minutes each day or week, to pay attention to their happy moments and give focus to their gratitude.  It doesn't have to be represented by a photo, it could be a few words, a creative written piece once a week or even as simple as a thought before you close your eyes each night.  

Here are a few of my grateful and happy moments from the month of September.  If you want to see more and read what each of them represent, go to my Instagram feed at https://instagram.com/krishnaneale/

I've been lucky enough to attend several events put on by this couple and wow, they can throw a PARTY!  This one, which I photographed back in April was in celebration of their daughters first birthday.  The theme, the decorations, the food and the activities were all brilliant, but what I admire most, is that it's not as much about the party for them, it's about celebrating life's milestones and sharing it with family and friends.  

I first met this couple back when their first child was born, he was one of the first newborn babies I photographed.  Fast forward a number of years and they just welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their family.  I was so excited to be asked back to photograph them. It's incredible how the pace and activity level around a home is SO very different from baby #1 to baby #3 and WOW, seeing this mom of two young boys and a newborn baby get things done, was super inspiring.  And she looks amazing just days after giving birth.  It was a really fun session capturing the boys at this stage (my favourite ages to photograph) but to also capture some sweet baby girl pictures.  Here are some of my favourite shots.

He must be one of the biggest newborn babies I have photographed.  He was just 5 days old for his at home session (although he looked like he was several weeks old) and wow, what a dream subject he was.  He slept soundly for most of the session and didn't mind the moving and posing.  I captured a crazy amount of beautiful images which makes it hard to short list my favourites.  If your planning to have a newborn session of your baby, the younger they are the better.  The difference between a 5 day old baby and a 10 day old can be quite significant.   At 10 days, they are more alert and don't sleep as heavily which makes it harder to achieve a variety of poses.  They also tend to have bigger bellies and don't curl up as easily as a younger baby.   Here are some of my favourites from the session.

This was a fun session and I was truly in my element.  It was done in celebration of her second birthday so we incorporated some balloons and for the second part of the session she hosted a tea party.  It was really hard to choose my favourite images to show so I've included some from the first half of the session here and I will do another post on the tea party portion.  So adorable!  

It's seems to be the season for new babies right now.  Newborn photo sessions are best done within the first 10 days when they sleep heavily and curl up well.  After 10 days their belly get bigger which makes it harder to curl them up and they are more alert to their surroundings.  This beautiful newborn was just 7 days old and she didn't want to sleep for her session but we still captured a beautiful image of her and surprisingly this awake photo ended up being one of my favourites from her recent session.