Behind the scenes…Sydney Newborn Photographer

I bought this sweet silk sack from the very talented prop maker, Little Noggins, and I couldn't wait to use it. When you hold it against your cheek, it's so soft, you almost can't feel anything! My style is very natural and neutral, however, there's a small amount of Anne Geddes inside me somewhere! When I photographed this sweet newborn in Carlingford, I pictured her in a silk sack, in earthy brown tones. Of course, newborns cannot sit and support themselves, and newborn safety is a priority. Actually, it's more than a priority, it's the most important thing in the shoot. Their safety and comfort cannot be compromised. That is why Mum is holding her the entire time. The magic of making this shot is in photoshop.

My beautiful friend and client saw this image on my screen and asked how I did it. So I thought I would share a behind the scenes look at how I photographed my 'baby in a sack' image.

This is the image:

And the making of 'Baby in a sack'

Baby on Black

As part of my website upgrade, I have expanded my session agreement to incorporate further information about what exactly my clients are after during their shoot. Not all clients have the same goals. Not all clients like the same poses and people generally have different taste in colour. When I asked this gorgeous Mum what type of images she loved, she told me that she likes baby on black, baby in Dad's hands, family photos and black and white photography. It was great to get a very clear vision, and surprisingly, it was clearer when I asked her to write it than when I interview clients over the phone. I think the reason is that clients are briefer when writing their session goals, so it becomes very obvious. I was blown away when I met this beautiful little girl. She is seriously one of the most striking newborns I've ever met. And she had a head full of hair! I very much enjoyed both this session and retouching these images. And I am sure we achieved Mum's vision.

What you talking bout Willis

I photographed this adorable boy today. When I saw this image, I could hear "what you talkin bout Willis" in my head. Hopefully, I am not the only one old enough to remember that!!!

Natural Newborn Photographer

I was browsing my google results recently, and the most popular searches for me included sydney newborn photographer, baby photographer and best sydney baby photographer (yay for this one!). There were some that surprised me (ones I won't repeat as I don't actually want to come up in those type of searches!) One that did surprise me was natural baby photography. This one was searched quite a number of times. Though it does make sense. Often, I attract clients who want more natural images, both in tones and posing. Although I do use props, clients have described my work as not being too "proppy". This particular client wanted very natural, organic and soft images of her adorable baby. He made the job more difficult by soiling the blankets before we even started ha ha. In all my experience with babies, I've never quite seen a soiling event quite like this!

I kept all of the tones in these images very natural and earthy and I made sure to take a 'baby led posing' approach, so that the images were very reflective of who he was. So you won't see a whole lot of variety in colour, though you are about to experience a cuteness overload. I made a sweet little movie of him too, so that his Mamma can share it with her friends, and never forget how sweet he was in those early days.

Anne Geddes photographer (perhaps not)

When my son was born 11 years ago, I took him to have his portraits taken at the local shopping centre. When I got the pictures back, I was disappointed. They weren't very 'him'. Although I wasn't a photographer at the time, it was a hobby of mine, so I figured we could have our own photoshoot. I took the laundry basket, put a pillow in it and covered it with a soft blanket. I took lots of photos. Some with teddy bears all around him and some artistic ones with my film SLR with black and white film in it. Black and white film always was my favourite. I thought I was the Anne Geddes of Sydney! Who knew then I would become a newborn photographer!

I recently photographed a baby boy that reminded me of my son. They look quite similar. So I pulled out the old photographs to compare. I realise now, I wasn't quite Anne Geddes :D

Canada Bay Newborn Photographer

Welcome to the first blog post on my new site. I am so excited by all of the branding changes and I hope you love it too. I have tried to make the information easier to find. I am still quite behind in my sessions, so I have been blogging a mixture of new and older sessions. This session is a little old now, this gorgeous boy is probably sitting up, smiling and eating solids. Hopefully, he is sleeping through the night! The night before this session, this Mamma got next to no sleep. You will look at these image and wonder how someone can look so amazing and refreshed after a night like that! It must be a whole lot of Mamma love!

