This cute little Miss 2 didn’t really want anything to do with Mums maternity session. Or me :), and I didn’t think we would be able to get her into any of the shots. After a little bit of play (and trickery) she came around a little more and we managed to get some great natural unposed images. I just love these photos of Mum and Daughter together. Sometimes the best shots are the unplanned ones.
Working with toddlers can be really difficult at times, this particular age group is one of the hardest to work with (you should see my family photography images involving toddlers! :))) The trick is to firstly stay calm (parents and photographers) and just work with their mood and personality. Some come in all eager and ready to go, then drop without any notice leaving you with a toddler giving you nothing more than red faced tantrum images. While others start off shy, then towards the end of the session are really getting quite into it and are not ready to go home. I never force a toddler to get into pictures, and quite often if you ignore them and continue taking photos of the rest of the family, they naturally feel a little left out and end up wanting to join in anyway.
This gorgeous little newborn baby was just 16 days old and was a dream! This session was held in my home studio in Ellenbrook. I offer studio sessions both at my studio, or in your own home at no additional cost. I do understand those first few weeks can be a bit of a blur after bringing baby home. Lack of sleep and routine can really tire out new parents so many of my newborn clients welcome the fact they do not have to pack up baby and all their belongings for their babys first professional photo session.
Here are 3 different degrees of editing I do for all my newborn photography. I get asked for little to no post processing to the full works and am happy to edit to my clients desires. Theres no right or wrong as far as editing goes. Some clients like all the flakes, spots, redness and bumps that often go with newborn skin and ask for them to stay while others prefer a more polished, airbrushed look. Or some would like a little bit of in between. I discuss editing preferences during the session so I make sure I can deliver a gallery full of images that YOU prefer. A little more info on each edit process can be found under each photo below
These images are more or less straight from the camera with only minor tweaks done to correct exposure and density within Lightroom. My camera loves to pick up the magenta colours so this is usually toned down, resulting in an image quite close to this one. I give the option during a session to have all gallery images “as is” like this one for those that prefer a complete natural and authentic style of newborn photography.
Edited images are usually tweaked further in photoshop with some added colour tones to minimise babys red skin tones which is so common in newborns. Almost all babies have some additional flakes, spots or scratches which clients may request to have removed if they wish from their face. Small flaky skin on hands, feet and body are generally left alone. For babies with severe hormonal acne, I do what I can to minimise the appearance of the acne but babies with this type of skin may benefit from a more polished look to further even and smooth out the skin.
Polished images are edited images with the removal of all noticeable flakes and spots plus airbrushing and smoothing of babies skin. Eyelids, lips and cheeks are subtly enhanced and removal of any body flakes can also be edited out. These images do take a lot more time to edit and are therefore limited to a certain amount of images that can be edited in this way set by each package. (Short and sweet = 5, Simple = 10, Classic = 20). You still receive the full gallery of images edited to your liking as per the above “edited” image.
My goal is to capture as close to perfect as can be, in the camera during the session. I have spent close to 13 or so years perfecting my photography skills so when it comes to editing galleries, I do not need to spend a large amount of time processing them in post. This saves me a considerable amount of time editing each gallery, which further benefits my clients as I am able to deliver images very quickly. Studio session turnaround can take from 1 to 3 days on average while outdoor location sessions and babies with exceptionally spotty skin may take a few days longer. During my busy times, this timeframe may be extended by a short while but on average, I am able to deliver high quality edited images within 1 to 7 days.
Stunning Mum to be in the studio at 37 weeks wearing a couple of new dresses I provide from my studio wardrobe. I love to be able to provide my clients something new to wear when they come visit me for a maternity session.
Within an hour session, we can usually manage 4 outfit changes which provides plenty of variety in a full photo gallery. A 30 minute short and sweet session can fit in 2 clothing changes.
Both sessions can be photographed on the white backgrounds for my bright and airy look and we will then usually finish off a few shots on the black background for a more dark and moody feel.
Whichever look you prefer, let me know ahead of time so I can best plan your session to your liking.
This beautiful Mumma chose to have professional hair and makeup done before her session. If this is something you would like to consider for yourself, let me know before you book your session and I can organise this for you.
I was really looking forward to meeting this beautiful baby girl for this studio session. Having photographed her big brother when he was just a tiny newborn, I was excited to see him again as a toddler. I just love it when they come back with oodles of personality! Babies really do grow up so fast!
Miss M was a darling baby to photograph. With her beautiful smooth skin and minimal hair, she was an absolute doll.
Heres a little secret:
Big brother did not want to be near his new little sister. I was warned by her parents I may not be able to get one of them both together as they have tried themselves since her birth. They were right! On this day, he refused to have a photo taken with her but I could see it was really important to my clients so I just made it happen in post processing. I photographed him on his own with his parents tempting him with food on the beanbag and then composited an image of the two of them together taking one of Miss M’s solo bean bag shots. The sibling image in the galley below were two separate images 🙂
This is such a common scenario with toddlers and their new baby brothers or sisters that even if I cannot get them together during the actual photo session, I will still be able to give the parents that much wanted image of their two (or more) children together 🙂
What a little sweetheart this gorgeous girl was! I loved this session so much. I don’t normally do much in the way of props but I always welcome parents bringing in their own to make their babys session unique and special just for them.
Here are just a few of my favourite images (it was hard to choose by the way) from 13 month old Miss I’s General session. She ended up with a very full gallery due to being such a little superstar! As I myself find it hard to pick and choose favourites, I don’t expect my clients to do that hard task either, so all my packages are all inclusive of all edited images taken on the day minus misfires and duplicates. My clients can choose in their own time which images they love the most 🙂
What an awesome 5 year old this boy was! He did everything I asked of him with the biggest smiles ever. Clothing changes are the perfect opportunity to grab a few father and son shots.
It’s always exciting going back to photograph a family the second time around when second baby comes along. I love seeing my clients again and especially love seeing how much baby no 1 has grown, quite often into a very active toddler!
Meet the newest little addition Mister I, less than 2 weeks old and such a sweet baby he is!
Beautiful couple expecting their first baby in just a few weeks! These lovely first time parents to be couldn’t make up their mind whether they wanted a studio or location setting for their maternity session. So we just did both! 🙂
