
I’ve been photographing little ones for over 6 years now, so have met hundreds of gorgeous families in that time! I could sit and tell you about all of them for hours – in this profession, you never forget a client, as it’s such a special time in their lives that they are investing in, so I invest in them just as much, and the minute you walk through the studio door, you’re a friend!
You always see ‘horror’ stories from newborn shoots with sick, wee and poo across social media, and in all honesty those shots are pure ‘luck’ because if you’ve just had a baby projectile vomit everywhere, the first thing you think of is definitely NOT ‘hang on, let me get my camera!’. So whilst I have got the stories, I don’t have the gross photos to go with them – sorry. Also, around 5 years ago, I was trained how to swaddle and create pretty wraps for your babies, which meant I could leave their nappy on for the duration of the shoot – eliminating a lot of mess and stress from sessions!
But I still want to share with you my top 5 memorable shoots – not all are about things that went wrong but just some of my favourite stories to share…
Let’s get this one out the way first, shall we?! This shoot was actually with a member of my family, so I’m sure Mummy won’t mind me sharing it! It was also one of my earliest sessions after my newborn posing training, so I was keen to get it right and was following all of my ideas I had planned beforehand. Little Harry had been a superstar, slept like a trooper the whole time, even with an audience of Mummy, Daddy, Big Sister, Myself and My Fiance (He’s not usually at shoots, it was just we were all there to meet Harry for the first time since his arrival).
He had rocked his beanbag posing (wrapped) and my confidence was growing, so I thought it was time to move onto the prop shots, and for these I was going to remove all clothing and wraps so we could see his cute little bottom. I carefully padded out my bucket, lined it with a gorgeous new grey fur (that I had bought especially for this session) and I made sure none of Harry’s skin would be touching the prop – which would make him uncomfortable – and transferred him from the beanbag into the bucket. Easy! He even let me put a little hat and bow tie on, and he smiled!
But…what I didn’t realise at that time, was that smile meant he had a huge amount of wind…you know what’s coming, right? It wasn’t just wind. In seconds, his tummy rumbled and my beautifully soft grey fur ended up yellow/brown and matted…Harry on the other hand, remained quite happy, calm and asleep! Mummy was definitely more horrified than anyone else but it was quickly sorted with the fur going straight into a hot wash and it cleaned up perfectly – no issues at all really. But the experience was ideal as this is when I realised that actually, keeping a babies nappy on still allows for super cute photos and it keeps the whole session far more relaxed because parent’s aren’t worrying ‘what if…’.
There are so many more stories I could share with you, but hopefully these have given you a laugh and a smile while taking a break with a cuppa of choice!
Every baby has their own personality right from day one, and I’m usually one of the first people to meet a newborn when they come for their session, especially in the current climate, so I consider myself extremely fortunate to be in such a privileged position, and I look forward to being able to share more stories with you soon!
Are you ready to book your newborn baby photoshoot? I’d love to have a chat! You can call me on 07852264151 or message me via the contact page on this site.