The specs

Newborn studio photography session at my Te Awamutu photography studio

The family

Like most families waiting for their first child, Bailey’s parents were incredibly excited but also a little scared! One of the highlights of newborn photography for me is talking to people during their pregnancy and hearing about their hopes and dreams, and then watching them slot into the role of parents as if they had always known how. There are so many little ways the bond between them is visible, and for me, Bailey’s tiny fingers clinging on to her dad’s hard working, capable hands sums it up in one photo.

The design brief

Neutral colours with a rustic style, and a subtle girly touch.

The family’s furniture is rustic with lots of woods and deep browns. We wanted to capture that rustic feel and tie in with the brown and beige colours, while still making sure the photos were a little girly and pretty. We stuck to cream and beige backgrounds, with a few lace and floral features in the same colour scheme to add this feminine touch.

The artwork

The family wanted to create a wall gallery of their photos, but it was made a little tricky by the fact that they were shifting to a new dairy farm a few weeks after our session and had no idea what their new home would be like! We stuck to one of the smaller galleries – a three piece canvas set – so that it could easily fit in any home.

The rustic brown leather cover of the beautiful album we created could not have been a more perfect fit for their photo shoot. I adore the premium crystal fronts and leather backs of these stunning albums, and with the colours and styling of this newborn session, this one is going to look particularly amazing!

The session

I love to hear how the first week or two with a new baby have been going. Having a newborn is a huge adjustment, regardless of how well or how poorly they sleep and feed, and after having two refluxy, colicky boys myself, I can relate all too well to the intensity of this period!

When I asked Bailey’s mum how Bailey had been sleeping, she replied that she almost didn’t do anything BUT sleep! That’s usually a pretty good sign when you are hoping to get some sleepy, content newborn photographs! Still, you still never really know. One of the sleepiest, most content babies I’ve ever photographed had barely slept for longer than an hour straight in his entire life, and still managed to sleep longer than that during his photo shoot!

In this case though, Bailey was the perfect little model and her photo shoot went so smoothly. She is also the sweetest, most delicate little girl you could imagine, with perfect rosebud lips, a petite face, and the most gorgeous head of thick brown hair!