BirdieLou Photography Review & Giveaway:: CLOSED

When I was about 7 months pregnant I started scouting for a photographer to do some maternity shots.  I remember putting out a FB question to my local friends for recommendations on a good photographer.  I got a lot of responses but more than half of them pointed me towards BirdieLou.  So I checked out her work on her FB page and I really liked what I saw.

Relaxed families captured in moments full of joy.  Mommies bare bellies being kissed sweetly by big brothers and sisters.  Husbands caught sneaking a glance at their wives, and that look, the look every woman longs for.  Those were the moments that made me pick up the phone and call Tara Partlow. 

Tara calls her business an answer to prayer.  After the birth of her daughters she wondered to that far ahead day when they would be in school, what could she do that would give her the freedom to be available for them? In the meantime she followed her girls around with her camera and posted her pics to her personal FB page.  It wasn’t long before friends started asking her to take pictures of their families, and so on and so on, and before long she had a regular clientele.  Without even knowing it, BirdieLou became the very thing that Tara had dreamed of for a business so that she could still be mom to her girls.

While she offers a range of photography services, Tara says her favorite sessions are maternity and newborn photos.   This style of photography wasn’t offered back in 2004, when she had her first daughter so she offers  a package to expecting moms that she calls the “Before and After” package. It includes 2 sessions…one maternity and one newborn. This allows her to get to know a family before the arrival of baby, and to see their excitement and anticipation.

BirdieLou’s goal is to capture beautiful photos for people so that they have those photos to treasure in the years to come. It’s NOT her goal to charge families so much that they have to struggle to receive these photos. Therefore, Tara tries to keep her prices reasonable so that ANYONE feels comfortable going to her for photos. And here’s the best part; she includes a cd in her packages so that families can have the digital images to create the prints that they prefer.

I have been to Tara 3 times now:  Maternity, Newborn, and Family.  For my maternity photos what I remember most were the fleeting moments she captured between my 4 year old and myself, some of the last of just the 2 of us.  During our newborn session my son had no intention of closing his eyes or laying still and yet Tara was able to snap the picture at just the right time to make it look like he was doing exactly as he was told.  And just 2 weeks ago we went back, this time for our yearly family photos, and while my husband and I were sleep deprived, the baby was cranky and my 5 year old had an alternate agenda, Tara still captured some memories that I will treasure a lifetime.

So what do you think?  Can any of you out there use some new, fresh family photos?  Or a Maternity / Newborn session?  You’re in luck! BirdieLou is giving one lucky reader 50% off a photo session (CD of images included). Enter the raffle below for your chance to win.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Burlington VT Moms Blog received compensation for this post, but the opinions expressed are entirely our own.