Hindu Celebration - Cincinnati Photographer

December was an exciting month for Sonja B Photography. I photographed two small weddings, endless family portraits, a birth and a 2-day Hindu Celebration for a 60th birthday.

I arrived at 7:30am and when I stepped inside the house the ritual was already on its way. The room was full with mostly men and colorful saris. Lots of chanting and flowers everywhere. It was absolutely facinating. After a few hours everyone took a break for a yummy breakfast but only shortly because the ritual had to go on. In total I was there well over 6 hours, chanting non stop plus a fire in the middle of the room that made all the fire alarms go off. It was seriously an incredible experience.

If you are planning a Hindu celebration in the Greater Cincinnati area, please contact me as I would love to photograph your event.

Poppy - Cincinnati Newborn Photography

I was lucky enough to photograph this little lady’s birth and her newborn pictures! She and her big siblings came to my studio in Newtown. Since her name is Poppy, I knew I had to photograph her with the below backdrop. It was just too perfect!

She wasn’t the sleepiest of newborns, but we did manage to photograph her in a few other props and backdrops.

Her older sibs got to take a few pictures by themselves and with her. Sibling pictures with so many little ones is a beast so to get these gems I feel extremely proud AND lucky!

If you are looking for a Cincinnati Newborn Photographer, please contact me at sonja.mcgill@yahoo.com or 513.300.9578. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

The B. Family - Cincinnati Family Photographer

I have been photographing this family since their oldest was a newborn. I look forward every year seeing their smiling faces again.

Fun Fact: I have a photo of this family on my website when they only had one child. Can you find it?

If you are looking for a family photographer, I would love to help you. Please contact me at sonja.mcgill@yahoo.com and let’s schedule your session.

Cincinnati Maternity Photography

This gorgeous Mommy to be came to see me in my Photography Studio in Newtown, close to downtown Cincinnati. She came with a few chosen dresses and outfits, and we had a great time photographing her. She was so comfortable during her session that she was really easy to work with.

Mom came with a plan with what she wanted done, but if not, I would have a lot of suggestions as well. You should be comfortable posing in front of the camera, and I always try my best to make it as easy and fun as possible.

These sessions can last anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, just depending on how many outfits you bring. There is really no limit to how many outfits we can use.

If you are interested in booking your maternity session, please contact me at sonja.mcgill@yahoo.com and we can set a session up for you. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Welcome Little One - Cincinnati Birth Photographer

I have a passion for Birth Photography. I love the unscripted moments, the surprises, the love everything about it, I love. But Birth Photography can be hard. Being on call for 4 weeks. Having to work with just a little or no heads up. Long hours, mostly through the night. But all of that is worth documenting a new life being born into this world.

If you are interested in booking me for your birth photography, please contact me at sonja.mcgill@yahoo.com. I work in the Tri State area including Dayton. After you contact me, I usually like to meet with you for coffee. I want you to feel comfortable with me before I am photographing these intimate moments.

I am looking forward to hearing from you and photographing your birth.

What to expect at your Newborn Session

On the day of your Newborn Session please keep baby up as much as possible. Feed baby right before coming to the studio and dress baby in an outfit that is easy to take off. For the family photos of the session, I prefer baby either in a plain onesie or wrapped in a swaddle (I have plenty of wraps if you don’t have a swaddle you want to use).

The studio will be very warm for your Newborn session, so that baby is comfortable and sleepy. So please dress accordingly yourself when coming to my studio. You can always change in the studio to your outfits for the photos and then back into a tank shirt or t-shirt.

I have cold drinks and snacks at the studio so if babies’ siblings or you are getting hungry, I got you covered. If you are sleep deprived and need a little wake me up, I even have a coffee machine.

I usually start with the family photos first and then siblings’ pictures. That way older siblings and Dad are done and can go home if they want. If they choose to stay, there are plenty of toys and room to run around.

After the sibling pictures I usually get baby naked or wrapped up in swaddles and start with the newborn pictures. If baby is fussy and won’t sleep at this point, it would be great if I could feed baby a bottle or you could nurse baby to sleep. I usually do 2-3 different colored backdrops and various poses and then move on to a few bucket pictures.

The trick to getting babies to sleep is a very warm study and a belly full of milk.

