My friends Laura and Gerard have had their second baby! And it's a boy, much to the delight of their three year old Alix.
Alix is adorable; she's cheeky, loves dinosaurs and tutus, sweet, bossy in that amazingly cute way that three year old's can get away with, but if I tried that on with my husband he'd gape at me and tell me to take my sassy pants right back to the shop because they don't belong on me.
I was so happy to take photos for them when Dylan came along. When your friends have a baby, it's the ultimate gift to them! Here, instead of buying you a load of crap you don't want or already have, have some memories!
I am also really lucky, because they have an amazing house that is a photographers dream. It's airy, light, white - it's got lovely furnishings and grey and yellow colour coordination that makes me want to spill red wine on my shabby Ikea sofa so I can go splurge on a new one. And they're all really good looking too - this always helps.
I love doing newborn sessions at peoples homes. You can capture those special moments as a new baby comes into the lives of an existing family, the chaos, the stillness, the noise, the silence, the tears and the smiles. The baby is in charge; if the baby needs to be fed, feed the baby. If the baby needs it's nappy changed, change away! I allow anywhere from 2-3 hours for these sessions just for this, and also to allow time for any other little ones to get used to me, have a play with me, examine my camera - and usually have a go taking their own photograph! It has to be fun, doesn't it?
I really do love being part of it, and being part of the process - because these early days go by very fast, even though it doesn't feel like it when you're up ten times a night and your eyes feel like cardboard. It goes so fast, suddenly you're weaning them. Then they're learning to use the toilet. Then they're at school, and you look at other mums with their tiny babies and wonder how it all went so fast, and you can smile at the memories of how mad and wonderful it was. And how special to be able then to go and dig out an album, or stand in front of a wall and be able to see those very moments; something to always spark happy memories, and to always remember those heady early days when your baby really was a baby.
Here are my favourite things about lifestyle newborn sessions:
- The photos that are captured show those early days in their purest form. - We are in a place that is very, very special to you, surrounded by your own precious items. You might want to use some of them with the photos; a family quilt, a photograph of a loved one.
- Best of all (I think!) - you don’t have to leave your house!
- If you have other children (or pets) they are always going to be a lot more comfortable in their own environment. There's no worrying about them causing a mess or a scene -they can go as mad as they like! - It's not as important to get the baby to sleep so the baby can be posed in buckets or giant wicker baskets - so this means the session isn't delayed by waiting on a sleeping baby and things can progress more naturally.
If you like the sound of this sort of session, you can contact me, or check out my portfolio to see my work with babies and children.
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