Hannah Cake Smash - Brisbane Family Photographer

I was so excited to welcome back Hannah and her parents for her first birthday photography session.

She's such a beautiful smiley little girl who loves her Mum and Dad so much.  As she walked around the room while we got through the formalities I couldn't help but think of how it was not so long ago that she was a tiny little poppet snuggled so gently in her Dads arms. 

We kicked off the session with some family photos, something I love to include whenever possible. Since Hannah had packed all of her good smiles for the session today we were through those in no time. 

Next we did a photo that we have been working on since her newborn session. We used the same vine nest and wraps at her six month session and again today to show how much she has grown. Its one of my favourite photos to create when we do a First Year Package. 

Then it was Cake time! 

Hannah was right on to it from the moment I came into the room. She sat beside it, dipped a toe in to test it, tasted the icing, and promptly got up and went to get some hugs from her Mum. 

We coaxed her back to the cake, showed her how to play with it and break it up. 

She was not happy. She was getting less and less happy as the minutes wore on. 

Plan B at a cake smash is fruit. We hide fruit in the cake and since all babies are familiar with fruit they enjoy it a lot. 

Strawberries are Hannahs favourite fruit so I cut some up and we showed her where they were in the cake. She dug them out, dusted all the cake crumbs off, inspected closely that the strawberry was now cake free, and ate it. 

Gosh she is adorable. The strawberries were a huge hit and the mess got made and the smiles were amazing. She was clapping her hands to show us how happy she was. 

Then we ran out of strawberries. But the cake was now a mess - as was Hannah. It was time for a nice warm bath and some fresh clothes and to call it a day. 

As we waved our goodbyes, Hannah gurgled something cute at me that sounded along the lines of "next time, more strawberries".

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www.brisbanenewbornphotography.com.au 

Brisbane Newborn Photographer    |    Brisbane Family Photographer 

Izaiah - Brisbane Newborn Photographer

I need to say this first up. 

I LOVED this session! 

With the family's beautiful heritage of India and Fiji we incorporated lots of wonderful pieces into their session including Dads kava bowl and a beautiful grass mat that his grandmother had handmade. 

Little Izaiah had a beautiful head of hair and the most adorable little eyelashes. Although if you think those little bubba eyelashes are adorable then maybe dont look too closely at big sister Gabriela. I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy immediately after swooning at her! I mean, come on, curls, that gorgeous pout AND those lashes?  Wowsers. 

Dad stayed with me for a lot of the session, calming and settling his new son while mum entertained Gabriela and enjoyed all the baking coming from the little toy kitchen. 

We did their sibling photo on a beautiful rainbow mandala and while she wasn't too sure about me at first she did manage to bring a sweet little smile out and holy cuteness it made for one special photo.  As their mum is of Indian heritage it was so beautiful to see these gorgeous children amongst the colour and the circular patterns of the mandala which represent the journey through life. 

Next up we did a set of a Fijian paper bark mat that had been hand printed like a tattoo with hand made inks. I loved the colours in this although Izaiah wasn't too sure about not being snuggled up tight any more and it took a little while to settle him in to this one.

With that lesson taken on board I decided to wrap him for the next setup, in a David Lam nest on his grandmother handmade woven mat. 

This image holds two levels of significance, firstly the heirloom mat which is beautiful, and secondly the vine nest was made by a personal friend of their family! I happen to have 6 pieces from David, all amazingly earthy and beautiful pieces, but the nest is a big favourite and went so well with the woven mat. 

Next was an image I had imagined since we had first discussed doing a photos with Dads kava bowl. I love this image because sharing in a Kava ceremony is a form of welcome. Its used to bring people together and as a way to connect to Fiji's past, and those sentiments are so perfectly fitting to welcoming their son to their family. 

With the sleepy blanket photos to finish off the session we came to an end and it was time for me to wave goodbye to this beautiful family. 

It turned out that Gabriela wasn't quite finished playing with the toys here and hid inside one, which her Dad simply picked up the whole box and carried her out to the car inside while she giggled and waved goodby like the princess she is. This Dad is so awesome. 