Typical sessions last 1-2 hours. I have done them quicker, and a few times took longer than 2 hours, but I try my best to keep the session in that time frame.

After I pose baby, we can get him or her dressed, if you want you can feed baby one more time if needed before you drive home and I usually clean up the studio.

Please leave me a comment or email me at sonja.mcgill@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

I am looking forward to seeing you in my studio in the heart of Newtown Village.

Kayaking the Ausable River

Last Summer I finally filled a big item on my Bucket List. Kayak Camping the Au Sable river in Michigan. 2020 was the perfect year to cross this item up during the pandemic. We started our trip in Grayling and ended it 80 miles down the river in Mio, Michigan. We brought our own kayaks but used Carlisle Canoe Livery to shuttle our car to Mio. That way we could just pack up when arriving at our endpoint vs. waiting for someone to pick us up. We also launched our kayaks from Carlisle Livery.

This was the first kayaking trip we took with everyone in their own kayaks. No more tandem kayaking with Finn. Which was also a bit nerve wrecking… could he actually kayak 80 miles on his own? He did and he did great!

Rosie hung out on a kayak, jumped into the water and swam to the next kayak. She did this all 3 days. She is a pretty strong swimmer and the water was pretty flat, so it wasn’t very dangerous for her.

We spotted some pretty cool wildlife, such as turtles, fish, and even these beautiful does sipping some water (picture below).

We stopped for the night at Whitepine Campground. Unfortunatley we weren’t the only ones and it was pretty loud in the evening. No real secluded wilderness experience there. The kids helped us set up camp, we had dinner and Finn & Rosie swam in the river for a bit. It was a great ending to a great day!

The next day we headed out as early as we could because we had another long day of paddling ahead of us! It was another great day. The one thing that I didn’t like about this trip was that there weren’t many places where you could just get out and stretch your legs. You either had to stop at a busy boat ramp, or campground. Most of the land was privately owned or just thick forest with no where to get out. So we spent lunch at a busy boat ramp. That evening we stopped at Parmalee Campground. Finn got to jump off a bridge with a lot of other kids and in general it was a very nice relaxing campsite. But again not secluded at all.

The further along we got down the river, the wider the river would get. Day one the Au Sable was very narrow and windy and by the 3rd day we paddled along lakes. Our last day of paddling was great as well. The weather was perfect, no bugs and we all enjoyed floating down the river.

We ended our trip at Camp 10 Bridge where our car and trailer were waiting for us! Here is a map of the river with the campgrounds. All over this was a great little getaway during the pandemic. We are already looking for other kayak camping trips for 2021! Let us know if you have any suggestions.

Traveling Interview with Finn

My youngest (11) has grown up traveling. Finn has been to 5 countries and 17 different US states. He doesn’t mind the 6 + hour car rides, the hiking, sleeping in a tent during a rainstorm and helping set up camp. I thought it would be fun to ask him a few travel related questions since he has become such a travel expert. I hope you enjoy his answers as much as I do!

What is your favorite travel memory?

Probably meeting other people and interacting with other people.

What is your least favorite memory?

getting scammed from a taxi driver in Vietnam or the hotel fire in Holbox, Mexico.

What do you do to entertain yourself on a long car ride or plane ride?

annoy people…. haha no looking out of the window, playing with a ball or being on my Nintendo Switch

What country do you want to visit next and Why?

That’s a hard one. I would probably say Paraguay and Brazil because I have lots of family there and you grew up there.

Have you ever met someone on your travels who has inspired you?

Captain Son from Vietnam because of what he experienced during the war as a child.

Of all the places you have been where would you like to go back?

Germany! Or Vietnam…. I would like to go back everywhere

Do you have any travel tips for young kids?

Don’t talk to strangers and don’t goof around at important places.

Do you feel like you learn while traveling?

Yes, the history and about the culture. The difference between my culture and theirs.

Do you prefer the beach or the mountains? Why?

Beach! Because I get altitude sickness in the mountains and the beach is more relaxing.

Which state in the US do you want to visit next?

Colorado, because I want to go skiing.

Three things you must have in your bag?

a ball, phone and water.

Last question…. who is your favorite person to travel with?

Mom!

Good answer!