Baby Girl and her brother | Hills Newborn Photographer

This beautiful baby girl was already a couple of weeks old when I photographed her. I speak about "older newborns" often on my blog. I do get older newborns book in from time to time. The first thing I do is book in as soon as possible. Due to time constraints, we decided to do this session in two parts; the first part was this precious baby girl on her own and the second part was with her family. I am so glad we chose this, as the newborn session was quite long. When baby is a few weeks old, they already get used to being left alone to sleep and they may not move from pose to pose so easily. The plus side is that we often get more awake shots from these sessions, which are just divine. However, with patience I always get the images I need. This is one beautiful family, as you will see. Baby girl has the milkiest, smoothest skin. I could run my finger over her cheek all day long. And when I met her 2 year old brother, I longed for those days when my children were little. He is so happy, curious and full of smiles.

We had a lovely session and I am sure you will agree, they are so very, very cute!

The Milkiest skin the the world | sydney newborn photographer

I met little Daniella when she was already a few weeks old. I was stunned by how milky and smooth her skin was. When you see her, you just want to rub your finger over her cheeks...what a precious baby girl. One thing I loved about this client was that she took her time to find a reputable sydney photographer. There are a lot of photographers out there; some are cheaper, some are more expensive, some offer digital files, some have studios and some come to you. It is really important to hire the photographer that is right for your needs. Ask yourself what is most important. If quality of the imagery is very important, you will need to be flexible with price; if props are important to you, you will need to look through the portfolio of the photographers on your shortlist to see if their props match your vision. Some photographers have very colourful images and backgrounds, and others (like me) have more natural textures and props. There is no one photographer for everyone, and it is important for you to do a little research so that you find the photographer that is a match for you.

Daniella's Mum called me and asked me a host of questions before she hired me. I assume she did this with a shortlist of photographers. Please don't ever be afraid to, we never mind answering questions. In fact, I was so impressed with her dedication to finding a photographer for her baby girl, and I was very pleased she chose me. They purchased the gold collection, so they were very satisfied clients.

Now let me share some beautiful photos of gorgeous Daniella and her lovely parents.

Precious Baby Girl | Emu Plains Newborn Photographer

This precious baby girl was so petite and delicate with the smoothest skin. I love that you can see the clamp on her unbilical cord in some of the images. Older people have often stopped my in the shops and told me that I should enjoy my babies because they grow so fast. This really is true and I love any detail in the image that shows how new they are. Even in a few short months, those images become priceless. When I was selecting the images to blog, I understood my client's dilemma when she was choosing her order, as I had way too many favourites.

My job sees me travelling from Sydney's Northern Beaches, to the Eastern Suburbs and out to Sydney's West. This client was from a small suburb called Emu Plains, which is the suburb we lived in when we first came to Australia. It's a small little world!

Safe in Daddy's hands | Western Sydney Newborn Photographer

I met this family when they had their second daughter. We instantly connected. The Mum is a lovely client, the type of client that all photographers love. She really values photography, she trusts in what I am doing and is so kind in her feedback to me. When I first met them, we went to do family photos in the main bedroom. The light in the room was beautiful, but, it was coming in the wrong direction. I knew that I would get the best results if we moved the bed, but I had never moved a whole room around and I didn't really want to ask. I had moved small parts of a clients' room, but not something large like the bed. Still, I asked, because I knew that the results would be best :) And Elise, you created a monster, as I now happily boss people around to move whatever needs to be moved!

So when I got there this time, the furniture was already swapped around! Yay!

This beautiful little boy faced many challenges before he even got here. And he was born at 33 weeks. Our session was held 3 days before his due date, so he was nearly 7 weeks old. In photography terms, a 7 week old baby is no longer a newborn. We just can't get them to sleep or curl up like one. The exception to that rule is when they are premmies. This beautiful boy went with the flow and let me move him around and pose him as I wished. He was so beautiful and perfect, and had the silkiest skin.

This was one of my favourite sessions from 2012. One reason was because I had already met the family and I loved watching them grow. Another is that I love so many images from this session.

I have titled this image "Safe in Daddy's Hands" because after everything he went through, this image means so much more than the typical baby-in-Dad's-hands pose. I hope you love these images as much as I do.