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Brisbane Newborn Photographer    |    Brisbane Family Photographer

Eva - Brisbane Baby Photographer

This was a very special session. A gift from friends to help a wonderful family capture their beautiful bond. Photos to celebrate a beautiful little girl who has had to endure far more than any little person ever should. 

Despite her beauty, her smiles, her sweet snuggles with her parents, Eva is not well. She struggles to eat and drink as it often means choking. She has regular physiotherapy to help her stiff hips and other joints. She cant see very well, but let me tell you - she always looks for and finds her parents! These are just the things that came up on photo day. Yet she smiles and giggles just as much - if not more - than other babies her age. 

A beautiful little soul that I had the absolute pleasure of photographing. 

It was a hot day and after a bit of a slow start we finally put her down on her own on a blanket and having her own space calmed her immediately. She looked for her parents who were each side of the beanbag she was laying on, and as soon as she found them her face lit up with such a glow the whole room felt sparkly. 

We added pink flowers to her hair, a pink wrap around her body, snuggled a few different ways and captured some of her adorable smiles, both large and soft, always genuine. 

When she would get upset they would sing to her. Eva loves singing and music. My favourite part was the singing - and it was a personalised song too! 

"I love you Eva, and if its quite alright, I need you Eva, to warm the lonely nights!"  In case you haven't got it yet, its Cant Take My Eyes Off Of You, and the entire song full of lyrics is so beautiful when directed to a baby girl like Eva. Here they all are.

The next set we did was of her looking up from the beanbag, and you may wonder why I couldnt get her to look at the camera. Well, thats because she was so besotted with looking at her Daddy that she simply couldnt take her eyes off him (still singing it!).  She just stared and smiled and giggled and he did the same back to his shining little princess. 

I had wanted to create something extra special for this extra special family. I had emailed and asked for some creative input to help me come up with a concept. The email that came back from her Mum had me welling up in tears.  Reading such words of love from a mother about her daughter was so touching. So I came up with the idea of using those words in a photo. I had her Mum write a letter to Eva and used the letter to overlay into an image.  I think it has come up so beautifully. 

And let me love you, oh baby, let me love you, oh baby...

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Brisbane Family Photographer | Brisbane Newborn Photographer

Sophie - Brisbane Family Photographer

Little Sophie came to her photo session with her big sister Chloe and their parents. I love photographing all children, all ages so we kicked off this cake smash session with a super quick portrait shoot before getting the mess out. I think that was a good idea! These two girls, my gosh I cant deal with how beautiful they are! 

By the time I reset the set and placed the cake down, a cute pink rose cake with a gorgeous One topper from http://www.facebook.com/the.euphoric.seed, Sophie was itching to get to it! She has a reputation for being a good eater so I was hoping for a cracker of a cake smash at this session. 

Well, she did not disappoint! It took a little bit for her to get into, but in the end Sophie rocked her smash session so much. 

Climbing right in and patting the icing, tasting the icing and digging her hands in all very quickly, Sophie was completely spellbound by her pink cake. 

But then things slowed down, she wasnt sure any more, she started getting a little upset. So we brough Chloe in to help make some mess and to cheer her sister up - this tactic always works! 

Except for today. Today is did not work. 

Chloe did not want to get messy. Or sit down. Or touch the cake. 

So with Chloe opting out of messy fun it was time for Mum to step in! 

Once we showed Sophie that her whole cake was edible, not just the icing, and handed her big fist  fulls of cake, she was away! She must have eaten nearly half of the top layer on her own! She loved it so much, a few times she stopped eating to give a little close eyed, scrunch faced, smiley bottom wiggle dance to show how much she loved it. 

And I died. The cuteness of those little happy dances were too much, RIP me. 

She literally ate until she was full, breaking only for more cute little happy dances, then just like that she was done and was scooped off for a nice warm bath to refresh. 

So here you go, you may need to sit down for this one, the cuteness is pretty full-on. You've been warned! 

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www.familyphotographybynatarshamarch.com.au

Brisbane Family Photographer    |    Brisbane Newborn Photographer